Pre-Christmas Christmas party

When I was very little, Christmas eve was always spent with my dad's family at Grandma and Grandpa's house. When my grandma went into the nursing home in our town and Grandpa moved in with us, my parents took over the hosting duties of the Christmas eve bash. It's been that way ever since. A couple of years ago, my mom decided to switch things up and host a party when Jason and I were here so that we could join in the fun.

That was the plan this year as well. Shortly after I fueled up and made it back to the 'rents' place Saturday, my dad's youngest brother and his daughter arrived (now in high school! holy crap!)We were joined by two of my dad's other brothers, their wives, plus two cousins and their spouses that I haven't seen in ages so it was really great to get to spend some time with them.

Can you tell these guys are related?
Traditional Christmas eve fare (or in this case, pre-Christmas eve) at our house? It's chili. Sounds good to me. There were of course the usual holiday treats as well.

Sierra was her usual active self and nearly scared the pants off my two aunts when she jumped off a chair.
Check out my aunt's face post-jump. Ha! (I hope she doesn't mind that I posted that)
The evening went by quickly and I was fully stuffed with good food and too much sugar. Just as it should be. Looking forward to a repeat of good food and too much sugar in a couple days!

Expect the unexpected

1. It was just yesterday that I wrote about the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad sleep habits of my sweet, darling, animated, energetic daughter. So, naturally, last night she would have her best night of sleep EVER. In a portable crib. Sheesh. She went to sleep somewhere between 8:30 and 8:45. We heard a peep or two during the night, but she never fully woke and she nevery stood up and jumped up and down screaming in the crib. At 5:30 this morning, I heard, "Mommy. Mommy." No crying, no fuss. I went over and picked her up and she wanted "Muck, muck, muck," so I nursed her, and even put her back in her crib where she slept for another hour.

2. We were going to leave for Jason's parents' tomorrow. Then all the weather reports were saying that there was going to be a fairly significant storm and our only chance to get out would be this morning before the storm unless we waited until after Christmas. So, last night, we packed up, and we fully planning on heading out early this morning. We are still here. Why? Well, late last night, the weather report changed. Ice and sleet this morning, but then it's supposedly going to warm up so that we will only see rain tomorrow. Now, we are again leaving tomorrow. And it's a good thing. There's not much in the way of ice and sleet here, but just a bit south (and area we would have to drive through) there are power outages and trees down from the ice they got. Let's hope for a smooth trip tomorrow!

Friends and little friends

Ah, the Christmas trip home. Too many people to see and not enough to see them all. As usually, my trip to visit my parents was a flurry of activity and there are friends that I would have liked to see, but it just didn't happen. Sad.

BUT, there are some friends who I did get to see and that makes me more than happy! There was a way-too-short mini Christmas Chaos, which was much less chaotic than our usually Christmas Chaos because Brian is in Japan and Adam usually visits between Christmas and New Years. C'est la vie. We still managed to take the obligatory monkey arms photo

and ... put things on our head ... ?
('tis the nature of Chaos ... moving on ... )

Sierra and I were also happy we were able to spend some time with Casey and Colton. I told you about Casey back in May, and I must admit, it's really fun to have a friend (a few, actually) I've known most of my life who has a little one around the same age as Sierra.

Sierra and Colton ran up and down the hall together and even shared their toys. Can you feel the love?
We also managed to have a lunch date with Liz, Jeff and Ellie, who we last saw back in June on our Smoky Mountain camping trip. We met at Happy Joe's for taco pizza. Never had a pizza with taco chips, tomatos, lettuce, and sour cream? Well, let me tell you, you are missing out! So the pizza was enjoyable, as was the company ... not so enjoyable? Sierra's mood. No idea why she was such a cranky-pants, but that's what we had to deal with that day, so lunch probably ended sooner than it would have had we been able to linger and chat. Ah, well. Sierra and Ellie did enjoy watching the pizza guy make the pies. And it must be great to be 1 because games are fun even when just push the button and don't even play them!
We had a super-quick, way-too-short visit with Monica, and her little one, Abbie, who I hadn't met yet. I don't feel so bad about the brevity of that visit though, because Sierra and I get to stay with Monica, Mark and Abbie when we visit Phoenix in January! Yay!!

