Lysol, Pepto, and All Kinds of Fun

It has been a little over a week since I last posted...had errands to run earlier in the week, which usually ends up being an all-day affair, since we live quite a way "out of town". On Wednesday night, Steve started feeling queasy, and by Thursday morning the poor guy was down for the count. He spent the day in bed, hidden away in the guest room down stairs, while I frantically washed my hands repeatedly until they cracked and bled (literally), and doused my house with Lysol. Nobody likes to be sick, but I feel like I live in fear of getting sick (must get a grip on that) with some sort of gastro illness, because I wonder what the heck I would do! I know people do it every day, but I'd rather not go through that experience. At this point, it is hard enough caring for Camden and Griffin at the same time, much less, if I were ill. Steve felt a lot better this morning, and ended up heading into the office mid-morning. So far, the rest of us seem fine - - lets hope it stays that way.

In other news, Griffin seems to be growing like a weed. According to my bathroom scales, he is a little over 11 pounds now. He doesn't have his two-month check-up until December 6th, when he'll be closer to 2.5 months old, so I have to wait a bit longer to get all of his official "stats". He loves to smile, and he has started cooing over the past couple of weeks, too. I was laying in bed last night, thinking about how fast this is all speeding by already. There are so many little things about babies that I totally forgot about...little things that I just love so much. In the picture below, Griffin is doing one of my favorites - - for some reason he likes to hang on to the neck of my shirt when I hold him. I love that. Other things I love and will soon miss - - the smell of the top of a new baby's head -- warm and sweet. I also love how Griffin chirps like a little bird when he eats, or how when we get up in the middle of the night, I can see him smiling at me in the dark. I love the jerky movements of his arms and legs right now. He's just figuring out how they work and sometimes it seems like he'll propel himself off the ground with all that movement. New babies are so much work, but there are so many little details that are so priceless.

Camden continues to adjust to his role as big brother. We are finally beginning to be able to find time during the day for quality time for just the two of us, which is great.

How is everyone doing, preparing for Christmas? I really need to hurry up and get organized. I'm trying to accomplish a lot of it on-line, as I know I won't have much of an opportunity to actually get out and shop. I'm getting excited to put up the Christmas decorations...probably will do that the first weekend in December.

Over the past few days, I've begun transforming the downstairs family room. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a "before" picture. The walls are all wood paneling, the lighting is poor, and one large wall was covered with some sort of wall paper that was a forest scene, no joke. It was so dark down here. I primed and painted the paneling white, and started hanging up pictures, but I still have half the room to do. Painting fake wood paneling is no small task, let me tell you. I'll post some pictures soon.

Must think about making lunch for Camden and getting on with the day.