Don't Turn Around

7 Months!

Can you believe it? Seven months... Where did the baby time go? I thought there were so many stages or markers in this first year. I've been with her this whole time and I feel like I've missed them all! Here's what I have caught:

• She can say "mama" and "dada". She has for a while now and it actually surprised Dr. Riffel at her last appointment when we said she could say "mama" and then near the end made us out to be truth-tellers when she did it right in front of her.
• She can crawl. It started off as a left-arm strong army crawl, but she's using both sides now and even gets up on her knees now and rocks. Grammy and I think she'll be crawling easy by this next weekend.
• She's 17lbs 8oz. I know this because I've been in and out of the doctors' office for three weeks. First for a check up and first portion of her flu shot. Then cough and ear infection. Luke also had a cough and ear infection at the same time (but the doctor didn't catch hers.... Ugh.) Then I took Mila back the next week at the urging of Aldo.. She had an ear infection in both ears. Then this past week I took her for her second portion of the flu shot with a check up because she was still coughing at night with a rattle sound in her chest and goopy eyes. The doctor confirmed what I thought - she had/has a cough that medicine won't help (breathing treatments won't help). It will take weeks for it to go away. She also had an ear infection again. And in showing me how to "massage", which was more of jamming her finger in the eye, her for the tear duct to open, the doctor ended up popping it open and goopy came out. Poor Mila is on medicine for her ear infection, medicine for her goopy eye to clear up finally, and medicine for the side effects that will show up in her diaper. With all that said - why have I never heard of breathing treatments and then now with this generation of kids (Luke, Mila, Asher, Ava) I am?
• Don't turn around.... She rolled off the bed. And on my watch. I felt so bad. I was in the living room and I heard her wake up, never heard her cry... So I took my time going to the bedroom and when I got there she was looking up from me on her belly on the floor. What was strange was that I had blocked the side with the largest pillow we have, so she must have inched her way to the end.
• She cries over small spankins. And then goes on to do it again.
• She no longer spits baby food out. Unless she is adamant about not liking it (prunes, peas, things I would agree are gross). She also clamps her mouth shut if I'm trying to give her something in a medicine dropper or by hand. She's been on so much medication, I don't blame her. But it was funny when I attempted the Easter egg chocolate and she wouldn't have it. I forced it in, and she quickly went after the bag. What have I done?? She still isn't up for the melt away cereal snacks. She'll play with them in her fingers, but hasn't tried to eat them yet. 
• She would rather eat shoe strings. Hoodie strings. TV cords. Pump cords. Key jangles. 
• She still bites once in a while. Yes, she's still mainly breastfed. She'll take a bottle now and it's kind of a must on Thursdays while Aldo is watching her and I'm going into the library for a few hours. I am her preference though. It's kind of an honor. It's a lot tiring. Remember back when everything was related to pregnancy? Now everything is related to breastfeeding: lack of energy, over-eating, toothache, drive, etc.

Today I am letting her sleep on me as I sit in the rocking chair. I look at her lay there with her foot up, her hand stroking back and forth making sure that Mommy's skin is there, sweet closed eyes, a beautiful baby girl. The time will come when she'll drive me crazy (I expect those teen years), but God knew exactly what I needed when He made you, Mila Rose. <3

For Aldo too. He's such a caver when it comes to her. They all warned us- she'll have him wrapped around her little finger. He is so protective. Don't be messing with Daddy's girl.

Luke is as fantastic as ever. He had off last week for spring break. We didn't do anything fancy, but he did have his first soccer practice. They are the Great White Sharks. 

How Does She Do It?

Really? How does she?
The stay-at-home mom. The work-from-home, part-time employee. The church leader. The cook. The cleaner. The baby calmer-downer and baby milk-machine. The teacher. The entertainer. The disciplinarian. The comforter. The encourager. The animal sitter. The chauffeur. The school-activities attendee. The walking schedule/calendar AKA the planner. The mom. The sister. The daughter. The wife. The woman.

