Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here I am, it's Christmas Eve... I'm at my parent's house. Aimee is asleep, Greg has Jack. And I started this post a few days ago before we left. I will italicize that portion of my post, because it is a little out of context at this point. But still good!!

Yes, we are still here. I've been pretty horrible about posting lately. I like the ease and quickness of posting things on Facebook, so when I finally get around to posting on my blog, I feel like I'm repeating myself. But we are far from a lot of family and I think a lot of you guys check this thing... I will rededicate myself again!

That being said, here's some of the

happenings with the Brassfield family. Greg finished his first semester of law school! Hooray!! We are a 1/6 of the way done. It doesn't seem so long when you say it that way. He feels pretty good about all of his finals and he studies so much I'm sure he did awesome. I was prepped by many law student spouses to be ready for finals week. About how awful it is, how you never see your husband, ho

w stressed out they are, etc... and it really wasn't that bad, or maybe, I'm just used to it. Maybe a little bit of both.

Greg hit the books really hard from the get go. So I've become adjusted to him studying at the library until 11:00 pm (or later) every night. Don't get me wrong, there are those days wh

en I am so done and I'm dying for him to get home. Plenty of those days, but we've been really blessed all semester.

As of yesterday afternoon (Thursday the 16th) Greg started his well deserved Christmas break. Not much of a break though, I am sick with the flu or some sort of nastiness. Greg is pulling out the super-dad/husband card! The house was vacuumed, Aimee's room was cleaned, my room was cleaned, my bathroom was tidied up, the living room was tidied up. Today Greg is running some errands for me with Aimee in tow. It's good for the 2 of them to stay busy.

Speaking of keeping Aimee busy, that seems to be how I plan out my weeks and days. There has to some allotted time for her to go out and play. Otherwise, she gets so stir-crazy. We live right by a bunch of families with little kids. That is a life saver!

Aimee has her little buddies. It's so funny when they see each other too! As we walk over to the little side road all the kids and moms hang out at, Aimee yells, "Kids! Kids! I coming!!" And they all shout, "Yay! Aimee! Aimee!!" Hugs are usually exchanged and then they all get busy either digging in the dirt, or riding their bikes and scooters up and down the road. One of the other moms told me that I need to have a documentary crew come and follow Aimee around. They think she's so funny. I'm used to her rantings and ravings, her super expressive face... but yeah, she's got a lot of personality (and a lot of drama) in that little b

ody. Plus she does this busy-body power walk thing when she's determined to get somewhere (if she isn't running) and it's pretty dang funny.

Oh and the things that come out of her mouth now... The other day at dinner she told Greg, "Daddy, you making me crazy in my brains."
She has quite the imagination these days too. There are monsters, bears, and alligators in our house. Out of no where she'll yell, "Mom! Mom! Look!" (And she will continue to yell until I acknowledge her)
Me: What Aimee?
Aimee: Look! A bear!
Me: Oh really? Maybe you should feed him a snack so he's nice to you.
Aimee: I feed him a snack?Me: Yeah, I'm going to throw him a cookie. (Pretend to throw a cookie)
Aimee: I throw him a donut! (Pretends to throw a donut)
And this goes on and on until the bears, the alligators, and the monsters all have a variety of snacks.

Now - back to the present. I wanted to write a bit about Jack too.

He is my angel baby. It's crazy how different he and Aimee's temperments are. I can get Jack to sleep in his crib, even though he's not sleeping through the night - it's a big improvement in comparison to Aimee. I think once he starts the rice cereal he'll sleep better. He just likes to eat so much! Even though he eats (what seems like a lot) he's not very large. Measuring in the 40th percentile for weight (14.4 lbs) and 50th for height.

I love love love this happy little guy. He's really only sad when he wants to eat or is tired.

Easy to please - a true little man. There is something so very sweet about having a little boy. I was worried when I was pregnant. How would it be, to have a baby boy? I was worried about loving him as much as Aimee. Those concerns disappeared the moment he was born... and his sweet disposition makes him so easy to love.

It's so fun to watch him watch Aimee. You can tell he's soaking up everything she does. Which may not always be a

good thing... He's grabbing things too.

You can see him make the connection once he grabs a hold of something. He looks at it in his hands, absolutely amazed. Those little wheels are turning, "Whoa... what is this thing? This is amazing!!"

People have asked how has Aimee adjusted to Jack. It's hard to tell what is normal 2 year old attitude versus the move across the country and everything that entailed, versus a new sibling. She loves him, always wants to get in his face, squeeze him, hold him... I feel like I say, "Aimee, be soft." 3 dozen times a day... She does fight for my attention a bit more, she's also more clingy with Greg. Some days are better than others. As I know every mother out there can relate with.

As for me, if you read my last post, you can get a small glimpse of some of my days. Really, it wasn't meant to come off as depressing! I was just having some major deja vu. I never mentioned the daily smiles, the hugs, the giggles, the crazy things that come out of Aimee's mouth... I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So fam and friends... this will have to suffice as our Christmas letter!! I just was not on the ball this year. I still have tons of pictures - things from way back in October to post. My goal is to get all of last year's things posted before the new year begins. This is very ambitious of me.

We hope that this last year has been full of good things for you, and that the new year has many good things to bring.

Merry Christmas and check back soon!!

Routine.

Sink full of dishes. Start to wash. Dang it.

Dishwasher is still full of clean dishes. Put clean dishes away. Wipe down counters. Ignore floor.

Wipe table. Dang it.

When did Aimee decide to tattoo my table?

Pick up the toys.

Disney princesses smile up at me from the floor. Dress up purses crammed with fake food, small books, a calculator, another princess... Put in Aimee's room. Ignore Aimee's room... that's for another day.

Baked brownies. Gave away most of them. Still, ate too much. Never gonna lose that baby weight that way.

I should run. I should do some sit ups. Some push-ups. I should eat better. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will put on one of those work out videos. I really want a salty snack though...

More toys. More books.

Ignore bathroom.

Plan for tomorrow.

Library. Play group. Exercise?? We'll see. Grocery store.

Waste time on Facebook.

Back aches, mind wanders: Wish I could get my body scanned to make there isn't any hidden cancer anywhere. People always seem to find it too late.

Salty snack. Ate too much again.

More mind wandering:

Am I being a good enough mom? Aimee still doesn't know all her colors. Still uses a pacifier. Still crawls into my bed every night.

Bills to pay. Check bank account. Ouch.

Papers to file. Three unfinished to-do lists. Expired coupons.

Movies out of their cases.

Waste time on Facebook.

Diapers. Laundry to do. Checking the weather... at least there isn't any snow.

Check on the kids. Still sleeping. Still breathing.

Try to fall asleep. Replay to do list. Can't sleep. Waiting for baby to wake up. Hear him stir... get up and check. Still asleep. Still breathing.

Pick up clothes. Throw in new pile on bed. Dirty clothes in hamper. Put Aimee's shoes in her room.

Ignore mess.

Repeat.