introducing Goldie

This is the newest member of the O'Girard household.   Look 3/4 of the way down on the right - see her?  That's Goldie,  our Beta fish.   That was the first day home and she hadn't started eating the food that makes her so colorful so she's a bit washed out.   Also,  I Instagramed that picture so the colors are wonky.

That's Goldie today, 2 days of eating her special food and non Instagrammed.  She's still about 3/4 of the way down to the right side. 

Let me tell you the story of how Goldie came to live with us.

After Christmas dinner, my family does a Yankee Swap to cut down on the amount of presents we were buying.   Included in this Yankee Swap are myself, Andrew,  my brother and sister-in-law, my parents, my grandmother, my aunt, and my three cousins and their significant others.    One of my cousins has a serious girlfriend who has been coming to family events for years.  Years and years.   Sometimes I do forget that they are not yet married (if they even want to get married).

Important to the story =  we do not play the Yankee Swap according to the traditional rules, we have developed our own unique spin on how to play it over the years.   The whole thing will not make sense if you don't know that part.

So.

My brother's number was called and he picked a present from under the tree.  A beta fish tank and some fish food.   Um...  okay.... weird, right?

Then one of my cousins asks my niece to come help him with something.  They go downstairs and she comes back up holding a small container.  With a fish in it.   Everyone laughs.   No one wants to end up with the fish.  My brother practically has steam coming out of his head.

I wasn't paying attention to this next part,  but apparently my cousin's girlfriend (NOT the cousin who brought the fish... a different one) took a present from my sister-in-law that my brother apparently wanted. I don't know what it was.  I was going after the movie tickets,  maybe they were too?  I was occupied with my Little Man during this part.

All I know is my brother (who still had the fish) was OF COURSE the last picked to switch his present.  OBVIOUSLY THE MAN WITH THE LIVE ANIMAL GOES LAST.

My brother was out to get my cousin's girlfriend for her transgression of taking something from his wife.

Before you think my brother is some kind of sociopath,  you also need to know that we (as a family) think it's hysterical to "get" people in Yankee Swaps.   It doesn't matter what you end up with,  as long as you royally screw someone over in the process.   Feuds have been known to last years (seriously.  Ask my father's cousin.  I went after him for YEARS.   I'd wager it closed in on a decade)

My brother, as you remember HAD A FISH.  A FISH. 

A few seconds later,  who had the fish?  My cousin's girlfriend.

She was aggravated when she got to my parents house.  They had been running around all day to different family members houses all over New England and had hit some  traffic in the process.  It was late.  She was frazzled.  And now she owned a Beta Fish.

Enter Baby Girl. 

Baby Girl decided she loved this stupid fish.  She named her Goldie.  She got to feed the fish.  She decided the fish wanted to live with her.  She was told by my cousin's girlfriend she could take her home.   And I honestly felt bad for them since they had run around all day to end up with a freaking fish.  I didn't want her to walk away from Christmas being annoyed with my family. 

So I switched my present, which was a cute wine holder with a seashell motif  and a matching wine stopper,  for a fish.

Guess who doesn't care about the fish anymore?  Right.   Baby Girl.

Guess who now has a new fish?  Right.  Me.

Guess who doesn't want a fish?  Right.

My brother is going down next year.   And the year after that.  Maybe when my Little Man is in college I will give up. 

Maybe not. 

It's almost here!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.   I'm getting slightly concerned about what still needs to be wrapped... but I still have about 30 more hours to procrastinate on that front.   I'm go into a wrapping panic around midnight tomorrow night.  It's all good.

We went to the Pops Holiday show last night.   I love that show and I love Symphony Hall.   I really think it's the most beautiful building in the city - well the interior anyway,  the outside isn't anything to write home about.   Google image it if you've never been.   And then buy tickets for the Pops next year because those pictures don't do it justice.  You need to see it in person.

That's us.   Taken with an iPhone using a flash about 3 feet in front of us,  hence the complete washed outness going on with it.   Also,  I had to crop my arm out of the picture because it looks funny in the original.  I'm not sure how my ARM managed to look funny in a picture,  but it did.  It was like attack of the killer arm. FO REALZ.

That's just a bonus picture of my baby girl at her Holiday Singalong.  I can't explain why this one is so washed out.   If someone wanted to teach me how to use my camera,  I'd be a willing student.

In other Christmas news, Andrew and my Baby Girl are out buying my Christmas presents.

It's December 23rd.

