Day 119

Tuesday December 14, 2010

Nina slept through the night!!! Hallelujah!!! Thank you Dr. Greenfield for the Atavan! I felt like a new woman! Amazing how golden you can feel with 6 hours of sleep!!! I felt like a rockstar but looked more like a pale, scrappy waitress from a B-list movie. My friend Jimmy and brother both told me within seconds of each other that all the teenie boppers were into the vampire chic look :) So nice to have such adoring friends!

While Teddy was in school, Nina and I continued to work on Christmas gifts.  Last Thursday, she and I had found a Rite Aide with a plethora of Pillow Pets. Since Teddy gave her the dolphin Pillow Pet, Nina has been determined she wanted to buy Teddy one and her cousins some too. I had asked her if she thought it was a good idea to buy everyone she loved and had been helping a Pillow Pet. She agreed and as I listed each person, she chose the perfect Pillow Pet. It was really funny to see how she'd make her decisions and how each Pillow Pet matched the person perfectly. For example, she decided that Larisa should get a pink and purple Unicorn because she likes Hello Kitty! I totally saw the connection...if Larisa likes a girly thing like Hello Kitty then she will most definitely love a pink and purple Unicorn Pillow Pet! The girl is outrageously hilarious!! For Teddy, Nina decided he should get a penguin because he loves Club Penguin so much! Perfect again!

As we wrapped, shopped, and crossed people off our list, Nina never ceased giving me her opinions, even when I didn't ask. I love that about her! She has always been that way! Opinionated from the beginning, even before she could talk :)

By the time we picked up Teddy from school, we had accomplished quite a bit. Normally, I am done with my Christmas shopping by now and all I have left is shopping that my mother-in-law asks for my help with. For obvious reasons, this year turned out to be very different and as such I am off my game. I knew no one had expectations from us regarding Christmas gifts but I wanted to give! I wanted us to remind people how much we appreciated and valued them. I have always loved involving the kids in the shopping because it teaches them what the true meaning of the holiday is, giving not receiving!! Christmas is about the love that God had for us, has for us....so immense that he gave us Jesus. Our gift giving is symbolic of that and I've always been cautious to not get the kids caught up in the "receiving" and "wanting" part of it.

Playing Wii with brother...so much fun!

Before I realized it, it was dinner time and I had literally been so wrapped up in "wrapping" gifts that I had lost track of time. Teddy hadn't done his homework so I asked Mario to do it instead of the regular tutoring. Because of the Boy Scout Christmas Bash last night, we had to cancel our session with Erik and didn't get to homework as well. Now we were doubly behind! Luckily, Mario had it under control and Teddy didn't fuss much when I announced the change in plans.

While Teddy and Mario worked, I joined Todd and Nina downstairs. They were on the living room mattress building a Sponge Bob puzzle. Nina is totally into puzzles right now! As the three of us worked away, Todd had Nina's favorite music playing on Pandora. Then, Usher's DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again came on and our diva took it to town! I immediately pulled out my phone and started to record her singing and dancing! The girl has moves!!! It is amazing!! Her taste in music is hilarious....so not me! She loves hip hop and has fabulous rhythm, again....unlike her uncoordinated parents :) It was practically impossible for Todd and me to contain ourselves! She was sooo precious, we just wanted to gobble her up!

The video of Nina singing and dancing to Usher is to die for!!! I immediately texted Eileen after I had uploaded it to YouTube. Eileen texted back, roaring with laughter and delight! Everyone who watched this video texted how unbelievably darling Nina was with her dance moves! The girl can rock, what can I say!!! I only wish I had her moves :) But then again....I'm pretty sure the adjectives I'd hear to describe my dancing would not include darling or precious! I am more like Elaine from Seinfeld on the dance floor than Nina!!! Whenever I try to dance, Nina says, "Mama...stop!" If I persist, she yells, "Mama I said stop dancing!" I really hope I have the opportunity to embarrass Nina with my dancing when she is an adolescent! How rich would that be!!! I can see it all now....she'd be so mortified she wouldn't speak to me for days!!! Oh how I hope!!!