We missed church today. Yesterday was a really busy day w/two Christmases and Cassie is still quite stuffed up. I can hear her snuffly breathing over the monitor as I type. We'll head over to dad's for lunch when she wakes up. But she missed a nap or two yesterday and poor quality sleep is really the last thing she needs right now. In fact, she's still in her jammies and I may just leave her in them all day...they're Chase's old yellow duckie fleece jammies. Mind you, he wore them when he was 9-12 mths old and she's only six months, but they're just as cute on her as they were on him!

I think the Christmases went well yesterday, although I'm not sure what my sister's blog will say (http://www.hodgefamilyhappenings.blogspot.com/). Hayden was a bit uncooperative in the morning (that might be the understatement of the year, but hey, she's my niece and not my kid, so understatements are in order here) but Bud took her on a drive and she went back to normal after that. She wants to move in to Camp Christi. I told her I only let potty trained big girls come to Camp Christi. Mikki suggested that Camp Christi be potty training camp. I don't think so. I also don't think she'd be quite as enamoured w/me after a week here...last week Chase told me he wanted a new mom after I told him to quit whining in Kohl's (I may have worded it a bit more strongly than that, of course). I told him good luck with that since his behavior at the time was less than marketable. ;)

But anyway, back to Christmas. On the way to Nita's house, Chase asked if there would be any presents there for him. I said, "Oh, I think there may be one or two for you..." and he said, "I just LOVE Christmases!" It was too funny. I made a yummy frittata for brunch (despite the fact that Cassie had me up for three hours on Friday night and I really thought I might drop dead from sheer exhaustion after the marathon playdate, cleaning, etc). I was instructed by Mikki to post the recipe on here. Like everything I cook, it is super-easy. I actually made a much more difficult egg casserole on Christmas morning and Dad said the easier one tastes better. Hey--I'll take it!

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups frozen hash brown potatoes,
vegetable oil spray,
salt and pepper to taste,
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese,
2 cups any combination of vegetables and/or meat,
2 cups egg substitute (like egg beaters)
PREPARATION:
Microwave potatoes 3 to 5 minutes on high, or until hot; drain as necessary. Spray pie plate with vegetable oil spray; pour in the egg substitute. Layer potatoes, salt & pepper, vegetables and/or meats, and 1 cup cheese into pie plate. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350° for about 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool slightly before serving.
Make your own combination: Mexican Frittata - Use Monterey Jack & Cheddar cheese, diced green chilies, diced tomato, chopped onion*. French Frittata - Use Swiss cheese, chopped ham, chopped spinach, and sliced mushrooms. Italian Frittata - Use Mozzarella cheese, thin quartered zucchini slices, chopped tomato, and sliced black olives.

*Note, I made the mexican version w/shredded 2% mexi-blend cheese, 1 can of ro-tel (tomatoes and green chilis) drained well and 1/2 an onion, chopped for the veggies. It was totally yum-o and couldn't be easier!

Cassie awakes. She's been asleep for an hour and a half, so it's time to hit Grandpa's for lunch. We're off...

PS--Speech delay my hiney. Cassie has discovered her voice and she "talks" as much as any other member of her immediate family. Boy are we in for it!

Chase had an almost seven hour playdate today. His best friend is the sweetest kid. I really enjoyed having him over. We baked and decorated gingerbread men, made Christmas ornaments, the boys played in the playroom and outside in the mud--it was really a very lovely day! Even Cassie adores Dylan. It made me miss our old neighbors b/c Chase used to play like that w/the kids. Our new neighbor is very ill and I worry about them both. Mrs. B mentioned that her husband was on medical leave (hence why they're living in the house full time now) for three months when she stopped by after Cass was born. Cass was six months old on Christmas Day and on the 23rd there was a Barnes Home Delivery truck outside their house. That can't be good. I think I'll take a casserole over when Chase goes back to school next week. At the very least, Mrs. B won't have to worry about dinner for a night or two.

Chase's friend kept calling me Mrs. Tennyson today. Which is incredibly polite of him, but I kept asking him to call me Christi. Mrs. Tennyson is my mother in law. Plus, Mom was always Sandy to my friends, even when we were little. And I really hope that our house is the house that kids always like to play/hang out at, like my house was the house we always played/hung out at when I was a kid...

Merry Christmas

Despite the 6am phone call from my sister informing me that her kid vomited at midnight (yes, the same sister who bitched twice on her blog about me calling her at 8:30pm on a Friday night when I thought I was going to have to put down my dog). Apparently she's under the delusion that 6am was a better time to call me than midnight, you know, b/c 90% of the time I'm actually awake at midnight and 99% of the time I'm not awake at 6am. So when I less than politely requested that she not ever call at that hour again unless someone was dead (and BTW at least I had the audacity to do it in person instead of using my blog), she snapped at me and hung up on me. It was really a lovely way to start Christmas. You know, it reminded me of Christmas Vacation...

