Hi everyone!

 

It is official, this has been my best Christmas in the last decade, maybe even best Christmas ever.  :)

 

Colleen was adorable opening presents, Wes couldn't care less about opening the presents, he wanted to play with the first one he got to and that was that.  We had so many (ours, Santa's, and ones that family members sent) that we had to open them in shifts.  Our day went like this:

 

Wake up

Go downstairs, Colleen immediately went to her big Barbie house on Wesley's train table.  They didn't even see the presents behind it.  :)

Open presents

Eat breakfast (chocolate croissants)

Open presents

Play

Eat dinner (Boston Market - we did one of those banquet meals, it was worth it!  Good food, no work.  Yay!)

Open Presents (by this time Shawn was doing the unwrapping and I was doing the twist-tie and clear rubberband packaging removal)

 

We had short conversations with family members, but overall it was just the 4 of us.  It was peaceful, calm, and happy.  It was better than I could have imagined.  Both kids each had a melt down (at different points in the day) - the excitement was too much for them I think.  I am not sure either one has ever seen so many new toys just for them before.

 

Something I will always want to remember is on Christmas Eve, Shawn was wrapping his present to me.  He was worried that his present would be a 'dud" or that I would already have it.  I told him, No way will I have it already.  We live in the same house, there is no way I could have something and you not know it.  Silly Man!   On Christmas morning I unwrapped my present as he watched me like a hawk.  He knows my facial expressions better that I do and he knew instantly that his present was a "miss".  You see, he got me the very same cake decorating turntable that I already have.  LOL!  And here I went on and on and on about how there was no way he could get me a duplicate of something.  Poor guy!  It is still a good gift and very thoughtful.  I told him he gave me the gift of a funny story as well as a new cake decorating turntable.  He is adorable.

 

And now for the biggest news, something I have been bursting to talk about...  Shawn and I have decided to buy a new house.  We have been looking at homes near his work for quite some time (remember The Money Pit?!?!) and after thinking about it, we decided to go with a new home builder.  I swore I would not buy a new home again, and I swore I would avoid home owners associations like the plague, but economics, convenience, and the thrill of getting to choose nearly every part of the house according to our tastes won us over in the end.  We signed the contract to build this past Wednesday.  They will not get started on the house for at least another month, and maybe even a month after that, since we are heading into our cold season.  The foundation is a concrete slab, so there are weather considerations for pouring it.  Estimated move in date is July-September for now.  Exciting!

 

We are now going through the overwhelming task of choosing options.  The big "systems" part of it was easy.  Yes, we want the better water heater.  Yes, we want two sinks in the kid's bathroom.  The hard part is choosing the colors of the "decorative" things - flooring, tiles, countertops, cabinets, lighting.  And perhaps harder still is choosing within the remainder of the budget after all of the "system" upgrades.  Money, money, money, money.  And my cheapness is coming out in full force.  I became convinced at the design studio that they were overcharging on EVERYTHING, and spent the better part of two nights looking up product numbers on the internet, proving... PROVING that they were charging more.  Except, I forgot about sales tax.  Oh yeah, and I forgot about delivery charges.  And, oops!  installation fees!  OK... maybe they aren't overcharging so much.  Maybe I shouldn't admit this, but I am so stingy that I did pick a few things based on their markup being the smallest difference from the MSRP.  I felt clever, like I was pulling one over on them.  Shawn shook his head when I told him this.  Good thing he thinks I am cute, because now I am sure he thinks I am a crazy tightwad as well (and he is probably right!).

 

In Wes-related news, he is pretty much walking now.  He can't walk very far, and he is quite clumbsy, but he will walk from point A to point B without encouragement now.  He still has to pull up on things to stand, and he still drops down to his knees and "walks" on them if he wants to go somewhere in a hurry, but he is definately taking steps unassisted and getting more confident about it every day.  He is doing great in therapy and he got casted today for a pair of SMOs (short braces that go inside shoes and stop just above ankle), they will give him added support and keep his club foot from turning in so much when he walks.  The SMOs are being made in Washington, so it is going to take a bit to get them back.  Once we have them we can go buy him his very own off-the-rack gym shoes to wear with them.  That will be so neat.

 

We don't have any big plans for New Years.  We have never been big celebrators of the new year.  We will probably watch a movie, kiss at midnight, and go to sleep.  I hope that those of you who do have big plans stay safe, don't drink if you are going to drive, and watch out for those who thought they hadn't drank that much.

 

Happy New Year, everyone!  HUGS  -Jen

I hope everyone has a happy, peaceful Christmas.  It is 2am, and Shawn and I have finally finished assembling Coco's Barbie house and Wesley's train table.  I can't wait until tomorrow morning - I am so excited!  It was the right decision to stay home for Christmas this year, I do believe it is the best Christmas I have had since I was a little girl.

 

OK well I need to quit blogging and start sleeping so that I am alert for tomorrow's festivities. 

 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

 

Love, Jen

I am so proud of you, Shawn. 

 

This is my rooftop and I am shouting from it...

 

I'M PROUD OF YOU!  I LOVE YOU!  YOU'RE THE BEST!

