A Step Inside

Ho, ho, ho!… doesn’t it seem like there is so much build up to the holidays, and then they are over so quickly?… We had a really nice Christmas! I never realized how much fun it would be as a parent to watch it all through Kaylor.. She asked me yesterday if this was the best Christmas I had ever had.. I told her that every year is better, because it’s another year that we’re given to be here, etc. She says, “Well mom, I think this year was the best of all, because the baby was here, in your tummy, and it was our WHOLE family”.. That was probably one of the sweetest things I’ve ever heard from her! I told her that next year will be EVEN better, because then her sister will be here (and into everything..lol)…

Here are some shots from our holiday:

A conversation w/ Kaylor today:
Kaylor- Mom? Can I change my name to Jim?
Me- Um.. Jim? Why?
Kaylor- Yeah! Jim!.. Jim Barnlund! Jim Dean Barnlund!
Me- Why would you want to change your name to “Jim”?
Kaylor- It was just a joke (walking away giggling)..

Hmm.. Such a silly girl…

We had a nice weekend.. Erik’s company X-mas party on Friday night.. They rented a suite to watch a hockey game, then we had a gift exchange at his office.. I ended up w/ tins of chocolate covered goodies & chex type mix (yum to both!) and Erik traded a couple of times, and ended up w/ a beta fish! haha..

Yesterday I had 2 morning sessions.. I thought to myself during them (“hey, I’m not doing to bad, moving around, and up & down)… Um.. that was until yesterday afternoon.. Ooooh my! I’m definitely starting to feel 8 months pregnant, that’s for sure! Yeah, sure I was up & down and movin’ pretty good.. that was until it caught up w/ me later and my whole body ached..lol..

Last night we did our now anual gingerbread house making at Kelly’s Bakery & Cafe.. It’s a lot of fun! Holiday music playing, the smell of gingerbread, soups, candy, icing, aside from making your belly grumble, it’ll get ya in the holiday spirit! We went last year too, so I think we’ll definitely be making it a family tradition for us..

(All taken w/ the Canon Point & Shoot)

Blog slacker.. yes, I know.. And to think I was doing so good for awhile! Updates pertaining to me & little pea pod over on Rated PG!..

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.. Ours was fairly quiet this year. We headed up Wednesday night to Erik’s parent’s and then back on Thursday evening.. I was eager to look through the ads Thursday night to make a game plan for Black Friday.. Miranda joined me for the chaos of shopping this year.. It was fun! I’m still not quite sure how, but we started at 3:30am and I made it for 8 hours! Now, I’ll admit, I had some mighty sore legs, back and swollen ankles.. but ahhhh, well worth the deals! Haha.. I think I managed to get everything on my list that I needed, so that was good.. Kaylor is d.o.n.e. and I’m not allowed to pick up anything else for that child.. It’s so easy to go overboard on kids’ stuff! She is of course very much looking forward to xmas.. Last Saturday we set the tree up and she decorated it all by herself. She was quite proud! I decorated the fireplace mantle and Erik got out the spiral trees for the yard, and that’s as much holiday decorating at our house this year.. It’s enough to make it feel like the holidays, but not too much that this preggo dreads taking down when I’m about to pop! Lol..

Still doing some things around the house to prepare for the new little one.. Her nursery is all painted, now just awaiting baby furniture. Erik’s bathroom project is making a little more progress.. He still needs to grout the tile backsplash and then start on the ceramic tile on the floor… I think he might hold off on that part for now though.

We had a long day out & about today.. Left the house around 9:30 and watched the annual xmas parade.. It was snowing & blowing, definitely felt like a winter parade! Then ran some errands, took Kaylor to a b-day party, and ran more errands.. Bought several gifts from our list, so it’s good to check mark those off.. LOTS of shoppers out that was for sure! I had $20 “Kohl’s Cash” from last weekend nad a 15% off card, so I stocked up on more baby items.. Her closet is full of new cute outfits just waiting to be worn =) Tonight we’re just hanging out at home.. have a couple movies to watch & snuggle up on the coach w/ popcorn..

