Saturday, September 16, 2006
Our Christmas Input
Sorry that we haven’t added to the blog in forever. Our modem broke leaving us without internet for over a week. Oh the tragedy! At the same time our AC broke- right before the labor day weekend, so we went through a long weekend with temps over 100 and no AC. We actually were surprised that it wasn’t as bad as we expected it to be, but we are very thankful to have everything back in working order again.
All is “normal” here. Greg’s job is still great- he was able to hire a full-time guy, so now he isn’t doing it all himself! That means that he works a lot less (if any) on Saturdays and Sundays (WAHOO!) and late evening events can be covered too by my new favorite person Carlos. Also his boss has continued to compliment him on doing a great job. His boss has even asked him to teach a mini seminar to the other guys in his region on how to use some of the company software at an area conference in a couple weeks. Boss-man Tom also asked Greg to consider staying in the LA area when promotion time comes, saying he would hate to see him go and perhaps could make it worth his while (or something like that). We would like to know HOW worth our while he would like to make it. Greg told him he would at least be willing to entertain offers.
Addie had two good days in a row this week (I don’t know if that has ever happened before)- good days being defined as eating well, sleeping good at naps, and being cheerful when awake. She has been so cheerful the last few days that I am giddy too. She is mimicking sounds I make and laughing a lot and just being irresistible. She is still not crawling, but now walking holding on to furniture. That is all she wants to do and she gets herself all over the living room now. It is great to see! The challenge is that now that she has more ability to go where she wants, she DOES NOT like being told what to do. If she doesn’t get to be walking around for some reason (like I’m in the shower), she pitches a fit. Yesterday for the first time she threw herself belly down on the floor and screamed. Oh what fun. Do you guys know anything about that? Ha ha ha ha ha. As yucky as it sounds, it is actually nice to have her crying and it is clearly a behavior issue instead of us having to figure out whether she is in pain and what needs to be done. Blatant tantrums are actually a relief!
OK, so our Christmas input:
We are somewhat flexible about the dates we can come. But I know it isn’t helpful to say “we’ll come when it’s good for everyone else”, so let’s just say we can come anytime from Dec. 23 through January 2nd. That brings up another question- would the Indiana Spanglers be able to stay over New Years or will you be heading back before that? It would be really fun to spend New Years Eve together!
Back to Christmas: we don’t care what is eaten- just as long as we’re eating it together. Diet or no diet doesn’t matter. Jessie, I am impressed with your ideas to make stuff in advance and freeze it. That is an excellent idea. It would be nice to have more time to just have fun and think less about the logistics. Thank you in advance for the extra work you and Julie are putting into being the in-town hostesses. I wish I could bring some food and contribute too- don’t know how well that will work in the car for 8 hours.
As for activities, we would love to do some mild hiking and some parks and such- sounds great. A child’s play would be pretty cool also! Niki is a Christmas spaz and would love to go look at lights and any other things remotely related to Christmas. We could even go caroling! How well do toddlers sing? J We also need to remember to block off an afternoon for a family picture. Do you still want Greg to take it? I think his camera could get a nice shot and it might be nice to do it in Galen & Julie’s backyard- we could get the kids cute and only have to take them out the back doors!
A date night sounds fun, but we have our reservations. The biggest challenge with Addie’s reflux is her poor sleep. It isn’t uncommon for her to have a hard time sleeping and staying asleep and be hysterical if she is awake. By Christmas she might be fine (LET’S HOPE!), but it is really hard to predict. Also, she still nurses before going to bed at around 7:30, so Greg and I would feel better not making plans to go out for the evening at this point. Course, that is for us, you guys would be free to do something! Sorry to be the party poopers.
A soldier party for Mark would be great Jessie. I (Niki) would love to help if you need anything! I LOVE PARTIES. J
OK, that is all our input. Hope it helps. We love you all!
All is “normal” here. Greg’s job is still great- he was able to hire a full-time guy, so now he isn’t doing it all himself! That means that he works a lot less (if any) on Saturdays and Sundays (WAHOO!) and late evening events can be covered too by my new favorite person Carlos. Also his boss has continued to compliment him on doing a great job. His boss has even asked him to teach a mini seminar to the other guys in his region on how to use some of the company software at an area conference in a couple weeks. Boss-man Tom also asked Greg to consider staying in the LA area when promotion time comes, saying he would hate to see him go and perhaps could make it worth his while (or something like that). We would like to know HOW worth our while he would like to make it. Greg told him he would at least be willing to entertain offers.
Addie had two good days in a row this week (I don’t know if that has ever happened before)- good days being defined as eating well, sleeping good at naps, and being cheerful when awake. She has been so cheerful the last few days that I am giddy too. She is mimicking sounds I make and laughing a lot and just being irresistible. She is still not crawling, but now walking holding on to furniture. That is all she wants to do and she gets herself all over the living room now. It is great to see! The challenge is that now that she has more ability to go where she wants, she DOES NOT like being told what to do. If she doesn’t get to be walking around for some reason (like I’m in the shower), she pitches a fit. Yesterday for the first time she threw herself belly down on the floor and screamed. Oh what fun. Do you guys know anything about that? Ha ha ha ha ha. As yucky as it sounds, it is actually nice to have her crying and it is clearly a behavior issue instead of us having to figure out whether she is in pain and what needs to be done. Blatant tantrums are actually a relief!OK, so our Christmas input:
We are somewhat flexible about the dates we can come. But I know it isn’t helpful to say “we’ll come when it’s good for everyone else”, so let’s just say we can come anytime from Dec. 23 through January 2nd. That brings up another question- would the Indiana Spanglers be able to stay over New Years or will you be heading back before that? It would be really fun to spend New Years Eve together!
Back to Christmas: we don’t care what is eaten- just as long as we’re eating it together. Diet or no diet doesn’t matter. Jessie, I am impressed with your ideas to make stuff in advance and freeze it. That is an excellent idea. It would be nice to have more time to just have fun and think less about the logistics. Thank you in advance for the extra work you and Julie are putting into being the in-town hostesses. I wish I could bring some food and contribute too- don’t know how well that will work in the car for 8 hours.
As for activities, we would love to do some mild hiking and some parks and such- sounds great. A child’s play would be pretty cool also! Niki is a Christmas spaz and would love to go look at lights and any other things remotely related to Christmas. We could even go caroling! How well do toddlers sing? J We also need to remember to block off an afternoon for a family picture. Do you still want Greg to take it? I think his camera could get a nice shot and it might be nice to do it in Galen & Julie’s backyard- we could get the kids cute and only have to take them out the back doors!
A date night sounds fun, but we have our reservations. The biggest challenge with Addie’s reflux is her poor sleep. It isn’t uncommon for her to have a hard time sleeping and staying asleep and be hysterical if she is awake. By Christmas she might be fine (LET’S HOPE!), but it is really hard to predict. Also, she still nurses before going to bed at around 7:30, so Greg and I would feel better not making plans to go out for the evening at this point. Course, that is for us, you guys would be free to do something! Sorry to be the party poopers.
A soldier party for Mark would be great Jessie. I (Niki) would love to help if you need anything! I LOVE PARTIES. J
OK, that is all our input. Hope it helps. We love you all!
// posted by Greg, Niki and Addie @ 1:51 PM 
