A Great Christmas

Wow - what a FUN Christmas! Unfortunately, I won't be able to post many photos - as my computer is not functioning 100%. Sorry about that, but please bear with me! Of course, James had a blast at all the gatherings and opening presents. He definately enjoyed all the boxes, bows and paper more than the actual gifts though! Most of the time, he just wanted to run around and be crazy with the other kids. It was so cute to watch him run with them! What a perfect time for him to have learned to walk/run. He also did really well with the late nights and going from the car to bed. I was impressed. His sleeping has improved a little, after a couple of CIO nights. We are finally sleeping from 8pm to 6:30am again. It would be hard to come up with a list of highlights - every part of this Christmas was great. I felt connected to the real meaning of Christmas in a whole new way this year, and it felt wonderful.

Ryan took a week off of work, and it has been SO awesome to have him around. I'm not sure how I'll feel when he goes back to work next week - even though it is a short week, with New Years and all. It's so nice to have an extra playmate for James to take me off the hook for a while!

I felt quite exhausted and not too well for most of the Christmas holidays. This was all explained when I did a pregnancy test on December 15th - and it was POSITIVE. Yes, merry Christmas to us - we are expecting baby No.2 in August of 2008! Of course, given my past I am still very apprehensive, because it's still very early. (I should just say I'm sorry if any of our close friends or family is finding out about this for the first time here). We have told most of our family and friends, so it won't be long before it is entirely public. Which it is now, I guess. :)

Glad Tidings

Merry Christmas everyone! May you have a blessed, joyful Christmas as you celebrate the gift that God sent to us - His Son, Jesus. I am off until after Christmas to celebrate and spend time with my little family. Love you all!

Changing Phases

Life here has pretty much been on a consistent schedule now for several months. We've still definately been dealing with nighttime sleep issues with James - but it's been hard to know what to do about it, since he's been teething and was sick. He has been sleeping better since he got over his flu though, and that has been nice. Now, however, it seems as though his sleep patterns are changing, and that he may not be needing two naps during the day. It's been a little bit stressful for me - because his nighttime sleep now seems to be very dependent on his daytime naps. The last couple of nights that he slept all the way through, he only got two 45 minute naps during the day. That is fine and dandy, except those naps were in the car, and it's hard to recreate that in the crib! Today I was going to try and skip his morning nap altogether, but by 10:00am he was so wiped I had to put him down. I thought I'd just wake him up after 45 minutes, but let's face it - when your baby is asleep it is SO hard to wake them up. He ended up napping for 1.5 hours. Now this afternoon he went down again at 3:30 - so I'm going to try and keep it to only about a 30 minute nap. All this messed up napping has me frustrated. I like routine and schedules, and trying to learn a new one during this new phase irritates me. Also, with all our Christmas gatherings coming up I am stressing out about how we can balance all the lack of napping and staying up late. I think we're going to be two very tired parents.

If anyone has any suggestions on this matter, I would be appreciative!

Peek-A-Boo Boy

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Plett Picture Post

Christmas Card Exchange?

I just had a thought today, so I need your feedback. I would love to send all my blog readers/lurkers Christmas cards - but there is no way that I could do that. I was wondering if you would all like to participate in a card exchange? You would email me your mailing address and email address. Then I would email you back with the name and address of another one of my blog readers, and you would send a card to them. That way we all get a card in the mail from a blogger, and it's just kind of fun to get a card from someone you may or may not know! Plus, it will save a few trees if I don't have to send out a billion Christmas cards, and James won't lose his college fund to postage bills! If you are interested in participating, please email me with your mailing address and email address by December 9th. There is a link at the top of my blog that says "Email me". Click there to send. Thanks! I hope you can all be a part of the fun!