Santa's Busy Helpers

This time of year gets so so busy, and then before you know it it's over. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas! All the shopping is done, presents are wrapped, cookies baked. We spent this evening with my family celebrating and had a great time. Now we are back home, the kids are in bed, and Hubby and I are busy being Santa's helpers and putting out presents. Well, Hubby is busy. My feet and ankles are very swollen from being on my feet so much the last few days so I'm soaking them in cold water and then going to put them up for a bit. I think I'll have Hubby bring me the stocking stuff and I can get those all done while I am on the couch. We just have a few things for the stockings, some candy and the boys each have a Toy Story figure and crayons. No christening gifts photo frames or anything, we kept them simple this year. I can't wait to see the boys' faces when they come down in the morning and see what Santa brought. Then the inlaws will be coming down some time tomorrow for a few days. I think my favorite thing about this holiday is spending it with family.

Need Ideas

So, does anyone have any good gift ideas for husbands? I look up holiday gift guides that say they have the perfect gift for every type of person, but there is never really anything on there that jumps out to me. I want to find Hubby something fun and interesting but I just don't have any good ideas. He's pretty simple to please, get him some DVDs and lingerie and he's set, but I feel so lame always getting him the same type of gift when he picks out such perfect personal gifts for me. And he did give me a bunch of ideas, but I want to find him something he didn't ask for but would love. Maybe I need to go walk down the electronics aisle at the store and see what stands out.

Same or not

I think it's funny how phone manufacturers will make so many phones that look almost exactly alike but just have a few differences. I know part of it is that they make different phones for different cell phone carriers. Like my husband's phone is the HTC Evo, which he totally loves. But they also have a ton of similar phones like the Mozart, Trophy, and htc desire android phones that all do basically the same things from what I can tell. Though maybe they are different, I'm not sure. And my phone is a Samsung Intercept and it looks very similar to some of the other Samsung phones. I'm sure if I worked for them I could tell all the differences, but really to me a phone is pretty much a phone lol.

Too full

Ugh, I am so stuffed. I'm really running out of room in my stomach from the babies filling up my belly, but I am still used to eating as much as I normally do. So when I eat that much I then feel sick because I am too full. Causes the babies to go crazy, my tummy to feel upset, and heartburn that wakes me up at night. I'm glad I won't have to worry about how to lose weight fast because in a month I'll lose a bunch of weight pretty quickly lol. I really do need to start paying attention to how much I'm eating though so I don't make myself sick. Even if I have to eat more frequently to make up for it, it would feel so much better not to have an overfull stomach.

A short break in our hectic life

So how did this year go by so quickly?! Seriously, I can't believe in just a few weeks it'll be a new year. So much has happened this year that we've hardly had time to stop and think. I'm hoping that the last few weeks of the year will be a bit more relaxed. I only have one more test for school, Jason is off-track until January, Jakey only has 2 days of preschool this week before his winter break, and this is the last week I watch the 2 extra kids I babysit. So after this week we should get a few weeks break from the crazy business of life. Of course there's Christmas, but I'm hoping to get all the shopping finished up this week so we won't have to worry about it next week and just enjoy the holiday. It would be nice to just have a bit more time to relax before the babies comes next month, especially because I'm so tired and sore and have no energy.

Gifts

I think it's funny watching commercials this time of year and seeing how every store seems to think that all women ever want is jewelry. Yes, things like scott kay engagement rings are nice, but I'm the kind of girl that prefers practical gifts. Plus I rarely wear jewelry. My wedding ring is the only jewelry I wear all the time. I occasionally wear earrings and/or a necklace, but it's rare. So I'm glad my husband doesn't buy me jewelry because it would just be a waste of money for me. Instead he actually pays attention to stuff I mention, even months before Christmas, and then gets me stuff I really want and need. He's an awesome gift-giver. I'm not so good at it lol. I always have to ask him what he wants so he is hardly ever surprised at what he gets, though I do occasionally remember something that he wants but hasn't asked for. This year I have no ideas of my own for him so he gave me a bunch. I better get shopping soon though with Christmas less than 2 weeks away!

