Christmas Eve

My family celebrates Christmas Eve. We are Polish - and Christmas Eve is the big day. So Nicholas, Abby, and I went down to stay at my mom's house for a few days (Jon was super busy with work, so this had the added bonus of giving me people to help with the kids).

My grandmother always tries to make me put away the camera. But it was Christmas Eve and she was holding Abby so the camera came out. And what a great shot this is!



When we arrived a few days early my mom and sister already had Nicholas' presents out and wrapped. We decided early on that Santa comes to the house, and Grandma, Great-Grandma, and Aunt Debby/Uncle Wayne get to give presents from themselves because Santa wouldn't visit Grandma's house.

He got books, a car play mat, boxes, Bob the Builder Legos, new pajamas.....and a car. Every book he got he immediately wanted my mom to read to him. He would unwrap it and say "Read this one Grandma." Then climb into her lap and sit patiently while she was reading.



This is the car. He drove it around the house. In fact, he drove it all around the evening of the 23rd (when he got it). Wayne was just going to give it in the box and make Jon put it together, but my mom begged to have him put it together - so he did. Wayne brought up his tools and my sister set out to put all the decals on. When who should appear but Nicholas - "Uncle Wayne's tools?" he asked. Then he said, "I want to help" and proceeded to pick up the power drill. Wayne took it away, and my mom gave Nicholas an ice cream cone to get him to leave Uncle Wayne and Aunt Debby alone to assemble the car. It turns out the helping takes a poor second place to ice cream when you are 2.

In fact, when he went to bed that night, he asked if his car was parked. Then when he woke up the next morning the first thing he did was run out to his car and start driving it again. And he drove it when he got it back to Sacramento. And every day we take a "drive" around the block in the car.



And, due to poor planning on my part (I figured 2/3 a can of formula was enough for 3 days), we had to go to the store to get formula. My mom wanted to go to Toys-R-Us. There were also other assorted problems which made Toys-R-Us, which happens to have a baby/maternity section inside, the best option.

There my ever resourceful son picked up even more construction trucks. Because he didn't have enough already, he now has a full set - complete with a crane, road signs, cones, and barrels.

And this is Lofty - the Bob the Builder crane. The set also came with Scoop. And a booklet of all the other Bob the Builder Lego sets which he tried to convince his Aunt he desperately needed.

Needless to say, Nicholas raked it in. Abby did too - but her stuff came early (like when she was born). Jon and I got free baby sitting - which is the best gift we can get most times.

Christmas Eve was a blast!

Dec 18th: Cookie Decorating Party

I held a cookie decorating party on Deb 18th. It was just for fun. It happened to be the same Saturday as a BYU game, so it gave me something to do while Jon watched the game. Actually, I love throwing parties and I love Christmas, so this was a good combination. Lots of people came and went, and lots of cookies were decorated.

Even more little kids were decorated. For some reason I thought that spoons were better for frosting than knives would be. After all, kids would range in age from 1 on up (there were younger kids there, but I figured they wouldn't be doing any cookies decorating). So spoons it was - plastic ones (easier to clean up after). Paper plates and cups - everything was disposable.

Adults ended up making cookies too. It was great. Sprinkles, M&M's, chocolate chips, frosting . . . you wouldn't believe how much can be piled on a cookies and still kids will eat it.

And some kids ate just the frosting. Or just the sprinkles. Poor moms - I sent all the kids home sugared up. Way sugared up. And they all played too.

There were arts and crafts for those that didn't want to do cookies - or those who tired of cookies.

I loved every minute of the party. It was fabulous, and I had a ton of fun. I hope all the people who came had fun too because it was a total blast.

Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year and it was my pleasure to share it with so many friends.

Way behind

I am so far behind in posting things to the blog. It comes with having a new baby and little time. So I am going to post our Christmas party, Christmas Eve, and Christmas blogs today/tomorrow. Then I will catch up. Sorry!

Merry Christmas

Just in case I don't get the Christmas cards out on time - here is what the newsletter would have looked like, had you gotten one. I think you have to click on it to make it larger.

Our Christmas photo

Here is the photo that we took for Christmas. You will notice that neither parent is in it - mainly because we are too scrappy looking to be in a photo with our cute kids.

This was the one picture out of 10 that had Nicholas giving his "cheese" smile and had Abby's face - when she wasn't bawling. For some reason she didn't like being held by Nicholas this night. Normally, when we let him hold her, she stares at him and babbles something at him. He just kind of looks at her for a few minutes, says "Hi Abby" and then says "I don't want to hold her anymore." But he was really good for the pictures.

