Now I Know How He Feels

Today just broke my heart but I think Dave, Dom and I are doing well with recovering from this whole ordeal. We woke up around 6. Remember how I've mentioned how in sync we are? Well our alarms (he has one on his side of the bed too) went off at the exact same SECOND which caused both of us to nearly jump to the ceiling. I set mine at 6 am and didn't realize he did as well. I however was the only one that got out of bed to get ready for the day. He finally got up around 6:30. I didn't want Dom up right away but he did wake around 7 ish. Made sure the other kids didn't eat until after we left because I didn't want the poor guy to have to watch anyone eat. We got checked in at 8:30 and sat in the waiting room. I wanted to just grab him and run out the door! I tried to "look" happy the whole time for him. Poor guy still didn't have much of a clue what was going on. He brought some cars to play with, wanted to bring his Air Hog Heli but I told him probably not a good idea! After all the paperwork we had a talk from the nurse anesthesiologist and another nurse who was to be with him. My biggest concern was how he'd handle the general and how he'd come out. I've had 3 generals, first was fine, second was horrific, and third was great. I know far too much with my own surgeries. Before they wheeled him away in the wagon Daddy, Dom and I all held hands and I prayed. I was really worried about doing this because I didn't want to scare him by making him think this surgery could hurt him so I kept it simple (in his terms) asking for a safe surgery and easy recovery. I even wore my Angel necklace that has a diamond birthstone for our little angel we lost in April 04. It's hard to explain but I needed and knew we'd have our little angel looking over us today. Then they wheeled him away in the wagon. Ugh. It was so hard to see him go and not be able to go with him. Makes ya feel a bit ill put it that way. It took about 40 minutes, they came and got us when he was just starting to wake. He wanted to lay on Daddy. Figures! (sigh) That's ok though. He was dizzy and all he wanted was that IV out. He only had tears a few times after he woke up and didn't fall apart at all which was what I was for sure would happen. I had been prepared by several people that this was the worst part. He ate a popcicle there and finally had his IV removed before we left. We sat in the recovery room for about 2 hours before they released us.

Dominic said he wanted to take his tonsils with him so I have them here. At the house. On the stove. YUCK! They are huge and Dr E says this will probably make some huge differences for us. Each one is about the size of my thumb down to my knuckle. Now though we're home and you can't really tell yet that he's had a surgery. He's been playing and not saying anything about pain....yet. lolI think the worst part of this whole deal was seeing what Dave goes through each time I've had a C-section. I have been a nervous anxious wreck and thought alot about this yesterday. Then this morning before leaving he could tell I was freaking out and said, "now you see what I go through." I was shaking in the waiting room, it's hard not to fall apart infront of the person having the surgery. Don't get me wrong though, Dave and I both had tears this morning when Dominic wasn't looking and when waiting afterwards. It really made me think about if we were to go ahead and have another little one, and a 6th C-section and how I've been warned over and over about my risks. I have faith in God and lay it all in his hands if we are ever blessed again. So now is recovery. They have told me to expect him to head downhill again on day 3 or 4 and then he should start getting better after that. I am sooo happy the worst part is over. Putting a little one through surgery is something I never thought I'd be able to handle but I did it! Thanks again to everyone for T's and P's and personal experiences. They really did make a difference.

Extremely happy mommy that Dominic handled surgery so well!

Shopping for Ice Cream

Since Dave left with Dom for a bit to go find some ice cream I thought I'd pop on here for a minute since I probably won't be able to for a few days. Dominic's tonsil surgery is tomorrow so we are catering as much as possible to him, including his favorite ice cream and hopefully some new McDonalds Bionicles on our way home from the hospital. Be thinking of us tomorrow morning, his surgery is at 9 am. I'm a bit freaked out and praying everything goes well.

Christmas was good for us, great for the kids. I don't know how to explain it really. I loved watching the kids open their gifts and all the excitement with that but I was just "not there" this Christmas. I didn't get to cram in alot of things we normally do which kind of saddened me. I took down everything after all the hoop-la was over. I didn't even do much of any shopping after Christmas which is REALLY not me. I usually spend a few hundred on the 26th. I spent $60. My gift was this nice Fugi camera.

Nope, didn't get the Nintendo DS. lol I was shocked he actually bought it for me. I was drooling over it on QVC one night because of it's HD video and the quality of taking pictures at night, along with a zillion other features. I already have a nice camera we paid $250 for a few years back but I'm retiring it to Alex for 4H since she's in photography now. Here's a few pictures of our Christmas. I bought him the new Call of Duty on Wii with the Wii gun. Here's a few pictures of our Christmas this year.