This morning I was thinking while I was taking care of the animals about women in the past, growing up on the prairie without a stove (or microwave), without a hot shower, without vehicles. They woke up at the crack of dawn and took care of animals and farm and gardens, then slaved away all day at meals for the family, and taught there gazillion children. I'm like - I've been watching Jerad and mom's animals and I couldn't do this every day forever. And people want to go back to self-sustainable living? That's crazy. I was thinking of an instance if ever I could, and honestly you would have to do it with the entire family. Every member would have to be part and have a job.
Anyway, here's what I've been doing: wake up as early as 6:00 am to go over to Jerad's, break water for four outdoor water troughs (I've thought I've had frostbite several times), feed cats, feed dogs (letting them in and out of barn), giving 1 scoop grain to Jerad's horses and 2 scoops to mom's picky and impatient horse, giving 3-4 flakes (or sections) of hay to each horse, making sure the little horse is eating, making sure each horse has water, and if I water them wrap the hose and faucet in a t-shirt so that the pipes don't freeze as well as preserving any water left in the hose so not to waste it (and by the way, the t-shirt was frozen the first day), then going back home to mom's to take care of Bullet, the two roosters in the garage, the chickens and turkies in the coop, breaking the pond for the horses in the field, taking care of Jenna's brand new guinea pig, and finally watering Luke's one hermit crab that I'm just waiting for to die. I know that sounds cruel, but he honestly needs a warm-blooded animal. These past animals as pets haven't taught him an ounce of responsibility. Anyway, that whole shpeal I've gotten down to about 30-45 minutes. You can give me a pat on the back any time.

So yesterday, just to give you a little more background, I did all the chores, signed Luke up for soccer and made sure bills were paid, visited Stacia, went to Kari's to tutor the girls, worked on church course material, locked up animals, and went to a game night at the church (staying out until midnight). So what did I do today? I got up again to do the chores, cleaned the living room, did laundry, cooked several meals, watched tv with Luke, planned our Branson trip with Luke, worked on  church flyers, browsed Pinterest for new meals, locked up the animals, played with Mila (a lot), made all the family take showers before bed, and blogged. My days are pretty full. And honestly I think if anyone else were in my shoes, they would get so bogged down with "to-do's" and overwhelmed with sticky notes and lists that they couldn't function. So... How does she do it?

And hey, I think Mila is getting her other middle bottom tooth. And she'll also probably crawl sometime this month. She says "mama" distinctly but on her own terms. Eating first foods is going well (more often, but she still sucks it down like she's drinking milk). We're trying to get her to sit by herself, but she still slowly falls over and if she's in the bumbo, she arches her back. I'm trying to teach her the meaning of "ow" or "no", but she just thinks it's funny, which is frustrating when I'm the one getting pinched, hair pulled, bitten in a tender area or hurt in some other way. Other things that are funny: When I blow on her hair, growling, throwing up noises, and Luke in general. She knows Patty Cake. She knows what it means when I say "hungry" and make sucking noises. I know she knows what "no" means, but I think she refuses to respond to it the correct way, as well as when I say her name. It's a hit or miss. I'm trying to teach her "dada" and "Luke" also. They would love that. Actually now that I think of it, Aldo thought she said "no" the other day. I'm trying to teach her sign language for "please" or "more" because it was so helpful and showed good manners when Luke learned it in Nursery. But I think she's gotten it confused with high-fives. Also teaching her "ta-da!" Because wouldn't that be cute after eating her cake at her first birthday? I can now get her to laugh. Bury my face in her ribs and she'll laugh. And now, her feet and underarms are ticklish too. Yay! I have to go, she is growling and forceful grunting/squealing/mumbling and I'm pretty sure when I lay down next to her, she'll pull down my shirt and do her thing. Have you ever read Boss Baby? it might be time for a review... Everything is hers. Everything is on her time. Period and The End.

Friends

These past few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions. I've really appreciated the friends I have, and realized how important maintaining and pouring into the "friend" relationship is.

It started with Dani DeRuse. I was disappointed at a get together Aldo and I went to and later prayed for a God-believing and -following friend to hang out with. Days later Dani called and asked if I wanted to go shopping. Duh?! (Now normally I wouldn't say "yes" because I'm naturally shy and anti/social. It's taken a lot of work to get to where I am. And I definitely wouldn't say "yes" to Dani because first off, she is so dang gorgeous, and second, I wouldn't think she would shop at the same places I would. But for some reason I said "yes".) The timing was right - the  weather was beautiful, we both like the same type of stores, I got my long-needed conversation on, we even bought the clothes we needed. (And I found out later, she was pregnant. And I even mentioned something too! She said it was so hard keeping the secret from me.)

