Santa Claus is coming to town

The boys had their picture taken with Santa today.  It was a bit of a gong show, but in then end, I’ll call it a success.

Littleman’s daycare organizes Santa photos as a little fundraiser. One of the parents is a photographer so he volunteers his time to come in a take the photos.  The daycare puts up a tree and sets up a nice little area for the kids to visit with and have their photo taken with Santa.

In theory, this is great.  It means not having to drag the kids to a crowded shopping mall to stand in line with a bunch of screaming kids in fancy dresses, waiting for a turn to visit with jolly old Saint Nick.  Unfortunately, although they mean well, the daycare staff can be a little disorganized when it comes to stuff like this.

Since Bo is still at home with me, I made arrangements with the daycare to bring him in during the day today so that he and Littleman could visit Santa together.  Sounds simple enough, right?  Well, two hours after I arrived (with one long walk and a bunch of time spent playing with my two boys in the daycare gym) the boys finally got their chance to sit on Santa’s knee.

Littleman did great this year!  His first two Christmases were ridiculous, with him sobbing and thrashing in my arms, flat out refusing to go anywhere near Santa.  Last year, we took a different approach and didn’t even attempt to place him near Santa on his own.  We did a family photo instead, with D holding Littleman on one side of Santa and me standing on the other side.

This year, D had to work so I really, really didn’t want to have to get into the picture myself.  We prepped Littleman all week by talking to him about it and reminding him that he’s the big brother now so he has to show Bo how it’s done.  Luckily, he took his  job seriously!  He walked up to Santa and answered his questions, telling him what he and his brother want for Christmas.  Bo, usually a happy and smiley boy, was a little concerned about the whole thing.  Amazingly, though, there were no tears.

I haven’t seen the photos yet, but I’m hoping we’ll get at least one decent one.

And, just for fun, here is a pic of my sister and I thirty-something years ago with one grumpy looking Santa!  No wonder my sister is screaming…

31 weeks (and Merry Christmas!)

Merry Christmas!  I’m officially 31 weeks pregnant today and I have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas.  At almost 3 years old, this is the first year that Littleman has really understood what’s going on.  As we got closer to the big day, he got more and more excited.  Last night, he put out cookies for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph (along with a pear and an avocado, just because!)  This morning, he was a bit confused when he realized that “Santa isn’t here now?” but was totally thrilled with his fire truck – the one thing he asked Santa for.

Snacks for Santa and Rudolph!

It’s so nice to spend Christmas with my parents at the farm.  It’s freezing out, but the snow is beautiful and we don’t have to go anywhere, so we can enjoy it from beside the warm fireplace.  I received a great pair of purple Uggs, which make me so happy (and which I’d never spend the money on myself).  All in all, aside from the fact that daddy had to leave to go work night shift, it’s been a wonderful day.

Although we’re having a lovely Christmas, I have been thinking a lot about Puppet, the baby we lost earlier this year.  (S)he would have been three months old and celebrating his or her first Christmas today.  It’s times like this when it’s hard not to think about what happened, but I am so blessed with my sweet little boy and am beyond thrilled that we have another one on the way in a couple more months.

I’m also sad today for a very good friend of mine on the other side of the world, who spent Christmas Eve in the hospital having a D&C after losing what would have been her third baby.  She is a strong, wonderful woman so I know she will be OK, but my heart breaks for her.  It would be especially hard to go through something like that over the holidays.  Luckily she has two amazing little girls who are helping her get through Christmas.

Now, on to what this past week has thrown at my from a pregnancy perspective…

Symptoms:  The contractions that started last week have continued, off and on, all week.  Some days are good and I barely have any noticeable contractions.  Other days, like yesterday, it seems to go on almost constantly for a couple of hours at a time.  Those days scare me so much.  They aren’t painful and are generally irregular (but can be frequent).  I just really need this baby to hang in there and keep cooking for a few more weeks!

I’m officially waddling now.  There’s just no way around it.  I feel like it’s a bit too early for that, but not much I can do about it.

I have to pee ALL THE TIME.  I swear, I leave the bathroom and pretty much have to turn around and go right back in.  My poor bladder doesn’t really know what’s hit it.

Sleep:  Definitely struggling in the sleep department these days.  Sometimes it’s the peeing that wakes me up.  Other times, it’s the middle-of-the-night dance parties that Baby Bo decides to conduct.   Rolling over with all my supportive pillows is a major production so I definitely cherish any little bit of sleep I get.

Other: Not much else to report this week.  I’m looking forward to my next OB appointment on Monday to make sure things are still ok in there.  I’m really glad that I have some time off work because I think my body really needed the break!

Frozen

My family is lucky enough to be warm and cozy at our farm while much of Toronto is suffering from the effects of a weekend ice storm.  We woke up Sunday morning to a thick layer of ice covering everything.  Power stayed on at our house, but as close as a block away, all was dark.

Icy trees came crashing down all over the city

D had left early that morning for work and by the time Littleman and I woke up, our entire block was closed in – a downed power line on one end of the street and a huge fallen tree across the other end.  Luckily the tree got moved and we were able to escape to the farm Sunday night.  Now, I’m sitting by the fire and looking out at the snow-covered fields.

Despite the storm, my sister and her husband managed to make it into town for the weekend to have our “Christmas” celebration.  They will spent the actual holiday with her husband’s family.  Littleman’s gift from my sister – a doctor costume – was a huge hit.  He LOVES playing doctor and hasn’t taken the coat off since he got it.

I’m a doctor!

My sister and I also got a chance to compare our 30 week baby bumps!  It’s still so strange seeing my little sister pregnant, but I’m glad that we’ve had a chance to see each other a couple of times throughout our pregnancies.  Hard to believe the babies will be here in a couple of months!

Hope everyone who was hit by the storm is safe and warm!