Christmas

I wish I could say that this Christmas was all that I had hoped it would be, but then I would be lying. I had hoped that I would feel cozy at home with hot chocolate in one hand and a Christmas cookie in the other, while my perfect little angel sat at my feet listening to me explain the miracle of Christmas and fondling family ornaments. I had hoped that I would spend hours upon hours baking delicious treats and singing carols, sledding and building snowmen. I had HOPED that I wouldn't feel like complete GARBAGE from the evil parasite spawn (albeit completely wanted and loved) growing in my abdomen.

I did manage to make some cookies...with the help of my sister-in-law, but not a single carol was sung, snowman built, nor ornament fondled. It was all I could do to keep my ass off the couch and Maggie mildly entertain the past five weeks. This should also explain why you didn't see a blog entry for the better part of Nov/Dec.

Anyway, back to Christmas... Although it was no where near as idyllic as I had originally intended, Christmas wasn't entirely ruined by this pukey mama. Maggie did seem to enjoy all of her gifts, especially the baby doll that sits on the baby potty and makes real pee noises (and disgustingly a real-ish poo noise as well). Another fav is the Fisher-Price "My First Dollhouse", she can't keep her hands off all the little pieces.

Which reminds me... now that she's older she really likes role-playing toys, things that help her use her imagination. And you know what most of those toys have in common? LOTS OF LITTLE PIECES OF PLASTIC. You thought your baby cornered the market on plastic paraphernalia, you were wrong. There are now four-hundred-thousand tiny pieces of dollhouse furniture, ice cream parlour, cupcake factory, baby doll accessories, little people, and god knows what else storming around my house... and I have no idea what belongs to which.

I digress... back to Christmas. We actually celebrated at home on the 19th because of our annual trip to Cayman that followed on the 20th. Maggie was lucky enough to have her Granny and Papa and Uncle Wawa visiting with us while we opened gifts and ate Dominos pizza. That's right, no ham, no mashed potatoes, just pizza - cuz I felt like CRAP the whole night. I hate morning sickness!

I really thought Maggie would "get" Christmas a lot better this year, and she did... I guess... but not as much as I thought. I think the only thing she really "got" was that candy (or "cangee" as she calls it) mysteriously appears in her advent calendar every day. Note to parents just starting the advent calendar... if your kid is too young to understand that each slot is different day get one that you can remove the candy/toys from and leave all of them empty except the one day you're celebrating. We leaned that one the hard way.

I'm Pregnant

That's right, Maggie is going to be a big sister!

Although much of our family has known this for awhile now, I finally feel comfortable sharing with the rest of the world. Yesterday Maggie and I went to my doctors appointment to listen to the baby's heartbeat for the first time, I am just shy of 12 weeks pregnant (almost through my first trimester) and everything is looking good so far.

I promise to write more soon - I'm sure you're all dying to hear about how disgustingly sick I've been feeling and how big my boobs are getting. Ha!

Also look forward to an entry about Christmas and the annual pilramage south to the Carribean.

The Birdie Movie

Up.

Best Movie Ever... if you're Maggie. This is the third day in a row that we are watching UP. There is a birdie, a boy, and a dog in this movie - a trifecta of fun for Maggie. She laughs, she cries, I've never seen anything like it from my almost two-year-old. And she's even starting to tell us what happens next. I have to admit, it's a pretty cute movie. I say that now... only three/five viewings in. Ask me how much I like it in a month.

I Take It Back

So yesterday I posted all about how my kid will never love me as much as I love her... and now today I have the Worlds most cuddly kid. Go figure. I have gotten so many unsolicited hugs today it's kinda making me think she must be sick or something. The best though was this afternoon.
Maggie's cousins were visiting her today and they all wore each other out. When they left I popped in the Elmo Christmas DVD and sat with Maggie on the couch to just chill out for a little while. She was cuddled into the crook of my arm and I started to doze off a little myself so I glanced at her and relized she was fast asleep with her lovey in one hand and the other hand holding my arm. It was just such a perfect moment, so warm and cozy. The kind of moment that makes all the "No Mama!" moments totally meaningless.

Your Kid Will Never Love You

I got a nice little look into the future today.

I'm lying on the couch, not feeling so hot. Maggie is watching Elmo and playing with her toys, and I have the sudden urge to give her squeeze. I call out to her, "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!" She turns her head, smirks at me, and turns back to her toys. I try again, "Maggie, Maggie, Maggie, come 'ere PLEASE!" She looks at me and says, "Why Mama?!"
"Cuz I wanna give you a hug please!"
"NO MAMA, NO!"

