Who is in charge?

The kids like when I joke about who is in charge, mom or baby? There is much truth to my silliness on this subject. She tells me when she wants something. Gets me to carry her from place to place. She's the new boss in town and I her employer. We tried sleep training again. My fault it didn't work out the first time. We had success, but I let her completely fall asleep when putting her to bed. She forgot all about falling asleep on her own. We did it again last night. I think it will work out this time. She's older, more aware. She's learning new things every day. We've been working on some signs. She's starting to do all done when finished in her high chair. It's great to see she gets it. During last nights training, she cried for 30 minutes. Normal for the first night, we've done it before. Tonight will be less as will each day to follow. By the end of the week, we will be where we need to be and good to go. I just have to make sure she isn't so tired at bedtime. Our day is beginning at 5 am. Not my plan, but I owe it to her after last night. I hate how long it's been since I've written anything on here. I hope to try to get more entries in. We've started the holiday baking. Today we hit the grocery store as it's been awhile since we've been there. This week I will bake one recipe at a time and get that project done. I've still got Godparent gifts in the works to finish along with two projects for Baby Orchid we were working on and stopped. Our Christmas shopping is nearly complete. I need to finish gifts for my Godchildren and we need to order something for my brother. I think that is all once I get my gifts in order. I need to bring two baby gifts to MN, too. One for a baby boy that may come around my birthday! The other for a Christmas baby yet to be determined boy or girl. I will be ready for either. So excited. These are new parents, friends of the family, Orchid's age. Our Christmas letter is written, envelopes addressed. We will make copies of our letter today and get them in the mail. I had the cards the beginning of the month, but a picture was crooked on the card. I waited a few weeks trying to decide what to do. I finally wrote to Walmarts website and they gave me my money back. Well, I'm still sending out the card, even with the crooked picture. I couldn't waste all those cards because of one picture. It will work. She's making her way over to the couch. This girl can pull herself up and take a few steps along the couch. She's all over the place, even more than she was before. She thinks she can scale walls and climb into the standing position along anything tall. She was holding on to a chair under a desk and then fell forward, completely under the desk. Got herself a big bruise on her head. She has another spot on the other side of her head from a different injury. If she keeps this up, she'll be black and blue for the holidays. She is adorable and always in good spirits. The last week she's been slightly different. Not sure if its teeth or something in her ears. She's been tugging on her ear sometimes. I gave her motrin under the guidance of Zinnia. I hope it helps her to feel more comfortable. Now she is operating Netflix. She loves remote controls. The big kids are all doing well. We attended a gift making session at the Methodist church on Sunday afternoon. I thought it would just be ornaments and cookie decorating, but this was so much more. The kids made actual gifts for people. They put together things to go with coffee cups, etc. They were like gift baskets with different objects. It was great. They loved it and felt so proud of their creations. They wrapped everything and put it under our tree. The also attended the Frosty Shoppe at school last week. There, they made purchases for family members. It's always fun to see what they picked out for people on their list. Seven picked something out for a certain canine we will see during the holidays. Everyone was thrilled with him making that purchase. It's all coming together, just to get it all done. What a wonderful holiday this will be with a baby in the house.