Tales of a Fulltime Mom: Merry Christmas (Part 1)

Sabbath afternoon, December 13 found us on our way to Boston for Christmas. The excitement was mounting! Now that Colby can partially be entertained by movies and other distractions, I had high hopes for this trip. This is maybe where you are expecting me to say "And those hopes were completely dashed." Well, it wasn't THAT bad. Actually, all went quite well up to a point. We stopped at a Pizza Hut in South Carolina for supper (which clearly had not invested any capital in their decor as it looked like it was stuck in 1982) and then settled the kids in for the night as we started the overnight part of the trip (usually my favorite). Everyone went to sleep easily and Duncan was driving. I was trying to catch some sleep before taking over. About 1:30, Duncan stopped to get gas and it all went downhill. Colby woke up and essentially was awake for the rest of the night. He would seem to doze off for a little while and then a couple minutes later would start crying/screaming and the pattern would repeat itself. Around 3:15, I told Duncan I needed to start driving and we started looking for a place where I could get a fountain beverage (I ONLY like my Mountain Dew on ice). Not sure why that is so difficult off the highway in Maryland but it proved to be. Now Colby is really screaming and I said "Let's just stop wherever." We got off the exit and the first place I saw was the Beltsville Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Guess it was a sign! I got Colby out and brought him in the front seat to nurse in hopes of calming him down.

When he finished nursing, I poked around for his binky hoping for a quick transition. No luck. Couldn't find the darn thing anywhere and I was close to a panic. I think I had already given Colby all of the binkies I had. He would throw them around the van in fits of rage. I finally decided I would have to open the door and step out and hope it would fall out from somewhere. So I open the door, naturally it's very cold outside, and now Colby is crying again. And there is still no binky so I'm indeed about to go in full panic mode when this little voice from the backseat says "Mommy, it's in your hair." I didn't even know Aubree was awake. But sure enough, I put my hand up to the back of my head and there's the binky firmly nestled in my flowing locks (ha, I just had to say because it sounds so nice even though it was really a giant tangled mess.) I've said it before but it bears repeating, Colby is obsessed with my hair. In fact, both of the Grodack boys have a thing for hair. For Brady, it's playing with his hair when he's tired and with Colby, it's mine. The second he is near me whether nursing or sitting on my lap, he'll reach up for my hair and just knead it with his fingers. He's going to have to marry someone with long hair, no doubt! Anyway, the binky problem was resolved and we could go on our merry way. Except...he didn't actually go back to sleep and by the time we got to about 5:00 am, I finally said "What the heck!" and put Sesame Street on. So yup, Colby watched Sesame Street for hours before the other three woke up about 7:45. It kept him quiet and that's all I cared about!

Despite the Colby issues, we made great time and made it to my parents house in 21 hrs, 30 minutes which is really unheard of with kids. For comparison, our best time was a little under 20 hours without kids. Luck was on our side because there was no traffic or bad weather.

Here is a recap of how our time went. Let's see how well I can remember it!

Sunday 12/14 - Got to watch the Patriots pound the Dolphins from the comfort of my parents' home. Tried to put Colby for a nap in my old room (where we would be staying) but he would not go down in the pack 'n play. Instead, he fell asleep on the bed with me. And so would begin the great Colby sleeping debacle of 2014. It did not go well. But then, you probably got that from the word debacle.

Monday 12/15- We went and visited my mom at her work so we could say hello to some of her friends and also to Dorene who is now a resident (Dorene was my roommate for some of my growing up years). Hello again Amy! Shopped for a bit at Southshore Plaza and stopped to visit Bob in the hospital in Norwood. Poor Bob had been having trouble breathing the week before and it turns out he had to have a quadruple bypass which happened a few days before Christmas. It was a different Christmas not having him around, that's for sure. Our last stop was in Mansfield at the plaza that has LL Bean. I was so thrilled when we happened upon four carolers singing outside the store. That always makes my day!

Happy to be exploring at Papa & Gigi's on Monday morning

The brothers

Scoping out picture spots for family picture.

