New Year’s Weekend!

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The whirlwind is over. We are exhausted and very glad to be home and in our own beds tonight. Livi hasn’t made a peep since going to sleep and I will be following her soon.

Our New Year’s eve was very memorable. I’m glad I was able to relax and not worry about Livi so far away. She did great, by the way. She slept well and only woke up once. We went out for appetizers at our friends place before leaving with them for another party in Kitsalano. It was low key and relaxing. We visited and played a group game that was made a lot more interesting with a few intoxicated participants. I got to meet someone who just started working for L’Arche! I know, I’m such a geek. L’Arche is a community where people with disabilities can share their lives with typical people in an empowering environment. Jean Vanier is a big supporter of these communities and speaks often of them in his book “Becoming Human”, which this blog is named for.
We rang the New Year in on a roof top balcony, over looking the city lights. It was a beautiful,clear night. We could see everything. It was quite breathtaking. Following midnight our party of about ten decided to crash the UBC frat party two doors down. Us, near and just over thirty year old’s, dressed comfortably and maybe not-so stylishly, jumped confidently in to the center of the dance floor. The under twenty year old boys were sweaty and shirtless, while the stylin’ fashion minded girls danced up a storm in 3 inch heels! All the kids were good looking and fit so it was definitely a “cool” kid or jock party. We grossly stuck out. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so old. All I could think about was how badly the home stank and the poor real oak floors that were sticky and getting scratched.
We joined Livi and the rest of Jon’s extended family at the Chehalis Healing House at the base of Hemlock the next day. I was pretty eager to get to Livi. We made it there for lunch and she nearly jumped in to my arms! I don’t think you can fully understand how amazing that feeling is until you are a parent yourself. The rest of the weekend was fun but exhausting. Livi didn’t stop moving when she was awake… which meant we were chasing her around a lot! Thankfully there were a lot of other babysitters around to keep an eye on her as well. Her favorite thing to do was run up and down wheelchair ramp and climb up and down the stairs. We don’t have stairs in our home so they are a big novelty. She already knew how to climb and descend stairs but I had still been staying close. This weekend gave her and I both the confidence to know she can do it by herself.

 
She was a little extra whiny this weekend. Understandably though. She was overstimulated by all the people around her, plus they all jumped to her every whim… she didn’t have to talk! I hope getting her back in to a routine and boundaries won’t be too difficult. I really hope I can get her back on to a proper eating schedule quickly. She hasn’t been drinking her milk in the last few days. I figured it was just because of all the distractions at the lodge, but she wouldn’t drink any tonight when she was in her own home either! I’m not stressing about it yet… but if her refusing milk continues for much longer I will have to start finding alternative ways of getting the calories in her. And Yes, I did try putting it in her sippy cup and an adult cup.
Some exciting news about our next family reunion is that the family business will be taking us all some where warm! How exciting is that?! Discussions are still very much in the preliminary stages but we have plans for it  anyway! After my initial excitement my mind immediately added up the months and realized, if all things go according to plan, that we will have a very newborn baby. Hmmm… is it irrational to bump ahead or push back family planning for a trip to an all-inclusive? Okay, maybe not something I have to think about quite yet 🙂
So we are home, safe and sound, and ready for bed. Good night and I hope you had a fabulous New Years Eve! May you experience every blessing in 2010!

Christmas Keeps Going…

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When I was a kid I always thought that holidays were a time to relax, a break from homework… and then I became an adult and realized all the busyness and work that goes in to holidays! We have been so busy! I’m exhausted! It has been a good busy though.

After our immediate family Christmas’, we had our first extended family Christmas with my Mom’s family. I think it was the first year in a VERY long time nearly everyone was there… except for four cousins (including my sister). It was nice to see everyone and see how happy in made my Grandparents. My Grandpa barely made it, as his health seems to be taking severe dives from day to day. It is definitely in the back of everyone’s mind that this is his last Christmas… although we could be thinking that for the next five Christmas’ too!

We couldn’t stay very long at the get together because Livi and I had a ferry to catch. We had to eat and run. We were headed to the Island for a new charity board meeting! I brought Livi with me to visit with her Auntie Lisa and Uncle Tony. They don’t get to see her very often. Livi had a lot of fun… aside from basically crying herself to sleep. It had been a very overstimulated last few days!

By the way… taking a one year old on the ferry alone is VERY TIRING! I’ll write about the meeting in another post when I have more time too.

Today, I’ve been at a First Aid Course all day. It is a requirement for the group home I work at. My sister and her co-worker/a friend of ours came with me, which made the eight hour day a little more bearable. The instructor was not my biggest fan… I made the mistake of mentioning that I had not done the required reading because I’ve taken the course at least 4 times before. She didn’t think that was very acceptable and kept making comments in every section about how we should have read this already and she is doing those who hadn’t pre-read a favor by going over it. Oh well… I got 100%!

