Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas!!!

Hope all had a fabulous Christmas! I can finally breath, its all over :) As much as I love Christmas, the stress that comes along with it can really put ya over the top when you have plenty of other stresses. But it's all worth it in the end. I love the holidays, and spending time with family. It's nice having everyone around. Miss Princess had a wonderful time as well, Santa brought her far to many presents!! You'd think he robbed Toys R Us!! But she loved it. & I am so glad she enjoyed it!!

When we woke her up Christmas morning

(since she can sleep in til 10-11am if you let her)

she was so confused, but on a mission, she jumped right out of bed

(after untangling herself from her blankets)

she took off, walked right past us, and straight for the living room! She went through her stocking first, and loved all the little gifts we found her!

 After she cleared through her stocking, it was on to the mountain of gifts!!

She did good, til about a 1/3 of the way through, then I think she was more interested in playing with everything which meant everything needed taken out of their boxes...RIGHT NOW!! She made out pretty good!! :)

Of course our house is now a little disorganized...which is rather frustrating. We like organization!!

Here is our mountain of wrapping paper & boxes....

Needless to say, Mike had quite the job of trash duty!! But he did a wonderful job, I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life!!

Late Christmas night, after Natalie had to leave for her

Christmas with her dad's family, Mike took down the tree and cleaned up for me, while I got a little 'me' time and met up with some friends for a couple drinks. It was nice to see everyone who was home from school, and get away from the holiday chaos. I was in tears when I got home a couple hours later & walked into a clean, tidy, and clutter-less living room! He did such an awesome job :)

Now we just need to get toys organized, which is a full weekend job in itself. I do really miss the days of being a Stay At Home Mommy, when I had all the time to clean and organize, work sure does drain that energy. But someday...I'll get that pleasure again :) And I won't complain for a second!!

We had such a great weekend, but it sure did fly by!! Mike is off work for the week, unfortunately his week home so far has not been so fun, since he is sick! Him and Princess had a 'lazy day in' today. They stayed in their jammas, laid around, watched movies, and played. I am certain Natalie enjoyed that!

She is all full of energy, so again...this will be a job to get her to settle down and in bed!!

Taste of a day off!

Well today I had the day off. and Mike thankfully could get today off as well! Even though it wasn't for the most exciting thing in the world, it was still nice to have some time together. We went to Des Moines the morning, to see a Neurosurgeon, for all the trouble I have been having with my back/hips/legs. We didn't find much out (other then we're opting out of surgery for now) He changed my medication, and wants to try some physical therapy. We follow up with him in the next 4-6 weeks, and see how I am feeling. I'm hoping this new medication will help, even tho I hate taking any medications I guess I'll try.

After my appt. we went to the mall, to finish my Christmas shopping, procrastinator Mike still has to finish his on Friday!! lol :) I got all I needed, and can officially say I am done!! What a huge a relief. Now I just need to wrap everything!! Which will probably be a whole nights event! After miss Natalie goes to bed. So this may have to wait til Christmas eve, since I think that's the only night I can get Natalie to get to bed early. At the mall, Miss Natalie got to sit on Santa's lap, again! For the 60th time!! She's to funny. I figured I  better let her talk to him one last time before Christmas. That made her day!! Even though she was so grumpy allllll day. She didn't want to listen and everything made her cry, back to that emotional 3 year old phase. After the mall, we hit up a few other little shops, and then to a late lunch at Carlos O'Kellys--My Favorite!! Of course Natalie fell asleep on the way home, thankfully. We got home around 4:30 and she slept for about 3 hours, which is going to kill me tonight trying to get her to sleep. She is wired! hehe. But she needed some sleep, so I'll suffer a little. I hate when she gets grumpy like that. Makes me feel helpless, cause I want her happy and cheerful!

Since she woke up, we have just been spending some family time in the living room, coloring - watching TV - and playing around! I love when the 3 of us can just be together. Having the day off to get some things done, sure does make me wish we could be at that point financially that I could be a stay at home/work at home mommy. I love the time I get with Natalie, and it breaks my heart having to be at work and without her! And to think in just a couple years she'll be in Kindergarten all day, and to old to stay home with me lol. Maybe I'm just being selfish? I don't know. Since starting at the clinic, it's been a tough transition. I have never had to be away from Natalie for so long...drives me NUTS!

Makes me appreciate the little things! Such a silly little girl I got on my hands, but certainly wouldn't trade her for the world!

I am so anxious for Christmas morning, I almost cannot bare it. To see the look on her face when she sees her presents, will be priceless!!  1 1/2 days left of work, then the Christmas times can begin!! Not so anxious for the 'Taking down the Christmas tree' part tho! Hopefully I can con Mike into it :) I'm sure he would just love that...maybe not so much, but I sure am going to try!

Guess I should get to working on this little miss princess getting in bed, better start now!!

New Blog!!

So I figured, I decided to take on everything else imaginable, I mise well start a blog as well! Might be fun? I enjoy reading everyone else's I mise well, right? My post may be few and far between, but its an attempt. Especially with the holidays, it has been a crazy time of year. Natalie is getting so very excited for Christmas, I'm excited for it to be here, to be done with. She continues to ask everyday if its Christmas yet. I'm sure she'll be shocked with I finally get to say ''yes its Christmas''!! I cannot wait to see the look on her face, when she gets to open her Christmas presents.

She absolutely loves her Christmas tree, we got a new one this year, since I've never really had a nice Christmas tree & Mike is allergic to real ones, we got a really nice one AND an awesome deal on it as well!!

And lots of nice decorations. We did have candy canes on there as well, but between Mike and Natalie there may be 2-3 left :) As long as they're happy!

I am also anxious for Mike to get his presents, I think its what he least expected! Which is great, I love surprises!! I'm also excited to have both my sisters home for Christmas...we don't spend enough time together anymore. As we get older, and have our own things to do it gets harder.

Natalie has also seen Santa Claus, 6-7 times this year. She just loves him,  not much scares her!! She is the bravest 3 year old girl I know! Runs right up to him. At her dance class on Thursday, her teacher had a wonderful little Christmas party for the girls, and of course Santa was there. Apparently Miss Natalie was so hungry, cause when Santa put her on his lap and asked what she would like for Christmas, her response was priceless...
"A Sandwich"....I was laughing so hard, my eyes started to water! The things 3 year old comes up with!! Needless to say, we aren't getting by that cheaply this year. She does want a 100 other things, they're just not as important as that sandwich :)

Well off to get some sleep, I'm going to need it to finish my Christmas shopping tomorrow!! Can't forget the last minute gifts!!