Christmas tree

I am really missing home today so I am taking the time to update. We are just about a month in. Not comfortable yet but I have moments here and there.

Putting up a Christmas tree was one of the first things that made our house feel a bit more like a home. We went to get ours the first day of advent because I wanted some Christmas spirit before I let myself get too sad. I was uber excited to get a real tree for the first time.  

Reina and I were having a snowball fight while we walked around looking for the right tree for us.

We found the perfect tree so Rich set about cutting it.

Reina and I missed the tree falling because it happened quicker than I thought. Then Reina started getting fussy because she refused to keep her gloves on and had frozen hands. I made a snow angel which made her laugh and calm down, but in the process lost my phone. Luckily it was still in my snow angel when we came back looking for it 20 minutes later.

Reina hugging a tree. 

Once we brought it home, it stayed naked for over a week because we didn't have lights or many ornaments. Rich's mom let us borrow some of Rich's childhood ornaments. I also made a tree topper and two weeks later it looked like this:

Reina rearranges things everyday. She prefers ornaments on the floor of course.

It has been a tough couple of weeks. Rich started work at Stowe Mountain Resort as a trail groomer. For Reina and I, this means lonely evenings. As for trying to adapt to a routine, we are failing miserably. After a week of not sleeping before midnight, it finally caught up with us and our immune systems were down. My eczema was at its worst and became infected. Before I knew it, I ended up infecting my poor Reina so she had impetigo all over her side. It meant a trip to the doctor and a prescription, but thankfully now our skin is almost all healed.

Reina and I are learning so much lately. She is talking more and more each day and I love watching her play and figure out how to do new things on her own. I hope to give her more opportunities for learning but right now I am mostly trying to just keep us fed and healthy. I am working on better dealing with anxiety and stress and Rich is being very patient thankfully. Hopefully once we start sleeping better, it will be a little easier. Rich is transitioning to a way different sleep schedule and we are both learning how to run our own home and be good parents. There are going to be lots of growing pains for awhile but I know we will be ok.

I want to see who is reading this. Also if there are other family members you think would want to be able to read our blog, send me their email. Post comments and encouragement too, I really need it. 

Now here are some pictures of the cutie napping under the tree.