Thoughts on Santa

I have such mixed feelings on Santa. On one hand I want to be able to shower Madeline with gifts and watch how excited she gets with each and every mention of Santa's name. I also like the idea of having to be good all year in order to get presents. BUT, and that's big on purpose, I really want to stress the true reason for Christmas. I want Christmas to be all about Christ's birth and celebrating the best gift we could have ever received. Christmas has become a little stressful because of this constant debate I have going on in my head. I figure this is my last year to figure this issue out because next year Madeline will remember what we do and how we handle it.

I tried to just do Sinterklaas but that isn't gonna happen. Santa will be bringing a stocking full of stuff on Christmas morning. Also, Santa will be making yearly stops at the inlaws dropping off presents for Madeline. This I can not control, so I'm not even going to try. Madeline also pretty much discovered Santa all on her own so that has to factor into the equation a bit. At this time she doesn't know he brings gifts but she sure loves the guy regardless. I really don't want to tell Madeline that Santa isn't real because I don't want her spoiling it for other kids. I don't need angry parents calling me to tell me my child spoiled their Christmas. I do fear, however, that if I say that Santa is real and then Madeline finds out it was all pretend that she'll think Jesus is pretend too.

So here are my ideas for now but I really am not thrilled with any of them.

1.) Do Sinterklaas and teach Madeline the history behind that and don't do Christmas stockings or visit Santa.

2.) Continue Sinterklaas and stockings and make a yearly visit to Santa, but tell Madeline from the get go the truth about Santa and hope she doesn't spoil it for other kids.

3.) Avoid the issue and then when Madeline asks why Santa doesn't bring her presents tell her that mommy and daddy told Santa not to bring presents so he could use the money/time he'd spend on her gifts giving/making gifts for the poor children. --- if I do this I'm afraid that she'll think that only poor kids get gifts from Santa.

4.) Go all out, give in and just do the Santa thing and hope we can somehow use the belief in Santa to explain Jesus.

Maybe we'll just get lucky and Madeline will be like me. I just kind of went along with Santa, never really believed but didn't spoil it for other kids either. I'm sure I'm stressing about this for nothing and I obviously have too much time on my hands to even be thinking about this at all.

So what does everyone else out there do with the whole Santa thing? I'd love some ideas.

One hurdle cleared!

Today I had my HSN test. I had been very nervous about this test. The outcome of the test would determine if I'd need surgery or if we could proceed with our January plans. Turns out that my body decided to cooperate for once. Everything in my uterus and tubes looks fantastic! I feel a huge sense of relief. I feel like God is saying "yes it's time".

Now we anxiously await January. Please keep Madeline's frozen siblings in your prayers. We need a nice thaw in January ;)

overheard

I have been teaching Madeline the song "The B.I.B.L.E." She loves to shout out Bible! This song happens to be on the cd she listens to at bedtime and naptime at the moment. Right now she is upstairs in her crib "napping". We heard "The Bible" come on and then right on cue heard BIBLE!
~giggle~

Uh Oh Daddy!

Madeline has become obsessed with anything dirty or "gucky" as she calls it. Tonight after dinner she noticed Eric had spilled something on his shirt. For at least half an hour she kept pointing to the spot saying "uh oh Daddy". It was pretty fun. Eric finally changed his shirt.

Choo Choo!

Yesterday we took some time to decorate a gingerbread choo choo train. Madeline had a lot of fun and even snuck in her first piece of gum!





YUM! Frosting.



Bonus pictures of her playing in a box with her "babies"

Planning

I am a planner at heart. I love making lists and dreaming of what's to come. Currently, I'm in planning mode for a couple of things. We're going to be moving Madeline into her big girl room in a couple of weeks in hopes she sleeps better in a bed then she does in her crib. I just installed her closet organizer into her new closet which is twice the size of her current one. YAY! I am also trying to find some really cute bedding. You see when we did her nursery we did it more gender neutral thinking we wouldn't have to redo it when a 2nd child came. It's underwater themed and if it weren't for the purple walls it would be more boyish then anything. So I'm having a lot of fun trying to find bedding. I'm thinking we'll do fairy's or ballet or something really girly. Now if I could just find something in queen size I'd be a happy camper!

