I've been gone a while...

I haven't posted in a while... I have been run down, drained, depressed even recently and just didn't have the energy to write... or do much else for that matter!
I had grand plans for my 2 week Christmas break from school (another reason why I love working in the schools)... I had scheduled a few days (4 mornings) for Bear to go to school for a few hours so I could get things done. Before you judge me for having time off and still sending my kid to daycare... we pay for a minimum of 5 hours a week anyhow so I figured I could use the time for doctors appointments, last minute Christmas shopping, renewing license plates that expire a week after Christmas (that just isn't right...)... On top of that Bear eats much better at school. Since she is only 21 pounds at 2 years old I like to make sure she eats as much as possible. Gotta love that peer pressure.
After scheduling all of the above mentioned appointments and getting my game plan firmly established we woke up Sunday morning to a sick little girl. She had the worst cold I have seen so far. She didn't get to school on Monday... or on Tuesday... appointments were cancelled... I felt myself begin to tense up over everything I now had to accomplish in a much shorter amount of time. On top of that Bear was waking several times a night because she couldn't breathe so I was running on empty. All of this culminated on Christmas Eve... She actually fell asleep at 7:40 pm. We played Santa and even watched a movie... smart parents would have also gone to sleep at 7:40 pm... not us... You have probably already guessed it but Ashlyn woke up at 11 pm and not only did she not sleep at all the rest of the night but she screamed hysterically all night long. Nothing made her happy. Eventually at about 4 am she stopped crying with the promise of watching her My Little Pony dvd but of course at this VERY moment... our DVD player stopped working! Are you kidding me?
Finally at 6 am we decided this was ridiculous and lets just let her open her presents. That had to make her happy. She walked out into the living room and ... we had the camera ready to capture the big smile... the slow motion run to the Christmas tree... instead we got... MORE CRYING.. She was so exhausted and so overwhelmed...


You have to love this scrapbook page made with Digi-Designs by Nicole's Swanky Christmas... Look at Hubby's face... he has resigned himself to just holding her and praying it ends sooner rather than later... And her face... well that says it all...

Eventually Bear and I fell asleep on the couch and daddy in the bedroom. We woke up around 10 and finished celebrating Christmas. She was happy and really enjoyed her gifts. We were so exhausted we let her play with playdoh on the couch and really have fun.
As parents we put so much effort into our children having a wonderful magical Christmas it is so heartbreaking when they aren't able to enjoy it... I hope next year is different for Bear and she can really experience the Christmas morning joy... as for me... I just hope Santa gets a little more sleep next year!