Then, Sunday, January 31st, our friend Danny Cubbage had a stroke. He's was in the hospital for days trying to get brain swelling down. And on February 4th he passed away. Aldo was able to stay at the hospital a lot of the time, whereas I was driving kids or watching kids or getting food. Or awkwardly spending the 3rd celebrating Maecy's 21st birthday (watching babies at the salon while she got her hair done, and also all of us getting manicures).

So it's been up and down. I'm so excited for Dani and you wouldn't believe how timely our visit was. (I was reading a book on Prayer at the time). But then watching the Cubbages and realizing it won't be the same, and how much Danny touched our hearts, and not having prayer answered the way we want has - the words are even now hard to choose - sunken our spirits, like a gut-wrenching feeling. And then having a celebration in the middle of all the chaos was difficult. How do you respond?  No wonder I felt like I hit a brick wall. I might have shut my emotions of, so not to hurt others or be hurt myself. 

And in the middle of all that, Mila got her first tooth. It's the bottom, middle right (when looking at her). She didn't need teething medicine. Didn't sound or look sick. The only things noticeable to me were her wanting to be held (normal), slobbering (normal), chewing on her hand or nipples of bottles or even binky (that's new), and rubbing her ear (sure sign!). Mark your baby book - Mila's first tooth popped through on February 3rd.

5 Month Update

During these past weeks I've been telling myself I need to blog... I need to blog... But honestly I don't know what about because there really hasn't been any major changes. At least with Mila. Not that I've noticed. She's still in our bed. She hasn't tried to crawl. No tooth has popped through. I did get her to laugh a while back because I was growling. Nice. She likes growling. And growling in response. Also, she has tried some First Foods: banana and apple at first. This week we tried sweet potatoes and pears. The sweet potatoes she took a couple of bites with me earlier in the day, but wasn't too hungry. Later, my mom watched her and she ate the entire cup!! Then last night she almost ate the entire thing of pears. Her appetite for whole foods is growing. And its pretty cool that this time around I'm in complete control of when she eats her First Foods, and what they are... I think I was tricked with Luke and didn't get that opportunity. I thought I fed him his first food, but found out later Mama Lily had been feeding him foods for a while.
Mila has stopped rolling over (she still can, but now she just cries). She's super slobbery. Strings of spit are always coming out of her mouth. And now (I don't know if she's sick or teething) her snot is running too. Poor baby. And, she hates having her nose blown.

Crazy Momma & Her Babies

5 Monther

Lazy Days

The more I look at her, the more I see that Mila is not a newborn any more. As I switch positions in the middle of the night, I try to find the newborn we brought home. She's much longer than what she was. She has definitely filled out. Her perception of time (waiting on Mommy to get herself adjusted for a feeding; being on the blanket for tummy time surrounded by stuffed toys, musical toys, and teething toys; and sleeping throughout the day) has changed. And her association of Mommy with "comfort".

My baby cries as we speak. Waiting for Mommy to lay down beside her for the long night. With my arm against the top of her head, sweat forming on my underarm smelling of a mix of skunk and onion, her breathing into my armpit (sounds perfectly relaxing right? <sarcasm>), and the blanket up to her chin - she'll be asleep in no time. She's a cuddler.

I'll resume tomorrow. Maybe with a portion from Aldo. <doe eyes>

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Ha! She did NOT sleep. We got to the bed and she ate and she stared at me. And grinned. The girl is constantly full of surprises. All week she has been falling asleep around 11 o'clock, right as we are laying down in the bed. And last night she changes up the schedule.

So today has been a lazy day. Sleeping in, catching up on what I missed last night. And Luke went back to school. It's been quiet. Very, very quiet. Except Mila telling me how much she does not like being down on the blanket for tummy time. 

Am I slightly bored after all of the events surrounding the holidays? Not yet.

Yesterday I did a whole bunch of surveys online (to make money for the next birthday or holiday), while Luke watched movies and played Minecraft before he had to return to school. 

My plan for the next few days is to put together our photo albums - Mila's baby photos and our family trip to Omaha and St. Louis - and to research our next trip… we're thinking Branson! 

Hello 2016!

