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Merry Christmas to you! This is the first Christmas that Tater Tot really understands the whole present-opening deal. She knows that “Santa came last night” but still doesn’t make the connection “How did Santa know I was at Gammaw and Gampaw’s?”. I’m not even sure she understands that Santa theoretically brought at least some of the presents. And I had to coax her into pulling on the wrapping paper to “help Mommy unwrap your presents”. But the reaction once the presents were unwrapped was priceless! Unfortunately, we were not coordinated enough to get the video function on our digital camera going to catch the arm-flapping, high-pitched-squealing goodness of The Tater Tot’s spontaneous reactions to all things Thomas and Yo Gabba Gabba. She petered out before we got to the stocking stuffers, though, so that’ll be a nice bonus for later today or tomorrow…

Luckily she doesn’t yet get impatient about opening presents so we didn’t have to get Gammaw, Gampaw and Uncle up super-duper early to open presents. That may change next year but for this year, I’m sure they appreciated it. The other interesting factor in the present-opening ritual was that she wanted to open each and every present and play with it before moving on to the next one! Not convenient but what can ‘ya do? It’s Christmas! Generally, it’s her day so…

Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to edit Tater Tot’s toy box before Christmas so I have a daunting task ahead of me: finding spots for all the new merchandise and figuring out what toys can go and which stay. I wonder if The Container Store’s earnings jump significantly after Christmas?

I’m very stoked about my presents…several gift cards which means “shopping for free”! Gotta love that.

Every night until Christmas this month Tater Tot gets to open the next door on the advent calendar The Daddy bought to count down to Christmas. It’s a cute little green house-lookin’ thing with doors and cute little knobs that are just small enough to drive an adult crazy. I have relaxed my “no sugar” stance and every night we plant a teeny-tiny graham cracker cookie behind the door for the date. And every night The Daddy asks her “Which one are we going to open tonight?” She calls out some random number until we tell her the right one, at which time she screeches the appropriate number with a wonderfully cute trill at the end. For example: “Sixteeeeeeeeeen!” (Please imagine this at the highest pitch sound humans can uncomfortably hear). “And what do you think is behind the door?”, The Daddy asks. “I FINK DERE’S A COOKIE IN DERE!” Tater Tot will answer. “Are you sure?” The Mommy asks. “I FINK DERE’S A COOKIE IN DERE!”, she replies. Yep. She’s sure.

Sure enough, after dinner she’ll go over and open the door and there’s a cookie in there. And every night she is just as excited as the night before. What happens when Christmas is over and she still expects a cookie every night? I haven’t quite figured that out yet. But in the mean time I’m going to sit back and savor the pure joy that my daughter gets out of this simple holiday tradition. What are some of your holiday traditions?

These are just too cute! I was over at CrazyforBargains.com looking for cute Christmas pjs and look what I found!

The Grinch Green Striped Footed Blanket Sleeper for Baby and Toddler Boys

The Grinch Pink Max and Cindy Lou Who Footed Blanket Sleeper for Baby and Toddler Girls

Dr. Seuss Little Miss Who Pink Pajamas for Toddler Girls

The Grinch’s Dog Max Red Striped Footed Blanket Sleeper for Infant and Toddlers

The Grinch Green Striped Pajamas for Baby and Toddler Boys

How adorable are those? When I was growing up, we would open Christmas presents on Christmas Day but would beg and beg to open one gift on Christmas Eve. My parents would always give in and guess what the gift they allowed us to open always was? Yep. Pajamas. You’d think we’d learn! I’m thinking about starting the pajama tradition in our family, in part just because I love weird, quirky pajamas! And CrazyforBargains.com has just about any pajama you’re looking for. Characters? Got ‘em. Bunny (and every other imaginable animal) slippers ? Check. Silky soft plush robes. Yep.

If you’ve got little ones who bug the heck outta you to open “just one present, Mom” on Christmas Eve, get ‘em some cute Christmas pj’s they’ll not soon forget.

A recent exchange at our house during a lazy, playful afternoon:

Tater Tot: Pfffthhh! (fart)

The Mommy from across the room: “Tater Tot tooted! Oh my goodness! Did you toot?!”

Tater Tot: *Giggle, giggle* “Mommy tooted!” (Runs to The Mommy and collapses in a heap on the floor giggling)

The Mommy: “No you don’t! Don’t you blame your toots on The Mommy!”

Tater Tot: *Hee, hee* “Mommy tooted!”

The Mommy: “Did you learn that from The Daddy? Are you going to blame it on The Dog too?”

Tater Tot: “Doggie tooted!”

The Mommy: “Oh no! That wasn’t The Doggie, that was Tater Tot. And it was a stinky one! Peeeeezhyewwwww!”

