It's Beginning to Look a Little Like Christmas

The bulk of our holiday cards may have gone out weeks ago, but we've been horribly remiss in getting the Christmas decorations up. The main reason has been because we couldn't decide whether or not to put up a tree this year. In the end, we opted to place a small tree and wrapped gifts in the area behind the gate at the bottom of the staircase. Sure, it may not be quite as festive as a full-sized tree, but at least we don't have to worry about Hurricane Benjamin doing this to our Christmas cheer:
.

Our friends and family have been very understanding of the perpetual mess in our home, but we didn't want to push our luck by giving them slobber-covered, duct-taped holiday gifts. As you can see, even though Benjamin's been laid up with a nasty cold, he's still well enough to do some serious damage to my magazines.

.

I wanted to liven up Benjamin's Clubhouse with some decorations, so on Friday, I went on a hunt for mistletoe with my buds Deb and George. I failed to find any, but Uncle George was more than happy to give his favorite little mohawked dude some Christmas love anyway. In case you're wondering why there are two seemingly identical pictures of George holding Benjamin, it's because George insisted that I take a second picture because he wasn't flexing enough in the first one. I'm not joking.

By Saturday, Benjamin seemed to be doing much better, so we took a stroll to the neighborhood library. He played with the trucks in the kids' area and even did some coloring. Ok, I use the term "coloring" very loosely; "stabbing of paper with crayons" is probably more apt.

The holiday vibe continued through Sunday when we watched cousin Ryan perform in the children's Christmas play at his church. He attacked his role as Shepherd #2 with gusto, speaking his lines loud and clear. We look forward to next year when his little brother Tyler will likely join him on stage.

Unfortunately, Benjamin took a turn for the worse Sunday afternoon when his fever returned with a vengeance. At his pediatrician's urging, we went to the UCLA-Santa Monica emergency room. Let me tell you that if you ever have to go to an ER, this is the one to go to. It's new, the staff are very friendly, and they're quick. We were out of there in less than two hours! Anyway, Benjamin checked out fine. The doctor told us that he was probably just fighting "viral crud." So basically, we'd taken our baby to the ER for a cold. Novice mistake.

I did get to bring a little something home with me from the hospital, though. While waiting for our discharge paperwork, I fashioned this Koons-esque sculpture out of an inflated latex glove:

I call it Pregnant Woman Surrendering Her Sanity to Motherhood.