Holiday havoc...

seriously. There is just something about this holiday that makes people nutso.

DongZhi is tomorrow and I still have to go to the Chinese grocery to get the ingredients necessary for our soup. Quinlon's Dongzhi gift is ready to go, and we have tentatively decided to give it to him in bed when he first wakes up, but we're still kicking around ideas on how to start this tradition.

And the real highlight of my holiday shopping accomplishments is that I scored the most gorgeous doll for Quinlon for under $30.




That is from Santa, though. It's not actually here yet, still in transit. Keeping my fingers crossed that the USPS doesn't screw it up for me.

Happy 200 posts!

I missed my 100 mark... totally forgot to even pay attention to it, but I have been watching the count down to 200 closely so I could celebrate it!

I just finished Christmas shopping for the dragon.

He is getting a baby doll from mommy and daddy.

And Santa is bringing him:
A custom monkey lovey that has a big 'Q' on it's tummy
A toy car
a hand dyed play silk
and some wool jingle balls

We managed to do an entirely handmade Christmas on our tight tight budget. I am so happy.

While it's on my mind...

I wanted to share what our family's holiday is about.

We don't celebrate Christmas. Not in the Christian or religious sense anyway. As Taoists, we do not believe there is a sentient higher power by any name, let alone "God". So it makes celebrating a Christian holiday designed to convert pagans by scheduling it near a pagan holiday a bit ridiculous.

What we do recognize is the significance of the winter solstice. The DongZhi holiday is similar to Thanksgiving in the fact that it is centered around a special meal and focuses on family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C5%8Dngzh%C3%AC_Festival

Our personal holiday is a fusion of our childhood experiences and Taoist traditions that have new meaning to us as a family breaking out on our own and creating our family traditions. This is the first year that we will have our own nuclear family celebration because, in previous years we spent it at my Granny's house. It just feels appropriate that this year, our son's first DongZhi set the standard for many many happy years to come.

Oh, and Santa stays. The belief that there was a magical man who flew all around the world to give all the children presents amazed and excited me and I want my children to get to enjoy that magic too.

So we will hang stockings, read "The Night Before Christmas", gorge ourselves on traditional yumminess, and await Santa on the same schedule as everyone else...

But...

on the solstice, which usually falls on the 21st or 22nd, we will give each other the presents from ourselves and enjoy Tang Yuan (balls of glutenous rice symbolizing reunion) and celebrate the amazingness that is nature's cycles.


I have to say, I would be pretty damn happy as a kid to get two celebrations in one month!

Today is going to be fun

Last night, Quinlon randomly spiked a fever of 101.2. Other than being crabby as hell, he had no other symptoms, so we theorized it is likely teething.

We had a surprisingly good night until around 6 AM this morning when we had a 45 minute screaming fit during which my thorough exam found nothing amiss and the temp was still just a touch above 101.

So far today, still no symptoms other than a temperature of consistently 101ish and crankiness. It's barely 11 AM and he is on his second nap of the day too. He won't let me set him down let alone leave his sight. I am thoroughly enjoying the cuddles, but he is making getting anything more than sitting on my ass accomplished quite challenging. Hopefully, this will pass soon enough and I can have my happy, bubbly, flirty boy back.

As if this wasn't hard enough...

My child cannot decide if he prefers sleeping on side, back or tummy.


Oh, man...

Random news and updates

I've been jokingly proclaiming that "Quinlon ate my butt" since just after I had him. It was obvious my once prominent ghetto booty was a bit smaller and less bubbly than before my pregnancy. I didn't realize just how accurate this statement was until yesterday.

Old Navy was having a one day sale on jeans. $35 jeans for $12. Solid! I am beyond broke, but it was most definitely time to stop wearing pants that, if tugged even slightly by a cruising child, would come completely off.

Soooo, pre-pregnancy size 9/10 has turned into a perfect size 6! And, now that I have jeans that fit, my complete LACK of ass has never been so glaringly apparent. It's completely flat. I kid you not! I am having a bit of an identity crisis... I mean, I was proud of that badonkadonk and now I have the typical white girl anti-ass. Donnie says he loves it... and honestly, that is all that matters anyway. I've just got some MAJOR self image adjustments to make, not that I am not thrilled to be a size 6 for the first time in at least 3 years.

I guess this is what I get for joking so much about the baby eating my butt.


In other news, we are sleep training Quinlon again. It's going to be a two phase process. First line of attack is helping him learn how to self soothe. He really never figured it out on his own and needs me to pat him in order to fall asleep. At 8 months old, he is developmentally ready to be taught that he can put himself to sleep. Sounds easy enough in theory, but my child is strong-willed, spirited, and has the classic Allen temper. So far he has gotten better and even had one night that he did it completely on his own (a fluke, of course, but I am still proud).

Phase 2 involves cutting back his night time nursing. Quinlon still nurses a minimum of 3-4x a night. And that is on a good night. Nights like last nights are more like 5-6x times and are incredibly exasperating for mama.

