can we sleep now?

OMG. December has been overwhelming. Between all the shopping, wrapping and various festivities, I think our little family is drained. We have been on the go every weekend since Thanksgiving I think - a lot of this has to do with an obsession we have with getting Paudie to see and do as much as possible. All stems from losing Cian at such a young age. It's like we are blasting the child with Christmas spirit from a fire hose. He doesn't seem to mind really, loves to take it all in with wonderment, but I think he is as overtired as we are. Every morning he just lays on the couch staring at the TV with a blank look on his face, clutching his milk. We are pressed to get out of the house by 7:45 each day so we try the old 'okay then we're leaving now, bye' routine to get him up and going and most days he's like, whatev.

So things are winding down this weekend. We tried to do the Santa Claus thing last week. He wasn't having it. Wouldn't even get close to him - we settled for a high five. My iphone barely captured the moment. Sigh. This weekend we are catching up with some friends tomorrow and then Sunday... nothing! I am not leaving the house. I am wearing my PJs all day. I am not showering. I am going to epitomize a lazy slob.

We leave for an extended visit with my family on Thursday AM. This is the first time we have ever made the trip on Christmas Eve. Paudie is verrrry excited about going. Every day he asks to see his Uncle Doug. This morning he had a meltdown because we were going to daycare and not to see Doug. Paudie clearly is Doug's #1 fan. As is our dog Banjo. Anyhoo we will be in upstate NY for over a week. Santa is bringing Pau a sled so I am hoping for some snow - but not too much of course. You have to be careful what you wish for there in terms of winter weather. We really have no plans for when we are there. I am thinking lots of food, as much sleep as possible, a little shopping (we need some new ornaments!) and maybe the museum. For my husband it will be watching like 200 channels of cable, i.e., Fox Soccer Channel, and having late night snacks of pie, beer and shrimp.

So there you have it. The year is winding down and I feel completely burned out. But it's been a great year and I am really looking forward to seeing Paudie open all of his presents, as mostly boring as they are (whoo, underpants!). He has added 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' to his singing repertoire (was previously limited to only Jingle Balls) and it's just the cutest thing. I will so miss all the light displays when they are taken down because he loves to admire them so much and point out all of the various santas and deer in our neighborhood. He is just content to drive around and look at them. Stuff like that makes me wish that '2' would last forever. That is until he smacks me in the face and tries to kick me in the stomach.