The second thing I'm planning is a Disney Vacation that we're taking in early 2010. I'm having a lot of fun deciding where to stay and what things to do and see. I spend a lot of time on the disboards reading threads about who liked this and who hated that. I really am enjoying the planning of this vacation. If for some reason the FET doesn't work in a couple of months we'll be taking the trip in September of 2009 instead. :)

Thirdly, we're anticipating having a baby in October or November of next year. I'm currently starting to mentally go through the new things we'll need. Things like "will we need a double stroller or will a sit to stand be sufficient for Madeline?" "Should we get that video monitor in hopes that my paranoia will be less next time around?" Things get added to the list daily like now I feel the need for a hooter hider even though I doubt I'll be able to breastfeed. And it would be really cool to have a Maya wrap instead of the bjiorn we already have. Then I have to tell myself to stop all the planning because "you don't want to be all prepared for something that isn't going to happen". So I haven't actually made a physical list as of yet. We'll wait for that til May or June I think.

Lets not forget that Madeline's 2nd birthday is coming up in a little over 3 months. Although I don't really want to think about that so no planning is happening for that as of yet.

Also, we still need to sell this house so at least once a week we come up with a new plan of attack for that. Right now we go back and forth between re-listing the house in the spring and just putting it as low as we can go in order to afford the next house and waiting til 2010 after the Disney trip. The only clear answer that will help is if we get pregnant with twins. THEN we'll know that God is telling us to wait til 2010 to sell. We're waiting for the big 2 X 4 on the house thing and the biggest 2 X 4 I can think of would be twins.

Then I find myself remembering that only God knows the plans he has for me so maybe I should stop, breathe, and let go.

Sinterklaas

One of the traditions we started when Madeline was born was to celebrate Sinterklaas. This way we could have "Santa" bring presents on a day that wasn't Christmas thus satisfying the hunger for Santa (and boy does she have it this year) but not focusing so much on gifts at Christmas. As a bonus it ties in our Dutch heritage to the festivities. We are really trying hard to focus on the birth of Christ at Christmas and not so much on Santa, although she will still get a stocking with small things like headbands and a book or two.

Last night Madeline put out her wooden shoes.


She didn't quite get it so was trying to wear them at first.

Then she must have thought we said if you put your wooden shoes by the door Sinterklaas leaves presents in your nose ;)

This morning we woke up VERY early (4:45). So instead of trying to force her back to sleep we decided to head downstairs to see if Sinterklaas left us anything.

He did!


Look mom the presents were left by my shoes!



One of Madeline's favorite songs is the wheel on the bus. Everytime she sees a school bus she starts singing "round n round". We thought she'd love this!

She loves to lift heavy things.

Even though it was early she enjoyed opening her gifts. Hopefully next year she'll understand even more about the holiday.

Back in the saddle.

The infertility saddle that is. It is time to start the process again. I go in for a test (HSN for those of you in the know) on December 15th. Hopefully everything is A- O.K. in there. If everything is fine and dandy we'll start injections sometime in January.

So here's the "plan" (hopefully it's God's plan too). December 15th HSN test. 2nd week in January start Lupron. A couple weeks later start Estrogen then PIO shots (OUCH) and progesterone suppositories (EW). Then they'll transfer the embryo's, I'm told on a Thursday. LOL Then in October/November welcome our new addition (or additions EEK).

We would appreciate all the prayers everyone can muster. We need prayer that my test on the 15th shows an all clear. Then we need prayer that my body cooperates for this to all happen in January. Then we need prayer that our little frozen embryo's surrvive the thaw. And last but certainly not least we need prayer that the embryo's decide to make a nice cozy home out of my uterus for the following 8 months! I don't know if I can take another loss.

To some up this post: Pray for us we're gonna need it.

Snow!

Yesterday we had a fun time playing in the snow. Madeline really seemed to enjoy it!


This is fun mom!

She almost tasted it but not quite. Good thing cause I saw a dog out there earlier ;)

Icicles are yummy!

The deer wanted a taste...

... and so did the penguin

One last taste.

After all the fun (about 10 minutes she didn't have any gloves) I told her we'd go in for some hot chocolate. Too bad she thought that meant chocolate chips. So instead of hot chocolate she had a lovely "snack" of chocolate chips. Yes I know.