But first things first... we gotta get past phase 1.


Yesterday really was a wonderful day! I anonymously received a pair of Wild Child Woollies longies for Quinlon! A dear friend who has yet to reveal themselves sent them as a generous gift knowing that money for us is beyond tight and has been a sore spot for us for quite some time. On top of getting new jeans and a new skinny self image, this was just the highlight of my day.

Also, the whole Martin-Weber clan and I went and painted ornaments at their church. Quinlon made a huge mess and, unsurprisingly, managed to even eat some of the glaze. But, Grandparents will be thrilled to get them as Christmas gifts.

How I met the love of my life...

By request, here is the somewhat silly chain of events that brought me forever happiness.


December of 2005, I was living with my ex boyfriend after shuffling from couch to couch since I had no place of my own. To say that things were shitty is an understatement really. This particular ex, was an asshole and a half. He cheated on me 2 separate times with 2 different 17 year olds... (he was 23, I might add). So, even though I was still living there, we were done with. This all happened in the few days after the Christmas I spent alone with his psychotic cats while he lived it up in Atlanta at his parents' house and avoided my calls, texts and IMs. Real winner, right?

So... on a lovely Friday night spent at the apartment alone, I was browsing profiles in the area on myspace. Came across Donnie's (and a few others who were cute) and just sent a few messages hoping to find someone to keep me company via the interweb. None of them responded, except Donnie.



Date:
Jan 9, 2006 2:51 PM
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Subject:

RE: RE: RE: RE: No Subject

Body:
you my dear......are adoreable......wow......
i have to go to work now......if you want......text me...:
727-505-2415
i would like to talk to you.....
work = poop
and send me your aim name....



----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: jessisaurus
Date: Jan 9, 2006 12:37 PM

you = adorable


----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: love threats and death letters.......
Date: Jan 8, 2006 11:12 AM

anytime... <3





----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: jessisaurus
Date: Jan 8, 2006 9:37 AM

bravo on reading the meaningless rambling of miy profile... <3


<333

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: outlined in chalk
Date: Jan 8, 2006 7:36 AM

hi.....
hows it going?
i hope you didnt wake up sad today.......

:o)


The very last message I sent was from my Granny's house on a pit stop on my way to Destin from Tampa. I was moving in with my aunt to get a fresh start and try to put myself through cosmetology school.

He called me from work... snuck into the bathroom and called me while I was on the road. He couldn't wait to talk to me and risked his job over it.


That night, after he was home from work, Donnie and I talked on the phone for 10 hours straight.

The same the next night.

The third night was only 8 hours... ;p

On January 12th he drove 7 hours from New Port Richey to Destin, FL just to meet me.

It was love at first sight.


But, due to the odd living situations of BOTH of us, there was no way for us to be together... except for one. Donnie called his Dad and found out that he was having surgery and would need a hand. I thought I was going to lose this man right after I met him. Then he asked me to go with him. So less than 10 days after we met, we moved to NY together to live with his nutso family.

And, the rest is history.

It's in his blood.

Ok, now that I have caught up on things...

Well, not really since that never actually happens. More like treading water constantly in these parts.

First things first: the questions from readers... it is time to answer them.

"I'd like to know how BLW [baby led weaning] is going..."
- It's going wonderfully. He took right to it and within about 2 weeks was feeding himself like a pro. We've tried soooo many foods and he loves eating off my plate. I love it!

"What is the most daring thing you'd like to try before you are too old to do so?"
- I'm quite the wild child and have done many things already, in my brief lifetime that others still fear to do. But, in all honesty, the most daring thing for me is write a book. First, I have to make my life worth reading about which, the first major step, is going to China. Then, I want to find the bravery to put all of myself down on paper for the world to see.

"How many babies do you think you will have? Got the itch for another?"
- Ultimately, we want 8 children. Yes, 8. Yes, I am most definitely crazy. This includes adopting one or two if possible. As far as the itch, yes and no... I am a bit sad sometimes to see how quickly my little baby is catapulting towards toddlerhood, but I am not a "newborn" person and still consider those first few months as a new kind of hell for me. It makes me a little sad that we have to wait for about 4-5 years to even try for a second because I am seeing how much Quinlon adores having other children around.

"are you scared at all about moving to a new country in the future? will it be difficult for you to adjust at all?"
- Not so much scared as... thrilled? Actually, I am not even sure that is the right word. As a Taoist, I believe fear is something that arises from the human desire to control their reality which goes against the natural way of things. The positive nerves far outweigh the worrisome ones. I am pretty sure the adjustment is going to be hard... moreso on us than Quinlon. He is a little trooper when it comes to just rolling with the punches. The language barrier is going to be rough but we are already working to overcome that with as much practice as we can now.

"i've got another one: i want to hear the story of how you met Donnie."

-This question deserves its own entry which I am going to type up in the next couple of days. I swear!