So the holidays are officially behind us and the holiday hangover has begun to lessen. Our holiday seemed gone in the blink of an eye and now it's back to the daily grind. I feel like a terrible mother, as I only took very few photos of Finn's first holidays. I took some and the photographers that took others are properly credited. I ended up coming down with a stomach bug on Christmas Eve. That sucker hit out of nowhere! I'm totally NOT kidding when I say that I felt amazing at 7:15pm and by 7:30pm, I wanted to die. More (but not gory) details on that later...
The week before Christmas, E's parents joined us for almost a week. It was so wonderful to have them here with us. Lots of hanging out, playing and hugs were had while they were here. They were even kind enough to stay long enough to be our babysitters as we headed out to dinner for our 8th anniversary.
Our holiday travel was uneventful this time around, which was wonderful. We drove to Iowa, pushing back our original departure date due to snow. There was 10 minutes of screaming (which occurred on both the trip out and back), but after she settled in and fell asleep, all was good in the world. The dogs held up great -- being very patient with the 9 hours of travel. And E & I were no worse for the wear when we stretched our legs out in my parents' driveway at 8:45pm.
Once again, being home was wonderful. I can't stress enough how life feels different when I'm at home in Iowa. But maybe that's because it IS different than Ohio -- I mean, hell, I'm always on vacation when I'm in Iowa. There was lots of family, lots of laughs, and lots of gifts. But there was also more sickness than I imagined. In fact, being sick never really factored into my planning of this holiday trip. But at 7:30pm on Christmas Eve (perfect timing), I came down with something (and it was a BIG something -- let's just say that I actually lost weight over the holidays). The swiftness of this sickness was nothing like I can remember. 15 minutes from being perfectly normal feeling to feeling like death warmed over, no joke. I spent the rest of the evening in my bedroom, not wanting to get my other family members sick. The big moral of this story is "Never say -- I have a great immune system and never get sick." (which I did one severe cold and two weeks ago).
But the first thing that came to my mind when I was in the bathroom and E came into see what was going on with me was "We are still breastfeeding, what do I do?!?!?!" After a consultation from Dr. Googles, it said to keep on keeping on. So we did. We breastfed like normal and let me tell you, I commend my mother for taking care of us when she was sick. Finorah was kicking on my stomach, struggling to get comfortable and all I could think of was "For the love of all things holy, HURRY UP! Momma doesn't feel good at all." We only had one bloody murder screaming fit and that was because I had to get up right after we finished nursing to get sick and the poor girl didn't understand why Momma was running out of the door and leaving her alone with Daddy in the dark. We survived, Finorah didn't get sick (although E did two days later & my father two days after that), and I hope that I never get sick again.
Kissing cousins
Our New Years was quiet as Finn isn't old enough to party yet and I feel too old to party. I stayed awake to watch the ball drop but fell asleep 10 minutes before. I hate New Year's Eve -- everything is over-priced, over-crowded, and it always feels WAY too cold to wear sequins and short skirts. But I do enjoy looking back -- 2012 was the most life-changing year thus far. With the arrival of my little baby who is now quickly becoming a little toddler, I'm struggling with balance. And although I don't like resolutions, I do like goals. One of the goals for 2013 is finding that balance. Finding the balance between loving too much and letting go so she find her own independence. Finding the balance between letting her run wild and putting my foot down. Finding the balance between being her mother and being myself.
And so good-bye to 2012, a year that has grown my heart to sizes I couldn't before imagine and laugh-lines (I refuse to call them wrinkles) that weren't there before & also left its own scars. And we welcome 2013, a year that holds every imaginable potential. We are going to make 2013 fierce & fabulous. Finorah the Fierce & Fabulous...
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