Speed Bump

It was a big day at school today - Uncle Todd visited Charlie's class with a ready-mix truck! The class has been learning about trucks for several weeks and were well prepared for seeing the real thing.

We've started a(nother) new tradition. When your family is as young as ours, potential new traditions are popping up all the time, the key is to make them stick. I think Christmas Movie Night could stick. We put on our matching Christmas pajamas (Dad needs to have some that match next year!), gathered on the floor for a pizza picnic and watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. It was a Saturday night when we could have been out braving the crowds to shop or dine amongst the holiday hype. Instead, we had our own quiet pajama party with the other Charlie and his friends. I think it will be fun to rotate through all the Christmas classics one year at a time and enjoy new favorites as they come out. How long do we have to wait before the kids will appreciate "Elf"?? And won't it be fun to torture them with matching Christmas pj's as they get to be teenagers? This one is getting faster by the day. Crawling and pulling up on anything she sees. Christmas morning i...

Sometimes I am struck by how similar two pictures of Charlie and Izzy can be. Two pictures taken almost exactly two years apart and with no intention of replicating an image or an event. I happened to see these two both floating around on my computer at work and realized they were taken at just about the same age for both babies. And in these pictures I see how similar and how very different they are. It's fun to imagine how they will grow and change over the years. It's been an incredibly good year in the Maniger household. We are so grateful, so lucky.

Did I say things would calm down after last week? Silly me. I should have known better, what with only 2 weeks til Christmas. So things have not slowed down at all, but I'm busy with things that I enjoy a whole lot more than really long days in the lab. Birthday celebrations, finding the perfect gift, mailing Christmas cards, packing - did I mention we're heading to Colorado for some relaxing and active days in the snow? Can't wait! It's just Ryan and I and I'm already missing the kids. This will be our first trip without Izzy. Sniff. But holding true to her standing as the best baby in the whole world, she went ahead and figured out how to crawl right before we leave town so we wouldn't miss this milestone. She figured it out at home today, lowering my Mom guilt considerably. I was there to see it! Thanks Iz, I really appreciate it. You have given me a wonderful gift for the holiday! Not only did she figure out how to crawl, but almost simultaneously she is...

Five stockings (including Roxie's!) grace our mantel this year. A perfect number! Note: My book advent calendar for this year, pictured on the mantel, is still a work in progress. (It looked much better last year - I can't find the tags I made and saved! Where are they??) But it is in place, for the most part, and it has been fun to open what is now becoming a nice collection of Christmas classics and favorites.

This is a rough week, I knew it would be. Work is super busy and every day this week is a long day. I've left the house without seeing the kids in the morning and come home to only see them for an hour or so before bed (and last night for only about 15 minutes). Its only Wednesday and it feels like Friday x 2! I will be so glad when this week is over and I can spend more time with my family. I'm trying to keep it in perspective and remember that it is finite, life will return to its normal pace again (until the next busy time!). In the meantime, I have this little song to keep me company. Charlie is pretty picky about what songs we sing at night before bed. It's a good night if we move away from the old standby "Old McDonald" at all. I love it when Charlie sings along with me and this song is one of my favorites. Turn up the volume on your computer and try not to smile! Singing with Charlie on Tumblr.

I don't know how single parents survive. It's only been three days (and nights! in our house one night can feel like a week) and I'm about at wit's end. Part of it is timing, I am swamped at work and there is this little thing called Christmas around the corner...I don't have gift lists yet for family members, I haven't purchased or even thought about purchasing anything yet, my Christmas cards are not addressed, my advent calendar is not up, we don't have a tree...the list goes on. It bums me out that I am behind on all these things because I love this time of year. Having kids to experience it with and share new traditions makes it all the more fun. I have to kick it into gear! But I digress, back to the single parenting. Mornings are probably the hardest for me on my own. It is nearly impossible to get out the door at a decent time with two little ones. There are bottles to be made, clothes to be taken off and put on, last minute trips to the bathroom f...