letters to Beth {egg casserole, cats & dogs, and varicose veins}

Dear Beth,
I am a horrible friend for not getting back to you until now. I feel like I have finally recovered from Thanksgiving and can now start recovering from Christmas. It may take until April to recover from New Year's, and well, then I will be having a baby so there just may not be time for it at that point.

What did you end up making for your Christmas morning breakfast? I made Sean's mom's famous egg casserole. I was going to tell you to make the Mexican Egg Strata because it sounded like egg casserole, and that sounded like Christmas to me. Do tell. Please. It has taken me 3 years of trying to finally get the egg casserole to cook all of the way through, but this Christmas I DID IT!!! It was the best present I could have given myself. Such an enormous sense of accomplishment my friend. It was wonderful. It was like I was armed and ready for whatever it had to offer this year, and I showed that egg casserole who was boss. ME:) My trick? I added twice the amount of bread at the bottom. It soaked up the egg sauce and left it so moist. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The bacon was nice and fatty, although I ate most of it at midnight Christmas Eve as I was assembling it. You know how I love bacon. It was lovely. Santa's cookies and bacon. YUM.

I go to my favorite OB tomorrow for my monthly check up. I doubt the scale is going to be pretty, but it has been worth every bite. And if I can't indulge when I'm pregnant, or nursing, or really whenever I want, then when can I?? Not when I'm dead, that's for sure. Life is too short for diets and calories, my friend. This I KNOW you know. Maybe we are just too young and naive, or maybe we are just wise beyond our years. I know for sure that I am far too skinny b/c you are away. Please come home to fatten me up. I will just not be satisfied with a skinny baby boy. He needs to be chunky and full of rolls. Plus, a 9lb baby like the pork loin means one fabulous thing: you lose 10 lbs right away when you have them. OH THE JOY! Ok, but let's be honest, I would really rather him come out skinny and then fatten him up after. I can't wait to get this little man all cooked up and out into my arms. I CAN in fact wait for the loss of sleep. I just don't do well when I don't get my sleep. How are you sleeping now that it has been a few more weeks of Bear's life? Even with a perfect baby, there is still just not enough sleep with a newborn. This is something I am convinced about, my dear. I hope you are getting some good naps.

These were the other traditional lovelies I served on Christmas day:
shrimp with cocktail sauce
my grandma max's ham rolls {with and without onion}
baked bri {i did the brown sugar too think in the middle}
meatballs {this was a new tradition b/c i knew it would be the only thing my kids would eat. i was right, and it felt really good to be right.}

For dinner, Sean's mom made a pork roast in my oven, did her pear salad with cheese and homemade whipping cream on top {i made sure to use powdered sugar for the whipping cream, thank you}, green beans, and new potatoes from a can sauteed in butter and sugar {sounds gross, but is UTTERLY AMAZING}. I made the rolls and my grandma Max's famous sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, and set a beautiful table, complete with red Christmas candles.

I want to know all of the details of your holiday. Do not leave out a thing. How was midnight mass??!! That is a tradition of mine from childhood with my dad and Sandie. Over the years they convinced me that the 5:00pm mass was much better. I now understand why they did that. There is so much work to do after the kids are in bed to get everything ready for Christmas morning. I think we were in bed around 1:30am, plus or minus 30 minutes. It's a little bit of a blur. We were up making the tom and jerry's drink sauce {minus the rum} sometime after 12:30am Christmas Eve night. It was a lot of fun, but so exhausting. Next year, I think I will make it a few days before, as it can be saved for several weeks. We are still drinking it in the mornings. So yummy. Have you ever had it before? I will give you my recipe if you'd like.

Brennan did in fact leave his binkies for Santa. Not a single tear was shed {a Christmas MIRACLE!}, and there was no trauma over the matter at all. I was shocked. By the time Christmas Eve came he was so excited to leave the binkies, and made sure I remembered that if he missed them we could cuddle and hug. It was so cute. He took one final suck and put them on the plate. The next morning he came in with the proudest little almost 4 year old face. Beaming with pride that he had slept without his binkies. It was like he became a little bit more of a man while he slept that night and became a little bit more of a "real mom," whatever that means. And wouldn't you know it, he's been sleeping in longer now too. Go figure.

We got rid of 4 more bags of trash, and 4 more huge boxes to the DI goodwill. The basement is starting to look bare. It is the best feeling to be free of all of that stuff. Sean and I kept asking each other why we had held onto everything for so long. I need a few more bins for mementos that I'd like to keep, and one more for Sean. My only rule for mementos was that they had to be in clear bin. Sean got rid of his pogwalkman from elementary school, among many other things. I am starting to realize that there is just no need for all of the stuff. I would have so much more joy with that basement finished for livable space than I would to use it for stuff in boxes. Not so much joy in having to clean it, but definitely more joy in a bedroom for Brennan and a theater room for the rest of us. I can't wait!

My kids have been fighting like cats and dogs the last two days. It is awful. Mostly annoying. And my nerves are shot by the end of the day over all of it. Max has been in timeout a lot. She is a hitter and a hair puller. Bad combination in an aggressive second child that is not going to wait around for someone to fix her problems for her. She takes the bull by the horns {or Brennan's hair} and handles her business. I am so proud of her for not wanting me to fix/handle everything for her, but sad that Brennan is getting his hair pulled so much. I think hair pulling might hurt more than hitting, as she has pulled mine as well. Ouch. The little pixie sits in timeout with her arms folded or lays down on the step crying. It's so cute. I have to try really hard to keep a straight face and be serious. When they are nice to each other it is worth all of it, but so frustrating when they are not. I can't wait to add another to the mix, agh!!! I fear how I will handle it without the sleep.

My body feels like it is 36 weeks pregnant, but it is not even close. I have so many varicose veins this time, and they really hurt. A LOT. Last night I woke up in the middle of the night b/c I was having this really terrible and intense abdominal cramping. I thought I just had to pee. It took the wind out of me just to walk to the bathroom. And with only one ear plug in, it threw off my balance a tad. Nonetheless, I made it back to the bed without falling or tripping over anything. I was surprised. The pain kept coming and going like a contraction for about an hour, but it was only on the lower right hand side, like a side ache, and my tummy was not hard at all like it would be with a contraction. I feel fine this morning, other than being tired from being up again during the 4am hour. Sandie is convinced it is b/c I am doing too much and still picking up Brennan. Sean thinks it is because I am doing too much and the baby is growing. They may in fact both be right. I will ask tomorrow. It is also my glucose test. I hate that test. The drink is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. It's the getting my blood drawn that I always hate. And the fact that I am going to have to have plain eggs for breakfast when I'd really rather be having peanut butter toast with melted honey. I picked the orange one this time. I can't remember what I've picked in the past, but it seemed to be the only good option, as orange drinks have always been my favorite. Wish me and my small veins luck.

Love,

Emily