At 5:00.

the end.


And lastly,  here's the best family Christmas picture we have this year.   What makes is great isn't the fact that neither child is looking at the camera,  but that I was able to crop my bum out.   Also my arm looks a little weird in this picture too.   Do I have weird arms and no one told me??

 

Awwwwwwww..... the love each other.   For now.

 

Have a merry Christmas!  I hope Santa is good to everyone and there are mashed potatoes on every dinner table on Christmas night!

Penelope

We (I) decided to do Elf on the Shelf this year.  Apparently EOTS is controversial... who knew?  I just thought it was cute.   Anyway,  our elf appeared this past Sunday and my Baby Girl hasn't 100% accepted it yet.   We had to gently nudge her in the right direction in naming it - Baby Girl wanted it to be named "Daddy Elf"  or "Baby Girl Elf".   We eventually decided on Penelope.  She loves getting up every morning and finding out where Penelope is,  but I'm not sure that she's buying the fact that Penelope flies back to the North Pole every night to report back to Santa.   That concept may be a little young for a 3 year old though.  

I had to email Santa a few days ago because Penelope was dangling from our ceiling fan in the kitchen and I kept knocking into her with my head.   Baby Girl was getting panicky because you can't touch the elf or she will lose her magic.  So we emailed Santa and explained that Mama didn't MEAN to bump Penelope and we really hoped she wouldn't lose her magic.   Luckily for us,  Santa checks his email daily and ensure Penelope was able to go back to the North Pole and report how wonderful Baby Girl had been that day.   Crisis averted.  Rest assured Penelope will not be dangling from the ceiling fan any more!

Christmas is coming!

Less than three months people!  Are you getting ready?   As usual,  I started my shopping early (in July this year) and I thought I would be ahead,  but now it's almost October and I realized I am in no way ahead. 

I have a conundrum about my Baby Girl's "big" present - I want to get her the LeapFrog LeapPad or something like it.   But LeapFrog puts out a few different products:  LeapPad 1,  LeapPad 2, Leapster GS,  Leapster Explorer, Tag, and Tag Jr. Which one am I supposed to get?   What we should really do is buy her an iPad and just put the apps on it,  but something in me is uneasy about giving a 3.5 year old her own iPad.   She knows how to use one though - she can find the Disney Junior app on mine and either watch a show or play her favorite Jake and the Neverland Pirates game in about 0.03 seconds.  Sometimes I move the app around to see if it will trip her up and it never will.

I really don't know what to buy.  I have asked Andrew to look into it and see if he can find any reviews on them to see which would be the best one to get,  but I don't know if his techie reviews will be good enough to help me decide which one Baby Girl will like the best.  

I'm pretty sure the Christmas I was 3.5,  Santa brought me a doll or something.   I know he would have brought me a LeapFrog something or other if they had existed,  but I was tragically born 30 years before all the cool stuff for kids came out.  (except Big Wheels existed when I was a kid and I always wanted one and NEVER GOT ONE AND I AM SO DEPRIVED)

Woe is me.  

My Little Man will most likely get stacking blocks or something.   Or maybe I'll just let him eat the wrapping paper from Baby Girl's presents!  What else would a 6 month old want??

Back to work

Christmas came and went, and per usual Baby Girl was spoiled beyond belief. I'm a little scared to see what will happen when Lil Sibbling arrives.

(for those of you keeping score at home, we find out if Lil Sibling is a baby sister or baby brother on the first Monday of February)

I knitted 3 rows of a big mess tonight, thanks to my new knitting book, needles, and yarn. Not purled, mind you. Just knitted. Purling is chapter 3.

What. I have way too many hobbies and I can't keep up with any of them. What's your point. I can't run outside in the winter in NE, I needed something else to fill my time. Don't h8.

Back to work tomorrow. Maternity leave starts July 3rd! I can make it till then.... maybe.

Christmas? what?

Christmas is in a few days.   Chances are we will be spending Christmas at the Massachusetts General Hospita  (or, "The Gen" for those in the business.  Or, "Boston Gen" for those of us who are fictional characters on Grey's Anatomy referencing MGH)

I'm lucky that Baby Girl is still young and doesn't REALLY get Christmas yet.   She won't care if after we do out Santa presents, we hop in the car and go to the doctors to see Grandpa.  She doesn't know that's not normal.   Also, she likes to visit Grandpa at the doctors because there is an unlimited supply of crackers in a special drawer, and she knows where it is.    

