A bit of December

Julia earned her crown!  

She was soooo pleased! So was I! The movement to sleeping in the big girl bed has gone well. The first night, she was up a lot, but not upset. She'd come up, I'd wake up (on high alert myself) and take her back down and remind her about earning her crown. She came up probably 10 times that night. The next two nights were about 6 times. She earned a little glowworm doll baby that sings quiet songs and some other trinket that i've now forgotten. After that, she woke only 3 times. Now, we are down to ONCE a night!!!!!!!!! I cannot say how happy I am about this. I now am a much happier mom in the morning.  She still asks for a "surprise" in the mornings, but we have downscaled considerably, usually to a piece of halloween candy.

Dave had a saturday class in Portland, so we went and made a day of it, going to the art museum. I was nervous to take Julia, especially as we arrived right about naptime. I brought the stroller along, but for 15 minutes, it was shaping up to be a disaster. She wanted to climb on displays, roll around on the floor, and generally be a bit naughty and loud, magnified by the austerity of a museum. Thankfully, a guard came over and asked if we knew that there was a kids discovery center upstairs. I gratefully fled there with Julia and hung out while Dave looked around. We switched, and when I came back, by some miracle, she was asleep in the stroller. So it ended up fine, we got to see art, which I have not really managed to do for years! The picture is of one of my favorites, a wool blanket embroidered and pieced. 

and this one, a metal bowl adorned with feathers. 

We returned home to guests! Mike and Mary Chiles, family friends from way back came and spent the night with us. Julia was delighted with Mary in particular and is playing "go to sleep" with her. She was quite sad when they left. 

So was I! It was lovely to hear all they had been up to and to update them on our lives. 

I did a bit of decorating, lights around the front windows, candles lit and a wreath on the door.  

That was all I had time for because my friend Andrea came to see me, all the way from Minnesota! She brought her 4 month old, Wesley along, but her 2 year old William stayed home with his Grandparents. This was my first time meeting Wesley, and he was adorable! Cute and content and he stayed where you left him. That stage is amazingly short!

We had a great 5 days together, and on top of that, Julia's Grandma Gini came down, so we had a full home! Julia was just thrilled. She loves Andrea, she adores the baby and on top of that, her Grandma was here! Julia decided she was going to sleep with Grandma Gini and so she did. I wasn't sure how going back to her bed would seem after Gini went home, but she had no problem. It was the first night (two in a row actually!) that I didn't have to wake up to attend Julia since her birth. On top of that, Gini agreed to take care of both Julia and Wesley one night while Andrea and I went out for a drink and dessert! 

bathtime for babies!

Julia wanted to help feed the baby some cereal.  

and she actually did a great job! It reassures me that if we do indeed have another one, that she might actually be a big help! 

Andrea and I went for long walks and I tried my best to convince her that the west is where life is best!

here's a better picture of the baby. Still in the adorable chubby cheeked stage!

Julia was all about holding the baby

for 6 seconds, then she wanted to go play. 

she was captivated by the guitar!

We stayed the last night of the visit in Portland, since Andrea's flight was early in the morning. We went to the saturday market, got Voodoo donuts,  swam in the hotel pool, rode the lightrail, saw the tree in Pioneer Square, had dinner and went to bed early!

Andrea got home without a hitch, and Julia and I swam once more, ate breakfast and hurried home to get our tree! 

I love our tree! It is the first tree that I've ever hung all my ornaments from the Christmasses since I went to college all together. From my house in Northfield, from Holden, from Alaska and from my childhood, as well as some made by Dave's  Great Great Grandma. It made me feel like I've finally arrived in my adult life, even more so than having Julia made me feel. I guess it feels like the transient years are over (and for me, that is a great thing) and we are close to buying this house and hopefully will live here a good long time. While I was busy getting the last ornaments hung and feeling all sentimental, red wiggler worms were busy escaping from the tree! I saw one, and liberated it to the outdoors, came back and noticed 50 more!!!!! I thought about freaking out, but decided that I wasn't about to take all the ornaments off again, so instead got a cup and flashlight and collected worms for a good hour. I haven't seen any since, so I do hope they are all removed. I did have to run around a bit and make sure they were not somehow escaping the worm bin in the basement and coming up through the floorboards, but thankfully, those worms were safe and secure and busy eating food scraps and not crawling up through the floorboards. I've never heard of worms in a christmas tree, but I am glad they were not spiders. That would have involved a great deal of freaking out. 

So we are getting along fine. Life has calmed down again since our many guests have come and gone, and we are making plans for more in the future!!! I learned to give a subcutaneous injection in EMT class and didn't pass out, so I think I might be able to handle whatever is to come! My term final is in a few days, so we'll soon see if I make it on to the second half of the class.