a holiday recap of sorts....

well folks, it's come, gone, and done....and on to January. I have to say, though, the holiday time fared rather well, and now we can settle down, and get back to the everyday appreciations, and lovins, and a bit less chaos....

We had a nice quiet x-mas morn' here, chock full of handmade wrappins', waffles, strawberries, and giftin'. The kids got some fun stuff, and yes, this mama wrapped up the new snow pants and socks, and needed items as well, not that it ever snows in these parts....:)The kidlets seemed to enjoy themselves, and hubs spoiled me rotten, out of the blue, with a remote carstarter, that I have been all sorts of lovin' everytime we have left the house since...



Between Hanukah and X-mas these kidlets got spoiled rottenby both my family and bry's and allthough I am very appreciative, as they indeed loved all their gifties, (yes, even the socks and snowpants...) I definately had some damage control to do for several days after the festivities came to an end....NEVER SPOIL YOUR CHILDREN....I am shocked at how fast they can go from appeciating a new toy to the greedy....IS THAT FOR ME TOOOOOO??? Followed by a rush to grab the next present. But alas, all seems to be under control, and the troops are rallying back to normalville here, which is a great relief to me...



New Years will be a quiet event, hosted here, just some friends and family, nothing crazy....just some chill time...with good eats and great company.


In baby news, lil man is growing on schedule, and doc says, that the more kids you have, the stretchier things get, hence why when you stare at the belly he appears to be doing jumping jacks, it's because he can....

I am just trying to rest and savour the last several days of break before school is back in session until maternity leave takes over....just......a......few....more....weeks...........

Lil man starts swimming lessons with Pa in a few more weeks, and shortly after that, there will be three, folks.......just trying to take it day by day, love every moment, and not be to overwhelmed by what lies ahead!


anyhow, hope you all fared the holidays and are doing wonderful, I miss you all, and am looking forward to some mini visits soon....

NIN....so glad you are feeling better and the holidays worked out....can't wait to have drinkies with you after babymaking is come and gone....

S- I have been thinking lots about you too, miss you something fierce, and for you, my calender is out....lets do even just coffee perhaps this weekend?????
hugs...

well, we are deeply submerged into the holiday season, although the weather is kind of a drag. I am not a huge snow fan, but folks, 53 the weekend of Christmas...BBLAGHHH. What we need is a good cold spell, to kill all of these nasty germs and refresh the winter spirit....uhmm, can you say GLOBAL WARMING...

So the kidlets have been all sorts of digin' on their Hannukah lovins' and are just about ready to jump into their Christmas bashes, as the festivities will be all sorts of chaos and holiday craziness starting this weekend!



Lil man's new favorite chore is vacuuming up all the tree needles that fall on the floor everyday to help out, this among the daily reorganization of ornaments that continues.....ahhhh, my little Ty Pennington....

Anyhow, for the most part all is well, I have been sending lots of well wishes to some families in need out there, and can only imagine the struggles that they are going through, which is stressing me a bit, but I am tring to keep my head up....

I am out of control with my germaphopia, more on that another day, just trying to stay healthy, and get through the next few days!
sorry to anybody who is waiting on me to make plans, I have sort of been in a no plans mode, as planing things in advance is stressing me, so so soon folks, I promise to get my head out of my way and make plans.....I PROMISE....

Ahhhh, hormones, gotta love 'em....
Love to you and yours, from me and mine,

A

the holidays are coming....oh my....

well, they are upon us, and so far so good. I am exhausted, had an ultrasound today, and guess what, the little guy only weighs in at about 4 lbs. right now, not the 30 or so that I had estimated, so I guess, I am indeed the one packing on the pounds, not the baby! Hence the exhaustion, lots of weight, little frame, SOOOO stinking tired. Oh yeah, and the other two children.... :-)


this is little T's view on a regular basis...poor kid. She is so excited, and regularly puts her little hands all over the belly and says "MOOOOOVE Benjiben!!!!" (Benjamin is not in her vocab...but I stinkin' love benjiben, and may even call him that for kicks...no mom, not really.

no complaints though. everything looks great, and estimating the little man to arrrive in the begining of feb, sometime.....I would post more pics, but hmmm....

the kiddies are good, M insists on rehanging the ornaments on the tree all day long, a tradition he has deamed "decoration days" and is absolutely thrilled to light the harmonica candles, if only harmonica would hurry up and get here!

