Our Christmas celebrations

Christmas Eve, all dressed up and ready to party!!

 

I have been on break from school since Dec. 12th, yet I feel like life has been busier then ever! I had a hard time finding free time to blog, because instead, it seemed there was always something to be done to prepare for dear Jesus's birthday, our favorite holiday! 

      

 Nothing makes the holidays more frustrating then having to be three places in one day. This year we had many, different celebrations, with different parts of our families, and it couldn't have been better!

Christmas Eve was awesome, a small crowd, and best of all only one place to be at one time. Amazing! My brothers went to their wives' families, which made for a small gathering, and all healthy adults made for a Violet friendly environment. Score!

 Violet with G.G. ( Great Grandma O.)

 Daddy & Ava....she fell asleep on the 5 minute car ride over, and boy she was NOT happy to be woken up!

 Violet happy to see Mimi

 Her nurse's kit, like mommy!

 Lucky for Violet, she happens to have three toys now named Violet. She thinks it's pretty cool, Ava is still asking if there is an Ava dog?!?

 Snuggling mommy

 Our family (minus Kylie) Christmas Eve 2012

 Mimi and her girls

 her shirt says " A is for Adorable" but she saw the A and said " A is for A-V-A"

 Violet's 2nd Christmas, but 1st time opening her own gifts!!

 Not so thrilled with the new hat..but with a head that big it was a must. She's now wearing 2t hats, same as Ava :)

 

Ava being silly with Aunt Lindsay

 

 Someone didn't want to leave the party, but we had to get home and get to bed before Santa came!

 So proud of the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots and water for rudolph

 and the candy cane for Santa to take with him

We made sure the fireplace was nice and clean for Santa.... then off to bed they went, and Mommy and Daddy (Santa's elves) stayed up til 2am cooking a brisket and putting together their big surprises!

Christmas morning came, and mommy and daddy's first gift was the gift of sleep! No early morning risers here, in fact I think I woke them up at 9 because I was dying to see their faces when they saw what Santa brought them! So we rushed to get dressed ( in new outfits of course) and went downstairs!

 Checking out the new trampoline...they are professional bouncers already

 A little unsure about her new trike at first, now we can't keep her off of it. As soon as it warms up I have a feeling we will be out riding bikes all the time

 She's been asking for a guinea pig, but were putting it off a few years. So I got her a life like puppy  Fluffy Snowflake. She really barks, and walks on a leash. I told Ava she has to walk her everyday, and that's one of the things you do to take care of your own pet......

 So shortly after, someone else adopted Snowflake!!

 Soon this dancing family will be rockin and rollin together, thanks to Santa!!

Violet giving Kylie a hand opening her gifts

 Then it was time for the O'Leary side of things. I think this was Violet's second time (ever) being able to play with her 3 cousins. She loved it! She is really a kids' kid, and was in awe of other little people, and not shy about showing it!

 Big Hugs for her big sissy...notice the purple shoes, MY favorite gift Violet got this Christmas. So perfect for her, awesome color, and she needed new sneakers!

2 of the O'Leary brothers and crew. We just keep expanding! 5 kids under 4, and surprisingly all but one are looking at the camera, not bad!

But with that many kids, the house didn't stay neat for long......

and they played so hard some got worn out!!

Last but not least we had 1 more celebration on Saturday. We got to see cousins we only see once or twice a year, and our newest cousin, only 4 months old!

 

Princess Ava and Princess Linden

 

2 tired princesses

 

It seemed like each time we cleaned up the scraps of wrapping paper, folded all the cardboard and found homes for the new toys and clothes we'd have another party and the girls got more stuff! What a problem to have right? We were soooo blessed this year, and I can honestly say everything they got was fun, educational or needed. No junk toys! Lots of art stuff, which they love! Some of their imaginary ink marker books are already complete! 

 They figured out how to multi task

They were reading while jumping

 Painting and coloring with snack

 and lots of giggling

 and singing while jumping

 and more singing... they gave us a concert including Adam Lambert, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Beiber and some my little pony songs!

 Taking turns doing karaoke

 Sometimes you gotta take a call during breakfast

 Checking out one of Violet's toys

 Only took a few tries, but she figured it out!

They may not always want to share, but they

 always make up!

We had a very Merry Christmas, hope you did too!



With sadness....

After the devastating news of the events at Sandy Hook Elementary, I'm sure we are not the only parents loving their kids just a little bit harder and thanking God for their safety. At every mention of the word Connecticut I fight back tears. Saturday night I rocked Ava to sleep, and just held her tightly. I looked at her delicate little body and wept, thinking these kindergartners are not too much bigger then her. Such precious, innocent babies!

