A new year

Ah, another year gone. I can't say I'm sad to see 2008 gone. It was a tumultuous one, at best. But for every cloud, we did have a silver lining. Sometimes the clouds were so dark and devastating that that lining was hard to see, but eventually it dominated.

Christmas was mostly uneventful. Had I posted this on December 25, it would have been a very cheery post. The girls had a wonderful time, celebrating Christmas Eve at home and Christmas Day at Jay's parents. They really enjoyed it, the magic of it all, and it was great to see the holidays through their eyes. Maggie would have been happy if all she had received was the Dora the Explorer Pegasus Pony, which Santa so wonderfully brought for her. She enjoyed all her other gifts, too, but that's the one thing she really, really wanted. Katie loved it all! And Lainie loved her babies and is just now getting around to noticing her other toys.

December 26, Lainie woke up sick with the stomach bug. By noon, all she wanted to do was lay on me or lay on the bed. Anything that went in, came back up. And, unlike our previous experience with this stomach bug (FOUR TIMES last year), she didn't recover on her own. She ended up needing IV fluids on the 27th and 28th. At 4 a.m. in the 28th, she woke up, sat up, said the first words she'd said in 28 hours, and by 4 p.m. was home. So the rest of the break for her was in semi-isolation and recovering.

And now I'm trying to prepare for a new baby. House-wise, we're mostly done. The nursery is set up, and I need to wash all the clothing and bedding. We need to buy a new car seat, as our old one was officially "too old". Did you know plastic fatiqued? Well, after our car accident, I'm uber-paranoid about car seat safety, so I sold our old one that was 7 years old and need to replace it.

But mostly emotionally, I need to prepare. Today, I registered for baby stuff at Target online, just to try to get myself ready, to get a list of what we need to get. I registered to remind myself that a new baby is coming home, to try to get geared up, and in hopes of getting some coupons! heehee

But maybe that's part of my blues today. From my perspective, I feel like this baby has been treated (by extended family)like just an accessory for our family. S/he isn't getting near the hoopla that the girls got, especially Katie. Is it fair for a new birth to be less anticipated, just because it's not the first?

And enough with the random ramblings. Here's hoping my mood pendulum swings the other direction before I decide to post again. And here's hoping for a healthy 2009 for all.