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Yesterday I got creative and came up with an inexpensive holiday decorating idea. We got our Christmas tree this weekend and needed to trim some of the lower branches.  We decorated the tree and had some extra white lights.  Our mantle was sorely lacking in holiday cheer so I threw some extra white tree lights up there but it still looked pretty bare.   So, I took some of the small branches that I trimmed off of the tree, tied some raffia around them to hold them together and placed them at the ends of the mantle.  Then I took some pine cones and put them up next to them and voila!  Instant, cheap holiday decoration!  If you’re looking for flashy, this is not it but it is a very natural and understated look.

All of this took only a few minutes (with or without the MORE COFFEE PLEASE but it’s really alot faster with it)!  Now hopefully it won’t be kindling by the time Christmas rolls around…

Wowit’sbeenareallyreallylongtimesinceTheMommyhashadanycaffeine andthiscoffeeisgood! I’mkindofscaringTheDaddyrightnowbecauseI’vehadacupandahalfandI’mreallyreally wirednow…   I’mreallyreallyconsideringmakingthisadailyhabitbecauseIhadforgotten howfunacoffeebuzzcouldbe! 

The Daddy is off to surf again this morning and I am at home listening to Princess Tater Tot talk to herself in her crib.  It is the cutest thing.  Until she decides that it’s time to wail in her crib because she is bored and thinks that it’s time to get up.  It’s 5:30 am.  Definitely NOT time for The Princess to get up. 

I had grand plans to surf every day this week since The Daddy was home all week for Thanksgiving.  That didn’t happen.  It started out great with a good session on Sunday but between another attack of vertigo and the whole shoulder thing getting worse, The Mommy is sidelined for a little while longer. 

Looking on the bright side, my wetsuit has a long time to dry out between sessions and, since it’s getting colder out there, that can be a plus!  Okay, that’s really looking on the bright side but what’s the alternative?  Being Bitter Mommy because I don’t get to surf as much as I used to?  I have the rest of my life to surf…

It seems lately that, in the areas of Tater Tot’s sleep schedule and The Mommy’s weight, we have taken three steps forward and two steps back.

I was able to stay at my pre-pregnancy weight a total of two days before returning to a weight that is not quite my pre-pregnancy weight.  Add to that the fact that I had gained about 5 pounds while trying to get pregnant and The Mommy has very few clothes in her closet that fit her!  And then there’s the Turkey Day left overs…*heavy sigh*…Very yummy.  The Princess and I are still walking every morning and I’ve been choosing the hilly route to get a better work out but we’re no match for the Oompa Loompas that are chasing me!  Ah well, tomorrow’s another day and another chance to take better care of myself…

In terms of the sleep schedule, The Tater Tot is getting her second tooth so she is a teeny bit more fussy and needs more soothing.  This is antithetical to training her to soothe herself to sleep, however!  Several doses of Tylenol later (for Tater, The Mommy takes something a little stronger) we’re doing fine, especially since The Daddy has the week off for Thanksgiving and can rock her more than The Mommy can.  You see, The Mommy’s shoulder and neck went out of whack a while back and now it is so bad that my thumb is numb!  That can’t be good…

Happy Thanksgiving to all!  Today I am grateful for my wonderful daughter who is beautiful always and calm most of the time.  I love her expressive face, quirky mannerisms, and 1000 watt smile that she gives freely to anyone who even glances in her direction.

I am grateful for my husband who helps and is considerate of the fact that, although I am The Mommy, I am human and sometimes get sick, need a break, or feel hormonal.

I am grateful for family, acceptance, and love no matter what happens or where we are located.

I am grateful for the friends that I have in my mother and older sister.  They are the greatest gifts I could ever receive.  It would be 100 times harder to navigate motherhood without their advice and support. 

I am grateful for the friendship and tech support of my younger sister, without which, none of this blog would be possible!  Thank you for encouraging me and helping me to do this.

I am grateful for the sarcasm and wit of my younger brother even if he never emails me back.  That’s okay, I guess a PhD is a little harder than an undergraduate degree, huh?