I, however, do know that spending Christmas in a hospital is not normal.   I don't want to do it.   I don't want anyone to be in the hospital,  I don't want to have to drive into MGH ever again,   I don't want to know how to navigate my way around, and I don't want to go back.   I will be back tomorrow thought,  if not tonight.   I am so ready for this to be over.

And sadly,  I had to turn off the Pioneer Woman's Christmas special.   Oh my god,  all that butter, and prime rib, and butter, and cream.... and butter.    Apparently she wants to spend Christmas at MGH too! 

More Christmas lights Mama!

Baby Girl loves Christmas lights. Luckily for her we don't live too far away from La Salette which is a Catholic Shrine that for some unknown reason is also a mecca for Christmas lights.  I have no idea why,  but they do have beautiful lights!   The pictures below aren't the best, but I only had my cell phone with me, and 2.5 year olds don't stand still anyway.    Baby Girl loved it,  we went with good friends of ours who have a 1 year old and a 7 year old, and the kids were being crazy with excitement.    There was a live donkey there too who came right up to the kids to say hello,  but Baby Girl noticed right away that the donkey wasn't talking to us.   I'm not sure I'll be able to take that one to Disney World,  she won't accept whatever lame answer I come up with when she asks why Mickey can't talk to her.  I accepted whatever lame answer my mother gave me,  but sometimes I think Baby Girl is way smarter than I ever was!

oh God

We will be doing Elf on a Shelf next year,  I didn't think she'd quite get it this year at only 2.5 years old.  But people like this are the reason I'm scared to start the tradition!!


But then I find people like this and I realize I'm not the only normal person on this planet.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

well let's not kid ourselves,  there's nothing really wonderful about this time of year.   Christmas should really be in July. 

I'm almost ready for Christmas,  I'm still about 75% done.  Unfortunately I ran out of money,  so I'm afraid that I will still be running around like a banshee a few days before, but hopefully I will be in a better place!

We are fully decorated for Christmas,  but I'm not loving our decorations this year.  I'm kind of sick of everything we have,  including 90% of our Christmas tree decorations.   I want to throw everything away and start over.

Bah Humbug.

No matter what I do,  I cannot get Baby Girl to care about Christmas.  I know she's young,  but this kid gets excited over brushing her teeth,  I figured I could get SOMETHING out of her about Christmas.  Nope.  I pulled out her Little People Nativity set last weekend and she tried to put it away.  I told her we'd keep it out for Christmas and she's played with it exactly 0 times.   She tried to fit Baby Jesus in her Little People van and he didn't fit and she completely gave up on the whole thing.    I guess we'll try again next year!

sleep

Baby Girl went to sleep at 7:30 last night.    I got into bed at 7:45.   I was asleep before 8:00.   Baby Girl was awake longer than I was.

Apparently my body was desperate for sleep.   I slept right through 6:00 this morning. 

So now I'm no longer falling asleep standing up,  but this cannot be healthy.  I can't live on no sleep during the week and do 10 hour marathons on Friday night.   Especially since I was planning on catching up on some DVR'd shows last night!  

Rumor has it that Baby Girl will be trick-or-treating AGAIN tonight.  She's visiting some family whose trick-or-treating was postponed until tonight due to power outages and she gets to go again!  Never in my life did I get to trick-or-treat more than once a year.   I'm beyond jealous. 

I broke out the  Christmas Carols this morning... I can officially do it now,  Andrew can't yell at me.   It's not my fault there are no Thanksgiving Carols. 

5 minutes

I have maybe 5 minutes before a certain co-dependent toddler realizes I'm not watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with her.   I'm relishing the silence.   Well.... if you could Mickey Mouse Clubhouse playing in the background as silence.

We lost power for a few days after the random snow storm we got on Saturday.   I was less than thrilled with that.  We had to leave and go  to my parent's house on Sunday, which meant I had to leave for work from Quincy,  which ultimately means I have to be out the door by 6am.   INHUMANE.

But we are back in our house, we all seem healthy,  and I bought two more Christmas presents today.  Life is good.

Yup,  I bought two more presents!  HA!  I AM THE BEST CHRISTMAS SHOPPER IN THE WORLD!!!

And on of of them I found a 10% off coupon plus free shipping.  So something I thought was going to cost about $31 actually cost me $23.

Oh,  and I used a 30 cent manufacturer's coupon (that got doubled) on Chobani, which Stop and Shop had on sale this week.  So that means I got  9 Chonabi's at 40 cents each!

