thankful.

This year, I'm thankful for:

• My healthy FAMILY! A supportive, hard working husband who puts all his love and trust in me. A sweet, smart, adorable, silly son who melts my heart and blows me away every day. A patient dog who loves us unconditionally. A mom who I go to for everything, a sister who's always there for me, a brother, dad and grandma who I wish I saw more of, and a niece and nephew who I love very much.
• My mother-in-law, who would drop everything (and does on a regular basis!) to help us out, and who loves Kyle with all her heart.
• The gift of staying home with Kyle most of the week, and the ability to make money when I do leave for work.
• The ability to use my education and writing experience to work from home.
• A great group of friends who I can be myself and laugh with, and who love Kyle as much as they love me & Brian.
• The means to indulge in fun things all year round, like Knott's Berry Farm, Discovery Science Center, a wine tasting weekend away, pedicures, train rides, dining out and family mountain trips.
• A good night's sleep.
• The fact that my back has not gone out since April (KNOCKING AS HARD AS I CAN ON WOOD ALL DAY LONG).
• My eyebrow girl.

'tis the season... to watch TV

Nothing gets us in the spirit like some good ol' holiday classics!

NOVEMBER

– Nov 26, 8:00PM: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (ABC)

– Nov 27, 9:00AM: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (NBC)

– Nov 28, 8:00PM: Disney’s Prep & Landing (ABC)

– Nov 28, 9:00PM: Frosty the Snowman (CBS)

– Nov 29, 8:00PM: The Flight Before Christmas (CBS)

– Nov 29, 9:00PM: The Story of Santa Claus (CBS)

DECEMBER

- Dec 1: ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas” starts. For the daily schedule of the holiday shows they will be airing, click here.

– Dec 1, 5:00PM: Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABC Family)

– Dec 1, 6:00PM: Christmas Vacation (ABC Family)

– Dec 1, 8:00pm: CMA Country Christmas (ABC)

– Dec 1, 8:00pm: Elf (ABC Family)

– Dec 1, 12:00am: Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABC Family)

– Dec 2, 6:00pm: Elf (ABC Family)

– Dec 2, 8:00pm: Toy Story That Time Forgot (ABC)

– Dec 2, 8:00pm: The Santa Clause (ABC Family)

– Dec 2, 8:30pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC)

– Dec 3, 8:00pm: Christmas in Rockefeller Center (NBC)

– Dec 4, 6:00pm: The Year Without a Santa Claus (ABC Family)

– Dec 4, 7:00pm: The Polar Express (ABC Family)

– Dec 5, 6:00pm: Disney’s A Christmas Carol (ABC Family)

– Dec 5, 8:00pm: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey) (ABC Family)

– Dec 5, 9:00pm: A Very Grammy Christmas (CBS)

– Dec 7, 8:00pm: I Love Lucy Christmas Special (CBS)

– Dec 8, 8:30pm: Elf (ABC Family)

– Dec 9, 8:00pm: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (CBS)

– Dec 11, 9:00pm: Scrooged (ABC Family)

– Dec 13, 8:00pm: It’s A Wonderful Life (NBC)

– Dec 13, 9:30pm: Frosty Returns (CBS)

– Dec 13, 10:00pm: Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABC Family)

– Dec 16, 8:00pm: A Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC)

– Dec 16, 8:00pm: Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas (NBC)

– Dec 16, 8:30pm: Home Alone (ABC Family)

– Dec 16, 9:00pm: America’s Funniest Home Videos Christmas Spectacular (ABC)

– Dec 20, 8:00pm: I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (ABC)

– Dec 20, 9:00pm: CMA Country Christmas (ABC)

– Dec 24, 8:00pm: It’s A Wonderful Life (NBC)

– Dec 24, 8:00pm/24 hour marathon begins: A Christmas Story (TBS)

– Dec 25, 10:00am; Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration (ABC)

(thanks for the info, Breezy Mama!)

Is it Friday yet?

My week as a "single mom" did not go as smoothly as I'd hoped. I tackled sleepless nights, meltdowns and even a trip to the ER alone (croup strikes again). I feel pretty good about the way I handled things, but I am soooo looking forward to having daddy home tomorrow! Especially excited to enjoy a glass of wine while he handles bath time for the next few days :)

the bad day

I wasn't dreading the hub's 5-day business trip too much. Yes, I would miss him and yes, being a "single mom" for 5 days isn't the easiest. However, I took some time off work and I just needed to get through Monday to have 4 full days in a row at home with my boy.

Day 1 just happened to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad f*ck*** day.

It all started with a very early 5 a.m. wake-up (for the 2nd day in a row). Brian had to leave the house at 6 and still hadn't packed. He didn't mean to wake me up, but he did. And I didn't mean to fall back asleep just 10 minutes before Kyle got up for the day (at 6:30). But it happened.

Then, I realized we were out of coffee. We could just stop there, but I'll go on.

I had to work at 10-5 and I'm not sure how this happened, but I forgot to make myself a coffee when I got there. By noon, I had a throbbing caffeine withdrawal headache that I knew nothing would fix. I was past the point of no return.

Work was work, and was especially fun when my last table of the day left me a $0 tip on a $120 bill. F THEM!

Kyle wouldn't let me rest at all when we got home, which I never really mind except for the fact that my headache was so bad that I was seeing spots and having trouble keeping my eyes open. In just 3 short hours, it would be bedtime.

Let me tell you, 3 hours is a long time when you are exhausted, have a migraine and just need rest, but have a 20 month old who just needs YOU. I tried so, so hard to have patience and keep my head up. But after Kyle fought me during dinner and wouldn't eat, fought me during bath and wouldn't let me put him in his jammies, fought me at bedtime... I was done.

I rocked Kyle to sleep because I desperately needed sleep for myself. I must have fallen asleep 8 times in the rocking chair and kept waking up suddenly, realizing I was holding Kyle. I'd look down, and there he was with his eyes open looking right at me. This kid fights sleep like nobody's business.

FINALLY at 9:20, he was out and I could put him down in his crib and close my eyes. Except Penny needed to pee and there were about 88 dishes in the sink with food on them. After a quick walk and a half-ass rinse of the plates, it was time to zonk out.

At 10:10 p.m. I woke up in a panic. Kyle was in my bed! He's not breathing! His face is buried in the huge pile of laundry that I was too tired to fold and pushed to Brian's side of the bed! Oh wait, that's just laundry, not a body, and I'm freaking out in my sleep. It took me about 5 minutes to have the smarts to look at the monitor and realize that Kyle was out like a light, peacefully sleeping in his crib.

At 1 a.m. I woke up again in a panic. Except this time Kyle really was in my bed, lying next to me and tapping my head. I told him it was time to sleep and he needed to go back in his bed. I laid him down, got him comfy and went back to my bed and fell asleep. 5 minutes later, there he is again. This happened about 5 times until he finally was able to go back to sleep at 3:30 a.m. Thank goodness we both slept till 9 a.m. and when I woke up, my headache and the bad day were gone.

Today is a new day and I'm going to do everything in my power to make the next 4 days home with my boy happy, loving and fun. I feel terrible when my bad days transfer to him. I know it's inevitable that there will be many more shitty days in my future, but I sure hope the next one isn't any time soon.

This morning, I let Kyle walk the entire park with his little wagon full of stuff. We just walked the park like this for a full hour, and I think it was just what we needed after our crappy night :)

Let's hope we can both sleep through the night tonight without any weird dreams or teething pains!