Christmas and our vacation

The last few days Jacob has been working nights. So assuming not much was going on at the Hospital he comes home fairly rested, but if he was awoken alot then he comes home and sleeps(or tries to)...It has been nice having him home for these last few days during the daytime. The girls have acted like a friend has come over to play with them and constantly ask daddy to play with them. It has also been nice since we keep getting loads of snow...(i.e. he shovels the driveway everyday...how nice:))

We had a great Christmas holiday. For me what made it so nice was the fact that Jacob had vacation during the same time. We had 11 days off in a row!!!!!!!!I was soooooooo happy to have him home and know that we would wake up and he would still be there and go to bed and he would be there again....I just don't take that for granted anymore...this residency thing can take its toll and having him home was so what our little family needed...I will post some pics from Christmas...and due to how this Christmas went I think the following is in order for next year:

1. all one needs in a stocking to be happy is a stick of chapstick and a lollipop
2. Don't try to wrap each gift separately, just throw it all into one box and wrap up that one gift...it is such a chore for a two year old to have to keep opening presents when after opening the first one you just want to go play with it.
3. Why bother to put that some gifts are from Santa and some from mom and dad, at the end of the day...Santa somehow brought everything and isnt he just so great!
4. All a girl really needs under the tree (according to my 4yr old) is a new Christmas dress (that twirls, don't bother if it doesn't, heartache and devastation will follow, if the dress does not spin right), a camera (to take pictures of herself, of course), and a new doll (to mother, no matter our age, we are always ready to be in charge)


Some of the things I loved about having jacob home was:
1. He can finally understand how we go through soooooo many dish towels and rags (pee on the floor or stairs (like when mattie hiked her leg up like a dog and let it rip on the stairs- it wasnt entirely her fault, she just couldn't decide which bathroom to use, upstairs or downstairs and got caught in between...what are you gonna do...)
2. Now he knows why mattie is always naked, or half naked when he comes home....(she is constantly getting into water or spilling something, etc...and any feeling at all of wetness will not do, all clothes need to come off...---this is why she got panties in her stocking...we go through 5 outfits a day)
3. He has seen firsthand that the children are really not at all interested in cleaning up..unless i bribe them with any of the following- a handful of dried onions, or dried chicken bouillon, or a bath in the middle of the day, or a chance to help scrub the poop out of the toilet (yes folks, around here, scrubbing poop all by onesself is a highly desired job and the litte ones are willing to clean the whole playroom by themselves to do it....(yes, i know, my kids are crazy!!)
4. He had an opportunity to build the girls a quick playstand. This is basically a Waldorf toy from Germany that can be made many ways and cost a ton (when you consider that it is just wood after all) but that jacob made simply for cheap...the girls call it their 'house' and love playing in it. Jacob got a good therapy session by having a chance to work with wood and his hands again, he has sooooo missed that. I will include a picture of it. We put it under the tree with the presents...

Today he and I were looking at our girls and jacob remarked on how quickly they are growing up. I agree. We are so trying to enjoy them at this age. We feel so blessed to have 3 happy, and healthy and beautiful little ladies. We are so very grateful to have a home that is warm and for jacobs job which provides for our needs and allows him to help others. We look forward to this upcoming year and hope we are able to find a more permanent home for our little family...(anyone know anyone living in Orono or Veazie that is thinking of selling a home, let us know:)