Congratulations to Dani and Scott!

I ran cross country with Dani in college. Friday night, she got married. Hooray! Who doesn't love a wedding.

When we got the invitation, I really wanted to figure out a way to make it work so that I could attend this wedding. We talked about an all-night drive fest from Virginia to my parents' in Illinois, and then another 6 hours or so to Minneapolis where the wedding was. Ultimately, Jason figured he probably shouldn't miss the last days of school before break and if we forced Sierra to be in the car for that long multiple days in a row she would likely not be a very pleasent little girl to be around.

So, I found an inexpensive one-way flight to my parents' and my mom agreed to let me borrow her car to drive up to the wedding.

Which is just what we did. Sierra and I planned on driving to the middle of Iowa, then meeting up with another xc teammate, Sarah, and caravan the rest of the way together. Of course, I got a later than hoped for start, so we met Sarah there, but that's okay. We were sharing a room with Sarah, so we got in, chatted a little and got all prettied up for the wedding. Dani and Scott provided a bus from the hotel to the wedding, but ultimately I decided that I wanted my vehicle in case I needed to head back with Sierra for any reason. Plus, I wanted her in a carseat.

Anyway, Dani looked like a goddess, radiant as any bride I've ever seen, but I saw most of the ceremony through the windows from the lobby. Why? I'm sure you can guess but someone (*cough*cough*sierra*cough*) decided she wanted to be all squirrelly. And when I wouldn't let her roam free, she shreiked in protest. Sigh. It's okay, I did see Dani and Scott and I've been to enough Catholic weddings to know what I missed. I did manage to get one photo of the bride and groom. (I'm very, very disappointed in myself with the sad number of picture that I took at the wedding and reception)
The reception was a lot of fun, and Sierra was the dancing queen of the party. I had no less than six people come up to me and tell me how cute she was, doing her little dance. She alternated between her little baby bounce, bending her knees and bobbing up and down and spinning around in circles. Both men and women who she was dancing next to tried to get her to dance with them. One young woman was sooooo insistent that Sierra was the cutest thing she had ever seen. "Your daughter is soooo cute. So cute! She is the cutest baby here by far. By far." "Thanks. She's having a good time." "No, really, she is just so! cute!"

Dancing makes you thirsty!
Here we are with Sarah (on the right) and Abby, another college xc teammate.
The next morning, Dani and Scott's families hosted a breakfast at the hotel which was really, really great because I actually got a chance to talk with Dani and Scott a little bit. Weddings are great, but it's kind of sad that you have all these people you love in one room and you don't really get a chance to spend quality time with any of them. This breakfast was a great way around that. It was informal, over the course of a couple hours, and we could come and go as we wished.

Here I am with the happy couple.
And Sarah and I with the bride.
Big congrats to Dani and Scott!

The child who would not sleep

I mentioned at the end of my post a couple days ago that I thought Sierra would go right to sleep after such a busy day. But I was wrong.

No, she is a real life "Energizer bunny." Seriously, I do not know how this kid does it. She just keeps going and going and ... well, you get the idea. But that night that we arrived, there were new surroundings and new people and she just would not go to sleep. Finally, I just put her in the room we were staying in and closed the door (we had just arrived, so she had not yet learned that she can open the doors in my parents' house because they are the pull down kind rather than the turn kind of knobs). She cried for a few minutes, but then I didn't hear anything, so I figured she had gone to sleep and went to check on her. Well, she had fallen asleep, standing up, leaning against the bed. I guess she had gotten out of bed and then decided she wanted back in and couldn't climb up. So, there she was, on her two feet, quiet with eyes closed.

