Goodbye, holidays and chaos...I will miss you!

It has been a long time, but fear not! We survived the holidays! There was Thanksgiving, which was not without it's unnecessary drama...the brother-in-law told me, the host, that he already had plans, therefore I did not invite him. Then he decides to change said plans, not mention this to me or my husband, and invite himself, his girlfriend and their toddler son to my house WITHOUT telling me. I hear this through our great-grandmother who was invited and coming, and I all but hold it together in front of her. Then I call the husband who is furious and steps in to squash the unpleasantries. Then MIL gets involved, suggesting that if she doesn't come, they could have her place...Oh, that's not even fair. NO! Then comes the day, and MIL drives up with all of them in tow! I almost fainted...but after all that, they were just by to say Happy Turkey Day, then off to her mother's for dinner. Phew, crisis averted. The wee one LOVED his first Thanksgiving, as did we all enjoy it thoroughly. The following weekend, the tree and Christmas decor went up and we took Isaac on the Polar Express. WHAT FUN!
Then there was Christmas. Two weeks before, Isaac got his first ear infection. Oh how HORRIBLE that is. If he never gets another one I will be eternally grateful! He would barely eat, drank incessantly, wouldn't sleep unless someone was holding him, and from the fluids he was taking in, got a monster diaper rash. All the while he was cutting a tooth. Poor baby. Poor US! After recovery, his sleep routine was a mess and we couldn't return him to his normal sleep pattern. He ended up with us more often than before only so we could sleep and not be zombies. I won't lie, we like the cuddling with him, too. But the sleep was getting to be a concern...See the next post for the story on that.

Christmas came and I was cooking up a storm the days prior. That morning, we woke as normal since he's still too young to be eager. Presents were handed to him but he took his time. We got his dressed into his Christmas suit and we both showered and dressed. Then off to my parent's for the dinner I did NOT have to cook (I did bring hommeade turkey soup from out Thanksgiving dinner that I had frozen for the occasion, though). Poor Isaac was clearly too tired and was very grouchy from our arrival until we left. We could see he was tired but he refused to go to sleep. He ate, seemed better but only briefly, then we decided to head out so he would sleep in the car. He did, and when we got home, we had our first guests waiting for us for the Open House we planned. Sweets were everywhere (too many, in fact) and people crowded in to the kitchen and living room. By then, Isaac's mood had improved and he opened the rest of his gifts. He even showed off his dancing skills to one of his musical new toys. With a rough start, the day turned out wonderfully, all because the little guy was happy.
Ah, ring in the New Year! Isaac was cutting molars now, and was purely intolerable. Sleep was out of our lives, and pain medicine was always in reach. Poor guy. The decor came down and was put away that weekend, then I had to make a lasagna for dinner the MIL's house. We had a nice time but were relived to get home and rest. Isaac's birthday was not far and we still had things to get done.
Speaking of his birthday, on January 4th, he turned ONE! We celebrated that day at home, then that Saturday we had a party at the local rec center with all the family. Isaac got his own three tiered cupcake after the pot-luck style dinner was dented with all our sampling. We let him open presents and then on to the cake, which he loved. He enjoyed plucking the top mini cupcake tier off one-handed and shoving it into his mouth. THen he grabbed the medium cupcake from the middle and ate whatever he could get in his mouth, and the same with the large cupcake at the bottom. Everyone thought he was so cute and fun to watch, and no one left disappointed from lack of fun! New toys and leftovers loaded into the car, we headed home where we could finally kick up our feet and leave the chaos behind until next year. AMEN.