 I can not even imagine the pain these parents are feeling. And the pain doesn't stop there, this also breaks the hearts of many siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and so on.With sadness in our hearts for those families who lost innocent loved ones, (the children and teachers) I am grieving also for the many other kids who witnessed such a tragic event. I can not even fathom living through an experience like that, and yet these brave little warriors are forging on!

 

 Cherish every moment, live every day to the fullest! That is an idea we've become familiar with since being blessed with a baby with a chronic illness. It is a shame it takes a catastrophe to reiterate what we should already practice. Spread love. Give hugs and kisses...A LOT of them!

 

We made the most out of our weekend...did you??

 

 

 Unwrapping an early Christmas present from her great aunt

 Taking a break from feeding her baby

 We still did all of our chores, and made sure to brush our teeth...

but mostly we were SILLY!!

 



 and Violet was giggly

 Daddy brought home a Gingerbread house from work, and the girls were in awe!

 We snuck in a quick trip to the lights before Christmas...

 Ava couldn't take her eyes off the lights ( as you can see)

 

 but it got cold, and crowded, so we came home!

 

 We had some snuggle time...

 

and more....

those are 3 big sets of cheeks to fit in one pic!

 These two are always moving!! (hence the problematic blur of most pics)

Sisterly love, they could just melt my heart in an instant!

 

The safest place in the world...

 



...and safe yet again!!!

Sound asleep, after a weekend full of blessings and time well spent with out babies!!



More coffee please

One of the biggest issues new moms complain about is lack of sleep, yet it seems most are hesitant to admit their child is anything but a perfect sleeper. No one wants to be seen as a " bad mom" or to be doing something that isn't "normal". I have no problem admitting I am tired! Of course it is attributed to our beautiful angels, but heck I'll sleep when their grown up!At what point is a continuously tired state now considered your new normal? I often dream about 10 6 straight hours of continuous, uninterrupted sleep. I think back to my early 20s and wonder how I could function on 4-5 hours of sleep quite often? I guess function is a relative term. I had a lot fewer responsibilities.

I have now been a mother for 37 official months. We all know you don't sleep well your last 2 or 3 months of pregnancy, so I'll just round and say it's been about 40 months since I had an amazing amount of sleep for any length of time. That is a LONG time! I'm not griping, in fact (it is almost comical) I find it interesting how little sleep we can go on, and our bodies just seem to adapt.

 Both my girls were decent sleepers as newborns, and since sleeping through the night is considered sleeping a 5 hour stretch, both did so at a young age. However, then the teething and separation anxiety began for Ava around 9 months and she was waking up again. Violet still eats once, sometimes twice during the night and has rarely slept more then 4 hours in her crib at night. Could all this have been different? Sure, with some work, and a lot of tears. Sleep training, "crying it out" etc is a controversial subject among moms everywhere. While it works for some, and not others the one constant seems to be if you stick it out, it works. I did it with Ava during nap time when she was younger, and it was hard, but it worked, and quickly.Then toddler hood happened, and Ava transitioned into a bigger bed and potty trained within the same month. I thought I was helping her progress, while also preparing for her baby sister, but it actually regressed her sleeping habits. Sleep training part deux was not about to happen while I was 9 months pregnant, nor with a new baby. So we adapted to her mid-night wakings and kept hoping it would stop. It started getting better...

Ava sound asleep in her own bed at the old house

During one of her "cry it out" tantrums

 

Then a few months later we moved, and it spiraled back out of routine again. New house, new room, new route to mom and dad's room. Change can be a bad thing for wee ones. Once again we adapted, hoping she would quickly get into a new routine. 11 months later and we are closer to a full night of sleep for everyone, just the occasional mishaps.

Still, I think we have it good. No matter how long they sleep or when they go to bed, my kids have never been early risers. For that I am grateful, as I myself have always hated mornings.  I know kids who get up as early as 5 or 6, for the day, even on weekends. No thank you. And then I know other kids who go to bed at 6pm and sleep 12-13 hours straight. So it seems the sleeping patterns are as varied as their personality types, or hair colors.

So Sleep wherever you want, just sleep comfortably!

 One of Violet's favorite places to sleep as a baby

Ava snuggled on the couch

 Ava's favorite place to sleep as a baby

Stroller rides can be exhausting too

So here we are today with a 3 year old and a 14 month old, who more often then not wake up in our bed with us. For us that is fine  comforting! It may not work for everyone, and might not been seen as acceptable, but it works for us..for now!

My munchkins

Ava asleep in her own bed at our new house

 

 

 

Violet still enjoys a snooze in the stroller