One last post

before Christmas. I might get to post over Christmas, if Alann lets me touch his laptop that is. We have just been busy busy here trying to get everything ready to go for our long Christmas break. We are leaving Friday and don't plan on being back until January. I'm so grateful for our dog-sitter who is making this a much more relaxed vacation than it otherwise would be. I have loved traveling without the dogs. It's been really great. I'm sad that our sitter is moving to Connecticut after this trip. I guess I will just have to find another one.
There is still so much to do on my list before Thursday when I go to bed- packing, laundry, house cleaning, disputing charges at our dentist, all kinds of fun stuff. We are planning on leaving bright and early Friday, driving all day, and stopping at a hotel. We want to stop around 6pm, so we can have dinner and she can run around a little before bed. It's just too hard to try and sleep in a car with a baby or drive all night. Just not worth it. Alann's parents can do it, but we can't. Last time we drove out there we got a hotel and it was the best. Maybe next time if we have a van we can do it. So (hopefully not too) late Saturday evening we should be pulling into the grandparent's driveway. I really am excited. I need a break. (Yeah I know, what I do is so hard.) Mostly I need a change of scenery and some time to spend with Alann. I've seen him a decent amount this semester, but it will be nice to spend lots of time with him. And I just need some time off from everything that has been bugging me here- the house, the weather, the dogs, our health insurance, etc. And I am looking forward to having some time to myself to get some stuff done. I plan on taking stuff for Claire's Quiet Book with me so that I can get all the non-sewing stuff (and maybe some of the sewing stuff) done and come home and just get it sewn together. I really want that book done before my fingers go numb. It is already setting in. They are going numb if I hold my hands in the same position too long or do something repetitive (like chopping vegetables or making cookies). And there is a lot of intricate work in the book that I won't be able to do with numb hands. I wanted to have the book done for Christmas, but I will take her birthday instead. She isn't too interested in the pieces I have shown her yet anyway. Mostly during church she just wants to run all over the place anyway. Luckily last Sunday she stayed home with Daddy (who was sick) so I didn't have to play catch the baby. Now that she is walking, she is everywhere in the house. I can only imagine what church is going to be like.
Note: it is difficult when they walk, but don't quite understand "stay here". She loves to walk though, so I wouldn't take it away from her. She wanted to walk to the car yesterday, but got distracted by the dripping rain gutter, and wanted to play with that, so I ended up carrying her because I didn't want her to fall in a puddle. She still falls, a lot. Mostly on her bum, thankfully. The other day, she fell on her bum, but landed on a pillow which pushed her back up and she fell straight on her forehead. She was so shocked and upset. Luckily no bruise, but she was sad for quite a while. It was kind of funny though. Mostly because she is the one that pulls the pillows off the couch, so it was her own fault it was in her way. She has discovered the dog toy recently. One of the plush ones. She loves to carry it around and give it to and take it from the dogs and the cat. The cat plays with her. The dogs just kind of look at her, then Nicki usually runs in and takes it and runs away with it. I'm so glad I have such patient animals. The cat is actually the best one with the baby. She lets Claire touch her and pet her and pull her whiskers and put her fingers in her mouth and smack her with the toy. She plays with Claire for a good 5 minutes or more sometimes before she gets annoyed and leaves. Even when she does paw at her she has only clawed her once or twice, so I count that a success given how much Claire picks on her. The dogs put up with her, but they haven't learned yet not to step on her. Now that she is walking it is double trouble, because they knock her down and then run her over. Just another reason they spend a lot of time behind bars in the kitchen.