Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! Part One Orange County

Our family has successfully traveled the length and width of the state, nearly, to celebrate Christmas with every family member on the left Coast.

We journeyed to Southern California...a harrowing 10 hour tour complete with rain, a sixth-month old who is teething and wanted to be nursed every twenty minutes for the first 250 miles of the trip, a very patient, and surprisingly flexible autistic big brother who tried throwing toys VERY far out the door of the car at each stop (as if we were going to let him get out and run to fetch them)...and fog on the Grapevine that slowed traffic to about 10 miles an hour between spurts of 70 miles per hour. Very scary that part.

We arrived at The Balboa Bay Club at 5:36. We had dinner reservations in the nice "coat and tie" part of the club at six. Somehow we managed to get Jake an ironed outfit, the Mom into a holiday dress, the dad into a coat and a tie AND pants that fit comfortably, babyLucy nursed and dressed in her Christmas dress...and make it into the restaurant by 6:15. Not bad. I think. We were able to see my neighbors from childhood, even Julie who was making a Left Coast appearance.

Jake didn't make it all the way through dinner. It was a lot of stimulation for those of us without "special needs". He was a trooper though. He finished his dinner, but before even our appetizers could arrive he really needed to go to bed. Descartes graciously said he would retire with Jake (I'm sure the lure of removing his tie helped him make the decision). We sent Descartes' food "to go" to the room. Descartes noted later that Oysters Rockefeller is not a good item to go.

just walking in the woods

Me and Demanda with our babies...

Crazy Jumperoo Lucy

Happy Christmas moments

BIAD the SnowMan

I'm an open book

So this evening my father-in-law asked me if I had a blog. For a moment, for just a brief moment I thought that I had better say "no". I told him I would send him a link to the blog, then I got nervous.

There is really nothing I am hiding here.. I mean obviously it is in the public domain. Why is it so much easier to think that only strangers would read what I have written? I can sing very well in front of large crowds..thousands of people. I have however completely sucked at just about every wedding where I have been asked to sing.

It may be that this precise fear, of those closest to me actually knowing me and seeing me is actually preventing me from finishing my writing.

I realized the other day that I have not worked on my book since I let my husband read through about 40 pages of it. It was a huge thing for me to let him read it. He said that it was very good, but he also said that "it isn't funny". I had not intended for it to be funny, so I suppose that is a very good thing that he wasn't laughing. It was just not what he was expecting. I'm not sure why, but it made me pause before I invested any more time in it.

Oh yeah, and I also had a baby, so maybe that is what slowed me down a bit. Lucy is 6 months now, so I suppose it is time for me to get back to work.

Anywhooo, so read on dear father-in-law.

babyFace

Nosy the Elephant

 

Bringing Home Baby

So my little sister is in Wichita right now. Which it ta. Wichita.. Never been there myself. Probably will never have a reason to go there. I am hoping I don't. Not because I don't like the people there. On the contrary. It's because if I ever go there it is probably because my sister needs my help with some court obligation, and that will mean that something has gone awry in the adoption process.
My sister is bringing home my nephew. The newest addition to our extended family. It has been a long time coming home. He was only born a few days ago,but we have been waiting for so many years. I know he is their child, but we have all been praying and hoping and wishing and waiting. I cannot imagine her mind if mine is this crazy. We are all so excited. I have wanted to cry "alldee time always". and then some.

Jake and Papa

These boys always have a good time together. Papa is so patient with Jake, and Jake will stay with him through an entire meal. This is Jake sneaking back to the table to get more food after he was supposedly done eating.

Notes to a friend

..when we sent Jake to camp this summer for 5 days (and nights!).. I really really missed him, and the noise and the hard work.. so the good news is... we do love our life.
Although last night at about 7:30 when Lucy was nursing for the gazillionth time (building up milk supply for next plateau I assume...) I said, "Uhm Descartes, I think I'm going to quit my job. It's just no fun anymore"...then I got the burst of smile from babyLucy and well, I opened a beer and reminded myself that I will probably never get to do any of this again.
No more labor, or nursing, or bathing baby butts or smelling like various stages of decaying milk. None of it lasts very long, even the hardest parts don't normally last longer than a few weeks. With Jake things have been stretched out over time, but even he looks like a big boy now. He just turned six on Sunday...