We spent all Christmas Eve morning baking and preparing items. Alex loves to help and she was put to work!

The reason we had to make so much food was because we had Christmas Eve with family at our house again this year. Missed our Christmas Eve service and feel horrible about that!! Here's our kiddos with their 2 cousins.

That evening after everyone left the kids sprinkled Reindeer food across the yard.

I did just buy a few things for their stockings instead of the normal zillion items. Sophia got 2 rattle type toys, the kids each got a book, toothbrush, coloring book, a small toy that would fit in there, and some soap. That's all I did and it all fit. lol Really proud of myself for just buying a few things!

I don't know if I ever mentioned in the past that we don't wrap Santa gifts, only the ones from us. The kids receive 3 gifts just as Jesus did.

Dead

I'll never forget it. Sitting in A hall Junior year chatting with girlfriends. Another one of them came up with a girl and said "Hey Sabrina, have you met Sabrina?" I was shocked, never met another Sabrina before, let alone almost the same age. After that we became pretty good friends, hung out smoking in the parking lot before and after school, sat together at lunch. I graduated, lost touch with her since she was 2 yrs behind me. When the news came yesterday, Christmas Day saying Sabrina Jones, 30 murdered in her home I told Dave I sure hope it wasn't her since I didn't know her married name. Now that they are blasting both her and her husband's photos all over the news. It is her. I feel so bad for the children. Especially if it is revealed that the Dad did do this after all.

Daddy is teaching her too well!

Kid at heart here.... I want a Nintendo DS for Christmas. I figure it would be nice for myself and the kids especially when we wait at Dr's appointments and just fun to have. Dave however says no way to my request of one. The other day watching TV Alex (8) comes up handing me a piece of paper which was a paper life sized Nintendo DS. Nick magazine had put it in their magazine and on the back of it was a wishlist of games that kids could circle. I said, "what's this, do you want one now too?" She replied, "no, you wanted one so here ya go!" Smiling real big and giggling. Of course then I yelled at Dave asking if he told her to do that and he swears he didn't. Sadly, I think I believe him that she came up with it on her own!

Stocking Stuffers~ The hardest part!

I hate filling stockings. I hate it because we either buy junk they don't really need or too much and it won't fit. What's some of your favorite things to stuff in them? This is the last part to our shopping and I'm done!

I'm Such a Shmuck!

I was a bit surprised when Daddy called at 7:00 pm last night to say he was on the highway, on his way home from his Christmas party. I expected he'd stay later than that. Since I thought he wasn't going to be home for awhile, I catered to the kids which was fun. For dinner I fixed Chocolate chip pancakes and then regular pancakes topped with Tastefully Simple Berry Berry sauce and whip cream for Alex and I. After that the kids took early showers and baths and I made some popcorn and we turned on Christmas movies. After hearing he was coming though I went ahead and put the kids to bed at 8. At this point I really didn't care anymore that he really hadn't asked me to go (just assuming I wouldn't) I was just happy he was leaving to come home to me with how crappy I felt about us.

We really didn't talk too much until we went to bed, you could tell we were both bothered. When we went to bed we just laid there for probably 30 minutes. We both had something to say but neither wanted to say it I guess you could say. I finally asked if he would move over closer and hold me which he did and then he.completely.fell.apart. Talk about feeling like SHIT! I cry all the time during the day about us so I didn't even have any tears...at first. I guess my note Wednesday at church really hurt him but not the part I thought which was about Alex. It was that trusting him was my obstacle. He was so upset I couldn't understand everything he said. So upset I felt I needed to ask if he HAD done anything he needed to tell me about, which AGAIN he says nothing has ever happened in the past. I'd just asked him a few months back about a girl in the office so this wasn't the first time. I told him I'm majorly insecure with him working so far away, I have no idea what he does over there. I've been to his office like 2 times in nearly 6 years. He hasn't done anything to where I shouldn't trust him it's just me and an issue of mine.