I tried to move her up to the bed, but of course she didn't stay asleep. Oh, no, that's just not how my child rolls. I guess that five minutes of stand sleeping was just enough to recharge those everlasting batteries. Finally, it was after 9:00pm (after 10 back at home) and I just gave up and went to bed with her because I figured that was the only way she would go back down.

Let move on to last night. Grrrr. Sierra was sleeping in the portable crib (finally). My dad went in the bathroom (same hallway as the bedroom) and shut the door too hard. Sierra woke up, stirred, cried a little, but then quieted and I figured she was going back to sleep. But, then, dear ol' dad, came out of the bathroom, went into his bedroom and shut that door (right across from the bedroom we're in) way too hard. BANG! That was it. Sierra was up and crying. For the next TWO AND A HALF HOURS. When she woke, it became clear that I was going to bed, but that wasn't the end of it this time. I tried getting her back to sleep in her crib, brought her to our bed, put her back in her crib, turned on the side lamp so she could see us, turned it off so it would be dark ... Nothing worked. She finally wore herself out about 1:00am.

Today, she took a quick nap this morning, about 45 minutes, was a total pill during our lunch date, and then fell asleep for a half hour in the car on the way home. Jason suggested just leaving the car running and letting her sleep, but I figured she would be tired enough that I could just nurse her and she would go back to sleep. Wrong again. I was hoping I could get a little nap in, but no such luck. Sierra spent the first 25 minutes nursing and the next 25 minutes crawling all over me while I tried to get her to nap and get some sleep myself. Finally, I gave up. It is now an hour since and Jason is still napping and I'm a little resentful.

I hate when I get stupid

I ran out of gas.

That's right, on the way home from Minneapolis Saturday afternoon, I ran out of gas, on the side of the highway, just 300 meters or so from a gas station (though I didn't know it at the time because it was obscured by the hill).

Geez! I'm still kicking myself because, well, that was just dumb and I can't really believe it happened. Oh, but it did.

Sierra and I had just gotten back in the car after a stop when the gas light came on and I really didn't want to stop again since we had just stopped. When the gas light comes on in our mini van, we still have quite a bit of time/gas before a fill-up is really required, so I figured that I could make it to Dubuque and then fill up. I was driving along, I called Jason to see where he was (he was driving up from St. Louis to meet me at my parents' house) and we chatted that I was a little bit behind him and had to stop for gas so would be there maybe 45 minutes after him.

I was heading up the very last hill into to Dubuque, like I mentioned, just 300 meters from a gas station, when the cruise control turned off and the car started slowing down. I pressed on the gas pedal. Nothing. I knew instantly what had happened. Cr-ap! Apparently, when the gas light comes on in my mom's car (which I had borrowed to drive up to the wedding), I do not have quite the amount of time/gas before a fill-up is required as I do in our own vehicle.

Thanks goodness for cell phones. I called Jason. "I ran out of gas." He laughed, "No you didn't." "Honey, I frickin' ran out of gas and I'm sittin on the side of Highway 20!" Jason was almost to my parents', so he headed there, dropped off the dogs, picked up my dad and a gas can and they came to rescue us.

Sheesh. How embarrassing.

At least we amused ourselves while we waited for help to come.

Running out of gas is ... um ... fun?


Look at all the cars driving by! They all have gas in their tanks!
Wheeee!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

People have noticed that I've been missing. And they've told me about it. So to those of you who have mentioned my absence, thank you. I need a reminder once in awhile. I get busy. I forget. I don't write about things. Even though things are happening. It's been 10 days since I last posted and that is just unacceptable. I think the average of 2-3 posts/week is a little better. It the holiday season, and we are travelling, and there is a lot to do, but I will try to make a better effort. Time will tell whether or not I will succeed ...

Yesterday morning, Sierra and I began our journey to the midwest. Jason had a morning class, and then enough time to drive us to the airport and get back for his afternoon classes.

