Will dances till his pants drop!

Christmas in the Bayou

This year, we weren't able to travel to see family for Christmas. Jon really didn't have the vacation time, and Brighton is still too young (and constantly hungry) to make a long car trip. We had a relaxing Christmas at home in Louisiana. We have now really started settling into life with a new baby. Will is now sleeping in his big boy bed once again (YES!), and there seems to be some semblance of a daily routine taking shape. Getting Will into his bed took much planning. I gave Will a 10-day countdown for getting out of his "crib," and we promised him he could open one of his big Christmas presents early if he successfully stayed in his bed all night. We even showed him the present each day to remind him of what he was "working" for. Mom and Dad had brought his train table down when they visited, and they even managed to wrap it. It served as the perfect motivation for little Will, and he sleeps beautifully. He is really enjoying the train table too. Unfortunately for Jon, it took 3+ hours to set the whole thing up once Will tore the paper off. (Not exactly just snapping the legs on, Dad!) Both Ed and Dad got a laugh out of Jon's pre-Christmas toy construction this year. Will received a Powerwheels John Deere tractor from Grandma and Granddad (Ed and Caren). He is still a little hesitant about riding it. He has really enjoyed his new Cars, especially since he has so many now. We thought this year we wouldn't have many presents under the tree, but we should've known that the Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles wouldn't let that happen! Thanks to everyone that went to the trouble of mailing gifts down here--Will had a ball tearing into his gifts. Brighton did a great deal of sleeping on Christmas day, which was fine with us. In fact, I got the BEST gift of all--two children taking a nap at the exact same time for over three hours, oh, it was phenomenal! We did get out a little over the holiday. On Christmas Eve, our neighbor, Kathy invited us to her sister's home for their annual family gathering. Her sister has seven children and 18 grandchildren, mostly under the age of five. Kathy only has one daughter and no grandchildren, so she has kind of adopted Will and Brighton as her grandchildren. We had a wonderful time. Will got to play with kids his age and we met several couples our age. Just being able to socialize with other moms was great. We actually met a Hokie there too! The house was an old, enormous Southern home and their were fireworks and lots of yummy food. We really appreciated being included, especially since we couldn't be around our own families this year.
I am looking forward to New Year's day, if for no other reason, than to be able to take down Christmas decorations. For some reason this year, I am chomping at the bit to get going on a new year. I think that I am craving more organization in my life, and I'm ready to establish more of a routine for this little operation I'm running. I've begun planning Will's preschool lesson plans, and I'm anxious to see whether we will be able to function as teacher and student. I think we'll be ok as long as I keep a sense of humor. :) I'm actually looking forward to trying this arrangement because I've been looking for an outlet for my need to teach. I would welcome any advice from homeschool/preschool moms on how to keep things running smoothly. For now, I will keep in mind that I may be overly ambitious, and Will is a smart boy who is already proving to be a quick learner. He is also very very sweet with his new baby sister, and I couldn't ask for better children. They are absolutely the most beautiful things to wake up to each morning, and I'm so thankful for my family (including my very hard-working husband) :)

William the Engineer

The gift of sleep (much appreciated by mommy)

Presents aplenty (Thanks to the Grandparents!)

Our little Christmas Present

Attempting a Christmas card photo

Looking down our street

Will in the Snow

Daddy's Girl

Snow on the orange tree

The Effects of the Snow

Getting out of the house on Saturday in Covington

We have power and cable!!!

