Oregon Christmas

If you follow my blog you know that I typically update on Sundays.  You also may have noticed that last Sunday came and went without an update.  If I am honest today almost came and went without an update as well.  The reason?  Well, last Saturday we left for AZ and our flight was delayed so we did not arrive until 4am and that Sunday flew by in a blur.  Yesterday, Carrigan came down with a fever and we had a really bad night.  All in all we only got a couple hours of sleep.  I was really wanting to blog about Christmas, but have been so exhausted that I felt like that whatever I did, I would be mailing it in and I did not want to mail in my Christmas update.  My solution up until now has been to do nothing, but it is time to step up so I will try to tackle at least a piece of the Christmas update, Oregon Christmas.

Since we were going to be spending Christmas in Arizona and had to tote all of our presents along with us, we decided to have an Oregon Christmas before we left and open the gift we had for each other.  This way we would have a few less things to drag along.  The only problem is that we did not have a Christmas tree so we had to get creative (yeah, that is our iPad with an image of Christmas tree).

The day was just about perfect.  We got up and opened gifts, played and spent time together, and went out to lunch.  It was really nice just to be together since things had been so crazy with Jeremy's finals.  Really, that was it, nothing elaborate or out of the ordinary, just time together.

My Semi-Annual Post About Stress

Lately I have noticed a tendency for Merrick to want to climb into things.  He has been climbing into laundry baskets, decorative baskets around the house, his toy box, and this cupboard (this day he had an accomplice, his cousin Lincoln).  I really don't think there is any deep meaning behind it, other than when you are a kid it is fun to climb into things and an empty laundry basket makes a pretty cool pretend race car.  But sometimes I wish I too could climb into something and shut out the world, and there is deeper meaning behind it.

The past few weeks I have felt like my life is like a run away freight train.  I feel like I run as hard and as fast as I possibly can from the moment I get up in the morning until the moment I finally crash out at night.  And, despite the fact that I am getting significantly less sleep than is healthy, I still feel like there are not enough hours in the day.

The other day I thought to myself, "ok, you just need to make a 'to do' list and then you can work through it".  Well I did that and I got a few things crossed off, but then the most annoying thing happened.  I realized that there was a whole list of things that I needed to get done before I could work on my "to do" list.  So I did the only logical thing, I made another list.  So now I have lists on top of lists and still have not accomplished nearly enough.

I am sure you are probably thinking that if I have so much to do I should just stop wasting time writing about it and get to work.  Well, writing on the blog was on my "to do" list and besides, sometimes a girl just needs to vent.  I guess my question for all you out there in blog land is, do you ever feel this way?  Do you feel like no matter what you do or how hard you try, you always come up short?  If not, please don't tell me and if so, just hang in there and if you figure out the key to getting it all done please let me know.

In the meantime, if you need me I will be hiding in my closet.

Cutie Pie Kids

This week Carrigan turned 7-months-old and so I got out my trusty camera and sticky bellies to capture the moment.  In all honesty Carrigan was not really in the mood for a photo op, but Merrick really wanted his picture taken.  In the process of all the photo snapping I was reminded just how adorable my children are.  See for yourself...

Since this blog is technically supposed to be about Carrigan turning 7-months let me brag for just a few seconds about some of her new skills this month. She has become a good little sitter.  Sitting is still not her preferred position, but she is getting good none the less.  She has also become very mobile.  While I would say she is not officially crawling, she can scoot herself just about anywhere she wants to go.

I am continually floored by how big my kids are getting and how much they change everyday, but what never changes is just how adorable they are.

Thanksgiving 2013

This year the word I would use to describe our Thanksgiving is a word I seldom use to describe our family functions, quiet.  Jeremy's family and Emily stayed in Arizona, this was my parents first Thanksgiving in India, and Ben and Becca went to Utah so that just left Brendon and Rachel's family and our family.  Despite Lauren's fear that without Nana here we would end up eating chicken and Jeremy's fear that it would be a "Charlie Brown" Thanksgiving, it was actually a nice day.

Jeremy and Merrick started the day playing football in the backyard while Carrigan and I stayed warm inside and worked on dinner.

