Snow Day and Cookie Cut-Outs - Dream Realized!

As quickly as I can, before a kid wakes up... excuse the grammar...

Back in college I spent a lot of time fantasizing about the day when Mark and I would finally have a home and start a family.  Before you get all judgey and start thinking I'm some kind of anti-feminist for having had thoughts outside of my textbooks, know that he TOTALLY fantasized with me all the time.  When I spent a year in France we eased the absence (or tried to) by making each other small notebook "calendars" in which each day had a "thought, a memory, or a dream for the future."  That way we knew we'd always "hear from" the other person every day, even though Mark was opposed to email because he hates for anything in life to be easy thought old-fashioned letters would be more meaningful.  Pretty much all the "dreams for the future" involved our kids, at the time named Claire, Matthew, and Kaitlin (in that order, we thought).  And in particular, one of these dreams involved a snowy blizzardy type day where I could make cookies with our kids and then the kids would decorate some cookies "for Daddy."  Not sure if Daddy was out shoveling or out playing with one of the kids or at work or what in this fantasy, but I'm obviously too much of a kitchen control freak to have him get involved in sugar cookie cutouts.

Fast forward 12+ years to today.  Matthew was finally old enough (well... arguably) to do cutout cookies with me.  And Claire definitely wasn't but oh well; early exposure is key in these matters.  It was blizzarding and I was way too tired to go anywhere because Claire is so cute and so sweet, and soooo awake at night.  I'd gotten my hands on pasteurized eggs so the dough would be safe to eat.  Matthew's latest obsession is play-doh, and he's always trying to eat it.  It was all falling into place...

And so we did it.  And some parts were just what I'd thought they'd be.  Others, not so much.  All in all, it went all right.  Here are some of the expecteds, and the not-so-expecteds:

Expected:

• Two children named Claire and Matthew were present.  They've popped out of our dreams and into reality!
• These children are fairly cute and fairly sweet, just like in the pictures we drew! (ha)
• Yeah, I pretty much loved it <3

Not-so-Expected:

• Fantasy totally involved me being all dressed in jeans and a cute sweater, and looking nice.  Reality involved pajamas.
• Fantasy was definitely happening in Minnesota.  Had no idea we'd be doing all our baby days in Boston!
• Fantasy involved perfect seasonal cookies.  Reality involved realizing I don't have a shamrock cookie cutter.  And then realizing how crazy it is that I didn't already know that.  And then wondering a little about the permanent effects of sleep deprivation.  

 

• Fantasy didn't involve a messy kitchen.   I mean it was fantasy after all.

Can't wait to clean this.

• Fantasy involved kids falling all over themselves to decorate cookies for daddy.  Reality involved Matthew hoarding all the "candas" ("candies"- sprinkles) I gave him and refusing to put any on the cookie.  Maybe next year?

Daddy's cookie.  Matthew managed to part with a few hearts.

• Fantasy didn't involve one child taking a ginormous mouthful of flour when I looked the other way.  You can imagine how that ended.  It was basically snowing IN the kitchen.
• Fantasy didn't involve modeling a new baby outfit, but I'll take it! 

So all in all, not bad and I'm glad I was able to snatch a few minutes to capture this memory, even if I'm now entering the dinner zone STILL in pajamas.  

This weekend is going to be fantastic, I cannot wait.  Mark has it off and Thursday was the only night since last Saturday that he's been home before I had to go to bed.  We have big plans to move his office into our living room so that Claire can have a place to sleep that isn't in our bedroom.  I'm a big believer that babies don't sleep as well at night if mom is in the room, because they can smell her - this seemed very true for Matthew and seems even more true the more desperate I get to find an answer to the Claire Sleep Question.  Plus, she's almost 5 months old and we'd like our room back!  There's no way she can sleep in with Matthew - he often waits up until Mark gets home just to see him, so I'll put him down at 9 and he'll still be talking in there at 11.  Pretty sure Claire, who sleeps through nothing, wouldn't sleep through that.  So my fingers are crossed that we can get the crib in there and not just a pack and play, and that the noise from the busy street and the lack of hot/cold air circulation doesn't sabotage our plans.  There is a heating duct but it doesn't seem to actually work, and the door to the attic being right there doesn't help :/

And of course we'll start tomorrow off with a nice family breakfast.  Dying for that.  As is Matthew, who loves to ask for "pancakes and cupcakes" at breakfast time.

Signing off, not a minute too soon.