Mental snapshot

Thanksgiving is now over. We had a nice Thanksgiving in Michigan. Madeline got to play with her great grandma. She also had her first pumpkin pie which she loved. She especially loved the whipped cream. Madeline grabbed a big handful of whipped cream and then tried to get everyone around the table to eat it. First she tried Nana, then Great nana, and then went around the table. When there were no takers she tried getting the waitress to eat it. She wouldn't try any turkey but I don't blame her. It looked a bit under cooked.

When we got home from Michigan the other grandpa and grandma were here. We left Madeline and Eric at home and went shopping at 4am. I was able to get a cricut. It is AMAZING! I'm gonna have so much fun making things on it. I can even make gift bags with the machine!

On Saturday, we put up our outside decorations. Madeline was more interested in playing with her lawn mower and car then helping. So since we all know that I am the handy one I ended up putting the deer and penguin together by myself while Eric chased after Madeline. Eric tried putting the penguin together but luckily I caught him before he finished or we'd have a penguin with upside down wings .

Today we put the lights on our tree. We had Madeline help put the ornaments on. We collect ornaments every year for the different life situations we are in. I teared up remembering how our life has changed. I smiled with delight as Madeline put her ornaments on the tree. I remembered how hard it was the 2 years before we were pregnant celebrating a Holiday that is all about a baby. I recalled 2 years ago when I was able to put that wonderful "expecting" ornament on the tree, and last year as we celebrated Madeline's first Christmas. Even though there are still 25 days until Christmas, this year is already 10 times better then last year. Madeline is now old enough to help and understand the basics of Christmas. She oohed at the "pretty" tree lights and loves everything Santa. She can spot Santa from about a mile away. We are learning "Away in a Manger" and "Happy Birthday" so we can sing it to Jesus on Christmas. In the coming weeks we will go see all the Christmas lights, make a gingerbread "choo choo" and maybe even make some construction paper garland.




This coming week we will celebrate Eric's 32nd birthday and Sinterklaas. On Friday night, (December 5th) we will put our wooden shoes out in hopes that Sinterklaas will pay us a visit. We can't wait!

Talent

Madeline has many talents. Dancing, jumping, and carrying big things are among them. Today we discovered a new talent. Madeline wakes up pretty early so is usually napping by around noon. Church gets over about 11:45 and we live at least 45 minutes away. So Madeline is usually sleeping before we arrive home. For the last few months we've been grabbing something for her on the way home. Today we stopped and got crazy bread from Little Caesar's. Madeline was chowing down. Pretty soon it was pretty quiet. I look back and her eyes are closed but she's still chewing. If that wasn't talent enough, when I looked back again she was putting the bread in her mouth, taking another bite. That ladies and gentlemen is true talent! Forget about walking and chewing gum (which I'm sure Madeline could do if we let her have gum), Madeline can eat while sleeping.

Sometimes I really wish we owned a video camera!

I got to sleep in til 8am!

Since when does sleeping til 8am constitute "sleeping in"? Well, that would be right around the time Madeline was born. Ever since the first day Madeline slept through the night (Father's day 2007) we've struggled with sleep. The 2007/2008 winter was tough. Madeline got 3 or 4 ear infections and every time she got one she also acquired sleep issues. When she was sick we let her sleep with us because it was easier on us. That started a bad habit and each time we got her sleeping all night in her own crib again, she'd get sick. We were starting to wonder if we'd ever get a good nights sleep again. All of the sudden last week she started sleeping all night again. We got a full 8 hours plus. 5 out of the last 8 nights Madeline's slept for 12 hours in a row without a peep. I worried the first couple of nights. Eric thinks I'm nuts. I wish for a full nights rest and then when it happens I worry something is wrong with her. We will be getting a video monitor before our next child is born. Hopefully this wonderful sleep continues and we'll get a full year of sleeping in!

A wall.

Wall is defined as: a. an architectural partition with a height and length greater
than its thickness; b. a difficult or awkward situation.

