Thanks to the help from a kind friend and developing just a little patience (for both the page with 900+ photos to load and to go through each single photo and delete over 150), I have managed to make some room to continue uploading for free. I'll have to start paying once I fill up my free capacity this time since I deleted all duplicates and unnecessary photos but I should have some time now. I did try to outsmart blogger and create a new blog but as it uses my email address to log in, it wanted to store the photos in the same album that was already full. So that didn't work. But I finally found a way and we are back in blogging business!
Real quick, here are all the photos I mentioned in the previous post:
Papa's party. Don't the girls look like they are having fun?!
Ellie's concert. She's the peanut in the front row in pink. You can just see her little head.
November was amazingly warm for Minnesota so we got plenty of outside time in.
Hannah wants so badly to be included in the older kids' games. She tries so hard to follow along with their make believe!
Hannah Attack!
Our Christmas tree shopping event. It's funny how Jake used to argue with me regarding getting a real tree (thankfully I've never listened to his opinion!). Now he's the one who wants to get the tree as soon as Thanksgiving is over. I'm still working on him with going to a tree farm and cutting down our own tree but since the Home Depot trees seem to do the job just fine, at least I get my real tree each year with no complaints. Fraser fir all the way!
I saw this awesome photo of some kids in front of a Christmas tree on Pinterest. The lights are all aglow and light up the kids' faces. Adorable. Of course, this is when my camera started getting goofy with focusing and the settings necessary for the photo to turn out are tough ones to get a good photo at. I could go on about ISO, shutter speed, and aperature but since I still barely understand how they work, I won't bore you! I do like the photo and I plan to try again with the kids when my camera comes back.
What else is new? I almost had an emotional breakdown last week. It seems when one thing goes wrong, everything does. It's not even that there was anything catastrophic happening. Just all the little pieces that weren't fitting together like they are supposed to. I don't think people realize how stressful it is to be a Type-A, super organized, slightly OCD and neurotic control freak. It really is a hard role and add into that being in the final weeks of a pregnancy and Christmas approaching and you've got emotional basket case.
It all started with a very long Tuesday. Nothing in particular, just a long day with the kids. Hannah had the flu Monday and we were still stuck at home Tuesday so she could kick the bug completely. This meant no workout for me. Tuesday night, we were going to take Ellie to FEP (church class) and the van battery didn't work. This was the 2nd time in a month and like the 5th in a 6 month period. My battery was still covered under a 5 year warranty from when I bought it so I added "get battery looked at" to my long list of to-do's. We got Ellie to FEP, Rich took the other 3 to his house and Jake and I went out for a quick dinner to just get away for a bit.
Then on Wednesday, Carter got sick. This meant he had to stay home from preschool. You can imagine how well that went over when Ava still got to go. Thankfully he fell asleep watching tv and I had time to get the house picked up. Of course, my to-do list continued to grow because with Carter home, I wasn't able to start sewing on the kids' bags for Christmas. Thursday, everyone was fine and healthy but we decided to stay home for one more day of recovery. Another day with no workout (I try to go Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday each week). Friday morning everyone was finally feeling good and healthy and I convinced the kids we should go to the gym. We all got dressed and bundled and loaded up the van. Only to have the battery refuse to start again! One of my neighbors was out working on his car at the time and he had the privilege of witnessing my temper tantrum!
Rich came down during lunch, we jumped the van, and took it over to the place where I bought the battery. Of course, they also wanted to check the alternator to make sure that wasn't the problem. We came home for the afternoon where I sat and stewed about everything piled up on my plate. Christmas shopping to be done for nearly all gifts yet, my camera which was still being looked at and could potentially not be covered by warranty, the potential for the van needing a new alternator, the yearbook photos that I volunteered to take at Ellie's school that I haven't taken yet and need to be turned in before Christmas, the blanket for the baby that needed finishing, the bags for the kids that needed starting, and everything else that could weigh my mind down. To say I was feeling Scrooge-like would have been an understatement! Of course, I'm married to Mr. Optimistic so his attitude was "get over it-we are all healthy-what's really important in life". It's times like that when it is good he goes to work all day because had he said that to me in person instead of in a text message, I may have punched him in the face, I was that riled up and cranky!
However, God is good. Jake is right and we are all healthy. And the good news started that day. It was just the battery on the van and since it was still under warranty, they replaced it at no cost. I checked on my camera that afternoon and it was finally repaired and being prepared for return shipment. It should actually arrive tomorrow! Saturday morning I finally made it to the gym and I spent Saturday afternoon piecing together the baby's blanket so that is finished. Ava did get sick with the flu Friday night and didn't wake up in time but in an effort to be optimistic, I used the opportunity to wash every article of bedding from both girls' beds (she was actually sleeping in Ellie's bunk when she got sick but we'll keep that between us!). While I spent Saturday doing 5, yes 5, loads of laundry, everything from the girls' mattress pads to their comforters and throw pillows have been washed. That was on my after Christmas list anyway, so it's one more thing I can cross off now. Sunday I prepped as much as I could for the sewing project without the kids seeing too much of what I was doing. Yesterday while Hannah napped and the older 3 were at school/preschool, I got the bags sewn and done. My Black Friday purchase from Old Navy finally arrived with some of the kids' presents. And I stopped by Ellie's school today and got some of the photos taken for the yearbook.
So all in all, things are finally coming together and I can start to relax. Being a little too organized and list-obsessed, I did sit down last night and make a before Christmas and after Christmas list of things I want done before baby comes and put deadlines on each task. I finally feel that I can enjoy the holidays and these final 4 weeks until we add yet another to the bunch. So I've switched from crazed, psycho, very pregnant woman to a little more relaxed and chill version. Everything will come together as it should and if it's not the way I planned, who cares? I'm trying to let go of the control freak and live in the moment. Not an easy thing for me but I'm working on it!
So that's life at the Wendorff household in a nutshell. We'll be back again soon now that I can put photos on again and my camera will be back tomorrow! Yay!!
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