Christmas Fun

We had a really nice visit to my parent's house for Christmas. The weather was nice, the company was fun, the food was good (we got to eat at Rudy's - one of our favorite bbq joints in Texas), and it was quite relaxing. My brother and his sons (my sister-in-law was not feeling well and stayed home to rest) arrived Friday afternoon, and the games began. Matthew got Settlers of Catan for Christmas which we broke in nicely over the long weekend. We also got these baby rattles (our second baby gift to date).

Once we got home Sunday evening, Matthew went to pick up Max. He was exhausted! He layed around for the rest of the night and was still laying around when I went to work this morning. He seems to have regained at least some of his energy this evening, but Matthew said he slept all day. He got to open a couple of Christmas gifts last night (from Matthew's sister and my mom). And he got his first ornament. Isn't it cute?

The Bell

I received the following as an email and thought it was worth posting. I am not sure where it originated, but I like it.

THE BELL

I KNOW WHO I AM

I am God's child (John 1:12)

I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )

I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17)

I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)

I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)

I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)

I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)

I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)

I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)

I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3:20)

I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)

I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)

I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)

I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)

I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)

I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )

I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )

I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )

I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)

I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)

I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)

I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). I have been justified (Romans 5:1)

I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)

I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil. 1: 5)

I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14). I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5)

I belong to God

Do you know

Who you are?

Christmas Photo 2008

Since we were dressed up for church this morning, I decided it was a good time to take an official Christmas photo for 2008. Last year, Matthew got me a tripod for my camera. I am embarrassed to say that I used it for the first time today. After using it today though, I believe I will get a lot of use out of it in the years to come.

The following picture was on our Christmas cards this year. Matthew couldn't believe I would send a photo Christmas card that didn't even have a picture of us on it. I didn't really think about that...oops! Maybe I should have taken pictures of us a couple of weeks ago. But isn't Max a handsome dog? And I'm pretty sure he was excited about meeting Santa.

Merry Christmas!!

16 week pictures

We had our 16 week appointment with the doctor this week. This appointment was very short. We got to hear the heart beat again. It is really amazing to hear. At 12 weeks, it took the nurse quite a while to find the heart beat which made us nervous. This week she found it immediately. It was 137 beats per minute on Tuesday. Since my first doctor's appointment at the end of September, I have gained 6 pounds.

At our next appointment, we hope to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. Then the decorating fun can begin!

Christmas Survey

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? I like both but drink neither very often. If I drink egg nog, I generally dilute it by half with skim or low fat milk. It is a bit thick for my taste, but I do enjoy drinking it.
2. Funny Holiday memory as a child: One Christmas morning a blue banana seat bicycle was sitting next to our Christmas tree. I knew an older girl who had a bicycle just like that and asked my parents if she was at our house. Maybe I wasn’t awake enough to realize it was a Christmas present??
3. Colored or white lights on your house? I prefer white lights – although we have no lights on the outside of our house.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No – I haven’t really thought about that before. That could be fun if it was placed strategically in the house so that I would only end up kissing Matthew.
5. When do you put your decorations up? In the past, I have put them up the weekend after Thanksgiving or close to it; however, this year we barely got them up in time for a Christmas party at our house last weekend.
6. Do you remember your favorite gift? I don’t remember a specific gift. There have been many!
7. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa only brought what was in our stockings when I was a kid.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I wish I could remember, but I don’t. It must not have been too traumatic – unless it was so bad that to this day I am repressing the memory.
9. Do you open gifts on Christmas Eve? Not generally. The first Christmas I spent with Matthew’s family in Chicago we opened one small gift on Christmas Eve. That was when Matthew proposed to me. My “small” gift was my engagement ring.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Generally, we use white lights, a lot of ornaments, and an angel on top. My mom always gets us a new ornament each year and has done so since I was a little kid. This year we were in such a hurry that we didn’t even put ornaments on the tree. Matthew wrapped a large ribbon around the tree which looks really pretty.
11. Snow? If I get to stay home inside then yes I enjoy snow on Christmas. I really don’t like to bother with snow when I’m traveling though.
12. Can you ice skate? I think I have been ice skating once. I am sure it wasn’t pretty. In my current condition, I should probably just say no to ice skating.
13. What is your favorite holiday dish? Does holiday candy count as a dish? I really enjoy eating pretty much anything that is served for the holiday. The older I get I really appreciate home-cooking...especially when I am not the one preparing the meal.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holiday for you? I enjoy spending time with my family and reflecting on the birth of Jesus.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Hmmm…that’s a hard one. I am a dessert affectionado, don’t you know? I will say a pumpkin roll is my favorite.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Right now, I guess my favorite tradition is making all kinds of candy goodies. I used to do this with my mom, and it is just something I want to do around the holidays. I would like to come up with other things for when we have kiddos in the house. One tradition I want to start is reading the Christmas story from the Bible on Christmas Eve. Do you have any traditions you would like to share with me?
17. What tops your tree? Right now an angel tops our tree.
18. Which do you prefer Giving or Receiving? Can I say both? I like to give when I really know what a person would like to have. And I like to receive when someone has put so much thought into what he or she got me.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? There is no way I can answer this question. I LOVE Christmas music.
20. Candy Canes or Chocolate Covered Cherries? I like candy canes okay, but I would much rather have some other yummy treat list Rice Krispie treats, chocolate no-bake cookes, peanut butter fudge, tiger butter, etc.