Tater Tot: *Giggle, giggle. Squirm, squirm*

Farts are almost always funny at our house. Unless they are big man-sized ones that drive you out of the room. The Tot isn’t big enough or stinky enough for that yet. Thank God. In the mean time, it’s still cute. For now.

Either that, or I really need to go surfing. Evidence: while watching “Surf’s Up” (animated penguin surf movie), I welled up when he got a barrel at the end.

It is The Daddy’s Birthday Weekend, however, so I am putting off my desire to surf until next weekend to let him relax and do what he wants…

Off again we go to Gammaw and Gampaw’s house! This time as a part of advisory evacuations due to the wild fires in San Diego county, unfortunately. We got a precautionary evacuation phone call about 5:30 am Monday because of a small fire that had broken out just east of us and decided to watch and wait. The Daddy sent us off about 11 am because of poor air quality and to avoid the inevitable traffic if there were mandatory evacuations. So we packed up our stuff and headed on up the road to better air quality. The Daddy was going to stay behind to see what happened because we didn’t know how bad it would turn out and whether schools would be open the next day. It turns out that he followed us a couple of hours later. The schools closed for the week and our area remained a voluntary evacuation area for a couple of days. So we have had a nice couple of days with Gammaw and Gampaw. No hardship here! I’m grateful that we had a place to go. I see all of the families that ended up at Qualcomm stadium and think how stressful it must be for them. We have a bed to sleep in and 24 hour connection to multiple news outlets. I can’t imagine sitting there waiting for news and wondering whether our house was okay. Not to mention the logistics of keeping track of multiple little ones in a place that big! And how do you sleep in a situation like that? My heart goes out to everyone there. It’s overwhelming to think about how many people are displaced right now, not only in San Diego county but in all of Southern California.

I have to say that I was so grateful for that automated phone call Monday morning. As nervewracking as it was to get that call, it gave us time to think through all of the stuff that we might need to take with us. Things that I forgot about, The Daddy remembered. As I looked around, I realized that, as much of a pain as it would be to replace the “stuff”, it was almost all replaceable. Anything that I really wanted to save would fit in my car or The Daddy’s truck with room to spare. I can’t imagine, though, getting that “reverse 911″ phone call that says “Get out now!” with little or no warning. I know that I wouldn’t be able to think straight.

I know that the implications of this much destruction are beyond me right now. I know that I have absolutely no comprehension of what it will take to recover from this. I am just grateful that the weather and conditions have improved so that they could contain the fires that are left. I am grateful that it looks like things are on the downhill slide and that much of the county is out of danger.

We’re probably going to head back today which means I have to get creative about ways to tire The Tot out for nap time and bed time again since it’s not great for The Tot to be out in the smoky air… Indoor obstacle course anyone?

As predicted, a couple of days later I am feeling better. Just needed a little adjustment of the noggin’. The Grandma is always pretty good at helping me do that. I just expect too much of myself most of the time so it’s pretty easy to get “down”. I’m not real good at not comparing myself to other people sometimes, too, which doesn’t help. And I always think I should be able to do more than I am currently doing. What’s up with that??! Anyway, I’m feeling a bit better. I think I’m back on track. And I’m really feeling like the thyroid meds are working now, which is nice.

I got my Mommy Butt out to the community rec pool for a lap swim yesterday. Hallelujah! It felt so good to swim! It’s been over two years and I miss it! It’s just not possible for me to swim AND for The Daddy to surf during the week so I let him surf. He needs to surf more than I need to swim right now, I think. But I am going to start swimming on Saturdays.

The other day The Daddy came home with a pair of pink
Vans for Tater Tot. They look so cute on her and she looooves them!

Aren’t they the cutest teeny-tiny little things? If you don’t have a Vans store near you, Zappos.com Kid’s Shoes
has them. Lots of other cute styles, too. It cracks me up that The Daddy likes to shop for Tater Tot. Who woulda’ thought? Not This Mommy.

Today I called the TV repair guy. Again. After calling him yesterday and leaving a message. We were supposed to be able to pick our TV up Monday or Tuesday. I actually got to speak to him today and do you know what he told me? Of course you don’t so I’ll tell you what he told me. He told me that the part that was supposed to arrive on Friday, be put in on Saturday after which the TV would be run all day to make sure it worked IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE!!! WHAAAAAT? This television is only 1 1/2 years old and the part that we are talking about is the main board that controls everything. How in the heck does Samsung expect to keep selling televisions if they discontinue the core of a television that is only a year and a half old? Luckily I recieved this news after Samsung customer service hours or some poor soul would have gotten an earful from me. As it is I am fit to be tied and it’s been a couple of hours since I found out. The TV repair guy is gonna hunt around to see if he can find one anywhere but it’s not looking like I’ll have our TV back for season premieres. Or ever for that matter. I’m so mad I could SPIT!