But, pressing on like Clark W. Griswold, Jr, I decided that we would nonetheless "have the hap-hap-happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced w/Danny "F-bomb" Kaye in White Christmas and ...(be) the jolliest a$$holes this side of the nuthouse" anyway. I roasted my 18lb turkey, made my breakfast casserole, and watched my son open his stocking gifts. Cassie woke up, I changed one of the most digusting diapers of my life, changed her, fed her, and watched Chase open her stocking stuffers. Jamie vacuumed, I did some last minute things and then my dad and in laws arrived w/in minutes of each other.

Unbeknownst to my father-in-law, Santa hid Chase's big present in the basement. Since Jim didn't know the basement was off limits (JAMIE!), he let Chase lead him down into the basement to play a computer game. Well, like Jamie said, "At least we HEARD Chase's reaction to the ball pit/slide combo...." He also loved his Legos from Santa (Grandpa Jim spent a good five hours helping him assemble them) and ALL his presents from Grandpa Bill!

Dinner turned out great (did I mention we had 18lbs of turkey plus 1/2 a ham for six people?) and we actually got to use the dining room and Mom's Christmas china. Chase had a blast, Cass had a good time when she was awake (poor baby has a wicked cold, as does Grandpa Bill) and all in all, despite the rough start to the day (to her credit, my sister did call and apologize) we had a really good day.

Despite the 80lb per person weight limit, I'm off to play in the bounce house. I figure since Chase is only 45lbs, we're still under the 160 total limit...

Well, he's doing okay when I get the motrin in him in time. This evening he fell asleep, the motrin wore off, and all hell broke loose when he woke up. Once the motrin kicked in, he was almost back to normal. But when the motrin wears off, he is in A LOT of pain.

Pneumonia sucks.

It's pneumonia...

The good news is that he isn't real contagious. Dr. T said that as long as he isn't kissing all over or licking people, we don't need to keep him home from all the Christmas stuff. The bad news is that he has pneumonia.

I'll update more later when I have time.

Sickness

So Chase has been sick. Since Monday. Cassie is a bit stuffy, but Chase is wicked sick. Going to bed at 7pm after a strenuous day of lying on the couch in front of Noggin sick. His current fever is 104.6. I don't care how many years of experience my ped's partner has, his diagnosis of a cold on Tuesday was wrong. And now I wish I'd volunteered my suspected diagnosis of influenza b/c I've got a completely uninnoculated five month old and it's too late for antivirals. Stupid FluMist vax. I got a shot and I'm fine. Little bit gets the nasal spray and he is NOT fine. He's so getting the shot next year. Tuesday would not have been too late for Tamiflu. Today is. I've got a call into the ped but I know it is viral, and I know there isn't anything they can do. But I'm not happy that I didn't push harder when the partner said, "It's a cold." No cold has ever given Chase a fever in the 103-104 range. Grrrrrrr.

I was at the dentist today for yet another sinus infection. I really, really don't have time for this. Dad has blessedly watched my sick kid the last two days and after the dentist proclaimed that my teeth look "really good" (which is HI-larious considering that Jamie went yesterday--4 mths after his last check up and was told that his teeth looked like hell and that he should get an electric toothbrush, I go today 8 mths after my last checkup and my teeth look good--ha ha ha), I called my GP who is calling out another prescription. Last time it got this bad, I wound up on 28 days of antibiotics and prednisone, after consulting a specialist. I'm hoping we don't have to go there again. Or the other Dr. B may order the CAT scan he threatened last time. I just don't have time for this....

I'm off to go heat up some Campbell's CARS soup for my sickie. Cass is napping, Chase is vegged out on the couch and I'm feeling quite sorry for him spending Christmas break sick as a dog. :(

Our Christmas Letter

So I didn't do a Christmas letter this year. But if I had, it would probably read a little something like this:

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Holy Ramadan, Happy New Year and whatever Holiday it is you are celebrating this season! 2007 was another great year for the Tennyson family. Jamie is in his 12th year of asset management and still squeaking past compliance. He hasn't gotten indicted, audited, fined by the SEC, or fired, so no complaints there. Christi is staying at home with the kids (Cassie's arrival in June guaranteed her another five years w/o gainful employment) and is relatively sane. Most days. She's still actively volunteering w/Alpha Chi Omega, church, and Chase's school--or as Jamie likes to say, "working for free" when she can con her dad into watching baby Cassie. Chase started kindergarten on July 19 (cue "Hallelujah" chorus) and loves it. Well, he likes recess, lunch and gym class and that's good enough for us. Christi finds the "all day" part the very best part of kindergarten. Baby Cassie is such a joy to be around when she isn't puking all over (she's got reflux). She looks just like Jamie and Chase--so we know for sure the fertility clinic didn't screw that up! Christi supposes it's always a bit nerve wracking to conceive a baby when your husband isn't even in the building. Jamie agrees. So much for the fun part of babymaking.... Finally, Woody is doing about as well as can be expected for a 14 year old beagle. Some days (and those would be the bad ones), we're convinced he'll outlive us all. His incontinence seems under control now though and we're looking forward to many more years of checking to make sure he's breathing while he sleeps on the couch. Here's hoping '08 is just as great!