I am grateful for things that we too often take for granted: a roof over my head (even if the mortgage is a whopper!) and my health.  And I am incredibly grateful that I can stay at home with my daughter and witness first hand her first everything.  It means more to me than I ever thought possible.

Teething isn’t fun. Another Master of the Obvious observation from The Mommy. The Tater Tot woke me up 20 minutes after I fell asleep last night and took 1 1/2 hours of rocking, one dose of Tylenol, and some Orajel to get back to sleep.  She woke up too early and, of course, did not want to nap today.  She took short little catnaps which resulted in Exhausted Sleepyhead Mommy With A Headache.

On the bright side, there were whole hours at a time where she was her usual charming, beautiful self today. We made it through a Target run with no melt-downs or major mishaps, which is always nice.

We took an extra-long evening walk tonight because she likes walks so much and they keep her calm.  Hopefully she’ll be back to her sleep-through-the-night self tonight…

I am hoping that this Tragic Booger Incident never actually happens but we had a near-miss the other day.  I was desperately trying to dislodge a GINORMOUS booger from my squirmy, resistant daughter’s nose so that she would not make whistling sounds while breathing and it felt like my nail grazed her eye.  I had horrid visions of having scratched her little cornea and blinding her for life.  I pulled back quickly and began watching for eye watering, excessive blinking and general “what the hell’d you do that for, Mommy” fussiness.  Thankfully I saw none of the previous and concluded that it was her cheek that my nail grazed, not her little, vulnerable eyeball.  Whew.  Dodged a bullet.  If she’d only let me use the snot-sucker…

Missing in Action: The Mommy.  Height: 5′2 1/2″ on a good day.  Weight: Classified.  Hair: Blonde with roots showing.  Eyes: Hazel and bloodshot.  Last seen blogging: 11/16/06 at 16:28.  The Mommy should be considered tired and dangerous.  Do not try to apprehend her on your own.  If found, notify the local authorities.

Today is the kind of day that stay at home Moms dream about.  It has been exceptional so far.  Tater Tot was quiet in her room until wake up time, went down easily for both naps, was a complete laugh-riot all day long and all of this while she is getting her first tooth!  We went on a Slurpee run (for me, not for her) and to the park, played and laughed all day long.  The slow cooker pot roast and green beans both turned out great!  Just firm enough and so tasty!  No, I am not June Cleaver or Martha Stewart.  I don’t have a June or Martha bone in my body (okay, maybe one but it’s definitely only a small Martha bone).  I think I just got lucky today. 

So what if I had to do a few dishes and throw a load of laundry in.  Big deal.  I got to spend the whole day with my gorgeous, funny, lovable and huggable daughter.  I don’t miss working.  Not. One. Little. Bit.

The War on Naps rages on and my daughter is a soldier in the Anti-Nap forces.  I suspect that Tater and the other babies gather intelligence when we pass on our walks and at the play groups.  There have been many casualties (hours spent rocking, hours of lost sleep that The Mommy couldn’t nap, the muscles in The Mommy’s shoulder, neck, and back to name only a few).

The Tater Tot joined the Anti-Nap Forces at a tender age and has been trained well.  Trained by the noisy garbage trucks with their back-up beep-beeping, by the gardening guys with their weed-whackers a-whacking, by all the wonderful and noisy toys beckoning to her to come play, and by a Sometimes Softie Mommy who does not like to hear her little girl wail like a banshee.  She just doesn’t want to miss a thing. 

She is a tough little soldier, fighting on through colds and The Mommy’s rocking.  She has withstood stroller rides and soft music.  She has become immune to The Nursing Defense employed by Desperate Mommy.  She can even withstand Tigger’s comforting charms sometimes.  But there’s a Secret Weapon that The Mommy uses (and probably shouldn’t) that works 99% of the time: The Car Ride.  Yep.  The Car Ride is good.  There have been times when The Car Ride worked within half a block.  Other times it has worked within a block or two.  On the rare occasion, it takes a mile or two.  But, as in any war, the striving takes a toll.  You see, The Mommy’s body is not cooperating any more.  The car seat has become too heavy to lift out with Tater in it and The Mommy has sustained an injury.  So, chalk one up for The Tater Tot!  She will nap when she’s good and ready, thank you very much!