I haven't been able to update the blog recently because we did not have power for one day, and our cable just came back on after five days. My visit with Amanda was great. We did a lot of sitting and talking. Of course, we had to watch the Cars movie twice with Will, but we did get out to do some sightseeing. It was so nice to have her here to meet Brighton. We took her back to the airport on Monday, and both Will and I spent the rest of that day a little sad. Amanda had a cold when she left, and I started to get one on that day too. I don't think we had the same germ because we had such different symptoms. I did spend the rest of the week with all of the fun, messy cold symptoms we all love. Thankfully, neither of the kids have shown any symptoms of being sick. On Thursday, I woke up to see snow falling outside. I really couldn't believe my eyes! I never thought I'd see snow falling (and sticking to the ground) while living here! I rushed upstairs to get Will up because I thought if he slept too long he would miss it! Of course, once he was up he wanted to play in it. I had to put his snow clothes on over his pjs! I found out later from my neighbor that he was probably the only kid around who actually had snow clothes! The snow kept falling and falling. It was heavy and wet, and soon our power went out. Jon came home because of the power outage and because there was talk of the causeway being closed. When he got home, part of our live oak tree was sitting on top of two lines (formerly overhead lines) in our driveway. The house started getting very cold, and Will was starting to get ants in his pants because I kept trying to keep him wrapped up in a blanket. Since there was nothing we could do about the power, we got some snacks and drinks and DVDs and went out for a drive. Will was able to watch his movie in the car. I was able to sit in the heat and as long as we were moving, Brighton was asleep. The whole city was a ghost town! We tried everywhere to get lunch, but the snow had scared everyone into staying home-or possibly in caves since I didn't see homes occupied either! We finally found one drive thru open, so we had to eat in the car. We decided to go home before dark and put some of our food in coolers just in case. But shortly after we got home, the power came back on. The lines were still in the driveway, and we soon discovered they were not power lines but cable lines. This morning, Charter finally came to get the lines out of the driveway, and so I can use the computer once again! I will hopefully be getting some Christmas cards out soon, but we have not been able to do that yet because we haven't been able to get a decent picture of both kids at the same time. Maybe today will be the day! I have been a little lonely because my MOPS group was canceled (even though the snow had melted), and I haven't been able to use the phone to call friends and family. I'm hoping that Will and I will be able to get to some kind of playgroup soon! We both could use some local friends! Until then, we will continue to be each others' best friend. Will is really becoming a big helper with Brighton. He helps me bathe her and always lets me know when she is crying-just in case I couldn't hear it myself. :) We are continuing to adjust and look forward to a visit to VA with friends and family in the spring.

Will's Tree Fort

Schu Men

Will's Unique Artstic Style

Daddy's been hit with a spit-up bomb

Mommy and Brighton

Rainy Thursday in Louisiana

We are spending the morning watching the rain fall outside and watching Dora and Boots attempts at stopping that sneaky fox-"Swiper, no swiping!" We have had a bit of a wearisome week. Brighton has not been sleeping well, and Jon even stayed home to work on Tuesday because I did not sleep at all Monday night. Will wakes up at 6:15, so any attempts at sleeping in are always foiled. I was very grateful for Jon on Tuesday. It was really nice that he recognized what a zombie I would have been had he not stayed home. I took the kids out later that afternoon and picked up a "miracle blanket" at a specialty store fore babies in town. This blanket keeps babies super swaddled and has a money-back guarantee to work in 30 days yada yada yada. I must say that I had my doubts, but I am sitting here this morning having slept more than four hours last night! I was able to feed Brighton and put her back in the bassinet where she fell peacefully asleep! I was able to wake up with Will while Brighton stayed asleep long enough for me to read to Will and get his milk.
I have a busy day today preparing for Amanda's arrival tomorrow. I am very excited to have my sister for a visit since we haven't seen each other since August. We have been decorating for Christmas this week, and I can finally say that I'm finished. I made wreaths for the door and enjoyed putting out all of my Christmas dishes. We bought a very "Charlie Brown" tree this year knowing that it may possibly be pulled onto the floor by overly curious hands. We figured that should this happen, it would be better that the tree weigh next to nothing and not be filled with irreplaceable ornaments. Will has pulled a few ornaments off, especially the Cars ornament I picked up for him this year, but he is learning how to be careful with them too. He has also made the Christmas tree corner his little fort for parking cars and eating snacks. Jon and I found him behind the tree last night quietly eating Chex mix.
We are still adjusting to life as a family of four, and I am slowly learning what it takes to be a mother of two. I received a very nice card from a friend from Trinity Church. It couldn't have come at a better time, and I broke down in tears just reading it. I needed to hear some encouraging words from a mother whose "been there." It is wonderful to know people are praying for us. I needed a reminder that the exhaustion will pass, and I need to relish each moment with my two little ones. I love being a mom even for all of the stress and challenges. It is a constant learning experience, but the rewards just keep coming!