As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm terrible at blogging during the holiday season. I'm sorry for not filling you in on our first Christmas together as a family, Tay's 5th birthday, and the cute new things baby Isaac is up to these days.... but when there are gifts to be wrapped, trips to be taken to see my family out of state, and the flu bug overtaking our home, blogging just didn't make the cut. BUT I'm back in time for New Year's! (Proving that I can handle the simple task of typing during at least one holiday.) To catch you up, here are a few fun facts from the last 2 weeks!
     1) Cameron and Taylor abhor creamed spinach. I only despise it, so I was ok with making them finish the small helping they were given for dinner. Taylor spent about 20 minutes chewing... that's it... just chewing on spinach. I told her to swallow it, but she kept saying that "it wasn't ready". And Cameron's gag reflux was activated twice, which, had he actually thrown up, it would've looked exactly like creamed spinach anyways. (They needn't know that I threw my helping away after they went to bed....)
     2) Cameron and I had the flu. To put it poetically, our bottoms were shooting with more force than a power washer. However, one of us had enough control to make it to the bathroom in the middle of the night, whereas my the other one of us proved this to be impossible... twice. Cameron also proved it impossible to clean himself off in the middle of the night without getting gooey pooey on everything he touched (shower walls, 2 wash cloths (his sister was NOT pleased), the back of the toilet, the cupboard door, and the toilet paper dispenser). Needless to say, cleaning up someone else's runny stool when you have the flu does NOT bode well. My silver lining is the 7 pounds I lost during my illness... which I'm determined to find again as I sit here eating pounds of Christmas mini-snickers.
     3) Baby boy has turned into a tv-watching butterball of giggles and hand-sucking! This kid has lost all interest in me, apparently, because if the television is on in the room, that's all he wants to look at! Luckily, he's not picky about what's on and is content watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives... probably because he loves food just as much as I do. (OH!! I could really go for an episode on how to make mini-snickers right now!) And if I had known he had such a talent for putting his entire fist in his mouth, I would've enrolled him in the Infant Circus. But his giggles... Oooh, the giggles! Could this kid make me smile anymore inside? I'm pretty sure he could not!
     4) Taylor is willing to trade us all in for going to live with my Grandmother in Michigan. Why, you may ask? Because Grandma has a toilet paper dispenser that plays Christmas carols when you unroll the tissue. That's all.... so anyone wondering if she really has an attachment issue can rest assured that she does indeed!
     5) Trips to Michigan should ALWAYS involve individual sets of headphones and some sort of gaming/music device, especially when snow storms, diaper changes, and your husband's pea-sized bladder make your 5 hour trip last 8 hours. Cameron was blessedly quiet and Taylor couldn't even annoy him because he couldn't hear her through the head phones... which meant that she would just burst out into random songs about reindeer, baby Jesus, and the days of the week.... I'm pretty sure she included all three into one song somewhere in the middle of Ohio. On the bright side, she finally learned that Thursday and Friday are, in fact, part of the seven days of the week (which we've been working on for about 7 months). She'll probably forget by the time school resumes, but I'll be sure to send a note in to her teacher about it, just in case.
     6) My husband decided to try out a new pick-up line while we vacationed... "The baby's still sleeping and there's not really anything else to do... you wanna?" Needless to say, my heart did NOT skip a beat, and butterflies literally committed suicide after he said it. But, he was right. There really wasn't anything else to do....
     7) Taylor turned 5-years-old just two days after Christmas. She was bummed to learn that she wouldn't grow bigger that day... so I reminded her that's what the creamed spinach is for. She's now ok with staying short. Sadly, her big Make-Over birthday bash had to be rescheduled for this weekend, due to a freak snow storm, accompanied by the just as freakish flu. But, as quickly as she was saddened that the party was canceled, she remembered that she had new boots to play outside in, and happiness once again reigned in the Costa house.
     8) And finally, I've never been more excited for Christmas to get here, nor have I been more excited to see Christmas leave, as I have been this year. Finding time to decorate, buy presents, wrap presents, attend holiday parties, and engage in classic holiday crafts and traditions that all kids should experience during childhood left me ready for a vacation on the psych ward. I am one tuckered Mommy and was close to losing my mind on several occasions... particularly when I was unable to locate a bag of gifts for the kid's (never to be seen or heard from again... not even a post card....). I am soooo ready to get my house back in order and resume a normal schedule! But, despite my eagerness to end it all (the holiday, not my life... just clarifying), I have the most amazing memories of this Christmas. It's incredible how having children changes your view of this season. I loved watching their faces as they opened gifts, seeing them sled ride, and getting to spend entire days just playing with them and having meaningful conversations about their favorite things. I was so blessed by this Christmas and am thoroughly looking forward to what next Christmas will hold... in another 356 days (and not a moment sooner).