I'm waiting for Extreme Couponing to knock on my door to make a show about me. 

I know,  no new November picture.   I'm still undecided.   In  few days,  I promise.  It takes a really long time to edit the picures - this computer is practically an antique and doesn't move quickly!

I'm not sure how it's already the middle of October.    It's ridiculous how fast time goes by.   I'm starting to buy into that old saying that they older you are the faster time goes by.

But time going by means it's almost Thanksgiving and then Christmas!! 

Speaking of Christmas,  I'm tempted to buy the Santa's Little Helper app for my phone (sorry,  I don't know if it is available for Droids).   Has anyone used it?  Rants?  Raves?

It helps you keep track of what you have already bought,  how much you have spent,  and what you still need to buy.   I usually track all that on a spreadsheet,  but I really like the idea of having an app for it.   My idea is that having that information at my fingertips when I'm at the store will help me spend less money.   I can never remember what I've bought and how much I've spent while I'm at the store shopping, and this should help.

It's only 99 cents,  so I don't know why I'm so hesitant.   I hate paying for apps though,  even ones that are less than a dollar.    I want to know that I am getting something for my ninety nine pennies!

10 on Tuesday

1.  Don't hate... but I'm starting to think about Christmas

2.  Today I decided to absolutely introduce Elf on the Shelf this year.  Then I realized that I won't can't be the one at home in the morning to look for the Elf, and I made another decision to absolutely not do it this year.  I don't think I can handle that right now.  I'm currently having a "where did I go wrong in my life" crisis.

3. I.AM.GOING.TO.ENJOY.CHRISTMAS.THIS.YEAR.  I will not end up crying on Christmas Day.  I will NOT DO IT.   Andrew and I have started taking some steps to make sure Christmas is better for us this year.

4. I've also started thinking about Halloween and Thanksgiving

5.  I did get Baby Girl's costume. She tried it on today.    Much cuteness abounded.

6. We are staying in a hotel the night before and the night of Thanksgiving.  I am more excited about that than I am about Christmas.  My baby is not going to be there.   It's just going to be me and a huge bed.   I may or may not let Andrew in. 

7.  I love that my town still does trick-or-treating on Halloween unlike way too many other towns that do it on the Sunday before,  but damn,  the creators of trick-or-treating never thought about working mother's!  I'm still not 100% sure how the logistics will work out,  but I'm sure everything will fall into place

8.  I can't wait to put my Christmas Tree up.   I think Baby Girl will love it.  She was still somewhat scared of it last year,  and then she ignored it.

9.  I have already asked Santa for 3 different things,  how many do you think he will remember?

10.  what do YOU want for Christmas?

Let it snow!

Mama! It's NOMING!!

Ready to go outside Baby Girl?

This blizzard could not have come at a worse time. I simply cannot call into work tomorrow, with it being the week after Christmas, everyone who can take vacation did take vacation and those of us that are left need to keep everything running. Me not working tomorrow is not an option... but we're foretasted to get around 18inches of snow. 18 inches in itself isn't the end of the world (though it is a huge pain in the neck), but the blizzard conditions that are coming along with it mean I really shouldn't be driving 130 miles in a teeny tiny Carolla. However, as long as daycare is open tomorrow, that is exactly what I will be doing. Yuck.

Christmas has come and gone. Baby Girl got so many toys! She has a snazzy new ride on Elmo Bus which she loves and a million other things. I've already gone through her toys and put an entire trash bag of them away, and I still do not have enough room for everything she got. We really need a playroom for her. It's going to still be a few years before we can get out of this place, and I honestly don't know how we are going to do it. This house will be overrun with toys before we can get out! But she's a lucky girl, she has a lot of people that love her.

Everyone think good thoughts... please let daycare be open tomorrow, please let the blizzard conditions decrease before 6am Monday, and let's all REALLY hope my Carolla does not spin off the road!

Twas the night before the night before Christmas!

I've done all the wrapping I can (until tomorrow when I can go out and get more gift bags), my baby is finally asleep, Andrew met a friend for drinks, and The Grinch (the one with Jim Carey) is coming on in 9 minutes.... and I just poured a glass of Cab Sauv. It could only be better if I was sitting in front of a roaring fireplace.... but since I live in 881 SF of hell, that dream is going to have to stay on hold for a while.

