letters to Beth {garden salad for dessert}

"letters to Beth"

{a new segment of girlfriends living a world apart}

we invite you to join!

love,

emily & beth

Dear Beth,

Today is a day I need you to come make me something fabulous in my kitchen. Have you seen the youtube video about why mother's need their sleep? Well, last night I brought it into fruition, complete with crying in my upstairs bathroom b/c at 4:30am I had still not been to sleep. I stayed up reading until midnight, which was my first mistake. It's a book about this girl who married this boy. She was poor, he was rich. His family didn't approve. He was in medical school. She was waitressing at a local diner. And then there was this really skanky chapter that I wish I would have skipped b/c I didn't need to read it and I'm still rather bothered at why it was even in the book as it really was unnecessary, and now I'm bothered that Nicholas is even with her b/c I'm mad at her character for doing naughty things. Even though Nicholas is the character that is the obvious one to dislike. I hope there are no more incidences of this in the book b/c I hate it when I have to stop reading a book. What are you reading right now? I may be in need of some reading intervention.

So I actually fell asleep from 12:15-1:25am, which is the absolute worst time to fall asleep and be woken up. I'm sure you know, seeing as you have a newborn. How is little bear? His little bear hat is just too cute. I am dying to hold him. Do you think I can still put winter hats on a baby born in April? It is Utah, and snow comes year round if you are lucky. So maybe I will be able to find one for this one come April. So I stood there crying in my bathroom sometime around 4:17am. Angry that I hadn't been to sleep yet. I don't count the 1 hr and 10 min. sleep b/c I think it only made me more tired than before I went to bed. Most definitely it made me more grumpy. Right when we got Max back to sleep, Brennan decided he needed to be up. And the two of them double teamed us like that throughout the night. When Sean found me crying in the bathroom he gave me a big hug, and I told him I killed the cat. We both laughed. He said "what cat?" I said, "Remember the YouTube video?" He said, "I'm taking Brennan downstairs so you can sleep." I have no idea what happened after that, and I don't think he ever knew what I was talking about when I said I killed the cat, except that I laid down and finally fell asleep. This email won't make sense unless you've watched the YouTube video, so please watch. I still can't decide if I was crying b/c I wanted to be dramatic and live out my dreams of being in a YouTube video, or if I was crying out of sleep deprivation, anger that my kids wouldn't sleep, or fear about what I am going to do when this happens and I have a newborn to take care of too. It just wasn't pretty. I woke up around 8:30am to Brennan watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on the couch with his binky and his monkey, and Max whining in her crib, soaked from her diaper. It was actually kind of nice b/c the night was so bad that I knew the morning would be better. So anyway, I'm wishing you were here to make me something lovely and sit on my couch.

Max's hair has not been combed since Saturday night when we gave her a bath. Not even for church. And there was no bow to distract from the pink frosting she smeared there at breakfast. Somehow she still looks darling.

I found the very BEST maternity pants. They make my legs look really skinny and have that panel thing I've never tried before that comes up over your tummy. LIFE CHANGING. really, it is.

Brennan is leaving his Binky for Santa in trade for a Spiderman bike. I guess it's now or never, and if he's not sleeping WITH his Binky then he might as well be not sleeping WITHOUT it:) Did I mention him not sleeping last night has been a nightly thing for him for the past week and a half? I'm considering putting the lock on the outside so he's stuck in his room until I decide to get up in the morning. Do you think that's crazy? I'm sure I won't do it, but it's nice to think about. Maybe I need to put him to bed earlier. Sometimes I sleep better I go to sleep earlier.

We went to Sean's Christmas work party on Friday night. I ordered this penne pasta asiago alfredo chicken, pork, sausage, green onion, tomato dish that was to die for. Then I ordered a garden salad with ranch dressing for dessert b/c I just had to have it. It was the most delicious salad I had ever had, even though I'm sure it wasn't. I swear, cravings are real. I never believed it, but they are. I still dream about that garden salad. I don't even think it had cheese. It didn't matter.

Max is starting to talk more. But not to people she doesn't know. She is very independent. She has refused to sit in her booster seat since the week before Thanksgiving. She is actually a tidier eater now that she sits on her knees and eats like a real person. I think Brennan maybe have still been in a high chair at her age. She pees on the potty when anyone goes. She eats everything in sight and remains the tiniest little thing. She eats Brennan's breakfast, after she eats her own, and then comes to harass anyone else still eating. Then she will take a 15 min break and go back in the pantry for second breakfast. Such a little hobbit. She adores Brennan and does all of the naughty things he does. In fact, his favorite thing to do right now with her is to have her bring him toys while he is in timeout. It's really funny, but I pretend it's not. I still haven't sent you our Christmas card, but I did address it and put it in my car. I hope it gets there before Christmas does.

Last night I made my chocolate chocolate, white chocolate, mint chocolate chip cookies. I ate enough dough for about 3 cookies and then didn't have anything left in me for the real cookie. Typical. Milk has never tasted so good.

I hope all is well, and I can't wait to hear about how life with two babies is going, and all of your adventures.

Love, Emily