Why are they in Christmas pajamas? Well, I haven't finished the Christmas clothes yet. Nicholas' Christmas tie is cut out, but not sewn, and Abby's Christmas dress needs the other half of the zipper put in and the hem done. I have to put in the zipper by hand because I have forgotten how to do it on my sewing machine. So they are in Christmas pajamas - and they are super cute. But I am not biased or anything.

In other news, we have Christmas decorations up. So that is a big plus. I managed to get the house decorated in what I affectionately call "Christmas lite." Normally I am a huge Christmas decorator. I pull everything out the day after Thanksgiving and by that night there is no doubt that Christmas is coming to the Wunderlich household. I even did it when I lived by myself. This is a wonderful time of year and the only time you can be totally gaudy and it is acceptable and I love it.

But this year is "Christmas lite" because of the c-section, the new baby, the lack of sleep, the ever "helpful" 2 year old.....and I am simply out of energy. But we have some Christmas, a tree, and some outside lights. So I am somewhat satisfied. I am more satisfied when it is night time and I am exhausted because of the two kids and husband than I am in the morning when I am still fresh and have a lot of energy (comparatively).

We survived!

Today was Jon's first day back at work. I was concerned about how today was going to go; I cannot go up and down the stairs once I get down and Abby is suffering from a serious case of gassiness (she is always fussing if she's not upright). So I was concerned. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get her to stop crying, that I would need something from upstairs, that I wouldn't get to eat.....the worries go on.

But we survived!

Yes, it meant that for breakfast I ate jam on bread (what Nicholas calls a jam sandwich) at 9am and didn't eat again until 2:45pm. It means that the house is a mess - not dirty, just messy - because I have various projects in various states of being done. It means I got nothing done - other than making dinner, keeping myself and Abby fed and clean, and some Christmas decorations. I wanted to get some sewing done, but I couldn't get it done because Abby wasn't cooperating.

Yes, I had to walk for 3 hours with Abby between feedings. She ate 6 times today between 7:30 and 3:30. That is a lot of food. She needed lots of gas drops and burping, but I did it.

So what did we do all day? I find it amazing that people ask me that question. It is obvious that they have never had a newborn when they ask. Because that is all I got done. I mean, she needs food and diaper changes - which takes 35-45 minutes every 2-3 hours (more if she has a huge poop). She needs cuddling and talking to and singing. She needs holding. I need to take care of myself- eating and bathroom and drinking water. So what is left? About 30 minutes when you desperately hope that she will sleep so you can get a nap.

Since she's not sleeping, and she is in her swing for the 10 minutes she will sit there, I decided to write this post. Especially since the sound of a keyboard seems to soothe her better than FoxNews. Who can understand that?

Teething necklaces

Every mom knows the complaint - I cannot wear nice jewelry because my kids pulls/tugs/teethes/bites (insert your choice of verb here) on it. In fact, my son broke my favorite necklace when he was in the teething stage. I learned after that one. However, you also have to give up dangling earrings and some bracelets. I had to give up bracelets because my son always wanted to wear them - who wouldn't want to wear mom's jewelry. If mom is wearing it, it must be cool.

As I flashed forward to Abby going through this stage, and since I was looking for something Jon could get me and put in my stocking, I remembered hearing something about teething necklaces.

As I will do when I am trying to find something, I googled it (teething necklaces for mom). I got three types of results:

1. Actual necklaces that can double as teethers (which is what I wanted).

2. Something called a "nursing necklace" - which is a necklace made of colorful and tactile beads for a baby to hold while nursing - but not for teething on (which I did not want).

3. Amber necklaces - which the makers claim helps pain relief for teething babies when they wear it close to their skin.

So I picked out a few websites that had option number one and I was in love!

Smart Mom Jewelry makes a variety of necklaces (and matching bracelets) that can be teethed on. These come in donut shapes (a latex-free string with a donut pendant on the end) in multiple colors.

Uncommon Goods has the chunky bead-like necklaces that are made in three colors (blue, black and clear) for babies to chew on. These can go in the dishwasher when they need to be sanitized.

And then there is the Oh Plah! teething cuff - for those of you who like to wear bracelets and have babies who like to chew on them.

Anyways, I thought I would do other moms the favor of posting this here.