Wednesday, December 24, 2008

My Sweet Little Monkey Man

This evening, as I was putting Brayden to bed, we had a rare moment. We had a difficult day today, he and I. All day today we've been butting heads. He's been testing his boundaries to see what Momma will and won't allow, and today she didn't allow much. Anyway, we were up in his room getting ready for bed. I started to walk across the room to grab his pajamas and turn out the overhead when I caught my toe in his bead maze (thereby catching it nearly a foot off the ground) and fell forward, hitting my leg on the corner of the box on which it is mounted. I hit the ground and started yelling the only word that seems to come out of my mouth when I'm in unbelievable pain. In my daze of pain and wondering if Brayden would pick up this word like he did d*mmit, I was aware of Brayden getting out of the chair and coming across the room to me. I don't remember what it was he was saying. It wasn't Daddy, but it was some other word meant to help me somehow. By the time Eli got to the door (after hearing me yell while downstairs with his headphones on, he dashed up the stairs), Brayden was petting me on the head saying "poor baby Momma". It was quite possibly the sweetest thing he's ever done. This was followed by more sweetness. I sat up and pulled my pant leg up to take a look at the dent in my leg which was turning hideously purple before my eyes, Brayden supported my leg from underneath and was running his other hand over my leg (but somehow knowing not to touch it directly) and babbling something that seemed meant either to heal my hurt or make me feel better. I asked if he would kiss my bobo, which seemed beyond his grasp. But he did put his hand behind my head and pull me to him so he could reach to kiss me on the nose (the only place where it seems is acceptable to kiss Mommas lately) four times! He is just too sweet. Shortly after he was done and off playing while I tried to tackle him and get him into his PJs.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sneak Peek

I know I haven't posted any pictures of the house yet. I've just been so busy that nothing's really been ready to take pictures of. My house is still not all set up. I've been working on restoring over 200 old photos, knitting Christmas gifts, tending to a very needy toddler, unpacking, keeping up with the everyday messes (and Eli and Brayden can make some messes!), making Christmas ornaments and folding origami and stringing popcorn and cranberries...you get the idea. Anyway, I've set my mind to just finishing the house this week. I worked hard yesterday and today with the result that many things are now organized and put into storage and one whole room is finished. Well, as finished as I can make it. This is the den. It's to the left as you walk in the front door. It is a no baby zone. Eli and I decided that after going crazy in the last house, we need a room just to ourselves. At some point, I'm going to buy a slipcover for the sofa. Where the crafts are now is where I'm going to put two 6 foot bookshelves for our monstrous collection of books. And on the other side of the TV I'm going to put a narrow bookshelf for movies. Under the TV I'm going to organize my yarn stash. On a side note, the TV in the den will be the only one in the house. As it is, I am adamant that TVs do NOT belong in bedrooms, but this is taking it a step further. I have, in the past, let Brayden watch far too much TV. Now he's only allowed to watch perhaps one show or a movie a couple times a week if I need a little reprieve. Other than that, it's free play and crafts and other non-mindless activities. Anyway, now that I'm off my little soapbox... As I put more rooms together, I'll take pictures and post them. By the way, the last two pictures are of the ceiling. The owners did a wonderful job on all the ceilings. Each one is done differently. They are neat and one of my favorite parts of the house.







Thursday, December 11, 2008

Christmas is Coming!.....in January?

So, we received a bit of upsetting news concerning Eli's pay today. We now know that Eli is a base salary employee and not hourly salaried. Not even Eli's boss or his boss knew that. Well, suffice it to say that every penny that I had budgeted for Christmas, we no longer have. You can see why I was understandably quite upset this morning. I called both my Grandmother and Eli's mother in tears hoping for some words of cheer and encouragement. They both said wonderful things and made me feel a little better, but I was still down. I mean, this is the first time in my child's life that we actually have enough money to live on and we were excited that we would be able to not only buy our son Christmas gifts (partially making up for the past 2 years where his parents could only afford a couple small, inexpensive items), but also to buy something for each other! But alas, that is not to be. In addition to the paycheck upset, our reimbursement for the thousands of dollars we spent to move up here has been delayed until January due to an error on his company's part. So I got off the phone mollified, but still depressed. Alas, those of you who know me well know that it takes me some time to get over things like this, but when I do, I always come up with some genius solution to my problem. And that is exactly what I did. If we have Christmas on December 25, it will not be a joyous one. Brayden will still have gifts from family to open and we will enjoy our good fortune and get into the spirit of the holiday, but it won't be the same. So this year, in the Campbell household, Christmas is coming on January 25! Yes, I'm re-writing the Christmas calender. By then our bills will all be settled and our reimbursement will have come through and I will have completed my restoration job and been paid for that. So we will have a much more joyous occasion and have gifts to open...just in January. And just think about how cheaply I will get our decorations! It's a bit unconventional, but since I made the decision I have been much more content than I was telling myself it didn't matter that I couldn't buy Brayden presents. Not to mention we get to enjoy the season one whole more month! (And as an aside to all our family...your presents from us will also come on Campbell's Christmas in January this year!) And as an added bonus, I won't be driving myself crazy trying to finish all my Christmas knitting in just 2 weeks! I really am content and rather happy with this decision.

On a side note, please pray for my great-aunt Mary Jane and her family. Her husband RG had a heart attack in the night a couple days ago and didn't survive. Not only is this very difficult for her considering the season, but RG's income will be missed terribly. She is trying to get her financial situation figured out right now in addition to grieving for her husband. If anyone wants to help with her January mortgage and help to buy her more time to figure everything out, let me know. Things are hard for her right now. She need lots of prayers.

Happy Holidays, everyone!
~Liz