Farewell 2015. You were a hard year. I was pregnant for most of it. And although pregnancy is fun, I still can't get around the fact that I had surgery during that time. Also the smell of the living room was unbearable. At times I have hints of the smell and I'm reminded of how much my stomach cringed and how I wanted to puke. I can't believe I taught at the homeschool. What did I learn from that experience? Man, that was rough some days. When there were fits and I had to take away game time or TV time, when I had to run around the yard playing some sort of tag... Always tag...., when all I wanted to do was sleep in or even crawl over to Miss Pat's couch during break time and just take a nap. I didn't mean to zonk out those last five minutes during Paw Patrol, but I was so tired!!! I can't believe the church camp we had this year. Nuts! I mean... There's really no talking about it because I think we're still questioning "What happened?" And, did we do something wrong??? Weird year 2015. But - I have a baby girl. She is beautiful. She is remarkable. She's my daughter. She brings this family joy and more. Let's see what happens this next year - hello 2016! It took ya long enough.
Here's to the constant changing and maturing of my mind, the success we have after a tough battle and the grace God gives us to make it through, and to living purposefully. I expect so much out of 2016... Really I do. Because it's good to have goals, and expectations... (Is this cheesy, having a New Years Resolution?)...

1. I expect to read again. And to pray again. I, in my heart of hearts, believe I am quick to turn to God. And I always want to. In my feelings I know that I'm lost without Him, so I'm eager to read and to pray, to hear His voice in the stillness, and to make a difference. This next year, my guess is, will be slightly easier because Mila will be on a schedule (taking naps, etc.) and will be able to entertain herself for a bit longer OR at least I'll know how to manage my time.
2. I expect that we'll have a better time saving and spending, and more fun hanging out with others because we won't be worried about the money being within budget. This past month we watched Financial Peace again. I realized, it's almost as if we missed the main points the first time around, including the bit on SAVING. How'd that happen?! Somehow all my attention was focused on making the budget and sticking to the budget. And in the middle of all the paperwork I forgot to put "savings" in the budget. First. Duhhhhhh.... So, all in all, spending in cash, getting rid of debt, and saving! Taking command and managing this money like a boss.
3. And, I know sometimes it appears "boring", but I expect to have goals again. Lists. A schedule. A focus. An organized life. Starting with the home - cooking, cleaning, budgets... And moving to outside of the home - future planning (furniture and vacation), fun family dates or crafts, planning to be social more. I believe an organized life is Biblical. So what if I like lists.

Today we'll be spending New Years Eve in. Just us. Ahhhh... Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with friends, but there really is "no place like home." And we have a fantastic one.

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Some updates:
- We had a going away party last night for Mitzy. She's moving to Tennessee.
- Selene and Justin are pregnant. We found out at Thanksgiving.
- Maecy and Juan plan on moving in when their lease is up (in August).
- Mom's making her plans for her tiny one-room house, but in the meantime re-doing the back room.

Some thoughts:
- New mothers never have clean shoulders. Best to wear a sweater or scarf for cover.
- Will Mila be a hairstylist? Or like her hair played with? She sure likes grabbing mine. On the neck.
- I miss Mila's hair doing this small stick-up wave. It is sad when it lays down.
- Feet are curious things. Mila's especially. She likes to grab them now.
- And I like when, while she's nursing, she scrunches up her leg and places her foot on me. It's cute.
- Luke is Mila's hero. She thinks he's funny and only looks when HE says her name.
- Questions... When do babies start sitting up? Am I supposed to prop her or train her in a bumbo seat or something? You can help her now. Change positions to strengthen her muscles. Mila sticks her tongue to the inside of her bottom lip funny, is she teething? Is something wrong with that skin in the inside of her mouth? Is she just weird? What if she's not interested in the baby food that I give her? Do breastfed babies have a harder time learning how to eat from a spoon? By 6 months, baby could be ready for food. So don't worry if she's not doing it now - she's early. Drooling, chewing on everything, irritability, trouble sleeping, grabbing ears, and bulging gums are all signs of an incoming tooth.

Christmas Traditions

What a beautiful Christmas. Probably one of my top favorites in recent years.

