Rude Awakening.

Uff, the holidays are definitely over! This morning was quite a shock - I was up at 6 to take Becca and Brian to the airport (sob! And yes, they made it home despite the snow in Chicago) and then when I got home, both kids were up and Tim was getting ready to go back to work after nearly two weeks off. Add to that, I have been mostly going to the gym while he's been home, so this morning the double stroller felt extra heavy. I would have perhaps a little more easing back into our routine. Maybe keep one of those extra pairs of hands for another couple of days.

Becca and Brian's visit was wonderful. It felt really homey and easy to have them around. And poor Bec finally got to sleep in a grown up bed, without having to share a room with a little kid. My house is becoming a grown up house! She and I got to have plenty of lady time together (pedicure, Korean massage, antiquing) and we got a chance to go out to dinner and some honky tonk dancing with our boyfriends. We spent a lot of times playing bananagrams after the kids went to bed, cracking ourselves up (mostly at my terrible spelling) and the boys also played some Starcraft together, bonding them for life.

New Years Eve we had two of my mom friends over with their families. Four boring old married couples, five kids, and Auntie Sara there to act as the sheriff.

We had mostly appetizer foods, and TONS of it. Lots of cheese and crackers and dips and hammie sammies. I screwed up YET ANOTHER sticky toffee pie for dessert, because I am hopeless, but thankfully everyone was pretty full by that time. We had fancy champagne (from the actual country of France) and toasted at nine pm. Adam was already asleep by then, and Ellie finally got to bed around 10. Then woke up in the morning running a fever. Uff da! She has been fine with regular doses of ibuprofen, and her spirits have stayed high after the first dose of meds. She's not listless or anything, and I suspect it's just her poor little body trying another strategy to rid itself of the cold we've all been passing around. And like the rest of us, she's been eating rich foods and not sleeping well, so no wonder. Today she woke up a little warm but has been fine since. While Adam napped after lunch, she and I took all the ornaments off of the tree. I finally cleaned out the ornament box - all of the ornaments that are broken, hideous or completely devoid of sentiment are boxed for donation. No more free rides on the tree! Tomorrow is trash day, so we'll put the tree on the curb tonight, and then sweep up pine needles through most of the first half of 2014, as always seems to be the case.

But as for now, the house is clean-ish, the laundry is churning and I have some vegetables to steam and blend for my chubby little baby friend, who I found after his nap standing in his crib, gripping the bars. It's only a matter of time before he figures out how to pull up in the living room and start cruising.