Hurray!  Only 5 days till Christmas.  Weather has been amazing here, hitting the low 70s during the day.  Shawn keeps grumping that it doesn't feel like Christmas when you're walking around in a t-shirt.

 

I keep going out where I have all the presents and looking at them.  Imaging them under the tree and trying to get a feel for how the kids are going to experience it - will they be amazed?  Will they get tired of opening and start to cry like Colleen did last year?

 

I started a tradition this year (or rather, I formalized a habit into a tradition) and bought the kids each an ornament for the tree.  That way by the time they are ready to leave the nest, they will each have their own tiny collection of memories for their first trees in their own places.

 

Wesley is doing really well, I haven't written about that much lately.  Physical therapy has done wonders for him.  I am almost justified in saying he is walking.  He can take independent steps now, up to almost 20 of them before he trips or his leg gives out.  He still drops to his knees if he wants to actually go somewhere still and I have found that he seems to walk mostly when he knows he has an audience that is going to praise him for his efforts.  His foot is taped right now and that is giving him noticable stability - he is walking further and more often with the tape on.  He gets casted tomorrow for a new set of braces called SMOs.  These go inside a regular gym shoe and will give him added stability (like the tape does, but better)  The SMOs are plastic and cover the bottom of his foot to just up over the ankle bone.  I can't wait to actually get him into a pair of regular shoes.  I may cry when we go buy them!  (Yes, Shawn, I am silly.  There, I said it for you! :P )

 

OK gotta run.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

 

HUGS  Jen

Shawn got home yesterday, thank goodness.  We missed him very much.

Colleen has been sick almost the whole time he was gone.  Both an urgent care and emergency room doctor were wrong, turns out she most likely has influenza.  She only got 1/2 her flu shot dose (she was due for other half on Friday but couldn't get it because she was sick).  High fevers, a little coughing, a little throwing up, body aches, head aches, joint aches.  We spent a lot of the time snuggled on the couch.  Wes got in on the snuggling action so as not to feel left out, but it would seem that his getting both flu shots worked.  He has a slight runny nose, but is otherwise fine.

 

Anyways, that is pretty much why I haven't been around.  I have also had myself all caught up in the "want to buy a house bug" again.  Jaque knows all about that one!  :)  We will see what comes of it... we are still in our "research and discovery" phase, no decisions as of yet.

 

OK well I am off for now.  Will try to update more often... :)

 

HUGS  -Jen

 

PS - Colleen cut her own hair right before Shawn left (in response to all of the positive attention he got for his new haircut).  Below are the pictures from her own cut as well as the professional "damage control" cut that followed.  She looks totally different and older now. 

 

 

Shawn is out of town right now, his work is launching the new version of the product he supports, so he is out on the other side of the country being trained on it and all that jazz. 

 

He just sent me a virtual postcard and it made my whole day.  He is SO ADORABLE  You have to see him.  Really, you do.  I attached the postcard, so you don't actually have much choice in the matter!  LOL  I'm SO HAPPY that he emailed me!  HURRAY!!!

 

Love, Jen

My 10 year high school reunion took place the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I did not go because we already had plans to go to Florida to see Shawn's grandparents and to take Colleen to Disney World.

 

This afternoon I got an email from the organizer with a link to the biorgraphies that everyone submitted and to the pictures that were taken at the reunion.  I didn't read most of the biographies (besides only 70 or so people submitted theirs out of a 306-person class!).  I did glance through the bios of the folks I knew well.

 

Then on to the pictures...  Would you know that my boyfriend from highschool (who didn't even end up graduating with us!) was in EVERY picture taken of my friends?!?!  From what I can gather from the pictures, he must have came with his best friend.  But then he managed to be photographed with every one of "my" friends.  How dare he?!?!  That is FRIEND INFRINGEMENT.

 

(In my most whiney and petulant voice) I don't CARE that it was ten years ago and that I wasn't even there.  They are MY friends and my ex-boyfriend should STAY AWAY from them!

 

It wouldn't be as funny if I didn't actually feel that way.  I can be so immature sometimes!  :)

Not a whole lot going on here.  Went shopping today, got some cute craft stuff and fun stocking stuffers for the kids.  There are lots of right reasons for having children, and also lots of real reasons.  Besides the tax break and reliable-even-when-power-is-out alarm clock feature... one of my favorite real reasons to have a kid is how they are the perfect excuse to throw yourself into every holiday or special occasion with gusto.  The older they get the more fun it becomes. 

 

Before I had Colleen and Wesley, I had a hard time believing that doing something just for my child would be better than doing something for myself.  Today, as I shopped with money given to me as a Christmas present, I found that the majority of the items in my bags are for the kids.  I still consider it all a present for me - because the best gift is my kid's excitement and happiness.  Motherhood is pretty cool in that regard.

 

I know I have said it often in the past few entries, but it is something I am feeling acutely these days.  I am so lucky.  So blessed.  Shawn is the most attentive, loving, considerate, and accomodating partner.  Colleen is my little princess, well mannered, artistic, and playful.  Wesley is a little rascal, getting into everything, investigating his world with an impish gleam in his eye and a mischeivious grin.  Two good cats.  Friendly neighbors.  I am very grateful for all of the good things in my life. 

 

Big Hugs to everyone!  Happy Holidays!  Jen