grace for saints and ramblers

I'm not going to say that I've been neglecting this little blog space, but rather letting life sort of lead. At least around the holidays, I wanted to turn off that little switch in my brain that goes "must blog about this!" and "must post about this!" With the holidays coming up and Ethan finally (not to jinx it) feeling one hundred percent after the mess with his breathing that last awful virus we all caught caused, we've been laying a little low, too. Our doctor warned against taking Ethan out in massive crowds of people and children and so, for the most part, I haven't. I've also switched off that part of my brain that goes "must take Ethan to see the giant Christmas tree and village near the beach!" because, well, we just can't get there this year. And that's okay. We missed our city's holiday parade and Ethan will be missing his My Gym holiday party this year, but once I peel back the layers of guilt I realize that he's having the time of his life regardless. And, you know, there are no shortage of Christmas activities going on, either. A house a few minutes from my parents has this elaborate, amazing Christmas light display up and Ethan and I have been sneaking away at every opportunity to stand and admire the lights. One of the light displays is a gingerbread man jumping on a trampoline and he is absolutely in love with it. As soon as we pull up to the house, he lets out a huge "there he is!" It's standing there on this random person's driveway watching the amazement wash over Ethan's face that I realize he's not missing anything, or sad about not seeing the big Christmas tree by the beach or our city's holiday parade. See? Mom lessons. I'm learning. And somehow "toning things down" with a two and a half year old hardly feels like toning things down, because at the end of the day I'm exhausted and there are gifts to be wrapped and some form of baking or crafting to be done and, well, I couldn't imagine the days any fuller than they are.