Decorations, Colds and Baby Names

Well, I've finally got the Christmas decorations put up around the house. It was a challenge with Cora helping but there wasn't much I could do about it. I had my whole day planned out around her nap, which she did very nicely, but not nearly as long as I had expected. In fact, I think her radar was at work even in her sleep because just as I got the boxes opened and unwrapped and unboxed some of the decos, that ever familiar, "MIMI, called me from the bedroom. I thought, OK, I'll just have to do this with her up. I'll give her a thing or two to place on a table and she'll think she's helping me, LOL. That's basically what happened but she got bored of that really fast. I thought for sure it would be a nightmare trying to keep her out of the boxes, but instead she was thoroughly bored with the decorations and it was a nightmare just trying to keep her entertained while I decorated and cleaned up. Surprisingly I did it all pretty quickly. I think that's because I didn't put out nearly as much as other years. Most of the "untouchables" went back downstairs, and the rest is unreachable, lol. It's so much fun having a 2 year old in the house. Honestly, I really do mean that.

So far this week has been pretty quiet. Cora's got a pretty nasty cold and cough and I've had a sore throat for two days, so we've just been hanging around watching TV and doing easy housework. It kind of feels nice to sit and do nothing after having a few busy weeks of getting ready for Thanksgiving, Erika's shower and babysitting. Any other year, at two weeks before Christmas, I would be majorly stressing out if I couldn't get out to go shopping but for some reason, I'm not really worried about it. Like so many other families out there, we are cutting back dramatically on the gift giving this year so I think I feel a sense of relief knowing I don't have so much to buy. It really does feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

Hey guess what? Erika is due in 25 more days. Can you believe that? Of my three daughters, her pregnancy really went by the quickest. I'm so excited and I can't wait. I love that we don't know what the sex of the baby is. It makes the anticipation of the big moment so much greater. So how cool is this. If the baby is a boy, their going to name him Persson. Persson Scott Bales. I read somewhere that naming babies after the mother's maiden name is becoming very popular these days. In this case, if it's a boy, he could very well end up being called Per (sounds like pear). In Sweden, when Per has a son, he becomes, Pers son. It was the same with other common Swedish names as well, like, Anders son, Eriks son and Lars son. Most of which dropped the second S during immigration. When Mark's dad came to this country when he was a young man, he refused to drop the S and so, we remained Persson. I'm glad he kept it. Either way, if the baby is a boy, he'll be Persson or Per for short. And if the baby is a girl, her name will be Eliza. I don't know where they came up with this name and for the life of me I can't remember what the middle name will be. That's terrible, I should remember that. Hey, what can I say, I'm a grandmother, LOL. It took me a little while to warm up to that name, but now that I've been hearing Erika talk about it more, I'm really really liking it. Erika is now at the point that if she went in labor, she'd be very happy, LOL. I remember those days well. But, since most first babies arrive later than their due dates, I'm predicting some time after her due date of January 4th. I keep telling her, the farther away from Christmas the better. In years to come when she has to have kiddie birthday parties, she'll be so much happier with the holidays behind her. Not to mention that Trevor's birthday is December 27th and Scott's sister's son, is December 31st. Anyway, her doctor is saying if the baby hasn't come by the 11th, they'll talk about an induction. She has an ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday so we'll see how things are going at that point.

Well, that's about it for today. I think I'll go make a cup of tea for my sore throat and actually sit and enjoy it while Cora is taking her nap.

Take care everyone,
Janice