Hi...How Are You?

Seemed like the appropriate way to open the post, given that I have been such a slacker blogger. As always, things are rock and rolling around here and I just haven't had any extra time.

So...where to begin.

Bailey is doing well. She is home sick today, and I'm at home with her (hence the reason I have the time to blog). Just a random fever, with a huge helping of whininess. Kelly had to pick her up yesterday and so I'm here today. Other than that, things with her are good. She's hit one of her lulls in the growing department. Sometimes it's like leaps and bounds and other times not so much. This is one of those not so much times. She's just...well...Bailey.

Connor is growing. A lot. Fast and furious. Kelly has certainly reached that stage of pregnancy where she is just tired of being pregnant, she is too pregnant to ignore it and there is still 3 months to go. She's sick of it and this is the time that Connor is going to become a bigger presence. I remember this stage well, and it sucked. The only good thing is that she is almost never nauseated. She is just pregnant. Since I last posted, we've gone past week 26 (and we didn't post a picture...hell, we didn't even take one!). We are planning on taking a photo this Friday...a 27 week photo. To usher in the 3rd trimester.

Speaking of photos - tomorrow morning, we are having our official holiday portraits done at the cheaper-than-dirt-get-a-million-photos-of-the-same-shot place. We liked them alright last year, and we are at it again this year! We promised ourselves that we would always take a holiday portrait right around Thanksgiving, so that we have the record of our family from year to year. So...off we go. Then Bailey will go to daycare and Kelly and I will have the day.

We plan to spend it decorating the Christmas Tree. Yes, we need to decorate...but it already up. I spent most of the day on Sunday juggling a very, very interested Bailey while I wrapped 1600 colorful lights around each branch of a 7 foot tree. I scratched the hell of out myself and about halfway through I considered giving up...but in the end I have an absolutely beautiful Christmas tree standing in the front window of our living room. I wondered what I would think of colored lights...as I have used white lights since I moved out of our home. But we wanted to make the tree fun, colorful and exciting for Bailey. And wouldn't you know...this is the most beautiful tree that I've had since I was a kid! Honestly, all the work I put into it paid off. I can't wait to see it full of all of the special ornaments we have collected over the years. We also bought a huge box of shatterproof, brightly colored, glittery ornaments to go with the colored lights. We are thinking that Bailey might be able to help put one or two of them on...but maybe not. Kelly and I love decorating the tree and while it will become a family affair when the kids are bigger, I think right now it will stay a grown up event. I'll post photos when it is finished.

Speaking of babies (was I speaking of babies???) - my sister-in-law had her son last week! Carson Thomas was born on Tuesday, November 18 weighing in at 8 pounds, 14 ounces. He is super-cute...but my favorite photos so far have been of him and his sister, Camryn. You might remember that Bailey and Camryn are only 3 weeks apart. Now, Carson and Connor will be about 4 months apart. It's awesome that they have cousins so close. What sucks is that we live 4 hours apart, and while that doesn't feel like that much when I say it, it sure feels like a lot when we consider going to visit. We are hoping when all the kids are older that traveling will be easier and they can get to know each other better.

What else? Hmmm...we have our christmas shot of Bailey with Santa. It took much cajoling and Santa had to give Bailey a Curious George sticker...but we ended up with a shot of her mostly smiling. It's good enough for this year. I'll post that photo too.

You might wonder why I am talking about posting photos, but not doing it. The reason is that we no longer have internet at home...except Kelly's work laptop. Hmmm...maybe I can connect the camera to this. Hmmm...I'll need to explore that.

The other news in our family is that I have decided to take myself out of the running for the HR Benefits job that I talked about a week ago. While I am a shoo-in for the job, it would require that change my hours to 8:30-5 PM every day. With our commute that means that I would get home at 6:30 or 7 PM, depending on traffic. Bailey goes to bed at 7. After doing a bunch of soul seaching and weighing my professional goals against my personal committement and obligations to my family, I decided that this job just wasn't the right opportunity for right now. I can't take a job that will essentially take me out of my daughter's life for five of the seven days of each week. And when Connor gets here, there will be a second child to think about and all the extra work that goes along with having two children under the age of 2. In the end, I just decided that there will be other opportunities at a time in my life when the timing makes more sense. For now, I will stick with my department and my fantastic coworkers and my flexible schedule.

So...that's what's going on. We are doing nothing for Thanksgiving...except cooking. We're having ham, not turkey, with mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, carrots and rolls. I'm making a pumkin pie and a cheese cake. We are going to spend the day in our sweat pants, entertaining Bailey and just hanging out together. We'll do some shopping on Friday and Bailey will spend a couple of hours at school to get her social time. Then more family time.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone!