Really?

Isn't she cute, standing there with her stuffed monkey around her neck, beside the...what is THAT? A Christmas tree?

Yep. David put it up on November 13, the earliest we've ever done it. Even when I was pregnant and we wanted to make sure the house was decorated after we got home from the hospital.

It feels kind of weird, since it's so warm outside. It feels like September and here we are with our tree up. But David just bought it on Sunday, and he was really excited. We had to throw out our old one last year, so we were tree-less. The bulbs on our new tree look yellow in the pic, but they're slightly larger LED bulbs, and they look great.

We're not the only ones in the spirit, either. There's a house near us with serious decorations; it's hard to see for sure, but we think there's a merry-go-round in their yard, and, of course, several decorated trees.

On Monday, the day after it went up, Fed Ex came to deliver a package. Now, normally I don't open the door to any stranger when David's not home. Too paranoid. But I had to this time, since David was expecting an important package.

So I open the door in my pajamas, since it was so early. Makeup-less, glasses, no bra. And believe me, I NEED a bra. I saw the guy look past me, at the tree. Then he looked at me, which was when I realized I was in Christmas pajamas.

I have an explanation for that. I wore something entirely different to bed, but I woke up drenched in sweat again. Stupid night sweats. So I grabbed the first thing I could get in the middle of the night.

But that's okay. I gave that guy a funny story to tell his wife.

Poor me

Audrey doesn't let me rock her before naps anymore. The routine used to be that I would read her a couple of books (while she's in my lap), and then rock and sing to her before I laid her down.

Well, that came to a screeching halt recently. She still wants me to read her books before nap time, but now she stands beside me. Or, she drags her little rocking chair in front of the glider, with her back to me, while I read and sing. Annoying? Yes. Nap time has become a serious struggle, with her crying and screaming when I leave the room no matter what I do. Sad? Most definitely. I miss holding her and rocking to her.

David's having the same problem. He normally puts her to bed at night, and I think she does the same thing to him. She lets him hold her once in a blue moon.

At least she still lets me hold her when I read to her. That is, when she lets me read to her. Lately, she gathers a bunch of books and brings them to the couch. I'll say, "Do you want me to read those to you?" She'll say, "Nope, honey" and proceed to look through them by herself.

I know she needs to gain independence, but it's hard for me. Bittersweet. Or maybe just bitter. I miss this.

Halloween this year

This Halloween was kind of strange. I can only think of a couple of times when I wasn't with my nieces for trick-or-treat or some kind of celebration. Last Sunday, we were all supposed to go to the Trunk or Treat that my parents' church was sponsoring.

I was very excited because I really love Halloween. Not the blood and gore stuff, but I love seeing everyone's costumes, especially now that I have a little one to dress up.

When we got to Mom's last Sunday, Katie was there, but Gracie wasn't. For some reason, she hadn't come. One of Katie's friends from when she was very little came with us, though. They hadn't seen each other in years, but they had the strangest connection back then, and they still do. Not creepy strange, just odd.

At Katie's birthday party when she was about 4, I met this friend, Johnny, for the first time. He gave her a pink heart necklace (which she still treasures) and stayed by her side the entire time. David took a lot of pictures at that party, since Owen was in the hospital with a kidney stone and couldn't come. David put the pics and a song about daddies and daughters on a CD; I know it brought a tear to my eye.

Here's a cute pic of Katie and Johnny right before we left.



And then one after Katie's wig got itchy, even though I think they're WAY too close (I know, I'm protective).



But seriously, don't they look like tiny teenagers on their way to prom? Yikes.

Audrey was a little freaked out at Trunk or Treat, but I think she handled it well. There were TONS of people there; it was so far to walk that they were using golf carts to take people back and forth to their cars.

They had lots of blow-up stuff that the kids could bounce on, and Audrey was on a small one with some other toddlers. There was a little girl dressed up like Abby Cadaby, and she was adorable. She was bouncing and laughing, while Audrey just kind of stood off to the side, not wanting to leave us. Just when Audrey was getting comfortable, Abby took a nosedive off the side. It was horrifying, and there were people standing right there who didn't even try to catch her. And David inadvertently caught the whole thing on video! Well, after we determined that Abby was okay, we were done with that.

I was just disappointed. I missed being with the girls. Gracie wasn't there, and Katie spent all her time with Johnny. (When I passed by a huge bouncy castle, I saw the two of them holding hands as they jumped down the slide). Things are changing, and I don't always like change.

But we were blessed to spend time with my mom and our little cheerleader.

Happy Halloween!

Oh, the holidays

I'm kind of freaking out. About the holidays, of course. I love Christmas; don't get me wrong. Even though I made a promise to myself that I'd focus more on the "real reason for the season", Christmas gifts still have to be bought, right?

