High: We trekked to Oregon and got to spend Christmas with my entire family. Originally, my brother and sister-in-law who live in the middle of nowhere were not planning to come home for the holidays. But they changed their minds and surprised all of us by showing up two days before Christmas. I got to see Baby Lu for the first time.
High: Afton kind of sort of got Christmas this year. She knew about "Beebee Jezuz" and his "mommy Mer-wee" and his "daddy Jozus." She also knew that "nanna Claus comes at night and mings mesents." She has since reminded me on a number of occasions that "Nanna Claus is really busy."
Low: Sleep deprivation. You know the things that make a baby have difficulty sleeping: a growth spurt, illness, being away from home, teething... Ainsley had all four at once. It was like keeping up with a newborn again. She woke up every two hours. She usually wouldn't go back to sleep for two or three hours in the middle of the night. That lasted the entire vacation. Sigh...
High: I got to see a lot of extended family too. In fact, I saw all my aunts and uncles on my mom's side of the family.
Low: The stomach flu. Tony got it the day after Christmas. I got it the night before I came home.
High: I watched the first four episodes of Glee with mon frere. (So that's what all the buzz is about.)
High: For the first time in several months, my shoulder didn't hurt for about a week. Ainsley had so many other people who wanted to love her and hold her, my body got a bit of a break.
Low: I cried for two hours on New Year's Day. I had looked forward to this vacation for months, especially November and December when we were so busy and Tony was gone a lot and we were sick. I had expected that I'd come home and get rested up so I could go back to my regular long days renewed and replenished. On New Year's Day, not only was it day 10 of crazy sleep, but I suddenly realized that despite all the help I had received, I would return to Utah more exhausted than I came. Perhaps like many moments in life, it's hard not so much because of the situation but because my expectations were so wildly different than reality.
High: In the middle of my New Year's Day crying spell, I sat down on the couch to nurse Ainsley before my parents took her and Afton to visit their great-grandma. Afton pulled up a stool in front of me, sat down, patted my knee, and said (in a soothing voice), "It o-tay Mommy. It o-tay." Then she proceeded to sing me a song -- a completely off-key, unrecognizable song. It was heart-warming.
High: Afton lived it up for two weeks with oodles of grandparent attention. The day after we got home, she asked to go back.
High: My little brother continues to come through for me. Since I was nervous about driving home by myself (Tony had gone home the week before), Jordan agreed to drive me and the crew back to Salt Lake. He had extra duties that day because I was still feeling the effects of the stomach flu. (He changed Afton's diaper and cleaned up Ainsley's projectile spit-up -- exactly what a 24-year-old bachelor wants to do with his free-time over Christmas break.) While it took Tony nine hours to get us to Oregon, it took Jordan eight to get us back. I still have no idea how fast he was driving, and I still don't care.
Fortunately, Ainsley's sleep has drastically improved over the past month. With it, our own sleep has improved. Not surprisingly, so has our ability to laugh about all the ups and downs. A Christmas we won't forget, right? :)
