Haircuts

I texted my mother in law this morning to see if she'd had time this week to give me a haircut. She said she would be home all day babysitting my niece so when I kids woke up, I just threw some clothes on them and we headed out the door. On our way we stopped by chick fil a to pick up a few chicken biscuits and a large peppermint milkshake to share. My MIL offered to make eggs and pancakes and hot chocolate but she fed the kids and myself nearly every day last week either from her own kitchen or eating out. I told her brunch was on us. And she has never experienced and chicken biscuit.  What joy sharing that experience with someone you love!  I was worried I'd built it up too much but she wasn't disappointed. I mean, how could anyone be disappointed with a chicken biscuit?!  Anyways, we all had brunch and it was delicious. 

When we showed up though, my MIL told me the craziest story. Not sharing real details, I'll just say that my MIL woke up at 4am Sunday morning with the distinct feeling something was wrong. She got out of bed and smelled something odd. But after searching and smelling the whole house, she couldn't figure it out. She turned off the furnaces to their house just in case but still felt unsettled. Finally she just stood at her front door and tried to keep thinking and from the corner of her eye she saw light coming from the butlers pantry. When she got closer she saw flames. A small fire had started on a shelf in the cabinet in there and it got so hot that the glass shelf shattered, spilling new contents to catch on fire. As I said, I won't share the details, but this was such an incredible and humbling miracle. Knowing the entire story, there is absolutely no doubt at all... It is nothing short of a miracle. 

On a lighter note, my MIL also shared the story of one of her best friends that just received her Christmas cards. The front was just how she designed it but when she flipped it over, it had the sample photo stock pictures on the back!  So the front has pictures of her family and the back (which she thought was a plain pattern) has pictures of some random kids she's never met before!  Ha, for some reason I find this hilarious. I wonder how often this happens. I mean, the lady has an MBA so it's not like she was just too blonde to properly design a custom Christmas card. Why wouldn't the company catch something like that?!  I am beyond amused. 

Anyways, we finally got around to haircuts. First me. Then Brady. Then Abigail. Abigail's favorite part was the "bath."  So lets add that to the list... My 3.5 year old is still sleeping in a crib, rear facing in her carseat, and enjoying baths in the kitchen sink. 

And she still likes to play in this baby toy. She might have been slightly annoyed that we made her share so hallie would have a turn. It was a fun day. We didn't even get home til after three. Didn't anticipate that being a 4+ hour event but it was sure fun. 

The kids woke up at 9 this morning and Brady fell asleep the second we left my in laws house but woke up the second we arrived at our house. A whopping 40 minutes or something. So I decided to scrap naptime/quiet time and just hang out. We turned on all the lights and listened to Christmas music while we did puzzles and played candy land. We don't have tons of Christmas decorations so we focused everything in one space. This is currently my favorite room in the house. Bursting at the seams with Christmas cheer. 

Complete with these two little elves. 

If I haven't mentioned it before, Brady is getting all four of his top teeth at the same time. One broke through a few days ago, another last night/today, and the other two aren't far behind. It hasn't been affecting him much at all and he's still been sleeping great. Last night was the first time in over a week that he didn't sleep through the night. He's been sleeping 12-13.5 hours at night and taking a 2.5 - 3.5 hour nap during the day. Today though? Awake at 9, 45 minute carseat nap, and then cried and fought sleep for two hours before I finally rocked him to sleep... At 9. Over 11 hours of awake time today?  Whew!  It's a lot!  But with the help of Tylenol and orajel and a patient and loving mother, that kid finally dozed off. And when he did, I just held him for at least 45 minutes while I replayed in my mind over and over the day he was born. It was one of the best days of my entire life, and I don't say that just to say it. Saturday night I couldn't fall asleep and I was replaying it then too. For over an hour. I need a time machine to relive it. It was perfect. My mother in law made a comment today to Brady about remembering when he was just sooo tiny and those were the good old days. I had to pipe up. "Ummm, those were definitely NOT the good old days!"  Brady is starting to talk "just simple stuff like yes, hey, hi, bye, yeah, and it's soooo fun. 12 months to 36 months is my favorite age. I am soooo excited for these next two years. Now I just need to get that kid to walk before Christopher and I leave on our trip. I can't miss this kid's first steps!

It's been an awesome day. There really is magic in the air.