the Magic of Christmas

i woke up alone this morning...Christmas morning.

first because i couldn't sleep at 4:30 (pregnancy insomnia), then at 6:30 because work called, then just on my own. As i lay there, deciding on whether to get up or not, i couldn't stop thinking about how i missed being there to see my sweet 15 month old daughter's reaction to Santa Claus. and, of course, i was sad. but i knew she was in good hands and having a great time. She and my husband went to Branson to stay with his parents, brother and sister-in-law (Brandon and Jamie), and their 2 kids (Mason and Mallory) because i'm on call and have to work.

i worked all day yesterday and will be working from noon until 6:30 or so tonight. sad about this because i missed my favorite church service of every year...the candlelight Christmas Eve service. But, all of that is ok with me because i DO love work (well, it's kind of a love/hate relationship), and i do love my staff. so, spending Christmas with them isn't so bad. it's quiet, easy and someone's got to spend Christmas serving those who are in the hospital on Christmas! I've tried to remind them over the last several days, that although they may not want to be at work during the holidays when everyone else seems to be off, neither do the patients. and that's who we're here to serve and the least we can do is smile and make their day a little brighter. not sure how much that worked, but most of them seem to be in good spirits.

again, i'm sad...because it's the last Christmas i'll be spending with them. yep, the move is SO upon us. T-6 days and counting. you think i need to be packing? um, yep, but instead i'm sitting her reminiscing, listening to Christmas music, and blogging! (and just finished the huge pancake i cooked for myself!)

as i was also laying in bed, thinking about the reason for the season and thanking God for his Son, i opened my eyes and saw white! ... just a little bit of white, but enough to call it snow flurries, and have a dusting on the ground! a nice, and seemingly magicaly, treat for my last (lonely) Christmas in NW Arkansas.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas!!

(Ruby Belle is!! enjoying an Oreo at her daycare Christmas party!)

the countdown is on...

so, we're all set.

It's been a while since i've posted about our upcoming move...well, really i only posted the initial celebratory post. so, update:

1. official move date - Dec 31st

2. we have not sold our house here yet, so we'll be living with my brother and sister-in-law, Ty and Stephanie (we can't thank them enough for allowing us to be live-in roommates in their "MIL above garage studio apartment"...i mean, really, they JUST got married and even agreed to this!)

3. we are praying we sell our house within the next 2 months so we won't over stay our welcome and so we don't have to get into a lease/rental contract at another place.

4. justin and i both have jobs...and we start Jan 3rd! (poor planning on our part...why move on a Friday and plan to work on Monday?!? i don't plan on up and moving my whole life again, but i would definitely do a few things differently!)

5. Justin will be working at a local law firm and is set to take the LA bar in Feb.

6. I will be working with a contract foodservice company (different from the one i work for now, sadly), and will be working with nursing homes. (currently i work as the Director of Foodservice in a hospital) The plan is to work in a nursing home until we aquire a few more in the area and then i will be the manager over the foodservice in a couple nursing homes within driving distance.

7. Ruby Belle is all set for new daycare...not our top pick, but this is the story. i called 34, yes 34, day cares/Mother's Day Outs before finding one that could take her in January!!! I've been on the list at 3 day cares since September, but started calling again at Thanksgiving b/c the waiting lists were still...waiting. 34!!! (apparently i need to go ahead and get her on a list for preschool somewhere!) Anyway, we're staying on the waiting lists at the top 3 picks and will move to one of those in the Spring/Summer when supposedly they will have an opening!

8. Maggie (my dog) is set to move with us.

9. Keek (justin's cat) is hoping to be adopted! we hate to do it, but i'm allergic to Justin's cat, and we've decided that this was a good time to part ways. (man, that sounds so heartless!) I think we found a home, but nothing is set in stone.

ok, i think that covers it.

in the meantime, there will be lots of tears. well, there already has been...and there will be more. it's really exciting to move closer to family...and what i've wanted for a while, but it's also really hard to leave a life you've built in a place you've lived for the last 13 yrs! (wow...i'm getting old!) really hard.
tear...

our first public temper tantrum

it was a doozie!! really, she's not quite 15 months old and i'm experiencing things like this already! someone should have warned me! (ok, they did, but i don't care and it's all worth it!)

this is the story...
i picked up Ruby Belle after day care on Wednesday. she was fine, but i was a little fussy. i'd been sick for 3 days with what the doc seemed to think was strep throat and so, we stopped at Walgreens to get another perscription filled. of course, it was prime time to stop at Walgreens, so we just had a little wait (15-20 min) for the Rx. Ruby Belle had fun for the first 10. she would go stand in front of an aisle and just look and giggle. it was SO cute!! then she started picking stuff up, putting it on the floor, stacking it, putting it back, just to do that all over again, you get the picture. so i picked her up and that was it. she was MAD. I headed to the baby snack aisle and thought i could appease her with some of the wonderfully over-priced Gerber cheez-its. that worked...for about 3. so we headed to the pharmacy as she was crying, arched back and all in my arms. we quickly got our Rx, all the while she was still crying and wiggling in my arms or stomping her feet and crying on the floor. and then all the way outside. as soon as we hit the door, i put her down, hoping she would be happy she could walk. NOPE. she started with the foot stomping, the the body shiver, the silence-with-the-ugly-cry-face look, arms shaking, and then laid on the ground. the hard, cold, dirty ground right outside the Walgreens entrance.

