Christmas....Round 1

We celebrated Christmas a little early; this is mostly due to the fact that I am not sure how I will be feeling when Christmas day rolls around.  It is also due largely in part to the fact that I wanted to have a little leverage with my naughty Toddler.  In all fairness, his naughtiness can be directly tied to the fact that I can no longer get him to take naps at home on the weekends (I hear he is the first one asleep on the days he attends school.....just my luck).  He will usually find it convenient to close his eyes for a bit (if at all.....between 4 and 5 p.m.).  This pushes bed time back and can sometimes result in a cranky dinner attendee, but I am trying to roll with it and hoping that it will start to sort itself out as we head through the major transition of baby.

Today was just magical, James loved his visit from Santa and was thrilled with his 3 gifts (same number as baby Jesus, we keep it simple around here).  We also had our first snowfall, and James spent a good amount of time outside working on a snowman.  I made baked french toast casserole for breakfast and we grazed for the remainder of the day.  I am still in my PJs, and can't recall the last time I have had a day that has been this lazy!

I was sure to point out that Santa made mention in his note of a return visit after James' brother arrives, but that he needed to be extra helpful to his mother!  Which brings me to my final closing thought, why all the crazy wars with the Elf on the Shelf?  I have read articles where mothers have compared the Elf on the Shelf wars to that of the SAHM vs. WM wars?!  This is just crazy, let's call it what it really is.........a big  tool used to help make our children behave and remind them that Santa is ALWAYS watching.  In fact, I might create a character such as the elf for every month of the year, he has definitely proven to be my Night in Shining Armor on a few occasions this year!  However yes, it is also a lovely and fun tradition for our children (so let us not forget that).

Merry (Early) Christmas from the Sieg Fam!  Last doctors appointment tomorrow, final week of work/baby prep, QT with James, and baby makes 4 a week from tomorrow.

Party Success, and Early Holiday Celebrations

The party we hosted for Jake's staff was a success, I am just very lucky that he works with such an awesome group of women!  I was exhausted by the time the party began, so I wasn't the greatest at running around filling wine glasses and cracking open beer bottles for our guests.  They helped themselves to what they needed, and helped herd all the children.  We are so lucky that everyone has children in the same age group, as they did an excellent job entertaining themselves.  I am just happy James avoided any major meltdowns, seeing as he was under the impression that the party was for him!

I have been a busy lady: wrapping, ordering, organizing, cleaning.  We are officially ready for the holidays, we will kick off our season this weekend.  Santa will be making a stop at our house on Saturday, and we will do Christmas round 1 on Sunday.  He will be coming again on Christmas, after baby boy #2 is home.

I felt it was really important that we savor every moment with James these next two weekends, so we have a lot of special activities planned. It is hard to believe that in 11 days we will be a family of 4!  I can't wait to meet our new little man.