Holiday Cheer

We’re in the middle of another holiday season, and we’ve survived each day so far. I think Novalee has easily 15+ presents for her under the tree, and Alex and I spent Black Friday week shopping ourselves, convinced that we’re somehow saving while we spend a shit ton of money. So far, it’s been a nice surprise seeing what we’ve each supposedly bought each other.

23 weeks pregnant this week, and I’ve caught another cold, this one has been lasting for nearly two weeks now. They feel like separate colds almost because every couple days, I’ll feel better, and then WHAM! I’ll feel like how day 1 was where my body aches all over, with my head throbbing so hard my eyes keep watering up. I’m just praying that I’ll be cured by the time we had to Nashville for Christmas–our last travel for a while, I’m sure. I look forward to seeing Novalee playing with Simone again, however, I’m absolutely dreading the plane ride. Novalee was so antsy for the 2.5 hour ride to and and from Seattle over the summer that I’m just filled with anxiety thinking of how she’ll be now as a full blown toddler on a 5-hour trip. I’ve bought a few toys, books, and coloring pads to hopefully hold some of that attention. And LOTS of food. Many articles encourage a show/movie to help, but we’ve never allowed any screen-time for Novalee and she has yet to even ask for it since she doesn’t know any better. Hoping to stick this out until she’s at least 2, maybe even 3 if possible. I’m so disappointed in seeing kids just glued to their iPads in every social setting. I understand why parents do it–to save whatever piece of sanity possible, but I really do think that Novalee is so much more aware of her surroundings and shows actual interests in people and things because of her lack of screen-time. But hey, to each his own.

Here’s hoping for the best this holiday trip!