Just a few more days little guy. I promise!


anyhow, I hope you are all fairing the season well, and I look forward to seeing all your sunshiney faces sooo soon.

much love, and happy holidays....A

p.s. nin, I have been reading faithfully, but blogger will not let me leave you comments....urghhh, so irritating. So miss you love you, and hope to see you soon...

randi, thanks for the comment, so glad you finally left one. how are your holidays so far....do we have a WH gathering in the works for over X-mas??

SC - sorry we couldn't work it, lets shoot for after x-mas before new years....but maybe a girlie gathering in the meantime??

and SE...so glad you had a nice time, x-mas???

chel, see you soooo soon!

santa came to town....

and threw up all over my neighbors yard....
I wish you could all see it....I mean really, it is like these folks drove to the local walmart, raided the store, bought everything that you could blow up, tie down and light up, and are in the process of putting it within my field of vision....

I am trying to stay open minded, I think that some lights are pretty, but people please, a blow up dalmation wearing a santa hat that is the size of my minivan....NOT FLIPPING COOL.
(sorry if I am offending any of you that think this 10 foot snow globes are cute...)

IN OTHER NEWS...as I am trying to ignore Chevy Chase across the street, who has been out there for FOUR FREAKING HOURS PEOPLE...yes, read FOUR....and is still unpacking boxes of items that need to be set up.

the x-mas and harmonica(as lil man calls it) cards are done, and we are just in the process of getting the holiday picture taken which is semi impossible, as Teags just isn't into letting me take the pic with out getting up and walking away....and I have tried everything, so after naps, we will try again...


and no, he is not choking her, he was trying to ge her to look up at the camera, all while saying, "ugh, T-bo you are driving me stinking insane...."











oh, and people, if you are reading, say hi. I love to hear that you all read, but leave me a comment, it makes my day to know your all here! just click on the little comment link at the end of the post. it is not rocket science....

keepin' it real....

so december has arrived and I am less than enthusiastic, I feel like this time of year is so full of errands, to do lists, obligations, obligations and more obligations....

SO, how to battle these winter blahs...

I am trying to spend this year focusing on what is important, what makes me smile, doing the things I want to do, and what is best for our family, not necesarily what pleases everyone else...

so in the spirit...I am making my OWN list

gonna wanna do list:

*gonna curl up with some sweet decaf at night by the fire, while I work on the holiday cards(which will probably inevitabley be late)

*gonna not spend the whole day everyday running around and picking up the kiddos toys that will be back on the floor in 5 minutes...and I am not gonna stress abot what people think of this when they come over to my house...

*gonna not feel obligated to spend a fortune on gifts for people that we rarely see anyway, and going to try and make everyone else remember that it is not STINKING about the gifts and the amount of money you spend, rather the thought that goes into it and the love behind it....

*gonna marvel in my kids faces as they experience all the joys of the holiday season, like making gingerbread men, which lil man will LOVE, and eating them, which T-bo will cherish...

*gonna get lost on my book everynight before bed while I curl up by my snoring husband, and remember how lucky I am to have such a wonderful man in my life...

*gonna bake lots of treats for lots of folks and make homemade gifties and I am gonna pretend that people are happy to get them, because that's what I want to do....

*gonna ignore all the irritating statements about how stinkin' huge my belly is...helllloooo, I cannot move, obviously I am aware of it...and I am gonna cherish every little movement that this lil man makes inside me, as I think he will maybe probably *maybe* be the last little one that I carry...

*gonna be outside in the fresh crisp air as much as humanly possible...

*gonna light candles everynight so I can hear the little guys say "HAPPY CANDLELIGHT!"

*gonna stop letting the little things make me crazy....gonna just remember that they are just little things, and they don't matter, so just ignore them all together!

*gonna stop letting the nasty, unhelpful, attitude-ridden sales people everywhere I go drag me down...and remember that they to have lots on their plates...

*gonna love, gonna live, gonna be grateful, thankful and content...THE WHOLE SEASON....just like I am able to do easily the rest of the year....and remember what matters most....

What are you gonna do....