In the evening we went to Brendon and Rachel's house to eat.  Rachel and I split the cooking duty and everything turned out so yummy.  We think we all ate until we were sick.

Despite my love for a good deal, I did my black Friday shopping online this year and did not partake in the crazy.  Instead, after dinner we put the kids to bed and had a nice relaxing evening at home.

In hindsight, I am really glad we did stay in because I am not sure the next time I will be able to use the word relaxing to describe our life.  Jeremy's last day of classes is Tuesday and he has already started "finals mode".  He studies like a madman and when he does take a break so we can do something as a family it is fast and frantic so we can squeeze in some fun before he has to get back to work.

Friday, for example, Jeremy studied all morning long.  After lunch we rushed to Bullwinkle's to let Merrick ride go karts and play a few games.  Then we rushed home and Jeremy was studying again within minutes of walking in the door and studied until about 9pm.  So is life these days; rush, rush, rush.

It is a crazy life, but a good life and I guess we will rest when we are dead.

And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Last week when I wrote about Jeremy's birthday and capstone (which, by the way, I found out he was the only person to get his paper turned in on time, everyone else had to ask for an extension), I neglected to write about a major milestone in Ms. Carrigan's life.

About a week and a half ago our big girl started solid foods.  We started her with avocado and let's just say she did not love it.  I am not sure if she truly does not care for avocado or it was because I mashed it by hand and so it still had a few lumps and bumps, but she clearly was not a fan.  She was always so good about opening her mouth, but then would just look at us like "what did you just put in my mouth!?!" and immediately looked for something to wipe it off on (us, her bib, the highchair, anything would do).  Our rule of thumb became, we would try until she started dry heaving and then we would be done.

Since avocado was clearly not a hit, after the ever important allergy testing period we moved on to oatmeal.  Again oatmeal started out a little rough.  The first day she was really struggling in her highchair so I decided to just hold her and feed her.  This happened to my sweatshirt...

Eventually she got the hang of oatmeal and has since mastered sweet potatoes.  Despite a rocky start.  I think she is figuring out this eating thing.

The week of Jeremy

I am going to stray from my usually bragging about my children this week, so if the only reason you read the blog is to see their cute faces you may want to check back next week.  This week was all about this Guy:

I had to sneak and try to take a picture of him because he is not a fan of having his picture taken, but he looked so handsome, I just couldn't resist.

Yesterday was Jeremy's birthday.  In the grand scheme of things, it will not go down as the best birthday ever.  He had to spend the day playing catch-up for school (more on this in a moment) and we gave him much needed slippers and clothes, the kiss of death, for his gifts.  He and I did get to go out to dinner last night, but all in all it was a less than stellar day.  Of course Jeremy was very sweet about it and said that he thought it was a great birthday.  He likes to spare my feelings.

So the reason he was so behind (and still is if I am being honest) with school is that every possible minute of this last week was spent working on his capstone.  The capstone is the law school equivalent to a thesis paper and the first draft of his was due on Friday.  With the exception of Monday, he did not go to school all week, but just stayed home and wrote and wrote.  Thankfully, Friday at 5pm, he turned it in and we returned to normal(ish) life.

I know Jeremy questions his/our decision to go to law school everyday.  He worries constantly about finding a job and providing for our family, but I want to take this opportunity to publicly tell him how proud I am of him.  He has accomplished things over the last two and a half years that I did not even know he was capable of (and that is saying a lot because I think he is pretty awesome).

When we were deciding about school and wondering if it was worth it since he would be 31 when he finished, a few people said "well he is going to be 31 either way so he can either be 31 with a law degree or without one".  He is now 31 and the law degree is just a few months away and that is pretty exciting.

Half Birthday and a Little Trauma

This week somehow Carrigan turned six-months-old.  All week long I had planned to blog about this milestone event and I still intend to, however, my heart is also sad today because of several things that have transpired within the last 24 hours.  While I don't feel like it is my place to talk about some of them, I do want to mention poor little Lincoln.