I just watched the sneak peak for Teen Mom 2 (MTV had best not be giving up on Amber, Maci, Catelynn, and Farrah! I need them to feel better about myself!). Those girls make me so sad... how can you possibly be a parent at 16? You can't. It's just not possible. I've stopped thinking about the Teen Mom girls as real people, but when you get sucked into 16 and Pregnant and now Teen Mom 2, you remember they are teenage girls, not reality stars. I want to shake every last one of them. WHY ARE THEY HAVING SEX AT AGE 16??? And furthermore, if they (stupidly) decide to do it, why aren't they using protection? Seriously, if teenage girls knew exactly what those first 6ish weeks of a newborn's life entailed, they'd join a convent.

Actually, that's not a bad idea for my baby.

Maybe I should be recording all these 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom episodes and the second she hits high school she needs to watch every last one of them. 18 times each.

LUV

MKO + JOEY MAC = LUV 4 EVA

If you were not female tween or teen in the very late 80's or very early 90's, you should probably just skip this video because you will think it's cheesy and lame. IT IS NEITHER, BTW.

Yes Virginia, there IS a Santa Clause!

Read this. I triple dog dare you not to cry. (no, it's not the 10 minute montage of soldiers coming home and surprising their families that's on youtube and I've seen 8 billion times, but each time I watch it I'm always full out sobbing by minute 3)

There are good people left on this earth!

Let it Snow!

It's finally snowing!

Or as Baby Girl puts it, "Mama!!! It's NO-MING! It's NO-MING!"

But don't let her crazy excitement over the fact that it's NO-MING! fool you into thinking that she wants to actually touch it. Oh HELLZ NO. We can spaz, run to the windows, repeat ad nauseam that it's NO-MING! out, but please, do not let even a flake of it touch her.

What can I say, the girl is crazy.

I am done with work until the Monday after Christmas. I wish I could say I am done until after the new year, but I could never save that much vacation time for December. I live in New England, I get 8 weeks a year of nice weather. I'm going to take most of my vacation time in those 8 weeks! But at least I have tomorrow off to help Santa and the elves with some last minute toy assembly, food shopping, last minute gifts that I forgot about, cleaning, and wrapping. I honestly do not know how I would get it all done if I didn't at least have tomorrow off. I left a mess at work and it's going to be hell going back to it Monday, but in the immortal words of Miss Scarlet, tomorrow is another day!

I'm a supahstah

We left the house at 8:30 this morning. We went to Marshalls, Starbucks, the post office, the library, AAA, mechanic, Border's, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chipotle for an early lunch, Target, BJ's, another Target, and came home at 12:30. (in all that we were in at least 5 different towns.)

How's that for productivity?

My Christmas shopping is 100% DONE! A whole week and a day before Christmas! Haven't wrapped a thing, but it's all done. I'm extremely proud of myself.

Am I the Grinch?

For the past 3 years I have done a Secret Santa exchange with some fabulous ladies, not all of whom I know personally. We have a $15 dollar limit and you ship the item to your secret santa, since everyone is pretty spread out not only across the state, but across the country as well. In the past I've received a toy for BG, scarf and gloves, DD gift card... and I think that might be it, there may have been some smaller things I can't remember. I've sent out similar things to my secret santa. I always love what I get and really appreciate it.

My present came in today and while normally I'm a stickler for waiting for Christmas morning to open presents, generally people open these presents right away so they can thank their secret santa - who in turn is reassured that their present actually got to the intended recipient.

I cut into the box (bonus, I'm shipping my present out tomorrow and can re-use the box!) and I notice there are a lot of presents in the box for a $15 limit. I pull out a reusable coffee mug. Awesome! I take coffee with me every day and I am constantly leaving the mugs in the car, at work, or in the sink without cleaning it. I always need more. Then I pull out an adorable (obviously homemade, but in the really adorable, cute, thoughtful way) photo frame. It's really nice. Then I pull out a book - The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo, which I have wanted to read for a really long time. AND I'M STILL NOT DONE... there was still a BIG thing of Vanilla Bean body lotion from Bath and Body Works!!

I love all those presents and I'm super excited about all of them... BUT WHAT THE EFF HAPPENED TO THE $15 LIMIT???? Yay for me for having the most generous secret santa ever, but now I have major guilt over the present I am shipping out tomorrow. Grant I also spent more than $15, but by about $3. I'm almost positive my secret santa spent $45 - $50 on me.

Are you supposed to stick to spending limits in something like this? I thought yes... but maybe I'm super cheap and Grinchy???

But I cannot wait to read my new book!