Holiday Season

It's been a crazy couple of months! We've never been quite this sick all at the same time. Finally everyone is getting over it. Just in time for a Christmas Card photo shoot in the kitchen.

Here's the run-down: Drusilla had two colds and two rounds of antibiotics. Marcus had a cold that turned into the croup and then got pink-eye. Merry and I each got sick. And in the middle of it all I managed to injure my back, requiring physical therapy. All in about seven weeks.

So here it is, time for the holidays and my family to-do list is huge. The house has regurgitated laundry, dishes, and toys everywhere. We don't have a Christmas tree. There are no lights up, inside or outside of the house. Leaves are choking every gutter. Aw, man!

In the middle of it all I'm trying to find a new job. I'm studying new technologies in any spare minute (that I'm not playing games on my smart phone). I've updated my resume. And I'm learning what people mean when they say "the economy is bad" or "we are in a recession." It means there are no jobs to be had, or the ones posted are for extremely specialized skills since there are such experienced folks looking for work.

Writing all that down makes me a bit surprised to be in such a good mood. After all, I do have a job. I do have the ability to study. And finally I have the ability to bend over and put my own socks on.

The kids of course have been terrific as usual. Dru's been a little clingy lately but it's hard for me to mind. I'm realizing that I understand our goals for her therapies for the first time in a long time. And we converse now and make up games that we both play. Her verbalization just gets better and better - she's waking me up at 6am saying, "Papa, want letters!". I wish I had the energy to go over the alphabet at 6am. Someday.

I feel like I've been able to bond more with Marcus lately. He's sitting up on his own and rolling over (front-to-back and vice versa). He loves to be tossed in the air and smothered with kisses. Last night I was gobbling up his hand and he'd stick it right back in front of my mouth. We're playing games! Yay! He's getting a wonderful personality all of his own and I'm thrilled to see he likes silliness almost as much as his sister.

My only worry is Merry. It's incredibly tough to care for both of the kids and do anything else. When I do it I'm stuck with a nagging feeling that there's laundry to be done or cooking that should be happening. It's just not possible with two little ones. So I'm trying to help out despite staying up too late programming and being exhausted from work. I'm hoping to figure something out.

Despite the drawbacks, though, this is something we're all going through together as a family. We'll all remember the tough, exhausting times in one way or another. And it only gets easier. After all, in only a week the kids celebrate their first Christmas together. Every day is a new day.