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We had an early Christmas with the Machamers at our house. I only did a meager attempt with the decorations, complete with a miniature table-top live tree with only lights and no ornaments. My lack of Christmas spirit was probably evident to everyone but no one commented. I only felt a little bit guilty after finding out that Jim’s girlfriend Saman was coming and it was her first Christmas. I think my only regret is that I don’t have a cute photo of Allison in front of a decked out Christmas tree. Or one with Santa. Yep, feel like a crummy mom for that.

Claire and I are excited we get to share in the boys Christmas present. The four of us are going to Nashville to take a cooking class at the Viking school one Saturday night in March. And I just realized that it’s actually in Franklin, Tn, one of my favorite places to shop! So that complicates the schedule some. I think we’ll do an early birthday celebration with family for Allison’s first birthday that morning and then I want to get out early to shop, check in the hotel and make it to the cooking class by 5pm. I was torn on how much of a party to throw for her first, but that may have just decided that.

On Christmas day we flew to Houston. Certain baby things are still stressing me out and I was already worked up about how this would go. I can definitely say I didn’t lose my sanity on this one and am super relieved! Security at Huntsville seemed more strict than in Houston, but it was empty and the people were friendly, and only mildly suspicious of the diaper cream that was bigger than the allowed 3.4oz. Allison even slept in Jeff’s lap for the second half of the flight which worked out great because I was the one crying and holding in the screams. Ears that don’t pop combined with a sinus infection that made me wonder if facial bones were cracking probably made for a scary face that would have frightened my child. The drive from IAH to my dad’s town was only a little over 2 hours. So we got there soon after my brothers gang. Saturday was the crazy day with a houseful of people. The kind of noisy, can’t hear yourself think, gathering that makes you love holidays. Somewhere in the mix of bloody marys and story-telling, Paul decided to reenact his karaoke production originally written and presented at a NASA/JSC party of his song about doing be happy, be mad, be mad. This required a few female backup singers and my dads sweat/head band and sunglasses. I have a video I’ll link up later. Most of my step siblings cleared out that night, so I had more time to catch up with my brother who half the time just seemed to stare at me like I was a stranger with a baby. He probably still sees me as the annoying 11 year old that would bug him and friends bad enough to make him poor a beer on my head.

So we’re back at home, glad to be back in our own bed even if that did include Allison for a few hours. I have no idea if her ear infection didn’t heal, if it’s teething or what, but she’s not happy laying down in her own bed. Now I have to find time for all that laundry, cleaning and trying to squeeze in a few visits with old friends that are in town for the holidays and then going out for New years. Glad the in-laws will be here to babysit for that.

I had just written how our dr said to make her work for her toys. Well what do you know, just 2 days later she's crawling. Jeff and I were baffled. I ran to get my Iphone so I got video of the second time she crawled (that we have seen).


More videos on my Youtube account here: http://www.youtube.com/lynnmach/

I actually took Allison to the dr the day before her checkup because I couldn't have her screaming anymore. And sure enough she had a double ear infection. That place stays so packed they didn't have time to do the rest of her well-baby stuff, so we had to come back the next day and pay another $20 co-pay.
Allison weighs 19 lbs and is 28.25 inches long with a head size of 45 cm. That translates to 50% in weight, 75% in length and 90% in head size. So we have a long skinny baby that's off balance because of her head size. haha. We were told by the doctor to start making her work for her toys. She needs to get around the room better whether its crawling, pulling, rolling or whatever.

I know we have a great baby that is fairly easy to deal with and I've been reminded of that this week, when it wasn't so easy. I dread all the future sicknesses that are inevitable. I need to figure out something to calm my nerves because when it hits on a certain time of the month I have trouble holding it together. I hate to be one of those people that blame things on hormones but I've always been a pretty laid back person that could count the amount of times I cried over a year on one hand and lately that attitude and tear production has really been tested. I think I came close to throwing the coffee table at the wall last night. It didn't happen but I sure did think of doing it to get Jeff's attention. Instead I just stomped on the hardwood floor sounding as loud as King Kong coming in. I'm hoping the hormones calm down by next week when we test out the flying with an infant ordeal.