Why we don't have nice things

Do you ever just sit and wonder why kids do the things they do? I do. And I just have no answers. I'm pretty sure kids just don't think at all about what they are doing lol. A few days ago the kids were being awful for me and I was just tired of it. I finally got to sit for a few minutes while dinner was heating up and Jakey comes upstairs with a huge hole in his shirt. He said Jason did it so we called for Jason to come upstairs but he wasn't. So I go down and find him struggling to take off his shirt, probably so he could hide it. He had cut out the whole front of the shirt. I was soooo mad. He ended up going to bed with no dinner and they were both grounded from the playroom the next day so they had to stay upstairs where I could keep an eye on them. I just don't know what they were thinking. Makes me glad that we keep more expensive breakable stuff out of their reach so it doesn't get destroyed. Like our big TV. We have it on a tv mounts on the wall because it would get so dirty when we had it on a stand from the kids touching it with yucky hands. And I was always afraid they'd manage to knock it off and hurt themselves or break it. It's just really hard to keep nice things nice with little kids lol.

Insured

One of the biggest reasons we moved here a few years ago was because the company Hubby works for offers really cheap health insurance. Seriously. There is no deductible, no monthly premiums, and a low out of pocket max (I think $1000 individual or $2000 family). So when they started talking about changing their health insurance for the coming year we were a bit upset and worried that our costs would go way up. Luckily the company has come up with a plan that will basically cost the same overall. It's a high-deductible plan with HSA, but the company saved so much by switching to that plan that they are reimbursing the employees for the deductible and we just have to make up the difference of $1000 to reach the out of pocket max. It's still confusing having to get used to how the new plan works, but I'm happy they were able to come up with something that still provides great benefits for the employees. We feel very blessed to have such good health insurance.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Yep, today is my birthday! I am now 27 years old. We started off the morning by going to our ward Christmas breakfast this morning. So nice to have a yummy breakfast made by someone else on my birthday. In a little bit I'll be heading over to my sister's salon to get my hair cut and colored and get a pedicure. A few hours of kid-free pampering is just what I need. Then I will look all nice for my dinner date with Hubby. We are going to Olive Garden, our favorite restaurant. So, although I slept awful last night (stuffy cold and babies beating me up) I am planning to have a great day and enjoy myself. I'm sure it'll be the last time I can have some good kid-free time for awhile since the babies will be here next month.

Wanna Get Away

Have I mentioned how much I hate Winter? I'm pretty sure I have. I love the holidays and that it stays darker longer so it's easier to sleep, but I do not like the cold. The hardest thing for me is that at night the air is so dry from the heater being on that I get stuffed up and a sore throat and always end up with a cold that lasts all Winter. Unfortunately that cold has started this week. I even got out my humidifier and it's only helped a little. This time of year I always wish I lived in a warmer climate, or at least could go on a little vacation. A trip to Disney World would be nice right about now. Except of course the cost. Either flying and looking up miami car rentals or driving the whole way would really add up. Plus hotel and theme park costs. A winter trip to Cancun would be nice too. When we went 4 years ago (has it really been that long?!) we went end of January and it was perfect. A girl in one of my classes this semester is in Cancun right now and I'm so jealous. Of course if we did that I'd want to go with no kids and just relax, and with the babies coming a kid-free vacation probably won't be happening any time soon lol. We are thinking of planning a cruise for our 10 year anniversary in a few years, that would be great.

Breakouts

I really am bummed about how bad my face has broken out in the last few weeks. I'm not sure if it's the change in the weather or what but it's disgusting. And of course pregnant women can't use most acne medications because of the ingredients so I'm stuck with just washing my face really good. I need to wash my pillowcase too, and hopefully that will help. Until then I'm glad I at least have some good coverup to put on the spots when I go out.

Holiday pounds

This time of year lots of people are starting to plan their New Year's Resolutions, which often involve dieting. There are tons of different diets. I think the most popular one these days is the HCG diet. I'm really not sure how that one works. Isn't HCG the human growth hormone that pregnant women get? So how does that help someone lose weight? I just have no idea how it's supposed to work. But I do know a few people who have used it with success. Hopefully just having my babies will be enough weight loss for me and I won't have to worry about dieting, cuz with nursing two babies I don't think dieting would be a good idea lol.

Winter Skin

My poor skin. Winter is always hard on it, making my psoriasis flare up and causing dry cracked skin on my hands. Constant chapped lips and itchy skin. On top of the pregnancy acne, stretch marks, and prominent veins. Winter is just not a good time for skin. I've been putting lotion on more, especially on my arms for my psoriasis, but it's something I just have to ride out. Hopefully a few of those things will go away next month (next month!) after I have the babies. At least this time of year I can wear long sleeves and sweaters more often to at least cover up the problem areas.