Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts (Lizzie does this and I think it's a brilliant idea):

I love Thanksgiving and I love spending it with people I love. I think it's pretty cool that we have a holiday all about gratitude. I am continually grateful that I can be home with my two little kiddos everyday. They are such a joy and a delight and I can't imagine having to share them with a babysitter everyday. I stopped by my old school a couple of days ago and boy do I NOT miss it. The politics. The hoops to jump through. Testing. Unreal expectations from administration and government, etc, etc. I loved the kids, the parents, and the teachers. But all the requirements and laws keep teachers from being able to enjoy the personable part of the job. Isn't that why I went into teaching anyway? Well, I'm just so grateful that Mike has a job and I don't.

We set up for Christmas today. I love the season. I love having the Carols blaring in the background. I love seeing the magic sparkle in James' eyes... but is there anyone else out there who doesn't really enjoy the decorating aspect? It's great once it's up, but just like the drive home on a road trip, there's the dread of having to pack it all up.
Plus, when the sink is full of dishes, baskets are overflowing with dirty laundry, clothes need ironing, dust is an inch thick on furniture, and carpets desperately need of vacuuming, I have a hard time not dedicating my valuable nap time to doing those chores instead.

I sold my first item on Amazon today! We're going through some old DVD's and textbooks and found that some are actually worth something--hopefully enough to make the hassle of it all worth it--though with a newborn I will probably decide it's not.We'll see.

Today we set up a Roth IRA for myself and savings accounts for James, and Daniel... Hooray for Dave Ramsey! Additionally, this month we have lived on about $300. This includes groceries, gas, and a few Christmas gifts. We're doing this next month as well--we'll see how it goes. One thing I find interesting is that at times Mike and/ or I have be ornery and short-tempered. It's like we're on a diet and are limited in what we can eat (those always put me in a fantastic mood)!

We cancelled our home phone and our cable--could that be one reason for the irritability. TV not in HD is just not as fun to watch. And I don't even watch much TV. But when I do...

James LOVES signing. Which is funny, because I was one of those pre-moms who thought that teaching your child to sign is lame and unnecessary. But, now that I have married into a family who's second language is BSL (British sign) my mind set has totally shifted. I want my kids to be able to sign and communicate with their Uncle Gohar plus James is eating it up. He loves it, learns it quickly, and uses it correctly. This morning he signed "Jesus" while I was showing him our nativity. He has also started to put signs together like "food" and "please." Cute little Critter!
If anyone is wanting a good signing program, I love "Baby Signing Time" with Rachel de Azevedo Copeland. I love the fun songs that go with them (I'm borrowing the DVD's from a friend because we all know that Dave Ramsey wouldn't let us buy them right now).

I got 8 uninterrupted hours of sleep 2 nights ago and Daniel slept for 11 hours straight last night. He is such an amazingly easy baby. He has always been a super sleeper, he's constantly happy, and he's ultra friendly and social. I love my babies.

Funny story: Daniel changes the places he sleeps in. For the first 3 months he pretty much slept in a bassinet-type bed. Then we transferred him to his crib! Which he slept great in for about 2 weeks. Now, the place he sleeps best is his swing. Which we've been leaving on all night long-- sometimes he wakes up if it's not moving. Anyway... the batteries went out yesterday and we obviously needed some new ones. So, Mike, being the absolutely amazing Husband that he is drove all around looking for some. Because it was Thanksgiving, he went to gas stations because our local grocery stores were closed. After going to 3 gas stations, he finally found one that sells batteries. But, they didn't have size D so he decided to go to Wal-mart-- which is always open and always has batteries.
Well, and 1 1/2 hours later Mike gets home with his bag of batteries. I open up the bag and to my thorough amusement, the batteries he bought were size C! So, instead of driving all the way back to Wal-Mart late last night, we are going to go today, on Black Friday! I'm so excited!
How, are you asking, did Daniel sleep last night? Well, miraculously the swing worked all night long--all 11 hours of it. But this morning I tried and that battery juice is sucked dry.