1. Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had not spent the holiday by ourselves since we were first married. I think now that Madison is becoming a real person, our family is feeling more like our own. She understands so much more and she is not just a baby with no awareness of her surroundings. I decided I wanted to do some kind of service as a family. We visited an assisted living facility, in hopes that Eliza would brighten their day. It was really casual and it was only an hour of our time, but I enjoyed doing an act of service together. We then played at the park and had a great conversation with a dad who was keeping the kids out of the house while his wife cooked. We went running. Then we grilled steaks once the children were in bed.
2. I am still training for the half-marathon in Galveston on December 22. I only have two more long runs left, a nine miler and a ten miler. It is supposed to be in the single digits this weekend so my long run might just have to be on a treadmill, eek.
3. I have almost finished Christmas shopping. The majority of my gifts were bought second hand, mostly from here or made by me. I have been trying to make more of an effort to minimize the clothes in my wardrobe and also to buy almost all my clothes second-hand. There are some wonderful resources for buying, barely used, name brand clothing. I just feel its one way to stop the consumerism disease.
4. I have one more week left of classes this semester. It has been difficult to go back to school, but I still managed to push through. I still have one more paper to write, so I am not totally clear yet. I still wonder what school would be like if I could devote my full attention to it, but it will just have to continue to take a back seat to my other, more demanding responsibilities (ahem, Will).
5. I should not even mention it, but Eliza gave us two nights of wonderful sleep. We attempted to sleep train her again over Thanksgiving. She cried for two hours straight on Friday night. Then on Saturday and Sunday night she only woke up once, it was glorious. We were crossing our fingers it was going to be a new trend, but last night she cried for another hour and a half. We will see what tonight holds. The problem is that I was hit with this strange sad feeling when she slept well those two nights. Its like I love misery and I am upset she will be spending so many hours away from me. Its so odd this constant pull of wanting her to sleep, but also knowing that when she does sleep, we will be out of the newborn days for good. I know that the really hard times of parenting will be the times we look back on with the most fondness.
6. I do not write much about Madison anymore, but she is just at such a great age. She has her moments of pure two year oldness, but overall, she is so entertaining and sweet. I am amazed at how quickly she transitioned into being independent. She gets herself dressed in the morning, puts her socks and shoes on, takes herself to the bathroom, and so much more. She loves kitties and Elmo. She can make Eliza laugh in a way that no one else can. She is a girl of order and cleanliness. She loves her dad something fierce. Is more confident in her communication, but still shy in new situations. She has a memory that often takes me by surprise. I just really enjoy her company and all that makes her Madison.
And with that, all my kiddos are up from their naps.