So I asked about the other part I wrote about Alex and he told me he didn't even read it. He told me that after reading I didn't trust him he just stared at that on the paper and didn't bother to read the rest. So of course then he wanted to know what else I wrote. So sadly I told him that after years of him telling me no about trying for a baby, when I missed the pills, instead of starting a new pack or calling the Dr, I just quit taking them, I was really hoping to get pregnant. I expected him to jump up screaming and yelling at me for being evil however he just laid there for a second and then said he would never change anything in the past. He loves her to death no matter what and it didn't matter. I do believe though he hasn't told me, that he feels terrible for the way he treated me through my pregnancy with her and maybe that's why it didn't matter. I couldn't be happy then because I felt he hated me so much that I was pregnant. Maybe he had thoughts at that time that I got pregnant on purpose, who knows. He did come to all my appointments though which he's never done that with the others. Just her. I remember both of our mom's putting on my baby shower and it was awesome because a lot of my friends I hadn't seen since highschool were there and they were all happy for us but I was hiding that he wasn't thrilled with our soon to be baby. Finally that last month he started coming around and when she was born he wouldn't put her down. :)

I think we were up until 1 am so I'm sure I'll crash later since I woke at 6:30. I hope we got everything worked out. I told him I've felt like we've just been growing apart, I feel like I don't know anything with him anymore like I used to. Usually we can finish sentences or pick out what the other is thinking of. It's the strangest thing with us but we've been together now half of our lives. And I'm sure all this junk is just because of the kids and not making time for ourselves. He leaves at 6 am comes home at 6:30 pm and then we have Sophia up with us until 10:30 or so. Sometimes she sleeps in our bed instead of her bassinet. We have not went out on a date since the night Bailey disappeared which was October 25th. We went to a party that night but it was time alone with friends (and free alcohol! lol) and was awesome.

So things are good now. Neither of us wants to lose the other. I'm glad we opened up and even more glad that I am married to such an emotional guy who can share that with me. We've had moments on other issues like this in the past. If I cry to him, I want him to be able to do the same to me. I love that he does.

I Passed

This morning I had the lovely task of taking the girls in for shots. Mia, for her 2nd flu shot and Sophie for her 2 month and shots. As I was checking in the receptionist gave me a Postpartum Depression questionnaire. Since when do ped's scan their patient's mothers for PPD? I read it over and over before filling it out. I finished filling it out right as they called us back. I told the Dr about Sophia spitting up all the time and he okayed me to slip cereal in the bottle. It doesn't appear she has reflux too badly because she weighs 12.5 lbs so she's gaining. I told him yesterday any pumped bottle I gave her I put a tsp. of cereal and she didn't get sick. She will guzzle on me and then puke all over both of us. I'm changing her usually twice a day along with myself. It's not too fun! He then said my PPD test didn't appear that I had PPD and I passed. Now honestly I don't know if anyone has filled one of these out before but I could have easily lied. Maybe I did. lol No, I tried to answer it as truthfully as possible. Yes I feel like harming people.....sometimes (lol) and yes I don't like to get out and stay at home often...... because I hate toting 5 kids everywhere. So I couldn't really answer none of the time or never and I still passed. :) Shots were no fun as usual and my husband had to call right before. He was totally unaware I was doing them today even though I told him and there's a huge Mom planner sitting in the kitchen with all appointments and happenings listed on it.

So tonight Dave has a Christmas party at work. He'd joked about me not going again this year and I told him I wasn't pregnant or anything so I would go with him. I don't know if he's just being an ass but for the past week or so he's been saying "blah blah....since you're not coming to the party." He's been asking me to make something for him to take and feed everyone as well. This morning at 6:30 when he was leaving for work his words before leaving were "Well, I'll be home late since we're having our party tonight." Then shut the door. No kiss, no "are you sure you aren't coming?" no nothing. If I wasn't busy pumping I would have flipped him off and kicked him in the ass on the way out. I really am wondering if he even wanted me to go. He didn't try to find a sitter for the kids or even ask if I would. I haven't been to one of his office Christmas parties yet but there's always been something going on. Last year we had an ice storm and I refused to go, he was dead set and tried. I told him if he wanted to leave his kids without a dad by playing vehicular manslaughter then leave. It's a hour drive there. He didn't make it far and came back because the roads were so bad. The year before I was 9 months pregnant and sick which we found out later was my gallbladder failing. The year before that one I don't think they had one.

So anyways I'm not sure what to do. I'm really getting tired of crap. Last night we didn't do the deed and it was all my fault but I was the one who initiated it by getting on top of him as soon as we got in the bed. You can only try so long before you give up when the other person doesn't act interested. And then when you take care of the baby in the bassinet and hear him starting to snore what do you do? Well what I did was lay down and go to sleep like most normal rejected people probably would do. I wanted to but mainly I just wanted to make him happy. Anyways it's all my fault. I really do not know what to think anymore.