I think a lot of the time we remember what it was like during our childhood and wish for our Christmas futures to turn out somewhat the same. We want our kids to have the same memories that filled us with so much joy and family tradition.
At my Grammy and Grandad's house we always ate some meal together (except my little family of Mom, me and Maecy was always late), took pictures on the stairs with all the generations - after having to explain to the elders how to operate the camera or figure out the timer, opened presents in the living room (kids on the hideously green shag carpet), and the rest of the day playing card games at the dining room table or play with our new toys and gadgets. As a young kid all I ever wanted to do was sit at the adult table to eat and hear the big, adult conversations and play "Up and Down the River".
Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's was probably more like how other cultures imagine an American Christmas. We would sit down at the long table and pass around the meal, scooping our portions onto our plate. The children only talked when the adults asked questions. Afterward we would go in the living room and open presents all at once. The room was filled with Christmas decorations, but the best of all was the Christmas tree. It's the most breakable and most beautiful Christmas tree I've ever seen in my life. All white ornaments and lights. No games or anything, but there was a table covered in every delicious desert in the dining room. Sometimes prior Christmas we would spend an entire day making povatisa bread at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Another favorite thing - and you can count on it being the best since my family spent years improving the recipe and found the best way to get it done. Kind of like Aldo's family knows how to make tamales the best way. And last, in your stocking, you would always find an ornament, hand-picked by Grandma, especially for you. Mine was a Precious Moments ornament. Always.

From what I've heard, Aldo's Christmas with his family has always been a bit different. Different culture, different traditions. Aldo's mom would make a red soup with cow's stomach called pasole. (Sorry, I can't tell you if that's the correct spelling.) They would spend all day Christmas Eve  playing games and singing karaoke, maybe even dancing, waiting to open gifts at midnight. And they open gifts one at a time.

In past years we've figured out our schedule as a young couple... Christmas Eve at his family's, Christmas at mine, and New Year's at Aunt Dolores' because my Grandma and Grandpa don't always have Christmas at their house any more. With a child and making side dishes or even the main dish, it's difficult to go to every Christmas celebration. Rather than spending a few quick hours everywhere and feeling rushed and overwhelmed, we would rather spend a good long time hanging out, making memories and unfortuneatley missing out on another. This year we had a new baby though. Two kids. Our little family is growing. It's about time we came up with our own Christmas traditions for our kids. I looked some up and a lot of them we already do. Christmas meals. Open a gift at midnight. Pictures by the Christmas tree. But none of them stand out for us. There were some things I liked but they're not Christmas morning per se: see Christmas lights, watch Christmas movies, gingerbread houses (we do this already), first present of new pajamas (we have a friend that does this and I'm not a copycat), adopt a family, go to Christmas morning church service (already do), etc. So what should our family do???
WE NOW HOLD A CHRISTMAS PRESENT TREASURE HUNT. Rather than waking up and tearing the wrapping off of all our gifts and then feeling remorseful all day, we've figured out a way to draw out the excitement a little bit.

I'll tell it from the beginning. This year Aldo was off three days in a row. I've learned that it's easier to start Christmas shopping in September and buy online and have things shipped straight to my door than going out, traveling all over the city looking for that one thing... So I definitely did that again this year. Had everything under the tree and wrapped (except the couple from Santa) by the weekend. Wednesday could have been a stay-at-home and bum day, but we hadn't spent any time with our friends. I think they were feeling neglected, so we went to the movies Wednesday morning. Mila's first movie theater showing was "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens". A big deal this year. It was kind of perfect because our son's name is Luke and I always kidded that we should name our daughter Leia. But we're not big, big fans so that would have been silly. Mila slept for a good portion. And then watched intensely the second portion. Never thought this day would come, but I breastfed in public. In a public place. Not in a car. Or in a back room. However, it was dark and loud. Nobody could really be interrupted by her and I wouldn't get rude glares. It wasn't until the last 30 minutes (we were there over two hours) that Aldo and I had to stand up with her and walk around near the exit to keep her from crying, where she fell asleep again. Afterward, we went back to their house and played "Up and Down the River". Yes, my craving for the game of the old days had been satisfied. And I won! (I kept score. I forever hold to the theory that "scorekeeper always wins".) We didn't intend on it, but we stayed until dark.

