I love Christmas. I love trying to find gifts that I think will make someone happy. I love watching the little ones and the wonder in their eyes. But what I really love is that we're all home together and for a very short spell - work stops! It is a Christmas miracle because we have a very busy house. Brien toils long hours for Scripps. I don't work a quarter as much for Websense but I do exert a lot of effort to meet my obligations - while balancing the 3 children and their very busy schedules + the demands of Cecily's Closet. I love every role I play but the one I love the most is Mom. This was a rare Friday where I only worked for one hour - and the rest of the time I doted on the kids and enjoyed their antics - all of them.
Cecily is sick - but she still puts on such a brave, happy face. She retreated to her princess chair several times today to just "chill" but at other times she smiled and giggled and shrieked with delight at the sound of her brothers and sometimes - when I'm lucky - at me!
This picture captures the love Cecily has for her baby. Yes, Cason is all hers. She gently grabs him and pulls his head in close. She nuzzles him with her nose and she gives him a pat-pat-pat. She lights up like Christmas when she sees him enter the room and she shrieks if he giggles. She just loves him. Today they read books together - and she was the Mommy, gently turning the pages while trying to stop him from eating the book. (A very hard task as Cason likes to eat...everything!)
I just love it. I love to see the children bond together. Noah loves to take his bath with Cason. He likes to play with him in the morning - they are both up at 5am... and they snuggle in the bed with me while Cecily and Daddy sleep - soundly - one in a crib and the other in a cave. I am now understanding exactly why Daddy wanted this man cave... Perhaps one Christmas I'll ask for a woman cave... LOL... I am not quite sure what it would look like!
It is not even eight o'clock but we have managed to get everyone - including Daddy - into bed. I will be joining shortly but I love the quiet of the house with the Christmas lights twinkling. I feel like I've missed so much this holiday season because I've been doing too much. I want to ensure I enjoy every moment from here until the New Year. I want to be present and not just physcially present - mentally present, too. My goal for next year is to focus on being present in the moment - verus my typical worry all the time mind-set... planning for the next hour, two hours, four hours ahead. I am going to try and play more and work less. I'm going to try and exercise more and not beat myself up as much. I am very good at that last item and I'd like to just learn to let myself off the hook. Even now I'm fighting the urge to write thank-you notes and clean the playroom... I know I should ... and I have the time... and I oddly feel guilty for not doing it. Oh lordy I sound so silly. I am not sure when I arrived at silly-town but I'd like a one-way ticket back to normalcy. I know the only person capable of buying that ticket is me... so I'll start saving my pennies in hopes that one day I'll make it! I am lucky to have a family that onboard with this plan so they'll be helping me achieve these self-help goals! It's amazing how much happier life can be when you let go and breathe. I know many a weight will be lifted when I decide to only focus on the important things and stop worrying about what others will think!
On this Christmas I will just choose to enjoy the kids and focus on the love and support of family. I will stop to just enjoy my coffee, linger in my PJs, hug the kids a little tighter, read a few more books and simply be. I will leave the sticky notes and the long lists for another time. When we stop and look around we can see what we often miss in the hectic nature of every week. We are so very lucky. We are so blessed. We have so many things to look forward to. Our children are loved and supported and what's better - they love and support each other. They are best buddies. What else could one ask for? I think this Christmas the best presents will definitely be those that are unwrapped...
Onwards and upwards!
Cecily is sick - but she still puts on such a brave, happy face. She retreated to her princess chair several times today to just "chill" but at other times she smiled and giggled and shrieked with delight at the sound of her brothers and sometimes - when I'm lucky - at me!
This picture captures the love Cecily has for her baby. Yes, Cason is all hers. She gently grabs him and pulls his head in close. She nuzzles him with her nose and she gives him a pat-pat-pat. She lights up like Christmas when she sees him enter the room and she shrieks if he giggles. She just loves him. Today they read books together - and she was the Mommy, gently turning the pages while trying to stop him from eating the book. (A very hard task as Cason likes to eat...everything!)
I just love it. I love to see the children bond together. Noah loves to take his bath with Cason. He likes to play with him in the morning - they are both up at 5am... and they snuggle in the bed with me while Cecily and Daddy sleep - soundly - one in a crib and the other in a cave. I am now understanding exactly why Daddy wanted this man cave... Perhaps one Christmas I'll ask for a woman cave... LOL... I am not quite sure what it would look like!
It is not even eight o'clock but we have managed to get everyone - including Daddy - into bed. I will be joining shortly but I love the quiet of the house with the Christmas lights twinkling. I feel like I've missed so much this holiday season because I've been doing too much. I want to ensure I enjoy every moment from here until the New Year. I want to be present and not just physcially present - mentally present, too. My goal for next year is to focus on being present in the moment - verus my typical worry all the time mind-set... planning for the next hour, two hours, four hours ahead. I am going to try and play more and work less. I'm going to try and exercise more and not beat myself up as much. I am very good at that last item and I'd like to just learn to let myself off the hook. Even now I'm fighting the urge to write thank-you notes and clean the playroom... I know I should ... and I have the time... and I oddly feel guilty for not doing it. Oh lordy I sound so silly. I am not sure when I arrived at silly-town but I'd like a one-way ticket back to normalcy. I know the only person capable of buying that ticket is me... so I'll start saving my pennies in hopes that one day I'll make it! I am lucky to have a family that onboard with this plan so they'll be helping me achieve these self-help goals! It's amazing how much happier life can be when you let go and breathe. I know many a weight will be lifted when I decide to only focus on the important things and stop worrying about what others will think!
On this Christmas I will just choose to enjoy the kids and focus on the love and support of family. I will stop to just enjoy my coffee, linger in my PJs, hug the kids a little tighter, read a few more books and simply be. I will leave the sticky notes and the long lists for another time. When we stop and look around we can see what we often miss in the hectic nature of every week. We are so very lucky. We are so blessed. We have so many things to look forward to. Our children are loved and supported and what's better - they love and support each other. They are best buddies. What else could one ask for? I think this Christmas the best presents will definitely be those that are unwrapped...
Onwards and upwards!
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