Holiday Craze

AAAHHHH!!!

Anyone else feel that way?

I blame a lot on the 6 1/2 month creation that is brewing in my pelvis, creating a brain freeze in my noggin', a side-cramp every time I roll over, and aches when I try to pick up the crumbs on the kitchen floor. (Is this a sign of aging?)

Or wait, maybe the exhaustion is from the fact that I'm trying to work full-time, support my hard-working hubby who is gone more than he's home, cook dinners that are more substantial than Jack's frozen pizza, keep up on the laundry (including Shout-ing out layers upon layers of rainbow Crayola marker from sleeves), and prep for the holidays. Anymore, holiday prep in itself includes more than just cutting down the Christmas tree.

Holiday prep with a six and almost-five-year-old is tricky! Between staying on budget, making sure everyone is (evenly) spoken for, and supplying gifts from St. Nick... God-forbid I can't forget to move "Odie" -- that's the Elf who showed up last year and has been a pain in my side ever since. Honestly, who invented this creature? When he forgets to travel back to the North Pole at night, I get the 3rd degree that I must have touched him and made him "lose his magic." Really?

I have enough trouble just trying to keep Santa's magic in our home. I understand Cade and Layna are far too young to give up on the idea of Santa being real, but let's be real... I've almost spilled the beans multiple times just this year. I can't just pick up stocking stuffers anymore when we're out and about, tags can't say the Gap, Dick's, or Target because they know those stores as places mom frequents. Shoot, the wrapping paper and handwriting even has to be different than mom's.

Is there a parenting class that I missed along the way on how to do this?

Maybe next year Odie will steal Barbie's convertible or take the Build-A-Bear on in a game of chess... but until then, we're keeping it simple.

Gender Reveal!!!

In a recent post, I shared that we would soon reveal the gender of this acrobatic monkey inside me. Now, at 24 weeks and 14 extra pounds, it's time!

Let me preface with... Finding out the gender didn't seem like a big deal to me. We have one of each. I'm okay not having the nursery completely painted prior to arrival. I've saved all my boy and girl baby-goods. I never knew in advance with Cade or Layna, and survived just fine. And honestly, I didn't really care either way. I truly down played the whole experience.

But, I was making a big deal of it "for the kids". So, (with the help of Pinterest) I planned to have an old friend of ours join us for an afternoon of {awesome} photography. I prepared a cardboard box for hours and sent Jarin to the florist for balloons. 35 balloons to be exact. And for all of you party-throwers out there... FYI, there is a helium shortage. Yep. 35 balloons equals 75 bucks. Trust me, the bean-counting husband of mine was not thrilled.

But he bought them as instructed; we corralled our neighbor to help get them from the black bags to the cardboard box without us seeing. And in the back of the mama-van they went. To find out what happened after that point, you'll have to tune into the video below:

As you can imagine, it was the best experience of my life. I didn't expect emotions to run over me like they did. And the best part of it all was that we could celebrate together. I wasn't tied down to the ultrasound bed, or paralyzed from an epidural. I was free to grab my kids and my husband, and embrace the new baby girl that would soon join us.

And as I turned around to watch all those balloons float into the heavens, I realized that those whom I loved the most, those who couldn't be with us to celebrate these new milestones... they were the ones finding out first.