The First Christmas

If this Christmas is any sort of sign of things to come, we need a much bigger house. Our presents (Josh's and mine) were reasonable--a couple CD's, DVD's, books (of course), and the fabulous orange Le Creuset pot to start off our collection (thanks, Mom!). As we have moved into a much smaller house than we previously owned, and are trying to get back into a simpler lifestyle that we enjoy much more, I really didn't want much for Christmas. However, all the stops were pulled when it came to Iris' gifts (I should have guessed). All in all, she has five new pairs of shoes (three from Mommy alone--you can tell what my fetish is!) several outfits, half a shelf of new books (yay!), and a boxload of new toys. I guess we don't have a choice on whether to get a toybox or not! They are now sitting in cardboard box in her room until we make a run to Ikea!
Christmas was fun and everyone loved to ooh and ahh over the baby. For our present, she gave us two nights in a row of eight hours of solid sleep! (She reached nine+ hours last night, but that was probably recovering from vaccinations!) Merry Christmas! However, Iris managed to sleep through all of the present opening, both on Christmas Eve with Josh's family, and on Christmas Day with mine. Next year I am anticipating even more fun with her. I can't wait to take her to pumpkin patches on Halloween, and watch her open Christmas presents and play with the boxes and wrapping paper instead of the gifts! (Unfortunately, we were so busy that we didn't get many Christmas pics, so I'm waiting for other people to send them to me so that I can post them later.)
Though Christmas is my favorite holiday, I am glad for it to be over. Having every weekend filled up with activities with family and friends can get a bit tiring. Now with months of no plans except our first vacation with Iris in January (Canon Beach-yay!), classes starting for me, and the Emerald Bowl tonight (go Beavs!), I can finally relax. Maybe even get some work done! New Year, new start. Here's to a great year with my new family!
P.S. I wrote this blog yesterday, but didn't post because I was waiting for pictures. Beavs won the Emerald Bowl last night (thanks to Iris, our lucky charm in her Beaver shirt), and Iris performed her first stomach to back roll this morning!!! Hooray for our strong girl! She's even about three-quarters of the way to rolling from her back to her stomach--we were watching her at Grandma's house the other day and thought she was actually going to do it! How am I going to keep up with her? =)

Stop with the movies, already!

I had to write right now, just to vent my feelings of frustration with Hollywood. I am so sick of them making movies based on literature! They never (well, almost never) get it right, and they never do the books justice. I recently found out that a movie of Atonement by Ian McEwan. A small thing, you may think? Then you don't understand how deep my love of literature goes. This is one of my all-time favorite books--one that moved me to weeping (not just tears), one of the most powerful books I've read in years. And now it's a movie. But that's not all. To add to the blasphemy, I just found out that Keira Knightley, one of my all-time most hated actresses, is playing one of the major roles. AAUUUGGGHHH! Wasn't it enough for you to ruin Pride and Prejudice? Why must you cut an even broader swath of destruction? Anyway, sorry. Had to get that out.
I had to include a picture of Iris to justify my rant here (that's why everyone visits my blog anyway!). Of course, she will grow up to one day love great literature and detest Hollywood's simplistic retellings. It is my duty to train her the right way. =)

The Eight-Week Appointment

Here is my little growly bear as we got ready for caroling with our small group. Could you ask for a cuter baby? Our little family has been so busy with Christmas events--city tree-lightings, caroling, Christmas dinners with friends, more than enough to keep us on our toes. I commented to Josh the other day (when I realized Christmas was 9 days away) that you know you are an adult when Christmas' impending arrival no longer excites, but rather stresses you out!
Today Iris went in for her two-month appointment--and that means vaccines. While we're not letting them bombard her with four shots at once (quite a lot for her little system to handle all at once), she did get two. It was much harder than I expected. As I held her and tried to comfort her, she looked up at me as if to say, "Mommy, why are you letting them do this to me?" It was completely heartbreaking, and I couldn't keep from crying myself.
Other than icky vaccinations, though, things are going well. I'm just a little nervous about going back to school in January. If I can't get everything done now, how much harder when I have term papers and tests? I don't know how people who work full time do it!

Getting back to work (sort of)

Ever since my six-week appointment, I have been trying to get back into the swing of work. Ha, ha, ha. On the two days since then that Iris has been on her regular schedule I got quite a good amount done online, but only wrote one new entry and finished maybe two chapters in my current book. Hmm. . .nice try. However, to help me get back into the swing of things, I ran across a free book contest on an author site I frequent for Jo Knowles. She then had links to other young adult author sites also having contests: Lisa Schroeder and Tiffany Trent. Maybe I'll get lucky! It seems like the start I need. However, I have been working on my writing at random times--it seems that lately things have just been coming to me out of nowhere. Maybe my creativity is finally waking up from the stagnation of California (apologies to all who are in CA. It's not that it is bad, but for some reason, I couldn't write there. For me I think it was more as Anne would say, that there was little scope for the imagination. Back on my home turf I seem to do much better). So, anyway, there was a deal with Jo Knowles' contest in which you would get another entry if you posted a ten-line poem. For those of you who know my writing, I'm not much of one for poetry. There is very little I even enjoy reading. But somehow, this just flowed out of me:

Giving up my time,
My lifestyle, my sanity;
I wondered: How can I do this?
Do I even have it in me?
How do I love and forgive
And have that much patience?
To give my life for cries and routines,
To exchange my clean house for a dirty one,
My restful nights for sleepless ones—
How will I cope?
But one look, the first touch;
The sweet smiles only for me—
The look that says: You are mine
And I am yours.
These have made it all worthwhile
And taught me that the greatest thing in life
Is to be a mom.

I know it's not great poetry, but it's a start. Josh is excited to have me writing again, so it was his wish for me to put it on the blog.
Josh and I had another date this past weekend, and we attended a house concert for David Nevue, a local pianist I love (though he was easier to see in California than he is in his hometown!). It never quite feels like Christmas until I've been to a piano concert, and the intimate atmosphere (there were only seats for 40 people) made this one exceptional! So now, let the season begin! If only I had time to decorate the tree sitting in my living room. . .