Over the River and Through the Woods

To Grandma's house we go. Or, went, rather. I must say that our trip to VA was EXCELLENT. A wonderful surprise, that. We planned to leave on the evening of the 14th, and drive about 3 1/2 hours, stop to sleep, and drive another 3 1/2 hours in the morning, BUT...after a full day of packing - it sounds ridiculous, but it's true - it seriously took until 6 PM to get ready to leave - with the minivan all packed up and ready to go, we exhaustedly decided to wait until the morning. We got up at about 4:30 AM and got to VA at 12:30 PM, and both kids did so great. Israel slept most of the way, with cheeks bouncing gently, and Gabe slept some and watched his DVD player. It was accomplished with only a minimum of stress, thanks to answered prayers and God's sheer compassion on our busy little stressed out family.

Gabe immediately understood where we were going, as Tim carried him outside and told him we were going to Grandma's house. "Gamma's. house?", he said. "Emmy's. house?", he said. "Smokey's. house? ( :) ) See. Gandaddy?"

Since arriving at Gamma's and Gandaddy's beloved house, Sweet Child has hardly been able to sleep. I believe he has napped perhaps 1 or 2 times in about 5 days. He has so many plans. There are slides to climb up and go down on his belly (he can do this by himself), there are stairs to climb (he drops to his belly halfway down the hall and scoots backwards to go down backwards), there are Chloe's to swat at ("Gabriel, do not hit Chloe!"), there are Moxies (Mom and Dad's cat) to chase ("Gabe, leave the cat alone!"), Emmie's to hug; there are 'Gandaddy's' to help out in the shop, there are golf carts to ride, and porches to play on, and toyboxes to raid, and pantries to loot. The list simply goes on and on. Thankfully, he does a little better than he used to when he missed his nap. He tears around happily, for the most part, with pink circles under his eyes. He will be sad to leave.

And so will we. When normal life with two babies is comparable to swimming madly to keep your head above water, life with two extra people to help out is a steady, yet mostly refreshing swim with intermittent breaks to catch your breath and maybe get a bit of a tan. Once again, I do believe these Dawdy Hause people have something goin' there.

Israel has been doing pretty good himself. Last night, he slept from about 9:30 PM until about 6:10 AM. Wow. To the sixteenth degree. You must understand that Gabriel never slept longer than 4 hours until he was about 18 months. This seems a sheer miracle of God's gracious compassion. And. My beloved mother has convinced Fussy Child to take a pacifier. Unused baby carrier: $95. Ben-Gay and heating pads for sore, aching back and arm muscles to tote child around to keep him from crying: $20. (I don't actually use Ben-Gay, but I'm just making a point, here, people.) Life chained to a couch to feed baby 47 times a day to keep him happy: $56,789 in mental stress and things undone. Baby taking a pacifier and going to sleep: Priceless. Thank you, my mama.

In other random news, I have: completed all my Christmas shopping in two days, wrapped 21 presents, had one hugely enjoyable Mary Kay party (I put my aunts and cousins to good use and practiced on them,and they were so nice and cooperative. :) ), stayed up until ridiculous hours reading just because I can, and scored some Croc's for my impending birthday. This is very exciting. (Croc's, not birthday. Birthday signals one measly little year away from 30. How in the world did that happen?)

In child news, tonight Israel started staring at his little stuffed animals hanging on his carseat. To most people, this will be an intensely boring news item, but to me it is noteworthy. Also, at the beginning of last week, we went to the doctor, and he was 15 pounds and 24 inches long. He continues to enjoy riding on my shoulder, and tolerates stretches in his bouncer. Everyone loves his cooing and smiling sessions. Baths make him happy. In Gabriel news, we have figured out a way to win the toothbrush battle. He stands at a stool at the sink and brushes his teeth with the help of his mama. We had finally had ENOUGH of toothbrush battles, and after a short learning curve, he is now a good boy toothbrusher.

And now I'm done. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!