Ho Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum

Actually, I don't really like Rum but lately I've been thinking about starting to drink a little more. Things around here have gotten, well, a tad overwhelming. Here's something I've learned: having a baby is sometimes hard; having a baby, an almost three-year-old and a five-year-old is sometimes hard; having a baby, an almost three-year-old, a five-year-old and a husband getting set to defend his dissertation, all the while working full-time, is always hard!

The holiday season seems to just bring so many things with it. There's decorating to do, presents to buy and wrap, cookies to bake, visits with Santa to set up and all the while the laundry piles up, cheerios mark the living room floor begging to be vacuumed up and new bills arrive daily that need to get paid. More and more I've been stressing over money. Normally I'm a big believe in everything will work itself out but at the same time we've been hit pretty hard this past year with medical bills, some expected and some unexpected, which have sucked up the little extra savings I had. Add to that now making a car payment for the first time in quite a few years, a pay freeze at work, school tuition and daycare for another child, not to mention the diapers and formula and things have gotten a lot tighter. A lot tighter.

One unexpected expense has been physical therapy for Sully's torticollis. And now, although his neck muscles are loosening, his head is not reshaping how it should and so he will be fitted for a helmet. The helmet is $3,200. I feel like waves of bills are just crashing in on me. Every time I come up for air a new wave comes crashing in. Hopefully this will be the end and the tide will go back out and we'll make it a few months without any new, big expenses.

In more joyous news, the kids are super excited for Christmas. We are opening multiple Advent calendars each night and talking about how soon it will be baby Jesus' birthday. Saturday we attended a pancake breakfast with Santa and great fun was had by all:









Okay, so Sully doesn't look all that happy to be with Santa but trust me, he had a good time. QT was a little shy when it came time to sit with Santa so no pictures of her with Jolly Old St. Nick, but she did take a minute to tell Santa what she wanted when he got up and walked around. I guess I should be pleased that she's not willing to just sit on any old man's lap.