Every time I've flown with Sierra I have a deep feeling of dread that I will be "that woman." You know the one. She's that lady with that look of horror and desperation, unable to stop the shrieking infant or the out-of-control toddler. My child is currently at the stage where she could be both shrieking and out-of-control at the same time.

...

Luckily, that didn't happen.

The first leg of our flight began just after noon and was a 2-hour or so flight. Sierra was tired, but of course, refused to sleep (as she does). She had a couple of moments where she had to be wrangled, but in general, was very good. The guy sitting next to us was very pleasent, and told us he had two daughters, the youngest was 6, so he was not that far removed from having a little one Sierra's age. It's a good thing too. Sierra thought he was a great person to hand all her stuff to. She handed him her book, her sippy cup, her snack, her toy, her cup again. I kept taking the things back and putting them in our seat and apologizing, but he really didn't seem to mind.

One of the flight attendents, on the other hand ... oh boy. Clearly this woman has never had children. Or she has blocked the days of having an 18-month-old from her memory. Sierra stood up on my lap at one point (for a moment), Sourpuss said "She must be seated in your lap at. all. times." I set Sierra on the floor in front of the seat so I could reach down and pick up the toy she had dropped. Sourpuss again reminded me that she must be in my lap. (I know, lady). I set Sierra down in the aisle and was unbuckling my seatbelt so we could take a little walk down toward the bathroom and stretch our legs. Once again ... "You can't just let her stand there without holding her. She has to be in your lap."

(AAAAUUUUGH!!!)

*deep breath*

So Sierra and I take our walk down the aisle, and then this woman informs me that she can't be walking down the aisle on her own. I have to hold her hand. Folks, I was right behind her so I could catch her should she stumble. Have you ever tried to hold someone's hand while walking down the aisle of an airplane? Can you imagine? Sigh. It's all good, though. Sierra finally went to sleep. (when there were approximately 30 minutes left of the flight).

She of course woke up instantly when we deplaned and after a quick change, we walked our way over to our next flight. The lay-over was only 40 minutes so by the time I walked all the way across O'Hare, it was time for me to walk right on to the next flight. Perfect timing.

And side note: Have you ever had a lay-over in O'Hare? Seriously, why do you always have to walk half-way across Chicago to get to your connecting flight?!

Anyway, our next flight was one of those that was so short that after take off the captain says, "We have reached cruising altitude. We will now be begining our decent."

When we landed, I told Sierra that we were here and we were going to see Nana soon. She said, "Nana?" ... then a few seconds later with no prompting from me said, "Nana. Bob?" (She calls my dad, Grandpa Bob, "Bob".) I told her good job and praised her for remembering Nana and Bob. And then she said, "'Ony?" (Rhymes with lawn-y; it's the name she uses for her cousin, Harmony.) I was shocked. This child continues to amaze me with the things she picks up on.

Nana and Bob picked us up at the airport and we had to make a quick stop at a baby store so I could pick up some detergent for the cloth diapers. I wish I had more to spend in that store. It was awesome. I could have spent hours in there looking at everything, but I had to resist the urge as my parents and child were waiting for me in the car. If you're ever in Madison, Wisconsin, though, go check out Happy Bambino on Atwood Avenue.

Finally, back at Nana and Bob's, we had some dinner and I thought my darling child would crash after a busy day with hardly any napping.

Wrong. But I will save that story for another day. Now, it's off to bed so that I can get up and head to Dani and Scott's wedding tomorrow. Hooray!

First snow of the seaon

Saturday, it started to snow. It snowed and snowed and continued most of the day. The temperature was a bit above freezing, resulting in these fabulous, huge, wet snowflakes. Perfect for a snowball or a snowmand and just gorgeous as you look out the window and watch them flutter to the ground. !)

I think had it been colder, we would have had even more snow, but we still managed to have a few inches that stuck around to play in on Sunday. Even though Sierra's first snow was last winter, this was the first snow she actually got to experience. And she had a great time (though it's tough to walk in snow when you're only 2.5 feet tall and you're wearing boots that are a little bit too big for you!)