Archive for December, 2009
New Year’s Resolutions
- I will go through my mail everyday instead of letting it pile up on the buffet in the foyer for week.
- I will put up my folded clothes instead of letting them sit around until I wear them again.
- I will not keep cramming things in the kitchen trash can when it is obviously full.
Man, I’m really hoping I can do this. I have some pretty horrible habits!
Mama’s Girl
Since I’ve been on winter break MM has become attached to me. Actually ‘attached’ isn’t exactly accurate. More like joined at the hip. Everywhere I go, she goes.
If I’m in the kitchen making her a bottle I will hear the “thump-thump-thump” of her crawling in to see me. If I’m in the bathroom I’ll hear her banging on the door with her little hands trying to get in. If I’m sitting on the couch she is sitting on my lap or playing between my feet on the floor. If I’m in the shower she’ll pull back the curtain to find me.She just can’t let me out of sight or out of touch.
I say at least once a day to C., ‘Wow, she really loves me, doesn’t she?’ And I know how silly this is going to sound, but it’s like for the the first time I’ve come to realize that she knows who I am. That I am her mother.
Wow.
And boy, it’s a great feeling. When they’re little you know that you could leave and they would never remember you. But now? Well, she knows me. When I come into a room her arms instantly go out for me. When I leave her for a nap she cries for me. She says, ‘Ma-Ma-Ma’ all day long.
It’s a pretty great feeling.
MM’s First Christmas
Well, MM’s first Christmas has come and gone. All I can say is that it was wonderful and better than I ever imagined. I remember last Christmas so well–all day long I would think, ‘I wonder how it’s going to be next year?’
Christmas Eve we went to my grandmother’s house for our annual steak dinner and presents exchange. MM, of course, received more than her fair share of presents including a play kitchen, a Mini Cooper Powerwheel, a car you push with your feet, a lamb that baas and tail that wiggles, books, clothes, and a bear that sneezes, etc. And all of this before Christmas!
And then Christmas morning arrived! From C. and I Santa she got a four-wheeler, books, a My Pal Scout, a plastic picnic table, and some plastic food for her play kitchen.
C. got me an antique roll-top tambour and an antique child’s rocking chair. That C. knows me too well–he always gives me the perfect gifts. Here MM is modeling for me in said chair. Too cute!
Then my parents came over and more presents were given. Too many presents to list (they even gave her a TV for her playroom!). They were the ones that gave her the coveted “Most Favorite Present of Christmas”…a stuffed lion pillow we named Lucy. After all the present opening and playing this is where MM landed.
After a nap, C.’s parents came over and MM got a slide and a lawn mower and other things. She wasn’t sure how to climb the slide, but she sure did love sliding down!
And the rest of the day was spent napping and playing. At dinner, everyone came back over to house (all 13 of us) for turkey sandwiches, chili, and brunswick stew. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died right when everyone got here so there are no pictures. Boo!
This Christmas was such a magical time for us and I cherished getting to see it through MM’s little eyes. I feel so very blessed.
Last Minute Preparations
Brogdon House is abuzz with Christmas preparations. I finally finished wrapping presents this morning (though THREE are still floating around a post office somewhere and I’m hoping they make it here today).
MM helping her daddy wrap Mommy’s present.
MM and I went to the grocery store this morning to get the turkey and fixings for the family dinner at our house tomorrow night. All of my family and C.’s will come here for turkey sandwiches and chili and cards.
In case I don’t check in in the next couple of days, have a very Merry Christmas.
Here she is sitting under the tree watching us wrap presents.
Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours
This is our third Christmas in Brodgon House, but the first time we’ve decorated the outside and I just had to share it with you.
Like Mother, Like Daughter
- Two doctor visit co-pays: $60
- Two prescriptions: $110
- Mother and daughter with matching ear infections: priceless
Yep, MM has her fourth ear infection since September. I was told if this one wasn’t completely cleared up in 2.5 weeks we will be going to an ENT. Which means tubes. I had tubes twice myself so I can completely sympathize with MM.
Then I went to the doctor and it turns out I have a “nasty” (their words, not mine) double ear infection. I knew it was bad because I couldn’t hear. AT ALL.
Here’s keeping our fingers crossed that MM and I are both feeling better by Christmas!
A Vintage Christmas
I think you all know me well enough to know I love old. My philosophy in life is, ‘Why buy new when there is old?’ And the same theory holds true for all things Christmas.
The only place I draw the lines is vintage Christmas lights. I have a strand my mother-in-law gave me from the 50s, and while I treasure them and never will throw them away, I am afraid to plug them in. Maybe one day I can figure out how to use them in a cute way without plugging them in. But I digress.
