It's the Holiday Season, don't forget to hang up your sock

I wish I could post pictures of the gifts I'm making for the babies, but I want their mamas to be surprised, too, so it will have to wait until at least next week.  I'll just say that I'm hooked and that I'm seriously considering going into business doing this after the holidays.  I'm very fortunate in that I can stay at home with my precious baby and not work outside the home, but, wow, experiencing our first Christmas as a single income family has been a very eye-opening experience.  We thought we were living tight before - whew! - nothing compared to Christmas.

So, anyway, more on the newfound passion of mine and potential 2nd income in the coming week or so.

So, the sleeping hasn't gotten any better, but we've chosen to embrace it.  We still hope that she'll go down only once, but when she wakes up after an hour we bring her out to the living room with us.  We've tried letting her cry but the child can be a mule...very stubborn.  I don't know where in the world she gets that from.  She cries and cries and then she screams and screams.  Tonight she started flipping out so David went in to get her and even after he picked her up she continued to completely scream her head off - she even cried harder when he picked her up.  She would stop for a couple of seconds and consider her surroundings but then she would start the screaming again.  I've never heard her cry like that - it was awful.  She finally settled down and David put her on her play mat.  She laid there contently for about 30 minutes then I fed her and laid her back down.  She didn't make a peep and fell right to sleep.  So, the question is whether it's worth it to fight her on this or just to pretend that her 8pm bedtime is actually just a nap and let her play until she gets tired.  Whatever...I mean I can't really complain too much since she'll usually sleep through the night once she goes down.

I know I post about sleeping all of the time, but she's almost 6 months - it's our life right now.  I wouldn't want her looking back on my posts and thinking she never gave us any trouble.  I don't want to put a smiley face here but that's the spirit in which that comment was intended, so just imagine it's there.

I have a nasty cough but I'm fighting it.  Tomorrow we go to Lacey for David's extended family Christmas Eve celebration.  I managed to make a no-bake cranberry walnut cheesecake pie and a double batch of artichoke dip so that's my contribution.  Should be fun.  I don't imagine Amelia will be getting her required naps over the next couple of days, but hey, it's Christmas.  Couldn't get any worse than it is or than it has been, I would imagine.

Next week we head to Oregon to have Christmas with my family.  Well, they'll have Christmas on the 25th but since it's David's parents' turn to have us this year we'll celebrate with my side of the family next week.  On Christmas Day we'll head to David's parents' house for breakfast, gift opening, then dinner with his aunt and possibly a couple of other relatives.  My only wish would be for snow...or at least rain.  We're in Seattle, for crying out loud!  But no, we're supposed to get sun on Christmas!  It'll be a fun day either way!

Hmm, pictures.  Let me see what I have.

So this is David and Amelia playing on the floor.  You'll see the "Scat Mat" next to the chair which is supposed to give the cats something similar to an electric shock when they step on it.  This is to prevent them from scratching our furniture more than they already have.  I'm mumbling under my breath but you can't hear me.  The obvious Amazon box and Target bag are the few items I had left to wrap that I got wrapped tonight.  I put them by the tree so I would remember but then I got sick so they stayed there for 2 days.  That would drive my mom crazy.  It drove me crazy, too, I just didn't feel like doing anything about it.


And here's just a cute shot of Millie.  I have some pictures taken with the "Night" setting on my camera, but it looks like my baby is being engulfed in the flames of the fireplace which is very disturbing.

Merry Christmas!