Tomorrow we go to Vancouver to ring in the New Year with some dear friends of ours. Livi is going with Jon’s Mom to Chehalis Lodge for an extended family reunion weekend. His Mom’s family does this weekend every two years. It is a lot of fun, but a lot of family over a longer period of time! This will be the first year with the start of the next generation. Livi is the first Great Grandchild. Two years ago we announced to the family at this weekend, that we were pregnant! Now Livi gets to help us make even more memories! Jon and I will join everyone on New Years day… hopefully not hungover 🙂

I’m a little apprehensive to send Livi ahead though. She has been so overstimulated this past week and as a result is over tired. I’ve tried to be anally rigid with her schedule and meeting her needs at every possible moment to compensate. I was away from her all day today, which never happens, so I’m already feeling a bit guilty. Damn Mother Guilt! I expect her to be a little more clingy than normal tomorrow and then I have to send her with Mom! I have no concerns about Livi’s safety or needs being met with Mom, but she is going in to a new surrounding, with a lot of people who are going to be very excited to see her and I won’t be there to read her signs and comfort her. The idea that I won’t be there if she wants me KILLS me!

I’m usually not this tense about her being with out me. She does great! She is such an easy going, independent little angel. I think my anxiety is a little higher than normal because of the holidays and busyness for myself. I’m probably a little overstimulated too! Hopefully though, with so many people to watch Livi this weekend, I’ll be able to relax and catch up on my sleep 🙂

Christmas Extravaganza!

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Christmas is so much more fun with a child to remind you of the wonder of it all. It was a complete joy. Livi was beautiful, as always, and I was at peace.

Our Christmas extravaganza started on Christmas Eve. Jon worked his last day as a Behavioural Interventionist and came home just after lunch. We went for a quick visit to my Grandparent’s home. My Grandpa’s health continues to worsen but he was in good spirits. They enjoy seeing their Great-Granddaughter so much. From there we headed out to Langley to celebrate Christmas with Jon’s family. Lisa (Jon’s sister) and her husband, Tony, couldn’t make it, so it was just Jon’s brothers and Mom.

Even though some of the family was missing we had fun! Dad being gone was not such a fresh wound as it was last year either. We missed him. We skipped some of the traditions that he would have held, but it was okay. We’ll figure it out eventually and maybe come up with some new ones. Mom tried hard not to cry at one point but Livi was a pleasant distraction to us all. She was so fascinated by the Christmas lights and the bows. She was so enthralled by the bow of her first present that it took her a little while to figure out that there was, in fact, a present beneath the wrapping. She got the hang of it pretty quickly though. Her first present, from her Uncle Jeremy, was the the most entertaining and she was not interested in the clothes that followed.

The biggest surprise of the Christmas was the gift from Jon’s mom… or is it from Dad. We received a bit of money from Dad’s estate. I started crying. What an unexpected blessing! Remember how I was completely stressing about our finances just a few short weeks ago? It could have come at a better time! Now, with this gift and Jon’s new job we could potentially be debt free withing 6 months! (Okay, we’ll still have our huge government student loans and mortgage of course, but our maxed out student line of credit will be gone!) That is, if we are VERY good. I do expect there will be a little bit of splurging in the beginning.

We have decided to take a little bit of the money and go on a real vacation. We never had any time to relax and heal after Dad died. Livi was born exactly one month after he died. That was a VERY rough year. We’ve never gone on a “real” vacation either. Our honeymoon was only three days in Whistler and other than that we’ve been camping-ish in the Okanagan and on the Island…usually with other people. Being raised Mennonite and by a single mother my first thought in talking about a vacation was that it was a frivolous idea and my Grandpa would definitely not approve. I’m not sure if I can say that we deserve a vacation but I do think that taking some of the money and putting it towards something that will potentially be healing, relationship building and just plain fun is a very good thing. I just have to look at it like Dad is paying for it!

Christmas day we woke up to Livi beginning to stir and brought her in to the living room to discover the presents under the tree. She was ADORABLE! She stood and stared for a few seconds then crept up and sat beside the presents pointing and babbling. She wouldn’t touch them until I handed one to her.

 She remembered what she was supposed to do from the night before and dove in. She LOVES all her presents! It was so fun. She couldn’t decide what she wanted to play with and decided on sitting in her chair, holding her blocks while ordering Daddy to tickle her with her puppet.

We headed out in to the beautifully, bright sun and drove to Chiliwack right away for my family’s Christmas.

More food, presents, fun, and laughter were had! I tried not to think about my sister who again chose not to come to Christmas. I miss her and it is not quite the same with out her. I think I’m going to have to come to terms with the fact that it is never going to be the same again… even if she does come back to us. Why is change so hard?

Well, I’m tired from a long day of Boxing Day sales and should head off to bed. My next few days are just as busy. Extended family gathering tomorrow, then catching the ferry with Livi for a meeting on Monday. I’ll catch you up on that soon 🙂 I hope you all had as fabulous a Christmas as I did!

This Christmas Extravaganza will be continued… Two more family gatherings and New Years to blog about soon!