Yesterday evening Becca called me in an absolute panic, said Ben was not home and Lincoln had burned himself, and asked if I would come over.  When I got there the situation was not looking good.  Lincoln had reached up on the counter and poured a bowl of boiling hot ramen down his body.  Ben got there shortly thereafter and Becca and Ben rushed Linc to the E.R.  On the way there things got even worse.  Lincoln began vomiting, was having difficulty breathing, and had become lethargic.  It was very scary and intense for a while, but ultimately they got him stabilized enough to be transported to a children's hospital, where they are now.  They are not terribly concerned about his burns, but more so about the other reactions he was having.  Initially they thought he was in shock and had some type of seizure, but have now decided it was an allergic reaction.  They are not sure if it was caused by something in the ramen, the egg whites we put on him to help his burns (a terrible idea by the way), or if he got into the trail mix Quincy was eating.  They will be at the hospital at least one more night and we all send our love, prayers, and concern their way.

Now back onto a much lighter subject, CC's half birthday.  How is this possible?  I have a very hard time believing this and yet that is what the calendar says.  Over these last six months she has been such a joy to our family and can light up the whole room with her beautiful smile and huge dimples.  I honestly don't know how we lived without her.

Here are a few of Carrigan's biggest highlights at 6 months:
-She has started sitting(ish).  She will sit for a few seconds on her own, but has no protective extensions when she starts to fall.  She starts tipping and that is it, she is a goner.
-If she sees something she wants, she will get it.  Whether is it my hair, Merrick's cars,our faces, or even on occasion one of her toys, if she sets her eye on something, she will wiggle, roll, and scoot her way over to it and immediately shove it into her mouth.  I am sure crawling is not far behind.
-She continues to love her tongue, she has always loved to stick out her tongue, but over the last few days it has been out constantly.  Happy, sad, or in between, that silly little tongue is sticking out.  I am actually wondering if it may be because she is getting a tooth, but only time will tell.
-She also loves to suck on her fingers.  Most often it is pointer and middle finger, but sometimes it is just the pointer and sometimes it is all five (or ten if she gets really crazy).
-She loves mom, dad, and Merrick.  When we come in after an absence she squeals and kicks her legs as fast and you can imagine.
-She has mixed emotions about strangers.  Sometimes she is super happy and will go to anyone and other time only mommy or daddy will do.
-She loves her jumper and will go in and just bounce away.
-She is still not a great sleeper, she still wakes up every night, but it is now usually just twice rather than 3 or 4 times.
-She has yet to try any solid foods, but we are planning to start her on avocado this week so stay tuned for more on this.

Unfortunately her six-month pictures don't do her justice, but part way through she decided, like last time, she wanted to eat the sticker.  This time the damage was irreparable and that was the end of that.  She still is pretty stinkin' cute.

Halloween 2013

This week was finally Halloween.  I say finally because it was much anticipated around our house.  Merrick pretty much has had a mental countdown clock all month long and this week the clock finally reached zero.  Luckily for Merrick there were plenty of Halloween activities this year and in the end he got to dress-up four different times.

Our first Halloween activity was the trunk or treat that I talked about last week.  Merrick went as Finn McMissile and Carrigan went as a fairy princess.  While Merrick was just warming up, this was actually the only time Carrigan dressed up.  Turns out I did not plan a costume for Carrigan that was particularly warm or comfy so we only inflicted it upon her once (but she did look unbelievably cute!).

Merrick's second and third dress-ups took places at preschool.  Each of our preschool classes had a party this week and since Merrick attends both classes, he got to have two parties.

The final Halloween "event" was trick or treating.  We geared up for our big night out with dinner.  Merrick made a special request for pumpkin pizza.  Unfortunately time got away from me and while we did have pumpkin pizza (mine dairy free of course), I was forced to choose between time spent in execution or time spent trick or treating.  Needless to say, it was not my best work.

Despite the sub-par pumpkin pizza, the night was a success.  We dressed  Merrick up, bundled CC up, and headed out.  Merrick was really good about saying "Happy Halloween" and "thank you", but did have to be reminded to say "trick or treat" and not to actually enter people's houses.  Eventually Carrigan got tired, but Merrick was not quite ready to call it a night so I dropped Merrick and Jeremy off at the end of our street so they could trick or treat their way home and headed home with CC.

By the end of the night everyone was happy, tired, and ready for bed.