i was dumbfounded! i had NO idea that kids did this at such a young age. and, of course, i thought that this would never happen to me! so, i just stared. then realized that wasn't doing any good, so i picked her up and carried her, arched back and crying, to the car. put her down by the car, and she wouldn't even put her feet down, so she again, laid on the ground. crying. people staring. some laughing, some just staring. it took all my might to get her in the carseat (i think the "arched back" is the strongest muscle in the body).

fun stuff. can't wait for more! looks like we're in for a fun ride!

i hope they got what they wanted!

was having a GREAT day today... found my work keys that had been missing for 2 weeks in the couch cushion! of course! where else would they be! and why didn't i look there sooner?! well, you would have thought i'd won the lottery by my reaction. Ruby Belle was even dancing. so, i was on a high and decided to hit the gym. got a good work out in...went to my car and what do you know! 2pm on a Sunday, and my passenger side window was broken out and my purse...GONE! UGH! it had my KEYS IN IT!!! and my wallet, of course. i cursed.

really?! why?! and how!? broad daylight, nice side of town (i mean, really...NWA only has SO many "not so nice sides"). yes, i left my purse on the seat, in plain sight. DUMB. i know. but we're not in Shreveport yet!

needless to say, it quickly ruined my day. i drove around and looked in hopes of finding a purse tossed to the side of the road (last time someone stole my purse, they threw my make up in the parking lot), but no luck. so, all credit cards have been cancelled, and my keys are for sure lost this time.

2 things to note though:
1. it could have been worse (i could have been hurt, my baby could have been hurt, we could have had a wreck...you get the picture)
2. there was no cash! ha! too bad for you, robbers! Merry Christmas to you, too!

a few new pics

a friend of mine let me borrow her Pentax K100 camera for a week to try out the "real" cameras, as i call them. you know, not the point and click, silver, little digital things. the big, black, professional looking ones that have always scared me because they look complicated. Well, i've been thinking of getting one and even taking photography classes because i feel like i am going to want LOTS more professional pics of Ruby Belle and am going to go broke (or get divorced b/c my husband hates to spend the $$) trying to get them! so, here they are, some taken by me and some by my mother in law...and all we did was point and click.

Domestic Goddess in the making...watch out!

yep, that's me!

ok, really?! NO WAY! I don't know how stay-at-home moms do it!?! I am whooped today!

here's what i did:

6am - wake up and let the dogs out (we're babysitting a dog for my mom. a YorkiePoo who's super cute, but wakes up screaming at 6am - and that's on a good day - ready to go out!)

6:10 - back to bed (while listening to the YorkiePoo wimper in her crate)

7am - wake up to crying baby (normal wake up time is anywhere from 7-8am) and am up for good.

7:15 - begin to make coffee, but then try to feed fussy baby...this is a failure, milk it is.

7:45 - cook breakfast!! YES i did, folks!! Bisquick pancakes. Not what a real domestic goddess (aka super stay-at-home mom) would do, but it's the first breakfast i actually had to turn something besides the microwave on for in years!!! maybe EVER!

8:30 - clean up breakfast

9:00 - play with baby and try to watch a little boob tube while waiting for it to get a little warmer outside

10:15 - baby grouchy and hungry (b/c she didn't eat any breakfast) so the only thing that appeases her is cheerios...Cheerios it is!

10:45 - baby down for a nap. I do a little more cleaning/laundry

11:30 - head out for a 6 mile run!!

12:30 - back from run, but baby still sleeping!! it's a miracle!

12:45 - baby up from nap, time for lunch!! she refuses everything except for the carrots i'm cooking for me, and only will stay in the high chair for 2 minutes at a time before screaming. (this is NOT her favorite place, but today is unsually strange...but it's part of being a mom, right?! :) and again decides she'll eat pretzels as long as i feed them to her NOT in the high chair. i MUST NOT GIVE in!! that's what i'm thinking as i'm trying to be super mom and teach my baby to behave and act like a sweet, responsible, polite little girl. surely she'll have to be starving at some point and eat, right?!

1:30 - give up on lunch and clean up.

2:30 - head out to work (i'm on call and have to run an errand for them)

3:45 - return home and start to cook dinner.

4:30 - dinner is in the oven! Begin washing dishese and cleaning up

5:15 - Dinner is served! and best of all, my husband and baby BOTH like it!!

here's the proof...i really did cook this. got the recipe from a Kraft Food & Family magazine. i've been getting these for years, but rarely use them! anyway, recipe is Undone Stuffed Pepper Casserole. and really, it was easy and pretty good!

`

5:30 - clean up dinner

5:45 - sit on couch and wonder if i HAVE to give baby a bath?! ;) write this post instead while i relish in my 2 meals, fairly clean house, and clean laundry! YES, i think....just for a moment...

I'm a DOMESTIC GODDESS!!

6:00 - finish post b/c baby wants to type and it's getting harder for me to fight her off...back to reality. time for baby's bath!!!

I shed a tear...

AT WORK! IN FRONT OF MY STAFF!!!

yep, i did. i annouced today that i was leaving. moving to Shreveport. and it (well, i) was sad. (YES, I'M STILL HAPPY I'M MOVING!!!) BUT, really, it was hard. i love that place. and i love to hate that place. it's what's been keeping me here...it's one of the hardest things to leave. really, it's hard to leave my friends....and hardest to leave my best friend, Holli. but it's secondly hard to leave my job. i have worked at the same hospital for 8 years. i've kind of "grown up" there. i have "moms" who check in on me, "dads who pester me," and "kids who give me hell, but make me proud." i've come a long way professionally since they all met me, but because of them, i'm where i am. because of them i am who i am. and because of them, i love that place!

boy am i gonna be sad (and full of tears) when i leave!