The Friday before Thanksgiving I was able to get the H1N1 shot and joked that it was the greatest false sense of security I could have been given. This false sense of security made me feel brave enough to venture out with Carly to PetSmart with Dave to pick up Jake. I thought it's no biggie, sick people don't go to PetSmart... and of course I saw no one with the famous yellow mask, so I stayed calm while we were out and about.
Then on Tuesday I decided that I was tired of sitting around the house and only going out to walk the neighborhood or to check the mailbox, so I packed Carly up and off we went to the Post Office and ATM. Again, I thought sick people don't go to the Post Office at 10am and I was using the drive up ATM. Well, the drive up ATM is diagonal to the grocery store. I only needed 3 or 4 things and Carly was being REALLY good, so I decided we would add a third errand and headed over to the grocery store. Oddly enough as I pulled the car seat out of the car and walked into the store I felt like I was doing something wrong. I was sure someone was going to catch me out and about and "turn me in," although I'm not sure to whom. We were able to get our items and avoid being caught, until we came home. Dave came home for lunch that day and asked if I had been somewhere... BUSTED!
On Thanksgiving my parents and brother came up to bring our new entertainment unit for the family room and brought us Thanksgiving dinner. Now I will say that this day wasn't nearly as busy as the past 3 Thanksgivings have been, but then again all I did was pull the rolls out of the freezer, let them rise, put them in the oven, and then unloaded the dishwasher. My parents seem to have taken care of the rest and even held Carly for a large portion of the afternoon. Allowing me to prepare for Black Friday!!
Black Friday was a lot more low key for me this year then in years past. I was up early, but that was due to nursing. I finally made it to the stores shortly after 8 and was able to check 4 people off of my Christmas list. I know that the news and retailers were talking about the "amazing deals," but honestly unless you were buying big ticket items I thought the deals stunk... Oh well, Amazon.com will take care of the rest of our list.
After my morning of shopping Dave, Carly, and I headed out to buy Carly's first Christmas tree and the Christmas decorating began!! I must admit that it does take a lot longer to decorate your house for Christmas when you are carrying a 5 week old around. I took care of the inside (after Dave brought in our beautiful tree) and Dave hung the lights outside and on the tree inside!
Saturday brought visitors to the Orr household. Dave's mom and sister were able to come up and visit with Carly. We enjoyed walking around the neighborhood, watching and chatting during Transformers 2, and just visiting. Julia was able to finally meet Carly and got a kick out of picking out Carly's outfits. :-) Unfortunately, Carly slept for most of their visit; however, she made up for her sleepiness on Sunday.
Sunday brought a day of wearing her Panther's cheer leading outfit, watching Dave's LEGO train go around and around with Jake, and a visit with some friends. Mom and dad were tired after a busy holiday weekend, but none of this seemed to phase Carly. She was up at 5:30 ready to be held on Monday morning.
Monday morning was hectic with Carly's first month check up. I never realized how much time went into trying to get a 5 week old out of the house. I had to schedule her feedings (as much as one can for a 5 week old) around when she would be seen by the doctor and leave plenty of time after a feeding for a diaper change and getting dressed. We did arrive at the doctor early! (go mom!) and learned that Carly is now 9 pounds 12 ounces a doing very well. Luckly this visit was shot free but January 5th will be a different story.
Today (Tuesday) managed to be the most hectic day of all. Carly and I had to go to my follow up appointment. We were doing great with time and by chance started the day earlier. However it quickly began to nose dive. Carly took her very sweet time with her two morning feedings which left me more rushed to get ready. Then, five minutes before we needed to leave she had a major spit up experience. It sent me racing her outfit and chair cover to the washing machine and her upstairs for a clean sleep 'n play. We got in the car a few minutes later than I wanted, but still had plenty of time as long as the interstate was moving. Unfortunately it was moving for the first 3 miles of our trip, and then froze as we approached the last 2 miles. So, off the interstate we jumped (with 1/2 the other cars) and finished our trip using back roads and cut throughs. Surprisingly enough we arrived at the doctor's office only 2 minutes late! After a great report from the doctor, Carly and I headed out to run errands (Target and Harris Teeter). She of course slept through both of our errands and I raced through both stores as fast as possible, hoping to finish before she picked up any nasty germs and before she woke up. A some what calm afternoon (except for me cutting myself slightly with a kitchen knife for the first time ever) we finished our day with a visit from some more friends. We had a lovely evening and greatly enjoyed their eagerness to hold Carly...giving our arms a break.
While these days may not sound crazy or busy to all, they do to us. :-)
