merry merry

since my dear lovely nancy asked (and i have been meaning to actually post more & stuff) we had such a very merry (and of course holiday stressful) christmas. i actually had vacation time so we packed up the kids & went down to stay with my sister & bil & my folks live about 20 minutes from them.
the short version- now bulleted:

• kids love to get sick right before or as you travel 5 hours from home. and as one gets better (although maintains a level of whine previously unheard of in our house) the other comes down with his first wicked cold
• babies teething multiple teeth at once, away from home, and with a cold = no bueno
• my parents are nuts. basic normal aw shucks but we love em anyway nuts- with a touch of they may actually be a little crazy too. we did not go to their house. my children have not seen it & probably never will. at least not in its present state- i don't want to lose them there.
• my dad is not in good health and even more upsetting it all seems fixable with a little effort on his part- except he just doesn't seem to care. which makes me even sadder than the hoarding situation.
• my folks are still amazingly loving and generous and spoiled both kids rotten & got to spend hours with them as we got to go to a movie for the first time in over a year. 
• car rides are really good for knitting
• car rides are really boring for toddlers who don't just sleep most of the way anymore.
• nothing is open on christmas day to stop & stretch your legs & eat except the wawa- which is actually so much better a choice than fast food- why did i not see it earlier!
• traveling and christmas can test the strongest of relationships & really turns already tired parents who are just barely holding their marriage together into 'one more bad word/yelling match/rude comment away from saying something really final'
• there are babies coming all around me next year & i just started making things- i hope i can keep up!
• my daughter tells the funniest toddler jokes ever. and hearing how her mind works is pretty amazing. oh- and she can count to 12. in order. and sings abc's at lightning speed missing only a random one in her zeal
• having a day to decompress after travel can save a lot of stress & ease a lot of hurts- muscles & hearts
• brothers-in-law both made we want to cry a little with their generosity this year. one for giving us time as adults away from kids and helping my hub help our parents so much; and the other for literally giving us his christmas bonus so we could spend it on ourselves/the kids. 
• which we then of course offered to the in-laws to fly them up so they can meet little bear & hang out with the bug girl pumpkin has become. video chats are great- but holding that solid smush of a chunka babe is something they (he) needs to do before health issues get worse. 
• the face is much better although still excessively odd to eat & be careful not to bite down  wrong or get food in the GAPING HOLES in you mouth. But the pain is nearly gone & i didn't need all that much of the pain meds they prescribed. the first 2 days were the worst & i was pretty much pumping & dumping anyway at that point. after that the ped. cleared me to nurse but suggested that i try to time any pain meds to right after i feed so i have the 4 hour window- which worked great since i only needed them for bed & he was already asleep (and stayed asleep!) at that point well past the 4 hour mark.

i did take a bunch of pictures which i will close with as it is late (almost 9.p.m!!!!) and i am enjoying 2 kids sleeping with a delicious beer and trying to wrap up my first baby blanky of the season. hope all was merry and bright with anyone that's still reading!

ready for the trek

with grandpa- resemblance- i think so!

too much christmas fun- she slept like this for an hour!

 

traditional post christmas clearance run

love this! she's giggling, but you'd never know it!

intent on presents

grandma in her traditional role of sweets pusher!