Tuesday 12/16 - The Braces arrive! Shawn, Camille, Camden, Acadia and Winslow arrived in the early afternoon and now the good times could officially roll. It became evident pretty early on that there were going to be fights over Camden. Calaubra all wanted to be with Camden whether it was in the car, next to him at the table, sitting next to him on the couch, etc. Calleigh feels a bond because they are both the oldest, Aubree feels the bond because they are "twins", and Brady feels a bond because they are boys. We had to break up many disagreements over the week and a half.

Passing the time in the morning at Bass Pro. Not sure what they are doing here actually since Duncan took this picture. Hmmm.

Getting excited with the arrivals coming soon! And yes, clearly no snow.

Greeting Winslow

Working on crafts. Now that Gigi does electronic scrapbooking all her old stuff makes good craft stuff for the kids.

Wednesday 12/17 - Time for the Grodack family Christmas picture! Last year did not go well, AT ALL. The picture was not that great and getting the picture ordered was a nightmare, mainly because we were in Newport. Fortunately everything went a lot smoother this year and I was happy with the picture (to be clear, nothing was wrong with the photography last year as my brother is an excellent photographer. It's always a problem with the subjects not cooperating). Later in the day, Colby and I went to visit my friend Kristi who I went to high school with and who was my roommate here in Florida for the first four years. Without her, I would not have met Duncan! Anywho, she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and while she is now cancer free, she's had to undergo more surgeries because of some things that didn't go exactly right. Oddly enough, she and her mom were both diagnosed almost at the same time and just after Angelina Jolie had that whole big thing with having a double mastectomy because of her mom. Kristi's mom is also cancer free now so praise the Lord!

Photo courtesy of Shawn Brace

I was in no rush to get home so Colby and I stopped and did a little shopping. As I was walking past a hair salon, I saw this cute little truck that kids could sit in while getting their hair cut and the store was empty so I thought it would be a good time for his first cut. All went well although he was starting to sour on the last few snips. Finished just in time. Mainly got the back thinned out and trimmed the sides. He does seem to have more hair than Brady at this age.

Meanwhile, Papa and Gigi had taken the five older kids to Jordan's Furniture in Avon to see the Enchanted Village. The three older ones got to go on a ride/show for the Polar Express while Brady and Acadia went to a light show. A good time had by all. Duncan used this time to go to Chipotle with Shawn. Shawn is obsessed with that place and Duncan is happy to accompany him.

Thursday 12/18 - Rad and Jen were leaving for Jen's folks in Michigan on Friday morning so we headed down the Cape so we could see the new baby, Levi. Rad has a baby, mercy! Seems like just yesterday he and I were wrapping presents together at my parents, giggling and carrying on. We took the boys with us and met Rad at the office...officially a lawyer with his own office. I am so proud! Jen met us there and then we followed them to an Indian Restaurant for lunch. There was literally no one there but us so I didn't feel so bad when the boys got loud and Colby started running all over the restaurant. Levi is just adorable and it was great to catch up with those guys. Oh, and the food was good but not as good as the Indian here. Before leaving the Cape, we made a stop at Kelly and Steve's to see the playroom Steve had built. I'm a little bit jealous I must say.

Love this couple!

The new playroom

While we were at the Cape, my parents had the Calleigh, Aubree, Camden, and Acadia, at the studio where my dad tapes his radio program. Like last year when he had Calleigh and Camden do it, he recorded the kids talking about what Christmas meant to them, etc. They were really excited and did great. Unfortunately, I missed hearing them when the show came on that Sunday morning. Darn it.

At 4:00 pm, all parties met at Edaville Railroad for our annual visit. I say annual but we did miss last year due to rain. No weather problems this year unless you could no snow as a problem. Which I do. Kelly, Steve, and Caleb and then Kathy and Bruno also joined us. I barely saw Calleigh the entire time because she was with Kathy and Bruno going on all the rides...those ones that would make any normal adult sick to their stomach because they go around and around. They went on all those rides like five times each and I have no idea how Kathy dealt with it but Calleigh was delirious with delight about the whole thing. The little kids were happy with their assortment of rides although it was like deja vu when we got to the bumper cars. You have to be 42 inches to ride them which Brady assuredly is not which resulted in a floor of tears. Same thing happened two years ago with Calleigh and Aubree. The only problem is that I don't know if Brady will be 42 inches in two years!