I’ll leave you w/ this sweet story.. Definitely a way to reach out during the holiday season!

Good news to report! Our house has been fever free (knocking on wood)… Kaylor was finally able to go back to school last Tuesday, and she was sure ready! Her fever had been gone on Monday, so off she went. She still has a slight cough, but all in all feeling MUCH better than she was. And hopefully those germs are gone too.. I’ve washed her bedding and blankets twice last week, new toothbrushes, and Lysoled the heck out everything.. Out of 7 years, this was the longest she has ever been sick.. A full 7 days of fever for her.. I’m so relieved that she is better!..

Kaylor was so excited after school last Thursday.. She earned a pin in Girl Scouts for having the promise memorized.. She had it down pat two Thursdays ago, but we didn’t get back from meeting w/ a pediatric cardiologist in time to make her meeting. Speaking of which.. Kaylor has had some more of her “spells” w/ her heart, so we’ve been using another monitor that they have given us. This one is called the “heart card” and looks the size of a credit card, and is put against her chest, while having an episode, and it records an EKG… So far, we haven’t had any luck on using it to get a good recording.. It has to be completely flush against her skin and she has to stay very still.. Hard to do when your heart is out of rythym though..

Yay for having a short work week!.. Today was insane though… At work, today was our Tuesday, tomorrow is our Wednesday, and Wednesday is our Friday.. We can only do certain things for payroll on certain days of the week, so trying to keep it all straight?.. Yes, it’s enough to make your head spin!.. haha..

Since Kaylor’s room is complete, Erik worked Saturday morning for me, moving all of the office things into her old room.. So the nursery is now empty and ready for stage 2!.. I started painting around the trim, but I didn’t last long.. My back isn’t as forgiving these days w/ the extra basketball belly in front.. Hopefully this weekend, we can finish up painting this baby’s new room, and then it’s ready to be loaded up! Well, that is after we get this baby some furniture! lol…

Yesterday, Kaylor went w/ me to a baby shower thrown by my co-workers… It was a lot of fun! I took my p&s, so I’ll be uploading pics on the Rated PG blog soon! I’m tired tonight from being gone for a couple of hours at a Tupperware party.. Night!

Whelp, we’re on day 4 of fever at our house!.. Poor Kaylor, my heart just breaks for her.. She hasn’t been feeling *too* bad, but she’s now missed her holiday/winter program for school that was last night.. That has definitely had her upset.. She keeps making us promise her that we’ll buy the dvd that they record of it.. She tried Soooo hard yesterday morning to convince us that she could go to school.. (all the while, w/ a fever).. She told me how pretty I was, how I’ll always be her pretty mommy, and alllll these nice things.. lol.. The compliments were wonderful, but unfortunately they didn’t get her to school.. I took her to the dr. and they can only confirm that she does have a viral infection.. What, they don’t know.. They drew blood from her, which was an ordeal in itself.. (**Note to self, if the person getting ready to draw blood from your child seems a bit fidgety and nervous and your child is already scared outta their wits.. ask for a long timer).. I didn’t want to embarrass the girl, but she did a horrible job.. Got the needle in and had to keep wiggling & digging it around, because she couldn’t find the vein.. Even yelled for help for another nurse.. Poor Kaylor was crying hard.. I promised her that it normally does NOT hurt that bad, and unfortunately that nurse just didn’t do a very good job.. Needless to say, she’s not too keen on the idea of getting blood drawn in the future.. yikes!.. Kaylor said, “It MUST have been her first day”.. lol..

So, we have been disinfecting our house like crazy.. I do have to say though, that it thank goodness is not more like the flu.. With all those fun symptoms like throwing up, etc. etc. Erik was home for 2 days, I was home yesterday and today, and Mamaw is coming at lunchtime to take over, so I can head into the office for a little bit.. Keep your fingers crossed that this “virus” is scootin‘ it’s way out! =)