Nick is working some crazy hours! Last night I hadn't even gone to sleep when he had to get up to go to work. He also went to bed way too late last night, but hopefully next week he will be able to sleep a bit more!

Landis apparently wanted to follow in his fathers footsteps and barely sleep more than an hour at a time. Of course this means that I must nurse him constantly just to get my own sleep.

I used to always be a chronic night owl, now I am a fall asleep standing up kinda gal. Today I found myself wiping furiously at the apparent mascara rings under my eyes. Being frustratingly unsuccessful I realized that I had not worn mascara and those were indeed the dark non-sleeping circles that I have earned as a mother. These bruise colored crescents, that no amount of makeup can 'freshen up', scream "Tired Mom Here!". Although, they are not out of place on this tousled uncut hair, unbrushed teeth, unwashed clothes of a person that I am. They only add to the ensemble that declares my latest station in life. Once discovered though I only admire them with a perverse since of accomplishment. Like my stretchmarks, and my stretching breasts, I have earned these. My progress as a woman can be traced across my body like counting the rings of a tree. My still protruding belly indicating the rude way in which my son was taken from my being. My uneven breasts a symbol of my dedication to the nutrition of my offspring. These are my battle scars, my road map, my mark of motherhood of which I am proud to declare. In all its beauty this is me now.

I wrote this awhile ago. It is probably unfinished yet, but the inspiration has vanished and so I am posting it as is.

The past month or so I have been exhausted and run down. First I suspected that it was just post semester sleepiness. Then I thought it was weather inducing Fibro. Then I thought I better go see a doctor, I am barely functioning. Turns out I have a 'raging' sinus infection. Oh, that's what that pain was. I have learned to tune out my aches and pains so well. It is survival instinct and truly necessary or I would be bed ridden for sure. It does have its down sides as I have several times ignored a migraine until I was hunched over the toilet throwing up. I try to catch that one sooner now. Honestly when you have constant aches and pain it is hard to determine what is foreign and fixable, and what is normal. I should be recovered from this latest sinus infection and ready to bust a move soon.

My friend just told me about this home remedy to prevent and help recover from illness. Once a week you put a drop or two of warm garlic oil in your ears. If you are already sick you put a whole dropperful every hour for at least three hours in the ear. (Make sure to insulate properly with a cotton ball.) Last week Landis seemed to be on the road to another ear infection and so we did the full dropper treatment and it seemed to help. Needless to say I am smelling a lot like garlic this week!

Here are a few shots of some of the fun stuff I made for Christmas this year.

The hat in the picture with Landis. And yes...that is Landis' new red purse.

This is a pillow case I made for Teilee out of her old shirts (super fast and cheap!).

These are scarfs that I made for all the great kids we know and love!!->

These are some of the gift tags I made for Delta's tag swap.

Had to include a random pic of Teilee with Santa. This year we took her because she asked us to. (I have always found it wierd that we take our kids screaming and kicking to go sit on some strange mans lap. What happened to stranger danger?)

Happy New Year!

Loving the Christmas Music!

Gearing up for Christmas.....way behind in my gifts.....way behind in my school preparations......way behind in my 'home work'.........totally lost all of my to-dos.



I found out that I only need 2 more classes in order to obtain my second Associates degree from Front Range. Truly that is not my goal here at this school, but it will help to get all the classes I can at this cheaper rate before heading to CSU. Now I really have to get to work on getting to CSU. Lots of things to figure out like: How in the f*** can I do this? Holy cow, last semester was rough, and I have a lot more to go. I wish the kids were older, but if they were than I would wish that I had my degree already. I know why I choose to go back now, but man I just wish it would get easier.



I decided (Nick agrees) that next year we will celebrate the Winter Solstice instead of Christmas. Also this will mean that we can celebrate the Summer Solstice too!! All of my religious research has led to the same conclusion for me. Do what feels right!

The kids are sick again. Tonight Landis was having a hard time keeping his balance and I am concerned about the possibility of a serious ear infection again! Last week Landis had a quick trip to the ER concerning a subluxation of the radial head (or something like that). It is called 'nursemaids elbow' and basically consist of the joint in the elbow becoming dislodged from the ligament that holds it in place. That is my basic understanding, all I know is that when pulling big sisters hair, from the front of the shopping cart while she is in the back, make sure that she can't grab your arm and pull really hard!! I guess it is really common and also likely to occur again if we aren't super super careful. Baby acrobatics have been put on hold unless the child can be firmly gripped only by the torso! Scared the sh** out of me to see him in so much pain with a sorta limp arm. At least the ER visit lasted only an hour (gotta be a record). As soon as the doctor was able to finagle the joint ligament back into place (took two painful tries) Landis was better in about 30 secs (no meds). He went from crying and laying on my chest to wriggling to get out of my grip, running down the hall in his little hospital gown, and waving bye to everyone (with the injured arm).

All I want for Christmas/Solstice is two healthy kids! I can't wait to post pictures of all the cool gifts I have been able to make so far. I always have such big plans! Maybe this year I will be able to finish them, but if that is to happen I probably had better go get to work!!!