'Twas the night before Christmas

Last night, Wes and I did the parent thing and put together a gift for Ollie with about 100 pieces -- from about 9pm until midnight.  I'd found this wooden workshop online some time ago and after soliciting opinions from aunts and grandmas, purchased it.  It sat in a very heavy box upstairs for the past two weeks.  I knew it was kind of involved to put together -- people online said upwards of 45 minutes -- but evidently if you watch VH1's countdown of the 100 Best Musicians of all time while putting it together, it adds more than two hours.  Fortunately, all of the pieces were labeled with letters or numbers, and the instructions were very clear.  We did have one or two hiccups.  There's a piece that holds a wooden dowel in place that wouldn't go in for some reason, and the pegboard on the left would not fit into the slats on either side.  I don't know if the slats weren't cut large enough or the pegboard not small enough, but it absolutely would not go in.  I was really disappointed but have taped the thing in place so Oliver can use it right away, and I'm going to call either the place that I bought it from or the manufacturer on Monday to see if they can send us corrected parts.  The unit is adorable, though, and well made for a children's toy.  We have it sitting in the living room for him to come downstairs to, along with 4 other small wrapped items (two puzzles and two books) and a wooden airplane in his stocking.  In keeping with family traditions, Oliver took the last link off the paper chain last night.  He went back for the star, but I told him he had to wait.

When I went to put the box and trash on the back porch after we'd finished, I saw that the rain that had been falling on our way home from the grocery store had turned to snow, and the lawn was completely covered.  This morning, there's not significantly more down.  The lawns and cars are white, but the porches and sidewalks are mostly clear, which is a nice trade-off.  It does look like there's either more light snow or some sleet coming down.  Oliver will be thrilled, and I may be forced at some point to get him some galoshes and snow gloves so that he can play in the occasional snowfall we've gotten both winters here.

I, unfortunately, slept poorly last night and finally got up at 6:30am.  There's monkey bread in the oven but both boys still in bed (Ollie did not nap yesterday, despite our best efforts).  I'm still holding out hope for a Christmas miracle -- that is, a December 25th baby -- though there are no indications that will be the case.  In the meantime, I will revel in watching Oliver enjoy the first Christmas he probably has enough faculties to process and, if I'm doing everything right, enjoy a juicy turkey breast that's been bathing since Thursday afternoon.