Bonnie's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 5/19/07 -------------------- 4/18/07 2/27/07 1/18/07 12/21/06 12/2/06 11/11/06 10/13/06 9/24/06 9/14/06 9/4/06 8/23/06 8/17/06 8/3/06 7/28/06 7/24/06 7/21/06 7/11/06 6/29/06 6/26/06 6/25/06 6/24/06 6/21/06 6/15/06 6/13/06 -------------------- Bonnie's Introduction

Happy new year

January 18, 2007

Wow!  Did anyone get the license plate of the train that just came barreling through here.  Oh, wait, that was the holiday season.  What a whirlwind of eating, shopping, visiting, partying, dressing up, wrapping, unwrapping and, oh yea, more shopping.  Fortunately it was mixed in with a lot of love, special moments shared, laughter, generosity, consideration, and tender moments that makes it all worth while.  Actually, who am I kidding, even with the grandiosity of it looming as a very recent moment I can still say I love the holidays.  BUT it is also very okay with me that they are over with for this year. 

Is it just me or have the holidays (and by this I mean many of the holidays, not just the traditional December ones) gotten a lot more big and overblown lately.  I'm not sure if it's just a product of mass marketing or 'the world getting smaller' or that I have just become more aware of all that can go into the holidays but I have noticed more and more that holidays that used to consist of little more then a day of recognition in the past now are preceded by weeks of theme parties, festivals, themed crafts and all sorts of random hullabaloo as well.   Then again, it could just be me. Ella is already making Valentines crafts. 

 I'll readily admit that we are one of those families that seems to be all about excess at the holidays.  I have mixed feelings about this.  On the one hand, I respect and admire the parents I read about that try hard to keep the holidays simple with few presents and hoopla.  I think there is something very sweet in that image.  On the other hand, I have always been raised with a huge deal of excess around the holidays and have absolutely wonderful memories, distant and current, of spending all day unwrapping gifts and surrounding ourselves with carols, sweets, a Christmas village, lots of lights as well as family, friends, laughter, storytelling and general merriment.  In truth, as long as we continue to have the holidays at my mom's, which I don't see changing any time soon, it will be as it always is, which is excessive.  And I'm okay with that.  It only makes me a tiny big uncomfortable to think of all the consumption surrounding this day.  When I worry about losing the message or spirit of Christmas I can reassure myself that I was raised this way and I treasure all aspect of the holiday. 

Well, enough pontificating on THAT.  I could go in circles (do sometimes) but what's it good for?

Anyway, let's see, what have we been up to.  Lorelei is doing adorably (big shocker there...).  We are fully into working on solids these days and every meal generally involved some form of pureed something getting spread around.  The worst is when she puts her fingers in her mouth when its full of gruel.  From there it seems to end up everywhere.  good times, good times!

 Lorelei and I also just started taking a mommy-baby swim lesson.  I've only been to one so far but it seems good.  I was worried Lore would be freaked out or fussy but she did fine and I got a nice little workout in.  I didn't really do any mommy/baby classes with Ella since I was working so I was a little weirded out by being in a circle with a bunch of women singing baby songs and the such.  Granted, Lorelei was one of the youngest babies (although she will be SIX MONTHS next week—geez, how did that happen) and I've definitely done singalongs with Ella as an older kids but I just felt... a little weird.  I guess I'll get used to it.  I am hoping that this early water exposure may help Lorelei to feel a little more secure in the water then Ella.

Ah, Ella.  My cautious, cautious girl.  Lately she has been as clingy as ever but now her nerves in public really seem to have taken a turn for the worse.  Whenever we are out in public she is just joined to me at the hip and cannot seem to function at all if I ask her to do something independently.  For instance, we went to a children's singer together last week and she didn't want to leave my side and certainly would have none of the dancing and jumping around that all the other kids were throwing themselves into.  Another example was today, when we went to one of those tubey play spaces at Burger King.  Despite the fact that she had requested to go just so she could play in their little area she barely would even go into the tubes, she said she was too scared.  I basically had to stand right next to the structure and verbally prompt/reassure her at every single twist and turn just to get her to be able to go up the tube and down the slide. And this was with no other children there, so she had the whole place to herself.  I hope this is just a phase that she will grow out of with time because right now her fears and insecurities are seriously debilitating to her.  Fortunately she seems to still be doing well in school, with lots of friends and happy stories about activities she has done during the day.  I'm trying now to make a big deal of it but have been watching closely and am disturbed that, until now, her fears only seem to be getting worse.   

It occurs to me as I wrap up this entry that I should try to do some sort of 2006 wrap up.  All in all, I'd say 2006 was a very good year, due primarily to one very special arrival.  I started it freshly pregnant with a very much wanted baby and as the year progressed and I gained assuredness that things would go well with the pregnancy things only got better.   Welcoming Lorelei was definitely the highlight of the year and I have felt nothing but blessed ever since.  I have loved being home with my kids much more then I thought I would and am also very pleased that I am working eight hours/week.  Enough to keep my skills up, but not really so much that it affects much else in my life too badly.  A lowlight, that I (oops) forgot to mention was when I started smoking again in September after nearly two years of quitting.   However I have high hopes for 2007 in this department and have not had a cigarette since the first of the year.  I won't lie, it's tough, but worth it.   Other expectations for 2007 include continued weight loss as I've been faithfully attending my weight watchers meetings and eventually another shift in my working schedule (although what that will be remains to be determined as Jamie and I mull over our options...).

So, a good year.  A GREAT year.  Bring on the next!

Thanks for reading!

Bonnie