Christmas is coming!

I'm getting excited. Even though we're not religious at all (in fact, we are die hard atheists), there's just something magical about Christmas. Especially when you have children. I remember the excitement and anticipation surrounding Christmas when I was a kid.

My sister and I had traditions that we would carry out every year. We would watch the old Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer movie (the one with plasticine figures), and lie underneath the tree, staring up into the branches. On Christmas Eve, we would sleep in the same bed (either hers, mine or the spare bed) and read Christmas books, then when we were tired, would whisper excitedly, "See you on Christmas! Shh, stop talking, go to sleep!"

We would wake up super early, run into the lounge room, and marvel at the presents under the tree. While we waited for Mum and Dad to wake up, we would examine the parcels and decided on an order in which we would open them. Then when Mum and Dad finally stirred, after what seemed like a million years, we would leap onto their bed and say, "Merry Christmas!" and then kind of act like we'd forgotten about the presents, just bursting for them to say, "Well, go and get the presents!" We would be so happy with everything we got. One year, all we wanted was our own Cabbage Patch Doll each, but didn't think that we would get them because they were fairly expensive, and we were beside ourselves with excitement when we each received one.
Mum chose our gifts very carefully every year.

I have been buying presents for my children since halfway through the year. I always think ahead to Christmas and keep an eye out for the items I want at bargain prices. I don't spend a lot and I prefer to buy a few well made things instead of loads of plastic crap. I did want to make many of the gifts myself this year but it looks like only Jimmy's quilt cover and Elizabeth's cot quilt will be made in time.

It's very difficult buying presents for Tiffany, when she is used to getting so much stuff from her mother. For the first few years David and I were together, we would spend at least $200 on gifts for her, and she would cry because she was upset that we didn't give her enough. That really used to upset me because I would spend so much time choosing what to buy her, and her mother would just buy her enough toys to fill a toy store. Over the years, we have gradually spent less on her, and she now realises that our gifts are carefully chosen, as opposed to her mother, who last year spent over $1000 on stuff that has mostly remained untouched to this day.

I can't wait to eat lots of yummy food and watch my children have fun. I really love spending time with my in-laws. My brother in law will be here for the first time in a few years which is great. I thought about not bothering to invite my sister and mum but thought it's probably easier to keep the peace.

I've been neglecting my little ol' blog lately. It's not for lack of computer time- far from it. I've been spending way too much time on Facebook and just general net surfing. Plus, I really don't think I have anything interesting to say!

Elizabeth is an absolute joy. She is almost sitting now- she has sat up for about 10 seconds a few times. She does this hilarious attempt at crawling whereby she throws her arms and legs forwards then drags her body over to where her limbs are. It is very funny to watch.

She is eating heaps of food. We're not really doing baby led solids per se; rather, I give her the same foods we eat. If what I'm eating needs to be eaten with a spoon (porridge, bolognese sauce,rice), then I will feed her; otherwise, she feeds herself. Her favourite finger foods are pawpaw, banana, pear, rice and corn thins, cheese, and omelette. I don't puree anything and I certainly don't buy baby food- never have, never will. I'm not saying that there is anything nutritionally wrong with commercial baby food. It is just completely wasteful to buy tiny little jars of food when babies can eat normal family foods.

Jimmy has had a run of illness lately. Firstly he had bullous myringitis- very painful blisters on his eardrum, then suspected measles. He's fine now and all of his spots are gone, but he had to miss 2 days of daycare. It's so difficult to get him back into the swing of things if he misses a day when he only goes one day a week.

He is such a clown. He says the funniest things- this morning he said to me, "Can I fart on your head?". He loves playing hide and seek, chasey, and Duplo. He has quite an obsessive personality and likes things to be 'just so'. He cannot walk past the recliner in the games room without putting it in the recline position (regardless of whether someone is standing in front of it and gets knocked in the shins!), and lately he has made a ritual of peeing into a cup when he gets into the bath.

Me- I'm good. I'm expressing 3 times a day for Elizabeth. I am finding it really easy to get up at 5:15am every day. I never would have thought that I could survive on 7 hours of sleep every night!

Something very exciting is happening this weekend...my band is having its first rehearsal! I just can't wait. I love playing my flute in the orchestra but it can get a bit boring. Playing in big bands is so much fun. I am looking forward to getting my saxophone playing back up to a good standard as I haven't really played since 2005 when I was gigging every weekend with the Chancellor Big Band.