"The Most Wonderful Time...of the Year..." (you have to sing it to appreciate it)

I am trying to gear up for the week ahead. Unlike the majority of people out there, I don't get any time off during the holidays. Well I should clarify that. I am self employed, so really it is my call to do whatever I want. If I wanted to take two weeks off, I could. I just wouldn't get paid. And frankly that doesn't sit so well with me. So I take two days off and two days off only. Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Every other day is a work day.

So this is what my week looks like. Today I will work as normal, however I will do my best to finish up with my clients early because The Boy (like most kids) is off of school for 2 weeks so my mom has him. And I want to finish up as early as possible to relieve her.

Then tomorrow I will work a full day as well. I will figure out how to do that and still get to my mom's to pick up The Boy and arrive at my grandmother's house by 5:00pm (with my fruit tray, birthday card and gag gift in hand...) It is her 92nd birthday and we will also be celebrating our Christmas this night. It will be fun, but a crazy night with several of her great grandchildren included (I believe she has like 8 or 9 in total...) which makes it all sorts of exhausting and crazy. Especially when one of those great grandchildren is The Boy. We will somehow celebrate her birthday, do a round of gag gifts, and then also have all the little kids open their gifts while the adults patiently wait for the very end when my grandmother hands out those lovely envelopes...

Then on Wednesday I have a very full day of 3 clients. After work I will come home and get dressed up and The Boy, my mom and my step dad are going out for a nice dinner. After we get home The Ex will come over and we will watch a Christmas show (most likely Rudolph or Frosty as The Boy seems to be obsessed with those this season) and let The Boy open one or two gifts and then attempt to get him to sleep. Of course we will leave cookies and milk for Santa before that happens... Then "Santa" will come and miraculously fill his stocking and also put together the kitchen set that he got him for Christmas complete with all the toy food and pots and pans that I am sure are tethered together by a zillion of those little twist ties and screws. At some point I will collapse into bed and try and get some sleep before the fun really starts.

The Ex is going to spend the night so that she can be here for The Boy when he wakes up and sees what Santa brought him. So that should happen at around 6:30am, (although I am going to try and convince him to stay in my bed and have his milk and chill there for as long as possible, like other mornings, in an attempt to keep the day as relaxed as possible). So The Ex will make The Boy pancakes or waffles at some point while he is running around playing with his stocking stuff and the stuff from Santa. And at some point during all of this I need to make up two crock pots full of chili and get them cooking. Then I need to get myself showered and dressed, bring in all the presents from the garage and get the house set up for the next phase...

You see, I am "the host" this year. So between 12:00pm and 1:00pm people will start to arrive. Those people include: My brother, his wife and their two little girls. My step sister, her husband, and their two little boys. My step brother (single and lovely). My mom and my step dad. My other grandmother (mom's mom), and of course, The Ex will still be there (or she will come back after going home to get ready...not sure). Oh and The Boy and myself. Once all of these people arrive the festivities begin. We will eat snacks and open presents for approximately 3 hours or so. Then it will move onto dinner time when...yup, more people are arriving. My aunt, my uncle (mom's brother and wife) and their three grown children (most likely with boyfriends/girlfriends in tow...) will show up. Then it will be time for dinner. I have to say that I am not planning past this point because there is a high probability that by this time in the evening I will be in the corner of my room with the door shut and ear muffs over my ears whining about how TOTALLY UNFAIR it is to be pregnant and therefore not allowed to drink to deal with all the craziness... Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention that this is all going to happen while I am 21 weeks pregnant?

At some point I will venture back out into the living room and see the remainder of the chaos. I will survey the damage that 5 cousins (all ages 5 and under) can do to a house. Not to mention all those other people (I haven't counted because frankly I am afraid I will have a nervous breakdown) that will have been enviously drinking copious amounts of alcoholic beverages the entire day and night. I will look around and make sure that my child is either A) safely tucked away in bed, or B) still running around like a chicken with his head cut off due to the fun of having all of those people there to entertain him. I will then congratulate myself on the EXCELLENT decision to be self employed and therefore not working on Fridays and will collapse into bed to deal with it all at a later date.

And I will count down the days until I leave for Hawaii on January 8th...

I am honestly not sure how I am going to make it through this week. The plan is to just take it one day, one MOMENT at a time and hope for the best. And please don't think that it slips by me how very lucky I am to have all of these people around me and to be able to celebrate this holiday season with my entire family. It is just exhausting. But if I think of the alternative...of The Boy and I having a quiet week just the two of us...well that doesn't seem right either. I am very lucky to have the people around me that I do. And these very people and these very situations are why I am able to be pregnant and having another child. The strong sense of family and support that are around me and my child allow me the freedom to let my family grow. And on that note, a final update...

I had the "big" ultrasound on Friday and my little one is indeed a little girl. 100%. Not only is she a girl, but she looks healthy. She was measuring perfect and we saw all the amazing body parts in all the right places. I am just so lucky. I can't believe I have the perfect little boy and I am going to have a little girl. One of each. For me, this is a dream. I never really believed I would get this. I honestly feel so lucky. Merry Christmas indeed!!