It's over!!

I've never been so glad that Christmas was over! Ben was in town for the week, so I had fun going out and being me. Which I really needed! That was my plus for the week. It's always nice to spend time with him and I wish he'd hurry up and move back already. I truly miss being with him. But enough of that. Tuesday mom and I went to the Bobcats game which was lots of fun. Rachael babysat and mom and I took the Linx uptown so we didn't have to drive. The crowd was boo, but we were center court 6 rows back. Can't complain there! Mom won tickets, so that's how we scored the great seats. I got to go out Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night. I didn't know what to do with myself with all the freedom. :) It'll be interesting to settle back into ordinary life.
Christmas Eve I took Ella to Founders Hall uptown to see the singing bears. I've been wanting to do that for a month but something always has come up. So last minute I threw our clothes on and raced uptown. We of course got lost and I didn't bring the stroller. But we made it there in time for the show. Ella loved it. She was timid at first, but after 10 minutes she started to warm up and started dancing. After getting lost again, we came home and I started cooking for our feast. I spent 4 hours cooking! Then we opened our 1 Christmas eve present. Ella got her Belle doll with a pony and I got the most awesome blanket in the world. We watched Christmas movies and Ella went to sleep really excited since she knew Santa was coming.
We slept in Christmas morning and had breakfast as mom was slaving in the kitchen. We then came downstairs for Santa presents. She was in love with the doll house and Tinker Bell stuff. I tried to get her to open a present and she didn't want to have anything to do with it. I finally got her to open the tea pot and after that she really wanted nothing to do with the other presents. Mom went back upstairs to cook and I ran next door to take family photo's for them. After I got back I started cooking and getting ready for everyone to show up at 2. Well, 2 came and only Lisa and her friend Nikki were here. Ella opened her dress up clothes and had to wear her Belle dress most of the day. She is such a diva. Shannon got here at 2:30 and by 2:45 I said forget everyone lets eat. So we ate our amazing meal and then played around. My grandparents didn't get here until almost 4 and my dad a little after them. We were kind of upset they didn't show up on time since we spent all of our Christmas eve and Christmas morning preparing for them. But, what can you do. Neil came over around 5 and we all hung around. Everyone left but Neil and then Rachael and Steve showed up. Ella loved playing with her new Tinker Bell cafe with Rachael. It is too cute! At 8 we went upstairs to say goodnight and of course the Nutcracker was on and E got entranced. She danced and danced and even made Neil waltz with her. After that she went to bed and I went to Ben's. We had a nice evening compared to the chaos of the day. He needed a ride home today, so I drove him back. I liked being able to spend the extra time with him on the drive there. And it gave me time to reflect on life and what I'm going to do.
All in all, we had a blah Christmas. Mom was really upset and down, which made me sad. Thankfully, she's better today and got some much needed Ella time while I was gone. I got some cool presents from mom, my mom's parents, aunt Charlotte and Rachael. So I guess I better get used to not getting anything and it going all to Ella. But, it kind of didn't help matters since I really needed Christmas money more than ever this year. I needed it for my insurance and E's gym. Not like I was going shopping, but it was unexpected to not get anything else from people who normally do things. And I spent money I didn't have on them. I know that's not what Christmas is about, but when you're broke and hoping to fix some problems with it.... I was also kind of hurt by not talking to some people who I thought were family, and it bugged me all day. But, such is life. I've got too much on my plate to stress about things that aren't under my control. Well, I'm going to take my bahumbug butt to bed. I have 2 shoots tomorrow. But, I'm not getting paid for them, so no luck there. My lawyer is trading pictures for a living will. Which I really need. I hope everyone had a much better Christmas than we did. I love being a mom and playing Santa and seeing the joy on my little one's face as she played with her new toys. That was my happy thought throughout the day. And I can't wait to play all day tomorrow with her!