There's a new song on the Twilight Soundtrack by Paramore (Decode) it's supposedly about the characters on the movie but I feel it describes everything with our relationship. Here's the lyrics.

How can i decide whats right?
When your clouding up my mind,
I cant win your losing fight,
All the time.

Nor can i ever own whats mine,
When your always taking sides,
But you won't take away my pride,
No not this time... Not this time.

How did we get here?
I used to know you so well,
How did we get here?
I think i know.

The truth is hiding in your eyes,
And it's hanging on your tongue,
Just boiling in my blood,
But you think that i can't see.
What kind of man that you are.
If your man at all,
I will figure this one out.
On my own... (Screaming i love you so)
On my own... (My thoughts you cant decode)

How did we get here?
I used to know you so well,
How did we get here?
I think i know how.

Do you see,
What we've done,
We're gonna make such fools,
Of ourselves...
Do you see,
What we've done,
We're gonna make such fools,
Of ourselves...

YEAH How did we get here
I used to know you so well
How did we get here?
I used to know you so well
I think i know... I think i know...

There is something, I see in you, It might kill me, I want it to be true.

Letting It Go

Since Sophie was about 3 weeks old we've been going to Wednesday bible study at church. I'm not comfortable with putting her in the nursery yet to help with Awana but since the kids are there for Awana we decided we'd just start staying and listen to our pastor for awhile. Well it's been more than just a bible study. lol He's been teaching us all sorts of ways to pray and letting things go. A few weeks ago everyone washed their hands (literally) of their sins. It's pretty emotional and deep for a lot of people. Well last night was my turn I suppose. Our pastor asked everyone to write 3 things (a sin, a hurt, and a obstacle) and we were going to let them go by taking our papers and running them through a paper shredder. I thought just so he could see, I'd let Dave read mine before going up there. I felt he needed to since 2 were about him. Here's what I wrote.

A Hurt- I want to let go of my past with my mother. She has hurt me so much in the past with her constant bar trips when I was 12 to letting her ex-husband beat the living crap out of me as a teenager. There's so much more to it than that but I want to get past the awful things that happened in my teen years.

An Obstacle- I want to trust my husband. I have not talked about this on this blog but if you are from Babycenter you've probably heard me talk about this. I have a very hard time with Dave working in Wichita since he's became management. It's not just the hours like I've mentioned on here, it's also been the fact that he works in an office with a girl he constantly talks about at home. Put it this way, around 8:30 the other night his Razr was being text'd. I was online so I went to Verizon and used the send text message feature on their website and put Quit texting your girlfriend. A few seconds later it went off and he said from the next room over "I'm not" but soon after that I went through his texts when he wasn't looking and it was this girl asking him a question. He's told me i have nothing to worry about with him or any other girls but still I constantly go through his phone because i have a trust issue.

A Sin- I got pregnant with Alex on purpose without Dave's knowledge. Now that the cat is out of the bag some reading may have just figured out that I've lied to not only him but the Internet world as well. Alex wasn't just some accident from missing some birth control pills. I did miss a few but then after missing 4-5 I just quit taking them. Though I'd hoped I would, I really didn't think I'd get pregnant easily. I'd been on birth control pills since I was 17 and at 18 was told by a Dr because of PID i would probably never have kids. I was 22 so pretty young and STUPID when it came to anger. He'd pissed me off so much by telling me no that he didn't want kids yet, let's wait till we're 30 that I just quit. Here my sister was 17 and pregnant at the time with no steady relationship and we were 22, established in our first house, good jobs and in a position to have one. So on October 20th, 1999 (my sister's birthday) we took a test together which i was sure would say positive because i hadn't had a period since mid August and sure enough it did and he was not happy. lol Now she's his favorite. lol

So after letting him look at what 3 things i wrote, I went up front and shredded my paper. I'm not sure what he wrote and don't know if I really want to know. I was crying after we got done and he was trying to hold me through the rest of the service. At home he was pretty much the same way, loving but didn't mention anything I wrote. I think if I did anything I showed him 3 things that have been killing me inside.

