Christmas is Coming

Here it is, early morning and baby went back to sleep after eating. I, on the other hand, was too hungry to sleep so I got back up and made myself breakfast and am enjoying the quiet peace of no current demands. Christmas is just days away and we are flying to Spokane at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning, so this is my last day here to get things ready. At least, I hope we are flying at the crack of dawn, we are flying standby thanks to some free guest passes from a dear friend who is a pilot, so we're praying that our travels are safe and timely since sitting around in an airport waiting for an open flight with a one-month old is not my idea of a happy day.
But for today, the laundry is almost done, my shopping is done, my baking is done and I'm hoping to deliver some gifts this afternoon. This Christmas season snuck up on me, as I expected it to, since the first few weeks I was in the baby-daze. I really like handmaking gifts and I have been able to do just a little of that with biscotti for my dad and a little chicken-scratch embroidered bookmark for my mom. I knew I wasn't going to be able to do much in the way of handmade this year. If I was really great, I'd line up my crafts through the year to get them done in time for Christmas, but really, who does that? I have been having fun reading some craft blogs and dreaming about the things I want to try after Christmas is over and life returns to semi-normalcy. I still am loving being at home and still do not take it for granted that I get to be here. While there are difficulty things about having a newborn (like late late nights since she refuses to sleep before 1:30 am most nights), it's still pretty quiet and calm compared to having a toddler or multiple kids. While I look forward to those crazy times too, I am reveling in the time I get to devote to Adelaide and taking care of things at home right now. My days are filled with things like laundry, cleaning, baking, meal planning, and of course, feeding the baby, burping the baby, changing the baby, bouncing the baby, dressing the baby...it's a good thing for me that I like doing all of those things.
I am anxious about traveling with her, our first big trip away from home and we're flying, which I always get anxious about anyways. Part of me wishes we were able to drive because it eliminates some of the packing and planning stress; whatever we can cram into the car can come with us. Flying is a whole new ballgame and I'm a little stressed, especially since we're not guaranteed a spot on a flight if it fills up. This could mean that her carseat, which we're planning on checking, could end up in Spokane and we could be stranded at the airport with no way to get her home if there are no flights available. This is the only way we could really afford to fly to visit Jesse's family this Christmas, though, so I'm praying that, as always, the Lord will give me provide for all of our needs and that I would rest in the knowledge that He is sovereign even over airline schedules and our flying experience this week. It doesn't mean it will be easy, but it does mean that we'll make it through this holiday season just fine.
Here are a few pictures from the past week...

Baking cookies with Adelaide, my little Roo

Christmas at the Gatz's (my family celebrated early since we're going to Spokane and they're going to Disneyland)

This is what we see every night after leaving Adelaide in her bassinet for awhile hoping she will fall asleep. She is nice and quiet, at least, but definitely NOT falling asleep... she will lay like this for two hours with occasional intermittent fussing but refuses to sleep. The room is pretty dark too, it's bright here because of the flash, but she lays staring up at that mobile for literally hours. As cute as it is, it drives me bonkers because we're hoping she'll fall asleep before we go in there to get ready for bed -no such luck!

Lyddie playing with her new floor gym from Mimi and Poppy!

Five weeks old and growing by the second!

Drifting off...

Part of our bedtime routine already includes reading a story or two and she sometimes will look at the pictures (unless she's fussing). She sure loves her daddy and mommy loves it when daddy comes home after working two jobs in one day. That makes for a long day for us both, since I have her nonstop without a break that whole time, and she is often fussy in the evenings and wants to be held the whole time. I can't hold her all evening usually because there are things to do (like make dinner!) so she spends a lot of her evenings crying, especially when Jesse's gone on Monday nights, but oh well...I don't know how single moms or army moms do it, it would be so hard to be alone like that.

Merry Christmas!