So this is Christmas...as a grownup

[altarflame]

Obviously I've been an adult (and parent) at Christmastime before, but I've never before;

-Sent out Christmas cards, much less with a picture we took and printed in it
-Felt obligated to have some type of gift for every single person who will be at the big family gathering (including girlfriends, newly guardianed children I've never met, an uncle I haven't seen since I was like 12, etc)
-Actually wrapped stuff (I'm so bad at it..and this year I spent like THREE HOURS wrapping in the night)

And we're still doing the whole trip out of town - and taking this show on the road is an increasing amount of hassle - and I'm still baking gifts for several people. But I'm also knitting sweaters for the first time in my life, and have sewn gifts to finish for Ananda.

Somehow the holidays have never seemed so stressful before. Who knew.

I've had a productive day - trying to conquer Mt Laundry before we leave tomorrow evening, trying to finish the sweaters, trying to keep everyone fed and take care of Annie, who has a cold, and keep on top of Isaac, who is going through a "Hit everyone all day long" phase. Aaron is happy to be near wherever I am, asking questions. He's decided he'll be a zoologist when he grows up and ask for horseback ridiing for his next birthday. Trying to keep my relationship warm and intimate and NOT give in to the tempation to act all "Have you gone to the bank yet? Have you even thought about the two gift bags you were supposed to pick up? Do you realize we're leaving TOMORROW AND I WILL BE DOING ALL THE CLEANING AND PACKING FOR EVERYONE WHILE YOU WORK?!" Mostly successful...it's still a nice relief to see each other at the end of the day, so that must be a good sign.

Jake has learned to give hugs, and he puts his fingers to his lips and says "Shhh!" whenever anyone gets too loud. He makes me so happy.


I can't wait to be out of this bottleneck and on our way.


P.S. I think I might have a lot of kids or something, because when I saw the community 2003_babies on someone's userinfo earlier tonight, I assumed it was a community for people with a whole lot of young kids.

Comments

[erinmdmd.livejournal.com]

We leave Saturday morning at early o'clock (7am flight, 30 min trip to airport- I plan to hit the road by 4:30am, I normally am just going to bed at 1am).

This is the first time I've ever travelled more then a few hours from home with my baby (3.5months) and never overnight. I'm a notoriously light packer, but yikes on how much planning is involved with a baby in tow. I couldn't imagine four right now.

Much luck to you.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Well, no matter how many you have, the vast majority of stuff is always for the baby. Bigger kids don't add that much at all. I mean for Annie, Aaron and Isaac I just need 3 days worth of clothes, shoes and toiletries, with possibly some bedtime reading thrown in. For Jake we're bringing a feeding chair, and a crapload of diapers and covers and wipes and wetbags, and the stroller and mei tai and possibly his portacrib. It's insane.

We're driving the whole way, I've never done a flight with kids. But road trips are usually pretty easy - they sleep the whole way as long as it's dark, so it's actually a really nice time for Grant and I to talk uninterrupted, snack on junk food in the front seat, listen to music, etc. We crave road trips if it's been more than a few months since we had one. Lakeland is about 5 hours from here. We do Jacksonville a couple of times a year and that's more like 7. Then once we're gone, it's totally a vacation - no cooking or cleaning and all those relatives around eager to babysit ;)

This trip is a little stressful because of bringing all the presents for everyone along in a non-breaking, staying wrapped manner, and transporting baked goods and all. Luckily, I am NOT the one who loads the van :D

[erinmdmd.livejournal.com]

My mother (we'll be staying with her part of the trip) keeps asking me if I'm bringing the playpen (she lies in it for about 5 minutes batting at toys and sleeps with us), the stroller (a huge monstrosity we haven't opened since the abby was born), and all her toys (the things she briefly stares at, prefering to be worn and walked around).

I used to be the one loading the van for family trips (oldest of five kids) It certainly takes some creative planning to fit enough stuff for a family of seven into a minivan for a week and still be able to fit the people:-p

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Jake only sleeps in the porta crib for about half the night on the nights that we take the time to get him into it after he's fallen asleep. But since we'll be in a raised bed (we normally are on a mattress on the floor for safety) in the hotel, and he ends up on the floor pretty often when with us, I thought it might be a good idea. We might just make a bed of blankets on the floor to lay him on, that I can nurse him to sleep on or Grant can pat him down on. The stroller is only 50/50 we'd even use it, so it depends on space. The feeding chair folds up small and attaches to any normal kitchen chair, so it seems like a good idea since my Nana is the kind of person to have a heart attack if someone dropped food onto her floor. He will ignore his toys if there are new and interesting things around.

My mom doesn't understand how I live, because I've never owned a playpen and didn't bother with a swing this last time around. She thinks all of my babies are a tremendous pain in the butt because they want to be held - the first time she was around Jake for any length of time, she was all "Oh, another Tina baby" because he wouldn't sit on his own for more than 10 or 15 minutes. I was like, HELLO, this kid SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT and takes long solo naps each afternoon! He's happy anytime he's with someone! But she's dumb that way and think I spoil them into being demanding monsters *rolling my eyes*

[forgetfulmuse.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, "another Tina baby." Tina babies rule. ;)

[themamalogue.livejournal.com]

Have a safe trip and a Very Merry Christmas!