Ibuprofen usually works wonders on The Mommy. I usually take it very sparingly and only if I have to but, for the past 24 hours, I have been eating it like candy. Probably because it’s about the only thing that will fit in my mouth! I still can’t open it very far and it hurts like it’s on fire. I did get in to see a magnificent dentist yesterday morning, however. He and his office staff were amazing. Extremely friendly, reassuring and professional. And they had the coolest panoramic x-ray thingy! They used it instead of the traditional stick-the-wierd-thingy-in-your-mouth kind after trying the first one and almost not being able to get it out of my mouth. I cried it hurt so bad. They even called in a favor with an oral surgeon to get me in to have a wisdom tooth out today when they are techinically booked until September. Wow! Much different than the herd-’em-in, get-’em-out dentist offices I have always been to. Turns out there’s a reason for that, unfortunately.

Let me back up and say that I got a recommendation for this dentist from one of The Daddy’s colleagues the he works with at the school district. She loves this dentist and I can see why after going yesterday. I assumed, as did the dentist office, that we had the same insurance since they work for the same district. They did not take my insurance card because of that and I didn’t think anything of it. Well, I arrived at the oral surgeon’s for a consult yesterday to talk about sedation and so that he could take a look to make sure the other wisdom teeth didn’t need to come out as well and, guess what? HE’S NOT A PROVIDER IN MY LAME-ASSED HMO-TYPE DENTAL INSURANCE PLAN. AAAAAAAH! So, while sitting in the oral surgeon’s waiting room, I am on the phone to the district office’s health benefits person, the dental insurance company, and another dentist that IS in my network to see if I can get in that day so I can get a referral to an oral surgeon that IS in my network. CRAP. CRAP. CRAP. CRAP. Sitting in the waiting room I am about to cry because my mouth is throbbing and it was so reassuring to just know that it was all taken care of. They were just going to get this done. And then it all fell apart. Obviously, I should have been more on top of who was in my network and who wasn’t. I should have called my dental insurance to change my provider before going yesterday. Then I would have known that the wonderful dentist was not in my network. And I would have had a clue that the oral surgeon that they referred me to would not be in my network. Apparently there are two different plans at the school district and we have the plan that does not have access to the wonderful dentists because we don’t pay a premium each month. I guess we just get the crappy dentists. Because the dentist’s office that I had gone to (I’m not even going to tell you how long ago…it’s embarrassing) was crappy. That’s why I was looking for a recommendation for another one.

Well, so as not to bore you any more than you already are (probably too late), I went ahead with the consult ($75 cha-ching) and they calculated the fees for me (cha-ching, cha-ching) and I will be going ahead with the surgery today because it’s only (ha!) $295. I just need it taken care of and The Daddy agrees. It’s not like we have $300 laying around but it’s gotta be done. It would have been better if it was taken care of through insurance but, in the grand scheme of things, it is not going to break us. And I really would rather not go through the entire weekend popping barely safe levels of ibuprofen that will, at best, make me feel minimally human and decrease the insistent throbbing to a dull ache. This way, The Daddy is home to help me with Tater Tot while I recover, which is nice. Worth the money in my opinion.

A couple of good things that have come out of this: 1) I get a rest. Not the way I would have liked to get a rest but it is what it is and I’m grateful for a helpful husband. 2) I have a renewed motivation to keep better track of our insurance and to maintain regular dental visits. Don’t really want to go through this again. Silly Mommy.

Today we tried a little experiment. The In-Laws invited us to attend a local dog show and, instead of having Tater Tot nap at her usual time, we decided to push back her nap and just shoot for one nap today. Great idea. In theory. If we hadn’t done this, we would have been arriving at the dog show just as they were leaving so we gave it a shot. Well, all I have to say is thank God I remembered to bring the snacks! Without snacks we would have had one cranky little girl. In fact, before I busted out the Earth’s Best Organic Crunchin’ Crackers, she would only walk in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go! But crackers got her seated in her stroller and babbling like a cutie in no time! A Mommy’s gotta do what a Mommy’s gotta do…

So she napped on the way home and The Daddy said he wanted to try to get her up to her crib instead of leaving her in the car seat to finish her nap. I said “Okay, if you’re willing to do the rocking that it will take to get her back down in her crib when she inevitably wakes up.” He was willing so we gave it a shot. No chance. She decided she had other things to do. So we got on with our day hoping for another nap later. Ha! Yeah right. She did do about 45 minutes of “Quiet Time” in her crib later in the day which was good for everybody. Sometimes changing The Tot’s schedule so we can do stuff is just as hard on The Mommy as it is on The Tot…

Luckily we had an on-time departure for bed time tonight. I’m gonna crash early…