Anyway, this year I did my typical Shiny Brite tree with over 300 ornaments. Shiny Brite ornaments were made in the 40s and 50s and I have been collecting them for years. I could go on and on about the different types of Shiny Brites (the ones made during WWII, for instance, had cardboard toppers because there was a metal shortage), but I will save y’all the details so I won’t bore you to death.
Here’s some of the boxes…I gotta admit, I like the boxes almost as much as the ornaments.
I’ll never forget the day we moved into Brogdon House and Miss Eleanor gave us a candy box from the 50s. I looked inside and wrapped up in tissue were 10 or so different Shiny Brite ornaments. Every year when I put those special ornaments on the tree I think about how they’ve been part of Brogdon House’s Christmas for almost sixty years. Wow.
Every year my grandmother gives you fun money for your birthday. This year I took part of my money and bought a vintage 1950s green felt 12 days of Christmas tree skirt off ebay. I love the sequins and the gold trim (so do MM and Coco who can’t keep their paws off of it).
Nine ladies dancing.
Three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Another thing I bought (off ebay, of course) was a 1950s tree topper. I think it’s totally tacky and gaudy…but isn’t that part of a 1950s Christmas? Here’s C. after he “installed” it last week on our gigantic tree.
And in case I haven’t told you yet, Merry Christmas.
Did you hear that???
…it was the sound of me hip-hip-hooraying and high-fiving everyone because today I bought my last two-pack of formula. WOO-HOO!
That’s right, MM is going to be off of the formula so very soon and so we gave cow’s milk a try (just 1.5 ounces) today and she liked it! AND she drank it cold with no formula mixed in either.
I was so proud of my girl. I’m going to start increasing her milk each day so that by the time she reaches her one year birthday (3 weeks from today!) she’ll be drinking 30 ounces of cow’s milk a day and no formula. Hopefully.
Not Sure, But Willing to Trust
Last night C., Mary Margaret, and I went to Rhodes Hall to have her picture made with Santa. We had a 5:30 appointment to see the jolly old elf himself. We waited all of five minutes before MM was sitting on his lap in the beautiful front parlor all by herself. I think it helped that it was quiet and only a few people were in there with her and Santa.
She looked at him with that serious face I’ve seen since the day she was born. That furrowed brow, that straight line of a mouth–all part of that serious baby expression I love and treasure so much. And then I noticed she had his finger in her hand. So even if she didn’t smile she did like him after all.
I loved going to Rhodes Hall. Not only did it benefit the Georgia Trust (which I’m a big fan of), but it was so nice and non-stressful. You had an appointment time and right on time you got to see Santa. No long lines, crying kids, or loud crowds. They had refreshments, crafts, and someone playing the piano and singing. I was able to bring my own camera and Flip video to record the whole thing. We will definitely be returning next year.
This is the picture I took.
Eye Opening
As you recall, I had a horrible pregnancy with MM. A dangerous pregnancy. One filled with worry and fear and despair. Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension very early (8 weeks earlier than the “average” woman who gets PIH) that turned into Preeclampsia so so so very early (11 weeks earlier than “average”). Gestational Diabetes that turned severe (four insulin shots/day and still uncontrolled) early too. And then there was that delivery–oh, that scary delivery–with Eclampsia. The delivery where my blood pressure turned to 240/170 and by all accounts I should have had a seizure or stroke or both. But I didn’t.
It’s so easy to forget what pregnancy was like for me. I see (basically) everyone of my friends who get pregnant breeze right through. Working all the way up to giving birth, shopping, living life–all the things that came to a standstill when MM was just 27 weeks old.
I don’t even think about that rough time anymore. I’ve kind of sugar-coated it all in my mind. I push back the memories of being so scared I could barely breath as I lay in a hospital bed when the doctor told me about my condition at 27 weeks or crying so hard that first night in the hospital at 31 weeks or the constant fear each time I went to my twice weekly doctor and ultrasound appointments. I remember always holding my breath as the sonographer put the ultrasound wand over my belly until I could see MM’s beating heart. I remember the dread each time the nurses wanted to take my blood pressure twice because I knew that meant more time spent in the hospital.
I read today that Michelle Duggar gave birth at 25 weeks to her 19th child due to Preeclampsia. The baby girl weighs 1 pound, 6 ounces.
And that’s what has brought back all these feelings for me. There is this huge part of me that wants a big family–I’d say at least 5 kids (C. says he’s fine with 1-2)–but then I remember my horrible first pregnancy and how so very lucky we were to have a healthy baby–and it makes me scared to get pregnant again. I constantly wonder if I’ll have the same problems again…or if they’ll be worse this time.
I pray every day that if we are blessed with another child that it–and me–will be okay. But I’m not going to lie, I’m still really scared.
Copyright Natalie Cooper. Customized by Jonathan Stovall of Uplateicreate.com
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