December in a Nutshell

This month has been really tough and tiring. This year has been pretty tiring. Good, but tiring.

So often during this year, I felt like I was running, trying to catch up with what was happening, but always feeling a few steps behind. I have felt isolated at times and just plain busy. There are many reasons that I can think of that could be linked to why I was feeling this way: our family had only one car from October '07 - August '08, so I stayed home most of the time with our new baby that was born in January and with my toddler/pre-schooler. Going from one to two was definitely challenging for me at times, and I was just lacking sleep a lot of the time.

December was definitely a month that was very tiring and I have felt worn out. I feel like I have been just going, going, going since Thanksgiving - and I am still going! I have had a lot of fun too - but that has been coupled with being tired. This is basically what has been going on (I need to write it in list form - it just helps it to flow better for me):

1. We hosted Thanksgiving here - we had a great time with the family that was able to come.

2. The Monday after Thanksgiving, Smiles had surgery.

3. After his surgery, he would wake up in the middle of the night every night, somewhere between 2-4am, and he would not go back to sleep unless I nursed him - he took a whole feeding, so I am assuming that he was hungry - I just was wishing that he would get all of his calories during the day! He was not awake from 2-4am, he just woke up somewhere in between those times. This went on for at least 2 weeks.

4. Smiles finally started to sleep completely through the night during the third week of December - I know that many prayers were going up to the Lord for this to happen!

5. At the end of that week (Friday before Christmas), he got a high fever for three days, which then showed itself as roseola. During this time, he started to wake up at night again - probably from being uncomfortable.

6. The Monday before Christmas, Smiles woke up at 11:30PM screaming and I had to nurse him in - he would not relax and go to sleep if I did not. He then woke up at 2:30, 3:30, 4:30 and 5:30. Needless to say, I was exhausted the next morning - thank you mom for your help on Tuesday! Smiles woke up at 11:30 PM again on Tuesday evening, and I was happy to have children's benedryl to give to him - that seemed to help him get through the rest of the night!

7. Christmas day was spent with my family, then I had a day to try and recoup a little bit, then Christmas with Dawson's family was on Saturday - which was great, then our friends from CT arrived on Sunday morning and stayed until Monday morning (again, this was great, but I felt like we were still going!)

8. Tomorrow is decorating cookies for the grandkids at my parents' house plus I need to do food shopping (and CVS too - we need some toilet paper, and I have two great coupons to use - thanks Thrills!)

9. Wednesday evening (New Years' Eve) we will be at my parents' - food to make!

10. New Years' day we will host family at our house - more food to make!

11. January 2nd is Brady's birthday - we will have a cake for him...when will I make that???

12. On top of all that has been going on, Dawson had to work late every night for at least two weeks before Christmas, so when he got home, I usually did not feel like going out shopping for presents (hence the last minute shopping that I had to do with the help of my parents!)

This month has been tiring, but also filled with a lot of fun family time too. I am just looking forward to having a vacation...I am not sure what that means, but I am looking forward to one! Dawson was joking with my tonight, saying that he should send me to a cabin in the forest - but I thought that it would be lonely, and I would still have to make myself food and clean everything up. I am not sure what I need, but I have to say, that when I go on a vacation, I really like my family to be with me! I love them so much! I think that I need some sleep, and more time with my hubby.

If you have made it this far, thanks for reading and hearing what has been going on in my life during the month of my tiring December. I am ready for some rejuvenation!