Some People

Our insurance is about to change soon so I've scheduled a bunch of appointments since our co-pay is going to rise $5 each appointment. Dominic had his Pre-op appointment on his tonsil surgery yesterday. I took him into Dr E. The one I was visiting with about Sophia's mouth. AKA: Mr Hottie! He was really nice and had me take a look to show me that poor Dom really needs them taken out. When he opens wide, they nearly touch. He has to fight to breathe at night and it's no wonder his apnea is so bad. He said they are twice the size they should be which was pretty obvious!! A nurse came in to go over everything. Reading surgery paperwork is so frightening. I was advised any bleeding at are we are to go immediately to the ER, keep on his pain meds every 4 hours, he'll be in pain for about 5-6 days, etc. I signed everything and we went on our way to my appointment that I scheduled soon after his. In the waiting room Dominic asked the most heartbreaking question. "Mommy, what's pain??" Ugh. I was so sad having to answer that one and wondered as the nurse was talking earlier if he had been listening. Now I knew. I told him it's when someone hurts and sometimes medicine can help make them feel better. Then he said, "am I going to be in pain?" Oh boy oh boy. This surgery and leading up to it is going to KILL ME! He knows he's got a surgery coming up and he's not happy about it. He does not tolerate pain well which scares me. I've tried to delicately tell him by showing him pictures what's going to be taken out and why in which he's told me over and over he doesn't snore and shows me what he looks and sounds like when sleeping. He knows there's no way to hide the fact that he pees the bed and knows that this surgery will hopefully help him with that. I just hope it does.

We were called back for my appointment and got a LOVELY nurse (you know the one you'd love to strangle?) who took my vitals, got my history. Since Dominic was with me she asked if he was our only child. HA. Here we go! *rolling eyes* I responded, "no we actually have five." She stopped writing, looked at me and said....get this.........."Wow. That's a bit much in this day and age." STING! I held my tongue though and made funny faces at sweet little Dominic sitting in the chair next to me. Some people are just so ignorant.

Updating

I'm trying to update my People Who Can Relate links so if you are on there and I need to update a title or if you'd like to be listed with this great list of mommy blogs let me know and I'll get you on there! It's nice for me because I just go straight down my own list when I read everyone else's blog. :)

Craziness

Some days I wonder if I'm ever going to have it all together. The past 2 weeks have been.....well insane. A teenie tiny part of me thinks if I wasn't breastfeeding Sophia maybe things would be a bit easier. I just can't seem to get a thing done around here but there's no way I'm quitting. Not after Mia had RSV last winter.

My house is really depressing me. I can't get it clean, I think it looks pretty bad! Dave is always so nice about it though. He never says a word about it but he's seen some horrible houses in his time doing pest control. It's just one mess after another. If I cleaned every second of the day, I might have a clean house next week. Seriously. If I took this laptop and gave it to someone reading this and said "keep this so I stay off the dang thing." It still wouldn't be a one day job. Now maybe just maybe if someone took the kids, it would be but that's a very RARE occasion. I think it's just the interuption part from the kids that makes it so darn hard. I want a spotless house and kids that would leave their toys in the bedroom rather than drag them in the front room! It's going to take me cleaning non stop to ever get that.

Maybe it's just I'm too hard on myself. I've tried lowering my standards and priorities on what's important in a day but it's not helping. I am not online as much as I used to be because its impossible. I pop on throughout the day when things aren't going on for 10 minutes here 5 minutes there. I never watch TV except at night with daddy after the kids go to bed. I am so tired when it comes to bedtime, I'm asleep in about 2-3 minutes after I put my head on the pillow. I think I even LOOK exhausted. Everytime I breastfeed I nod off. lol

I have a feeling the house and exhaustion are just going to get worse over this month. We have a zillion appointments coming up including Dominic's surgery on the 29th. If anyone can give me advice on what to expect with a tonsil/adnoid removal I'd appreciate it! Dominic peed the bed twice in the past week after we put him on the toilet at 10:30 and once when daddy was at the toilet trying to pull down his pants he peed on daddy, himself and the floor. With that and his excessively loud snoring, we decided to go ahead and do this.

Warm Bodies = Warm Hearts

I have so many little projects for Christmas. I hope I get them all done in time!! For the past 4 years or so, we've been making things for our extended family. Now I usually buy gifts for our kids, my sister's kids, Dave's two 2nd cousins and 3 sets of parents. My sisters and everyone else, I find a project, an ornament, and we make cookies and chocolate. Before we bought gifts for everyone and it got to be such a huge pain. As soon as we start on things I will share what we're putting together.