Thursday was Christmas Eve. Since Lily missed out on Thanksgiving this year, no pasole, but turkey again for the celebration. I can't recall what we did all morning, but before we left in the afternoon Aldo made potatoes and we headed over at 2:30 pm to play games until midnight. Everyone must have been a little "off". We found out that Alex already received the gift we got him, so we stopped at Walmart just in time before closing. Lily had to work extra hours. Veronica had to last minute take her kids to another Christmas. Aldo had to pick up his dad and then get turkey gravy from somewhere that was still open. Mitzy just decided they weren't coming until later I guess. Like usual, dinner wasn't until later. But much later. I don't think we ate until 10 o'clock hit. Cold food, but still not bad. We bought the game "Pit" for the Alvidrez/Hernandez house. They're a people that like their fast-paced, loud, schemish games... So it was a perfect choice. We didn't play until 10:30ish. And I could've been disappointed in their lack of involvement, and lack of loudness, but I wasn't - everyone was just tired. Instead of midnight, we opened gifts at 11:00. One at a time. So a lot of tradition was set aside.......... And I kind of missed it. But........ I decided days before - sometimes I get aggravated at the lack of games at my mom's Christmas, the lack of planning at Aldo's family's Christmas, and I hate to admit this, but the same present I got the year before (lotion or something). I decided I wasn't going to be a Scrooge. I wasn't going to be disappointed. I wasn't going to be depressed. I was going to embrace Christmas. Because days before I was reminded that America is the richest nation. And that when you compare the $11/hour our lower class makes to the $3/day some people in Mexico make to the other nations that don't have clean water or a carpeted floor or a cushioned bed, we are a rich country. I decided there is more to life than not getting to play the game you want and instead listening to the most boring conversation of rental houses and the improvements they need. There is more than not starting the day at the exact time you want. There is more than a $20 gift card you want. I would be happy and embrace the Christmas and the people I get to spend it with. Now, looking back, much of the Christmas Eve was spent looking at family albums. Reminiscing. Awwww...

Christmas morning Aldo went to church service and let the rest of us sleep in. Thanks, babe! Our plan was to have a relaxing morning alone with our own family, but instead, when he got back, we went over to Granddad's for a breakfast that Granddad decided to have last minute. We got home and did our "Christmas present treasure hunt".... Our new family tradition!, helped mom clean the upstairs, made our side of salad, and waited. Waited. Waited. For the rest of the family to arrive to open presents under the tree.

Family traditions.
I can't say it enough. You expect certain things. And when something doesn't meet that expectation it could throw off your whole day. I think that's the theme of my Christmas this year: letting go of my Christmas expectations. And I'll tell you, it could have been a disaster. Awkwardly, we were opening Christmas gifts for ourselves as strangers and family who didn't have gifts were arriving and watching. How do you make it look like it's not about the gifts, when it truly is not about the gifts to you, but it seems that it is about the gifts because people are there while you alone are opening gifts? And you just look like spoiled brats? And you're also trying to go quickly, only to get it over with so it isn't awkward anymore. But instead it looks like you're looking for that one gift you want and are unhappy with anything prior, and a selfish, greedy person because you aren't thanking anyone. !!! It was so difficult for me. I do not know who gave Luke some of his gifts because he went through them so fast, because I was trying to go through mine, and get Mila to stop crying. Another thought: You just can't please everybody. No matter hard you try (I am talking in any situation; not just the holidays) there will always be that one person that judges you. That looks at you and makes you feel like crud. But they are only looking at what they see. And they don't know you're heart, and they don't know the back story. They may call you "spoiled" and "wanting all the attention", but that is just simply not true. So don't become offended when you're called names, because they don't know what you've experienced in the past, even the past five minutes. They're sticking their foot in their mouths. But the next lesson is this: Don't become them. Don't judge others. Be kind. You don't know their story and what they're currently going through. And as I write this - isn't that the plot of Christmas with the Kranks?

We finally got into the other room to eat our Christmas meal. Turkey again. I sat at the kids table with Luke, Jenna and Aldo. The food wasn't half bad, even Granddad's runny green bean casserole (because he didn't drain the beans). After, I taught Maecy, Juan and Jenna how to play "Up and Down the River". Aldo played chess with Jerad. The old people played dominoes. Then, all the people played "Up and Down the River". (Granddad won. The scorekeeper.) Then everyone left and Jerad arrived back. So we played Split. Then a fishing dice game.

I guess when you let go of expectations... When you don't have any expectations, all expectations are met. You embrace Christmas. And a little "Up and Down the River" helps too.