So I'm not sure I want to admit this on my blog, but I have now read the first 3 books in the Twilight series in one week. Yes one week. I have said that I wanted to know what was sweeping the nation, making moms scream for the movie releases right along side their teenage daughters and now I know. I'm not ready to wear the Edward shirt Taryn said she bought me (she was kidding I hope) but I will say that these books have sucked me in. I'm going to do my best to hold off on the last book till next week after company leaves and yes I do feel there will be a gravitational pull that will be a real fight for me. I've never understood how Jeff could be so much of a book worm until now. Yes there have been books that were great page turners for me, but not where I couldn't put them down to sleep or hang out with friends. I can't believe myself Saturday. Jeff took Allison to Birmingham to hang with family and I had the day to myself. It was cold and rainy and I mostly read (Well, 3 loads of laundry, some cleaning and Christmas decorating too). That is so unlike me. Normally I would have been calling every friend I knew anxious to get out, but nope, I just read. It was good and bad. The bad part is I still haven't learned about vampire sex. Such torture to make me wait till the last book. I've already heard the rumors on how they'll make the second movie while trying to keep it PG-13 so the hysterical girls can come.
Now the busy week starts, and it better be busy so I can forget about that damn book for a few days :)

For the last 6 months at least I have ofcourse been wishing to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. The last 5 pounds decided to take up permanent residence in my stomach and thighs. Skip ahead to this week when I started reading the Twilight book - yes I had to find out what this craze is that has taken over the nation. So I started that Sunday night and by Monday was about halfway done with a 400 or 500 page book. And I thought, damn, it's only Monday and I only get about 2-3 hours of reading time in after Allison goes to bed, so it'd be nice to skip a day of work to read. Can you see where this is going? I got my day off and I got that 5 lbs off. And it may have been the worst 12 hours of my life. The stomach bug started about 5pm when I was home with Allison alone (Jeff was in Atlanta). Luckily the restroom is right off her bedroom and I almost made it to the toilet every time. I'll skip those details. After she went to bed it just got worse. I think I got about 3 hours of sleep that night. I have a hard time asking for help, but my friend Heather offered to take Allison to daycare and I gladly took her up on that offer. It's good to have a friend with a flexible work schedule. Well it's good to have friends period! So I gradually got better yesterday, mostly chugged Gatorade and looked at the crackers in my hand. Jeff got home early this morning and he'll need some recovery time to get over the guilt trip I gave him. But now the house needs some Clorox sprayed into the ventilation system before company comes next weekend. Guess I may be doing a major scrub down instead of baking those cookies.

A little bit of snow came through this weekend. Ofcourse on a weekend when it didn't get me out of work :) Jeff went outside and got a snowball for Allison and ofcourse the first thing she did was put it up to her mouth. Maybe next year we'll get a photo of one smashed on her head - had to be nice this time :)

Thursday night my friend Taryn organized a girls night out for going on the art gallery tour that happens twice a year. I’ve been once or twice but not since the new Lowe Mill and Flying Monkey Arts center opened up. So we hit a few of the art galleries and the only highlights from those were Zara Edwards new pieces and a Gigi’s cupcake. Our last stop was the Flying Monkey Arts center. This is in a rough neighborhood that is slowly getting revitalized now that the homeless shelter has moved. Inside, the second floor has rough artist space where it’s divided with chain length fence or homemade constructed walls, and some of the art is what I’d consider ok, while other stuff would fit in better on the walls of my kid’s daycare. The third floor was all new to me. It was gorgeous and felt like a real gallery. Artists had their own room/mini gallery each with a large window to see inside.

