7 Quick Takes, Vol. 23: Babies, Football, and Christmas Music

--- 1 ---

Whew! It's been quite a week around here. I really can't think of why - I guess life is just catching up with us? At some point, I suppose it was bound to. We're all still doing well - just really, really, really tired. Tired is the name of the game, it seems. As my dad loves to say, "tell the truth and shame the devil". If you know someone who's always well-rested, don't you wonder why? It seems like they should be doing more, trying harder. It can't possibly be that they just have things so well managed that they happen to get 8 hours of sleep consistently. Nah, that couldn't possibly be it! Right? Anyway. We're tired. All four of us. Well, I can't speak for Emily and Erin per se, but since they're snoozing away at the moment, I'd feel fairly safe saying they're tired too.

--- 2 ---

I had a moment today where I could feel my childless self staring at me in indignation. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could feel everyone in the store staring at me today as we walked through WinCo. I don't know what was so different about today. We waited until a bit later than normal to head to the store, and we don't normally go on Thursdays, but since Emily and Erin have no idea about the days of the week, that last bit shouldn't matter. Plus, they nap well in their carseats, so it didn't seem like too much of a gamble to expect them to sleep in the cart. Fast forward 45 minutes, however, and I was balancing a fussing Erin on my hip while pushing Emily and the groceries with my other hand. I got the bright idea to put her in the sling. We couldn't get it to work, but she seemed happy with me holding her, so I just kept on shopping. Fast forward another ten minutes, and I was that mom with two wailing kiddos, unloading her cart one-handed and picking up toys as Emily chucked them on the floor in protest. "You always said you'd leave the store if the kids started crying," Pre-child Self sniffed righteously. "Do you have any idea how stupid that would be at this point?" I snapped back. "There are only so many hours in the day. It'd take longer to bail than to just keep going!" Predictably, as soon as we left the store, both girls stopped fussing/crying and were calm and happy on the way home. I guess maybe the part Pre-child Self missed is that we mamas know when something's actually wrong and when the wee ones are just expressing what I like to call GLD (General Life Dissatisfaction). I maintain, however, that there's a big difference between a misbehaving toddler and a fussy baby. Watch for me to eat those words here in another year!

--- 3 ---

I'm getting really excited for Advent. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I'm going to be running a series of ideas for "Advent Acts of Kindness". Since the idea of Advent is to prepare the way for Jesus, what better way to do this than to deliberately and consciously act each day as He wants us to act? I want to start this as a tradition while Emily and Erin are still young, so that they can learn to appreciate Advent rather than just look forward to Christmas. My fellow #CathSorority bloggers have helped me come up with some awesome ideas, and I'm really excited to share them with you! We're also going to do an Advent wreath (I ordered this kid-friendly one) which I'm pretty excited about as well. I know Emily and Erin are way too young to really understand what we're doing, but I figure we can have pictures of everything (plus a year of practice!).

--- 4 ---

My Ducks won't be going to the National Championship. In fact, they're not even going to the Rose Bowl, because they didn't make it to the Pac-12 Championship game tomorrow. I'm disappointed, sure. But here's the thing. I'm not disappointed in them. They played well. They did their best. It's easy to look at what could have been and say that this season was a failure, but that belies the fact that the Ducks won all but one of their games this season, most by incredibly huge margins. So there you have it. I love my Ducks, and you're not a failure. I'm proud to be a Duck fan!

--- 5 ---

While my Ducks didn't finish the season undefeated, it just so happens that Notre Dame did! I'm pretty excited about this. Catholic schools represent! It doesn't hurt that I happened to attend Notre Dame's West Coast sister, University of Portland, also a Holy Cross institution, for my freshman year of college. I think I need to get a Notre Dame sweatshirt to go with my well-loved UP hoodie. Is it weird that I still love college sweatshirts? I say no, given that we wear sweatshirts 9 months out of the year here. What do you think?

--- 6 ---

Other than our noisy trip to the grocery store, Emily and Erin are doing great! They are both rolling over easily now. Emily has been rolling for at least a month now, and Erin just got good at it this week. Both girls are very vocal, and they will have little "conversations" sometimes where they take turns cooing and squealing. So cute! They love to smile at people and will even smile at new faces if they're in the right mood. Emily has two teeth now, and while I haven't felt it yet, I can see a white spot in the middle of Erin's bottom gum, so I think she'll have one soon too. She doesn't seem nearly as perturbed by this as Emily - I guess this is one of the ways they're different! Emily's hair is starting to come in all of a sudden, and Erin's just keeps getting longer. I really can't believe how much older they look than they did this summer. It's incredible how much they've changed and grown - and how much we've ALL learned!

Look how big they are!

--- 7 ---

Finally, I need suggestions. I'm in a bit of an identity crisis - in terms of Christmas music, of all things. In case I haven't repeated myself enough over the last few weeks, I love vintage Christmas, pretty much anything from the 1940s up to the early 1960s. I also love more modern things, though, and I like a lot of modern music. Here's the issue: I just can't find any modern Christmas music to love. I can't handle sad songs (there are a few Christmas songs that leave me weeping every time, even when I'm driving. I pray they never play them at work!) and I don't really appreciate covers of classic Christmas songs. Is there anything worth listening to? Some of my earliest and fondest memories of Christmas are listening to my mom's favorite Christmas albums while preparing for the season, and I want Emily and Erin to grow up with similar cozy memories. Anything I'm missing that I should be loving?


Well, that's all for this week! I hope you all have a great weekend, filled with Advent activities, football, Christmas prep, and a little relaxation too! For all of you taking final exams this week, prayers for your success!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!