happy year's end!

we're at caslon and camera guy's lovely home. we came here after spending time with my family on friday night and saturday morning. bear loves all the extra attention she's been receiving. she also loves leaf-hunting outside and looking for the real caslon under her bed. we'll see if she makes it to midnight tonight... we haven't decided if we'll let her try to ring in the new year with us, or stick to her normal routine.

hubby and i are going to miss having the extra hands and feet which play with and chase our little bundle of energy.

Pardon me while I redecorate around here...

Links will be updated... eventually.

I feel nauseated. That's a good thing today.

insomnia...

I woke up to pee 2.5 hours ago. I can't sleep. I find myself wondering if I can get my doctor's office to let me come in earlier for my firs official OB visit. What? You ask. You don't really know if it's real yet?

My body thinks it is. 2 positive HPT's and bloodwork at the OB office which showed my progesterone levels looked "absolutely wonderful", according to the nurse. But other than fatigue and frequent peeing, symptoms have not consistently kicked in. (The gag reflex doesn't count- I have than when I'm not pregnant.) Part of me is grateful, as I don't particularly like kneeling before the porcelain throne. But in light of last January, part of me wants more proof. My 1st visit isn't scheduled until 1/11. At the time, when the nurse told me the bloodwork looked good, I was thinking, "oh good, let's keep it later so we can see more on the first sonogram. I can wait." Ha. Me? Wait? Patiently? When have I done that?

Really, I just want some sleep. And to know that my baby is ok and my body is not imagining this.

Not-so-Wordless Wednesday

Here are some pics from our Christmas Eve celebration:

Tech Mom & Papa open their card and ornament.
Meanwhile....

Grandaddy catches on from their response while GranWendy opens their ornament...

This is what they're smiling about!

I was going to wait until crt & computer guy got home to get their mail, caslon & camera man received theirs, and Friday, to tell my brother and sister in person. Somehow Great-Gramma got hers in 2 days. (She said she was thinking it was about time.) My Mom slipped and told my brother last night, so I decided to just share the news with everyone via e-mail and blog and spare the Grandparents-to-be-again the misery of keeping the secret.






For more Wordless Wednesday participants, head over to 5 minutes for Mom or the WW HQ

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

'Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the house,
creatures were stirring, we hope not a mouse.

Tech Mom took over the kitchen and made a grand feast,
while Elf wandering heart assisted with great relief.

Baby Bear played in her room like a good girl,
making Mommy wonder "what in the world?"

GranW and GranDaddy joined in the fun,
arriving in time for the de-licious lunch.

But before they could eat, the parents opened their cards,
while Baby Bear napped, her curls all covered.

After dinner and dessert, a game we played.
Then went to a service to celebrate.

The reason we gather with family and friends,
to remember our Saviour came down for all men.

Now baby bear sleeps way back in her bed,
and hubby waits patiently as I type this mess.

So to all and to all a good night I will say....
"Merry Christmas! May Jesus' love light your heart always!"

Family time is good.

I am blessed to have in laws who don't fit the stereotype of the dreaded in-laws. ;)
Baby Bear will be beside herself with both sets of grandparents to dote on her tomorrow.
Tech Dad is providing entertainment of sorts with his dulcimer and accordion. Not at the same time, in case you wondered.

We played a new game tonight (Apples to Apples). It was fun. Light. Good. It would be boring to play with complete literalists. Thankfully, none of us fit in that category.

The only downside? I doubt we'll have a white Christmas. But I guess that's better than waking up to 40 mph winds, 9+ inches of snow, and 8 degrees, as DH's Gramma and extended relatives are facing up in the Midwest. Pray that Gramma doesn't try to shovel too much snow herself, when there are people with plows and snowblowers who are willing to help. (She cannot stand to be lazy. Wish that would rub off on me to some degree.)

Long-distance cards have been mailed, I guess the local ones might make it by New Year's. I found my address book. On the desk. Under everything else. In case you wondered.