When we got there I saw my favorite Art History professor and talked to him briefly. Then I probably ran into another 10 people I knew mostly from the art department. And I ran into a friend from highschool Kristy Jane that is an art instructor and has studio space there. I also found out that one of my art professors passed away this year, so in January when the UAH art department moves over to Wilson Hall, they will have an exhibit dedicated to Mark Marchlinski (sp?). I look forward to checking that out.

On the baby front, Allison had a stomach bug this week so both Jeff and I missed some work staying home with her. She threw up once on Jeff and once at daycare and had some bad diapers, but overall she was still her happy self. So no complaints from us. (That could change if I get it. Jeff was sick some last night but I think he’s coming around this morning.) I am running out of things to entertain a baby all day. I actually turned on cartoons this morning. Bob the builder was using solar panels! I’m excited how the next generation will be learning all this green stuff. Allison wasn’t that interested in the TV though. I’m glad, but also worried since I want her to like it enough to distract/entertain her while traveling.

She’s really good at peak-a-boo now. She’ll grab burp cloths or her shirt or whatever and put it over her face for a few seconds and drop it and expect you to give her a shrilly voice and smile :) She’s still not officially crawling but she’s pulled forward with her ams some. And she’ll go from her tummy to sitting up pretty good now. Except today where she must have had some momentum going and kept going backwards hitting her head on the toybox. Oops.

Here's a snippet of a g-talk conversation with my PREGNANT sister-in-law

Claire: VERY funny quote from an expecting friend
"if they made a wine smelling perfume, I would probably bathe in it."

Lynn: then you'd be tortured all day though

Claire: great point!
I think I am over wine
I just can't wait until I can have 2 or 3 glasses

Lynn: it still gives me a headache now

Claire: let me have my dream!

Lynn: :) sorry!

It's the first of the month, which means I got to pick out a new computer wallpaper. Every month Smashing Magazine has a long list of choices many with a calendar. I picked the neon Christmas tree towards the bottom. I needed something in my office to get me in the spirit considering I just put out Halloween decorations. Stupid I know. This year we're having a holiday party where every floor has a different holiday and ours is Halloween. Other floors got Christmas or New Years or Mardi Gras and will get to leave out their decorations for a month. I swore I would not help out again this year, but being one of only a few females on the floor, ofcourse I got suckered into it.

At home, we bought a table top live Christmas tree. It's a little dinky but I didn't feel like bringing out all of my Christmas decorations when Jeff could care less and Allison is too young. I'll try to get pics up soon.

We had a good visit in Meridian for Thanksgiving with the rest of the Machamer clan. Karen cooked up enough to feed us all weekend. The guys played a ton of card games while me or Karen got baby duty most of the time. Karen said something about Allison being out of the cuddling stage, but then she proceeded to sleep in her arms for 2 hours! Somehow I don't think Karen minded that at all. Uncle Jim was the only one that made Allison cry. Maybe she doesn't know what to think of men with hair :) We ofcourse watched the Iron Bowl which was a great game even if Auburn lost. Who would have thought they could keep the lead the entire game (well till the last 2 minutes) against the team ranked #2. I don't think there were many Tiger fans complaining even though we lost.

At home things seemed to have changed a bit. I think my cat and my baby have swapped personalities. I took Ginger (cat) to the vet last week and since the blood work came back normal, the vet gave her a cortisone shot hoping that would fix her bulimia problem. So far it has! It's been great, I've left food out and she no longer howls like a grumpy old cat. Instead, we're getting noise and screaming from Allison. I think some of it is her discovering her voice, but lately she's been more whiny and crying alot. I know we traveled for the holiday so that probably messed with her somewhat, but then Monday daycare said she had a good day, so I was hopeful it'd be an easy night getting back into a routine. Nope. She feel asleep in the car and upon waking up a half hour later at home she cried. And cried till she was occupied with eating. And then went back to crying. I finally got her happy before her bath and all was well for a little bit. Who knows if her cold is getting worse or teething or what.