For now I am working hard for the mission our church is doing by collecting hats, gloves, mittens and scarves for children in need. As soon as I heard I became pretty excited because I knew I could put some scarves together (plus it meant cheap shopping on the remnant rack at Walmart and Hobby Lobby!) I love being able to put things together for practically nothing. These scarves cost a total of $5 to make. So $1 a scarf really. My goal is to see how many I can put together in the next week and turn in. I figure 5 scarves a day, maybe 35 total? Dave hopes the house doesn't turn into a last priority for me this holiday season. lol

This Is Soooo Not Cool

I know I've talked about this a few times on here but this economy crap is really worrying me quite a bit. My dad just lost his job of 29 yrs a few weeks back. He works in a metal manufacturing shop here in Kansas. Now we have 3 automobile makers needing massive help restructuring their businesses and the only way to do it is cut tons of jobs. Then we have a zillion other companies out there that have nothing to do with banks, credit cards, or cars who are laying off. The trickle down effect is going to a bad outcome on us all.

My dad has always been a conservative type with his money. He's put a ton of it in CD's and quite a bit in the market. Enough in the market that the recent drops has substantially dropped his amount of money...on paper. (it's not real until you have it in your hand) He'll have unemployment for 9 more months or so and then he's pretty sure at the age of 55 he's going to go find a pud job somewhere like Home Depot until he can retire. If the market hadn't crashed so bad he COULD HAVE just retired early. Not now.

So what are we all to do? Tighten our belts? Prepare for the worst? I know we're not going to be doing a lavish Christmas for everyone in the family like normal. I've got some home made things we are working on like usual and I'm doing gift cards for my parents. We're buying 3 gifts each for the kids of what they really want this year instead of the $200 dollar amount we usually do. I'm going to try to sock more in savings each month and spend less in every way I can think to. Good thing is that they are thinking with the price of gas and crude oil that our heating bills may be less this year so that's a good thing.

Are you doing anything for your family "just in case" it gets any worse?

HELP

Ummm. Yeah so I have a bit of a problem. I've had Facebook for a year or so and used to be ok just to check in but after they changed the layout now with the feed, I spend atleast a few hours each morning checking on friends, finding friends, screwing off with flair or pets, etc when I have 5 billion other things to do. I seriously need to correct this. But how other than sending the laptop with Dave to work each day??? Oh and incase you're not on my friend list and want to be you can click here.

A long Thankful weekend

How!

We had a pretty good Thanksgiving weekend. Busy but good. I think even with breastfeeding I've gained a few more pounds. (grr!) I'm not even going to worry about weight until after Christmas though because I'll be fixing so much food and munching it's not even worth it. We spent a half day Thanksgiving with my Dad and half with my Mom. We were incharge of potatoes and making a few desserts so we spent the morning Thursday cooking before going anywhere. Tried to get my kids to watch the Macy parade but of course they wouldn't. Was I the only one as a kid that loved watching that? Every year ours just leave the front room. The funniest part of the day had to be that morning when my sister called frantic that she'd cooked pumpkin pie in graham cracker crusts. (she's not that great in the kitchen) It actually tasted really good! We also got to see Jennifer (step-sis from Co) whom we really don't see often so it was nice to chat with them.

The long weekend was great. First off, Daddy was home! YAY! He didn't have to work from Thursday until Monday so that was super nice. Friday and Saturday we let the kids stay in their PJ's all day.
Sadly it was for our benefit. We weren't going anywhere and it allowed us to catch up on some massive laundry in the basement piled 3 foot tall on our pool table. I'm not lying. Poor Dave hauled up 8-9 baskets worth for me and about a hundred pounds or so of shirts on hangers and I put it all away. Just when you catch up though it's piled back up. Sunday morning we went to church and that afternoon I decided to put up the Christmas tree and decorations. I cringe every year because every year we've had a tree, it gets a horrible makeover by a preschooler or toddler. Damien is more into the Santa and Rudolph under the tree than messing with anything else.Mia however is a different story. She ripped about 10 ornaments off in just a matter of minutes after we left the front room to figure out dinner.She was also interested in eating them as we were decorating. Crazy kid.I handed out ornaments and then Alex and Dom stuck them all on for the most part. Then I rearranged a bit. lol Because we have had so many kid-made ornaments broken the previous years, I left them all put away this year and we decorated with standard bulbs and ribbon. I was tired of gingerbread men missing heads or popsicle sticks being torn off an ornament made at school.

I think letting Dominic and Alex take charge and put together the tree decorations made them feel really big so if you come over expect them to say "look what i did!"

After decorating we decided to try to do a quick shot of the kids under the tree. 500 shots later, we got this one. I hope everyone else had a great weekend!