I just noticed something about myself while filling out this little survey. I cannot leave an incomplete sentence in response to the prompt. That's weird!

15 week pictures

I have been asked for pregnancy photos. The first two photos were the first taken after we found out we were expecting - they were taken October 1st. (At the time, I obviously didn't think about the fact that I was wearing a jacket that hid my mid-region.) The second two photos were taken last Wednesday, December 10th. We have been trying to take pictures every Wednesday so we can see the progress and have documentation to look back at.

I didn't really think much had changed until this week. I feel big all of a sudden. I definitely feel bigger at the end of the day and right when I get into bed. And I don't feel like pregnancy growth, I just feel like I've gotten fat. The baby after all is only 4 inches long and about 4 to 5 oz. It's odd. I finally went out and bought a couple of pairs of maternity pants tonight. I have one pair of jeans that still feels comfortable, but other than that everything is a bit tight. Anyway, here are the photos.

So much time to think of questions

I would like to ask for your suggestions. I have already been given some advice (such as reading “Your Pregnancy Week by Week” - thanks Amy and Wendy and which maternity/pregnancy pillow is good – thanks again Amy). I have many questions beginning with the following. Some relate to pregnancy and some relate to baby.

• When did you begin shopping for baby furniture?
• Where did you shop for baby furniture? Did you do any shopping online?
• Of all the things you registered for, what have you found to be a must-have?
• What did you buy/receive that you haven’t had much use for?
• When did you start decorating the nursery?
• Where did you find your favorite maternity clothes?
• I haven’t been sleeping well. I ordered a pillow that should arrive tomorrow. I have found that I am a tummy or a back sleeper. I cannot seem to get comfortable at all on my side. I hope the pillow will help with this. Do you have any other suggestions for this?
• Do you have any tips/tricks for getting all the nutritious food in each day?
• What kind of diaper bag have you found to be the best?
• Is there something you wish you had done, had not done, or had done differently before the baby arrived?
• Is there something I haven’t thought about yet??

I am sure some of this happened after you found out if you were having a boy or a girl (if you found that out). We plan to find that out at our 20 week appointment in January if the baby cooperates.

We are in a bit of a strange situation at the moment. Matthew was laid off during November. The job market here is not good as everyone is laying off professionals in his field. He has been applying for jobs all over the place, and we believe the likelihood of us moving is pretty good. I hope something will happen sooner rather than later, but that is something that is not up to us. At some point, I think we’ll decide that we have to start on the nursery even if we don’t know anything. But I’m not sure when that would be.

Thank you for helping me out! And I’m sure I’ll have more questions on several more posts over the next 5 or 6 months…or 18 years. And I’ll probably think of a few right after I click the post button.

December 2008

I am sure December will be a busy month and will be over before I know it. I really enjoy December and almost all things Christmas. We celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior. I also enjoy Christmas lights, decorating, music, shopping, baking, etc.


This month we will be celebrating the following.

• 15th my friend Malinda's birthday
• 20th my Dad's birthday
• 25th the birth of our Redeemer
• 29th the first anniversary of our friends Kevin & Kristen

Thanksgiving 2008

Here is a recap of our Thanksgiving holiday.

• Before I got to the house, Shannon and Matthew found many treasures. A few that I particularly enjoyed were Matthew's baby book (complete with a receipt from the hospital) and an outfit that Carolyn crocheted while she was pregnant with Shannon. Shannon doesn't think she ever wore the outfit (baby blue jacket, hat, booties, and blanket), but she is sure Matthew wore it home from the hospital. Needless to say, that came home with us. I cannot wait to use it!
• Max had his first experience with kittens. Matthew found 4 kittens outside the kitchen window a day or two before Thanksgiving. Shannon took them to the vet and kept them until Friday when she could take them to a foster home. We did not play with them much, but Max did get to sniff them and give them a few licks. He was very interested in them.
• Max did well with the kiddos who are 1 and 3. He learned quickly to sit next to the one year old when she was in her high chair. He was able to enjoy many table scraps that she willingly fed him. He was not so good with their toys. At our house, all the toys belong to him. We will have to work on this with our baby. He was very gentle with the kids though he did knock the one year old over a couple of times. He didn't run into her, but she is still a little wobbly with the walking.
• Max got a lot of attention, but I am pretty sure he was tired of hearing "lay down" and "beat it." He really wanted to be involved in everything with the kiddos - even diaper changes.
• I think Shannon felt that we had not packed adequate toys for Max, so she bought him a toy and some reindeer antlers.
• We survived our 18 hour road trip home from Chicago. We were in the car about 9 hours both Saturday and Sunday. The last couple of hours on Saturday we were snowed on, but the roads were not bad. The last 70 miles on Sunday the roads were not good. We came home to about 7 or 8 inches of snow. We were able to stay Saturday night with some friends just outside of Kansas City. That was a perfect halfway point for our trip home. They fed us a yummy dinner and breakfast.
• Max did really well in the car. On the way to Chicago, there was hardly anything in the car and he had a lot of space to himself. On the way home, that was not the case. He mostly slept because there wasn't much else to do. Unfortunately at one of our stops, I closed the car door on his tail. I cannot believe I did that. He yelped, of course, but seemed to get over it quickly.

Lasagna??

Do you have a tasty recipe for lasagna? I have only made lasagna from my Betty Crocker cookbook. While it is not bad, it does not have a lot of flavor. I would like to try a different recipe. There are so many to choose from so I thought I would ask if you have a favorite that I could try.

Thank you!