Tech Mom brought me new Christmas lights because DH banished me from buying any more decorations, and then one of the strands died so we had half a tree lit. Only a woman can appreciate the importance of a fully lit Christmas tree.

My computer's battery is almost dead. Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed-bugs bite.

Oh where is my address book?
Oh, WHERE is my address book?
Oh, where-oh-where-oh-where-oh-where-oh-where.......
is my address book?!?

Works for Me Wednesday: Christmas card display

Well, I haven't been posting as much lately, so I thought I'd share what's working for me and see what you guys do.

I have 2 ways I display my cards. 1 is a 3-4 foot long carboard card holder thingy that I bought from a school fundraiser. It holds the photo cards and horizontal cards. The other is an idea I got from my Mom. She always used to hang the horizontal cards over a fishing wire or dental floss tacked into the dining room wall. Well, I've taken a string of yarn and tied it from one end of the top of the blinds (in my dining room, last year I did it in the living room, I think) to the other, and that's where I am hanging my top-fold cards. I may also start clipping the other cards to it with clothespins.

What works for you, so the cards from loved ones don't get buried on the counter?

our little wren(?) on our porch

bird's nest

chrysalis or caccoon?

Reaching for the sole remaining yellow leaf...

some things just really suck

miscarriages, for one. sudden loss in general. most of us have probably experienced it in some form or another. the things that happen, that are obviously part of God's sovereign plan because He allows them, but we will never understand them. at least, not in this world.

a friend of mine and her husband are mourning the death of their baby boy. on december 4th, baby Mason was admitted to the ICU with meningitis caused by group B strep and MRSA. this past thursday night, he went to be with Jesus.

Suffer the little children to come unto me,
and forbid them not,
for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

If you are a parent, hug your little one(s) more tightly when you tuck them in tonight. And please pray for my friend Cheri and her beloved Seth as they mourn the loss of their son, Mason Garrett. He would have been 2 months old on Monday.

Cut-off

No more Christmas decorations for me. Hubby hung the icicle lights on our front porch. I plugged them in before he hung them, and they seemed ok. Well, apparently there was a short in them, because about 10 of the icicle strands did not light up when we plugged them in after being hung. We checked to see if any bulbs were loose... nope. So down they came, to Kroger I went with my dysfunctional lights and receipt, and I exchanged them for another set. Mr. Snowman is now at home under the soft white glow of icicle lights.

It's official!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph


Hannah looks more like her Daddy!

what to post?

hmmm...

i'm pretty speechless right now. except i am always amazed by the # of people who ask me if i curl baby bear's hair or if it's natural. get real, people. 3 people asked in wal-mart today.

Around 13 months ago...

I think I may have to send out 2 or 3 different Christmas cards.

I am torn between the more formal:

and the very quirky cuddly family shot:


I think the only solution may be to just have some of each printed, and make sure Gramma M. gets the formal one since she specifically said she did not like the whimsical one.

FYI, in case you are wondering, I used the collage feature on shutterfly studio, which is a free download on shutterfly.com. It's capabilities are minimal, but I don't have another program on this computer and my other computer is unreliable.

Wordless Wednesday

Our thanks to Dotson Studios
for their beautiful work!

(click on individual photos to see them more clearly)

This is the closest I'll get to snow anytime soon.

i couldn't resist... we've been elved

80's flashback...

"Oh, hubby, you're so fine...."

(He looks awesome in his new tailored suit. Now I have to give him a haircut to go with it.)

in case you were wondering...

12 feet of 1/8" gold ribbon is the perfect amount needed to hang 20 glass bulb ornaments.

My tree was missing something. Though it did not look bad, there were too many bare spots which kept calling to the ornaments buried in the closet across the room. And those ornaments called back, "save us! We're lonely in here! It's dark! Let there be light!" But the thought of actually hanging ornaments with hooks disturbed me. My toddler is curious. It's part of her spirit, and I am glad. But I felt that by using hooks I would be asking for trouble.