Ugh. A perfect example of how a child's love is different from a mother's love. If Maggie is saying, "Mama, Mama, Mama!!" I come running. Apparently it doesn't work the same when the roles are reversed. Soon enough she'll be telling me to back off and mind my own business... I can get a tattoo if I want too.... but I LOVE him mom... I hate you!!!!! Arghhhhhh!!!!!!

Movie Night

Last night we had Movie Night at Granny and Papa's house. They have a movie theatre popcorn maker. Maggie LOVES the movie theatre popcorn. Everyone had their own little bag of popcorn, including her. She set hers down while she ran to tackle her Uncle and when she returned Daddy had moved it to a safe dog-free area. She blurted out, "Where'd my popcorn go?!"

I realize this may not seem all that remarkable to anyone else, but I think that is the longest sentence she's said to date.

Get a Little Closer, My Tonsils Can't Hear You

I was lying on the couch the other night while Jason and Maggie were playing downstairs. When Maggie came upstairs I put my hands over my face so I could "hide" from her (a fav activity of hers). She had zero time for hiding that night though, she had some very important information to convey to me. She came right up to my face, moved my hands away and said "Mama, mama, mama, mama, ELMO!" straight into my giggling mouth. She was literally an inch and a half away from my lips, repeating Mama and Elmo as if the closer she got to where my words came from the more likely I would be to understand her words. So as I'm laughing my butt off she's very patiently talking to my mouth, and waiting for her Elmo fix.

World's Longest Post

Alright, alright, I know I've been a lazy blogger lately, I know you've all been on the edge of your seats waiting for me to update you (she types with a drop of sarcasm), so here it is, the worlds longest post.

Let's see, what have we been up to lately... well, we made a visit to Maggie's Great Grandma out in Phoenix, let's start there. Three adults and three children under age four, one hotel room and one minivan - surprisingly, no one lost their mind! We travelled with my brother, his wife, and their two children. Maggie loved spending time with her cousins, and I was very happy that she had a chance to meet her Great Grandma once again. The kids all did really well on the plane, no screaming, no kicking, no poop, no plugged ears, and only a little crying (it's hard to fall asleep on a plane - just ask E and Maggie, they'll tell you all about it).

Next was Thanksgiving, for which I am currently giving thanks for it's completion. We had a full house, lots of aunties, uncles, grandparents and cousins. Maggie had a blast performing the Sesame Street Veggie Dance for all her fans, and gleefully demolished a giant tub of Chex mix. We had 18 over for dinner and house guests throughout the weekend, chopped down and decorated our Christmas tree, spent countless hours playing Bannanagrams, a trip to see Santa Claus, and wait...wait a sec... I have to change the subject real quick...

I am currently watching Maggie, who is watching TV, scratch her butt in her very first pair of "big girl panties". All of a sudden my daughter is a 50 year old man. Oops, now the pink panties are off and she's trying to dress herself again. She did that this morning as well and insisted on wearing two shirts, shoes, and no pants. She's enthusiastic, but not very practical.

OK, back to it... Thanksgiving was good.

So next, ear infection season is back, and Maggie would never miss a chance at antibiotics, so yes she has ear infections again. Amoxycilin didn't cut it so now we're on to Augmentin - and I'm sure both of those are spelled incorrectly. The only up side of our recent trips to the pediatrician is that Maggie is one of the lucky fools to have received the H1N1 vaccination... at least part of it anyway, because poor defenseless babies have to get it twice, a month apart, for it to really kick in. This is true about the regular flu vaccine as well... poor defenseless babies.

Something fun from the pediatrician's office... Maggie insisted on wearing the aforementioned pink panties on the outside of her pants before she would leave the house. When we arrived at the appointment the nurse just laughed and said, "I love it when they get old enough to start asserting themselves!" Yeah...um, me too.

What else, what else... I'm giving up on Christmas cards this year. So if you're reading this and typically receive a card from us, sorry, you ain't getting one this year. I have a plethora of excuses but I shan't be sharing them with you at this time. So yeah, be happy for this blog and all it's adorable pictures, this will have to suffice this year.

And speaking of adorable pictures, I shall leave you with a few of the most adorable from my recent period of neglect...