I ran into both of these that last night. I was drafted for curtain hanging duty at my brother-in-laws new condo. You see I am the only one in the immediate Olson family that is the slightest bit handy. I own a drill and know how to use it. Dirk lives in a large old complex. I had never been there before but was imaging a building much like a college dorm with CEMENT walls. Anticipating this I asked what the walls were made of. I told my family that if the walls were cement that they needed to find a drill bit that could drill through cement as I didn't own one. I was told that the walls were all dry wall. Ok that was good enough for me. I gathered my equipment and headed downtown with my mother-in-law. Over an hour later we arrive. We unload the boxes of stuff that Dirk "needed". We pass the "work-out room", which was 2 exercise bikes in front of a mirror in the hallway, and squeeze into the tiny elevator. At the 7th floor we exit and open the door to Dirks condo. "Wow those are big windows".... "Um, this wall is cement" DOH! I new from across the room. I walk up to the wall and touch it. "Yep the wall is cement". MIL, "No it can't be we were told drywall". "Ok, I'll try to drill it". I was just humoring them of course. I knew it wasn't drywall. Finally, my mother-in-law touches the wall herself. Instantly she knew. HOW did my wonderful brother-in-law NOT know it was cement. Well that's the Olson logic for you. He called the building manager and asked what the walls were made of. He NEVER thought to actually touch the wall himself. Gotta love that Olson logic at work! I will be praying that Dirk's future wife is handy. LOL

So, guess what I'm doing on Saturday night? Yep, take 2 on curtain rod hanging. Wish me luck!

Bye Bye Truck

Madeline is starting to speak in sentences. We were sitting in our car at a stoplight. Next to us was a big cement truck. She watched that thing spin for the 5 minutes we were stuck at the light. When the light turned green I told her to say goodbye to the truck. I expected her to say her usual "bye, bye" but instead I got "bye, bye ... truck". We were stuck next to it at the next stop light too. For 5 minutes I listened to her say "bye, bye ... truck". ~giggle~

A picture of our princess.

Is she spoiled? You bet! Is she rotten? Not a chance! :)

Read this to catch up on the last 19+ months.

I have no idea where my last blog stopped. It was probably sometime after we got the exciting news that the IVF worked. The pregnancy was fairly easy. We had one scare around 19.5 weeks, but all was well. We found out that night that we were having a girl. Eric (my husband) just could not wait to know. His desire to know outweighed my desire to not know so we found out. I did develop gestational diabetes. Luckily I didn't have my gestational diabetes test until after Christmas. That would have been a bummer. We muddled through and on March 28th, 2007 at exactly 9pm (I know this because Lost, my favorite show, was just about to start) my water broke. Since I am a nurse I know all the bad things that can happen while in labor so we headed right to the hospital. I was not taking a chance with our little miracle. I had a pretty easy labor, although it was a little long. At around 6am on March 29th Pitocin was started to help me progress. I got an epidural around 1pm, I think. Madeline Claire Olson joined our family at 5:15pm on March 29th. She was perfect in every way. She had gorgeous blue eyes and a bunch of dark hair. We left the hospital 2 days later. I know you're wondering what the first thing we did when we got home was. We watched Lost. LOL

Madeline was such a good baby. We had issues with breastfeeding so she was bottle fed with formula after the first tough month was over. She also had reflux so was on a special formula and eventually some medication. The reflux suddenly disappeared around 10 months. She also struggled with ear infections off and on that first winter. She took her first steps on her 1st birthday.

Ever since those first steps she's been on the go. She now climbs, jumps and dances (her favorite thing) She can be naughty at times but is perfect. We couldn't ask for a better child!

Madeline, don't play with your poop!

Yes, I actually giggled as I said that the other day. There was a time when I didn't think I'd ever get to say things like that. When one struggles with infertility, you gain a perspective on things that you never would otherwise. Does a parent that had an easy time having a family find joy in things like that? I would guess not, or at least they wouldn't think about it for more then the time it takes to clean up the mess. I found true joy in being able to clean up that mess. Is that weird? Some of you followed the blog I had while we were struggling to conceive Madeline. I lost track of that blog long ago so am starting a new one. Hopefully people will find this as helpful or entertaining as my previous blog. If not then I'll just talk to myself. It's ok, talking to myself will still be more enjoyable the cleaning the house!