So when I made my trek to Joann's yesterday, I browsed the ribbon... both the holiday display and the standard aisles. Finally, after perusing all my favorite aisles (scrapbooking, floral, yarn, crafts, Christmas and ribbon- in that order), I found the perfect braided thread on a spool in the ribbon aisle. And after we put Bear to bed at the late hour of 9:30 tonight (Daddy came home from being out of town, and naptime was late this afternoon), I decided that since I had to vacuum the dry cereal off the couch and top steps, I might as well see if my ribbon did the trick and be able to vacuum the trimming from the ribbon. I still have 1 box of smaller gold balls, and am undecided. I think some of them would accent the tree nicely, too, but I am out of ribbon for now. At least I found a way to safely adorn my tree. (Unless my daughter pulls down the tree and crushes ornaments in the process, as my friend's DD did last year.)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

FINALLY!!!
Our 1st Christmas Tree since 2004.

Yes, that's right. Before you call us Scrooges, let me explain.

Baby Bear was born late October, 2005. Hubby left for 7 weeks of training a week later, coming home or meeting us about every other weekend. We were much more interested in spending time together with our new baby when he was home, and by the time he came back for good, there was less than 1 week before Christmas. Last year, we spent the Christmas week at Tech Mom and Dad's. I DID put up my techno-Charlie-brown-counter-top-tree both years. But it just was not the same.

So as we set up the tree tonight after we put our daughter to bed, it was nice. In less than 3 hours, we set the thing up, put on the lights and decorated it. This is not one of those simple 3-piece pre-lit trees. They were brand new and way too expensive when we were tree hunting. Allergies keep me from even considering a natural tree, plus picking one out at the school yard is not the same as choosing one for Dad to chop down at the tree farm as we did prior to, was it my 2nd grade year? They don't exactly thrive in this climate, so by the time we get them, they have well-begun the drying out process, posing a fire hazard. But I digress...

Decorating our tree was... like Christmas. I opted to leave off the glass balls. With a 2-year old, hooks and the risk of shattering scare me. We have no hooks on our tree this year, so I don't have to worry about Bear chewing on one. DH and I worked together to put all the branches in place and drape the strands of lights around the tree. (Note to self: buy some replacement bulbs, and perhaps another strand for next year at the year-end sales.) As I dug through boxes, I uncovered lost treasures. You see, our ornaments may not all match or coordinate, or fit one theme. Instead, they reflect bits and pieces of who we are and where we've been. That's how my family's tree was growing up, and I'm following suit. Making their debut on our family tree this season: Baby Bear's "Baby's 1st Christmas" Pooh ornament, which was given to us by one of hubby's buddies from Police Academy. The crystal-cut plastic bear that my Dad brought back from Grandma's house after she died. I added a white ribbon to it and it is so charming. A pottery ornament which my parents bought while on Cape Cod for my cousin's wedding in 2005. A mirrored angel ornament from a neighbor, also given to us to commemorate Baby Bear's birth. A hand-colored wooden ornament which our "niece" gave to us. And last, but not least, a star with 3 bears on it and our family name and the year written on it. Hubby and I picked it out while we were on our last pre-parenthood vacation together.... the one where I hiked 2 miles to see a waterfall in the Smokies at 26 weeks of pregnancy. Oh, there are many more ornaments which remind us of friends and family, and there are also some I picked out just because they were pretty and in my price range. I may pick up some shatterproof ornaments to fill in some of the bare spots, or I may not.

I can't wait to see Baby Bear's reaction to the tree when she sees it tomorrow.

Now to get some lights up outside and decorate downstairs...

I bought a larger crochet hook... size K/10 1/2-6.50 MM.

I think it's working better for me already. I might actually complete a Christmas gift that is acceptable to give.