Vacation? I think the normal work week is more relaxing.
We had my family over for Christmas, which was enjoyable if a little crazy. I only have one sibling, so it was just her and her husband plus my parents. The kids outstripped us in energy if not in numbers. Alexis and Branwen kept everyone hopping. Charis was awake through the morning church service (she cooed during part of the sermon and I kept shushing her), and then she slept through all of the gift exchanging. We let Alexis and Branwen open Charis’ gifts for her. 🙂
The day after Christmas we went to a gathering of Joel’s family up in Pennsylvania. It was a crazy morning getting ready for the drive, but it was a nice visit. The girls had cousins about their age to play with and we got to see some people we hadn’t seen in a while. There was another gift exchange there, so the girls really got two Christmases, which they didn’t mind at all. There were way too many presents this year. I think we’re going to limit the presents in our house by number rather than just budget next year so there won’t be so much of a mess. (I bought a bunch of dress up things from ebay this year, so it wasn’t all that expensive but it made an awful lot of packages under the tree.)
New Year’s Eve day will be busy, too. We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning to go visit an old highschool friend of mine outside of Philly, then we’ll head from there to Lititz to spend the rest of the day and night with college friends. Yes, the girls will be with us and their schedules will probably be knocked rather loopy, but we haven’t seen these friends in quite a while and it’s worth it to knock schedules off for a few days to see them. It’s been an annual gathering for our college crowd, but we haven’t made it since Branwen was born owing to sickness and other committments (like a trip to Croatia, for instance). Most of the people who’ll be there have never seen Branwen, and none of them have seen Charis, of course.
In the meantime, Charis has had her two month appointment. Her clogged tear ducts cleared up on their own so we didn’t have to address that. She’s still hoarse from her RSV and mild acid reflux, but the doctor says he thinks that hoarseness will go away in the next few weeks. She’s a big girl… 90th percentile for length, 95th for weight, and 90th for head circumference. At least she’s proportional! (23 1/2 in. long, 12 lb. 9 oz., 16 in. around the head)
I have an appointment this afternoon with my own doctor. Among other things, I’ve been fighting sinus trouble pretty much since Charis was born. I’ve also been having some trouble hearing, which may be related. My bottom is still hurting, too, when I’m on my feet for an extended period of time. I told my mother that this doctor’s trip is kind-of like when you wait to go to the grocery store until your list is long enough to make it worthwhile. 🙂
Time to go get lunch for the troops. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is looking forward to a Happy New Year!