I think the anxiety started when I realized how close to Christmas we are. David said something a week or two ago that sent shivers down my spine: "We only have 8 weeks left in our semester."

Say what?? When you look at it that way, you may be able to understand my anxiety. And, I'm prone to anxiety anyway. Plus, I'm not a good shopper. When you mix the fibro and my chemical sensitivities to scents and new clothes, you get a shopper who can only be in a store for about an hour at a time.

Last year was so easy. We took theme pictures from each month of Audrey's first year of life, and that was everyone's gift. It was the best.

Of course, I also have to figure in Audrey's birthday in December...and her party. Although I know intellectually that it won't be that bad, since my mom and mother-in-law do most of the food work (at least they did last year), I can't help stressing.

I think we finally decided on a theme, though. Mickey Mouse, although I'd been thinking Minnie all this time. I finally realized I was pushing Minnie because it was more girly. We got a catalog of birthday supplies in the mail, and I actually went through it with Audrey. She displayed a clear preference for Mickey. Her real favorite is Donald (mine, too!), but they don't have anything that focused on him. Bummer.

It's not like we'll even be buying many decorations, just a few accent pieces. I figure there's no reason for spending money on MM plates, cups, etc., when she won't even care about those things. So, we'll just get some solid colors for those, hopefully from the Dollar Tree. All I know is we're going to have lots of balloons. Audrey loves them.

And if I've completely stressed out anyone about the holidays, I humbly apologize. I just want this to be a great Christmas for Audrey, since she's really aware of everything this year. We looked at trees the other day, and she kept saying, "So pretty!" Adorable.

Punkins

A couple of weeks ago, we visited our local "pumpkin patch". One of the churches around here sponsors it, and they have a pretty large assortment of pumpkins. I've been wanting to go to a real pumpkin patch, with a corn maze and hay rides, but I just don't have the stamina right now.

We had just as much fun at this one, though. Last year, Audrey was seriously afraid of the pumpkins. Of course, she was only 10 months old at the time, and she was scared of lots of things.

This time, though, she went from pumpkin to pumpkin, checking out as many as she could. She especially liked the white pumpkins and the ones with warts, as I call them.



We finally picked out three, in varying sizes, and she plays with the tiniest one at home.

Here are some of the good pics we got that day.



Yes, she wanted one of the biggest ones!








We also did some pumpkin carving with Gracie and Katie, and it was lots of fun. Especially for me, since I didn't do any of the dirty work:) Katie decided to carve a heart on hers, and it turned out really well.



Gracie did a cross, and I was very impressed with her. She had a good-sized pumpkin, and she insisted on cleaning it out and carving it by herself. It took her a looong time, but she did it!



And then David worked diligently on his/ours. It looks great, too.



He also carved Audrey's initials into a smaller pumpkin, which was cool.

Since we're still having some hot days around here (imagine that), we mixed up a potion of vinegar, lemon juice, and water to brush over the carved areas of the pumpkin. We'll see how that works. Alas, the smaller pumpkin is already looking a little pooped, but the bigger one seems to be okay. Fingers crossed that it makes it to Halloween!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I think I mentioned that I'm reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block. Well, one of the techniques of dealing with a toddler who's having a tantrum is to reflect his/her feelings back to them. This is supposed to let the child know that you appreciate and understand their feelings.

It goes something like this:

(Child is crying because you've taken something away from her...say, a steak knife:)

Parent: Mad! Mad! Mad! You're mad because I took away the steak knife. But noooo, you can't have it. It's dangerous. But we can play with your kitchen."

It sounds weird, and it feels even stranger to actually do it. Usually, if I'm alone with Audrey, it works, though. She'll stare at me in wonder that I know why she's upset. With David around, however, it doesn't work as well. I'm not sure why.

But here's what happened after we got back from my doctor today. Audrey melted down because she wanted to go outside and admire our Halloween flag. I needed her to get inside and take a nap.

Me: Mad! Mad! Mad! You're mad because I won't let you play outside! But nooo, you need a nap! Let's go find Bear-Bear!

Audrey: (Even more screaming)

Then later, when she was perfectly composed, she said, "Mad. Mad because.....(unintelligible words)." Over and over and over again. So it turned into a tug-of-war.

Audrey: Mad because....blah blah blah
Me: I'm mad because you won't nap.
Audrey: (more of the same)
Me: I'm mad because I can't understand what you're saying.

All the while, we are definitely not mad and are just having a conversation. Strange? I think so.

However, she was an angel at my two doctor's appointments today. The doctors and nurses were chatting about it while I was waiting for a blood test.



But when we get home? The little devil comes out. She's now been up for almost 6 hours without a nap. I can hear her in there trying to turn the doorknob and get out.

Thank God for the weekend. I need some reinforcements.