Unbelievable.

M' is now 1 week old. The first few days we were having trouble getting her to stay asleep during the night for more then 1 1/2 hours. She would want to eat and then go back to sleep. . .it wasn't exactly working for us. We were kind of aiming for at least 2-3 hours in a row. Anyways we started to experiment with her sleeping and we figured out that if we set her in her car seat, swaddled and on a thick blanket, along with a thick blanket over her body she would sleep much longer. Last night was the second night trying it and it was unbelievable. I fed her at 11pm and laid her down about 11:30pm. . .then I went to sleep. I slept and slept and slept. I finally woke up at 4am. . .checked to make sure she was still breathing and made Mike check her. . .then I went back to sleep. Finally at 6:30am I heard M'. . .I couldn't believe she slept for so long. I was amazed at 4am. . .so 6:30am was incredible. I'm hoping this continues. . .I loved it.

My little sleeper.

Christmas Tree. . .Done.

The Santa's.

The mess.

The Tree.

The Hikers.

Mission Complete.

Today we went for a hike to find our tree. Mission accomplished. This year we had some whiners and the process seemed to take a bit longer but we found the 2009 tree, decorated it and we are now sitting and enjoying the lights. Even though we had to deal with the whining, it is so fun to see the kids get so excited about everything. A few years back several people gave us musical Santa's. . .I'm not sure why. . .we had never had any, never mentioned them, but for some reason we ended up with 3 different ones. They are loud, they sing and dance, and one even rides a bike. . .needless to say, the kids love them. So playing with them provided some long lasting entertainment.

Black Friday.

"Relaxing" on the couch. M' had just been crying so O' saved the day by quickly grabbing the pacifier and G' bounced the chair. It was some great team work on their part.

G' and O' showing M' some love.

Me at 4 a.m.

Ok. So I'm not totally obsessed or anything. Its not like we get up and stand in the lines in the freezing cold and wait for hours to get that one unbeatable deal, but we do get up while its still dark to get to the store right as they are opening. This morning we got up at 4am. . .which really isn't that big of deal considering we have a baby less then a week old. . .seems we are always up. . .jumped in to some clothes, made a cup of coffee and headed out. This year, my two cousins, my mom, M' and I participated in the madness. We hit up Target, Sams and Kohl's. Then picked up Mike and the other kids, went to McDonald's for breakfast and some playtime, then went to Toy's R Us. (Toy's R Us was the worst, just so you know) After that we headed home for some down time and Thanksgiving left overs. . .followed by a much needed nap for me. We were able to get some Christmas presents for some folks but definitely didn't walk out with any 40 inch TVs like everyone else in Target. Tomorrow is Christmas decorating day. We plan to go chop our tree down. . .yes, baby and all. . .and then come home, decorated, make some fudge and enjoy the day. So that's about all. . .there's my "for real" blog. . .hopefully more will follow.

Happy Thanksgiving. . .

I promise, after today I'll attempt, with real effort, to update this blog for real.I

Sweetie Pie.

Here she is. . .

Hospital Trip #2

November 22, 2009
1:22 a.m.
Baby Girl M' was born.
7 lbs. 15 oz.

Pictures to come.