Christmas humor part 2

I should really be doing a post about the New Year or pictures of Christmas, but I'll finish this debacle.

My dad, bless his heart, agreed to come rescue the girls and I. Just in time too, I almost burst into tears on the phone when he asked if he really needed to come. Yes, dad, you need to come. He brought chains, which we couldn't find anywhere and only needed to get out of our neighborhood, and then took us back up north so Dave could finish out work.

(the ball in NY just dropped...Happy New Year!)

Okay, so on our way home, about 30 minutes out, I hear this small, familiar noise coming from Eloise followed by crying and then another familiar noise. Yep, she was throwing up. It traveled.
We got her home, cleaned up and thought that was the end.

We spent a fabulous Christmas Eve together with family and then another bomb hit. From Christmas morning to the day after Christmas 16 people, yes, 16, got this stomach flu. Our time was spent watching movies, taking turns to the bathroom, and eating toast and apples. Thankfully not all 16 were there at the house.

It was definitely a Christmas to remember.

Apparently our family has strong germs. We now know that it's best to stay away from anyone for at least 3 days after the last person has gotten sick.

I've never been so happy to be home and to not see snow falling. I'm sure alot of my feelings have to do with being pregnant and stuck in a house, but still, we enjoyed time with family and the girls had a great time with cousins. Pictures will come soon.

Christmas humor part 1

It all started two weeks ago Sunday. The snow was coming down and the news was blazing with special reports of Arctic Blast 08'. I'm sure every mid-westerner would have been laughing hysterically with the hype we put into snow around here. My pessimism began and I was sure only a few inches would fall, if that. Regardless, the day home was welcomed and the time with family enjoyable.

As the week went on, the snow and ice did as well. My patience thinned and the walls seemed to move closer in. Friends were gracious enough to come have dinner with me and keep me from turning into the wicked witch of the west on my children.

Thursday we managed to escape the abode and have dinner with friends. However, the ride home proved to be a little tedious and unnerving. When the road sparkles and kids are using it as an ice-rink--it's best to get home fast and carefully.

At 4 a.m. Friday I awoke to the sound of my husband vomiting. It could possibly be the worst sound a newly pregnant woman hears. I immediately started praying for mercy and banished myself to Lily's room. Only to be awoke every 30 minutes by the sound Dave's heaving body in the bathroom.

I disinfected the entire house, wouldn't let Dave come out of his room and whisked the girl's out of the house as quick as I could. I needed to get some shopping done and for the day, the weather decided to hold off. I was not going to come home until Dave stopped showing any signs of this dreaded stomach flu. He stopped at noon, so I figured 7 pm might be a good time to return.

Arctic Blast was apparently rearing it's ugly head the next day again. UGHHH. I was already done with snow and we hadn't even seen the half of it yet. Saturday arrived and so did the snow and extreme temperatures and wind. My pessimism was being beat with a stick as the snow fell and fell and fell and fell some more. Could it really snow more? Please oh please make it stop.

Sunday night arrived and Lily began her barf-capades. Dave was kind enough to deal with it even though it breaks his heart and he can't stand it. I'm doomed. I'm for sure getting the stomach flu.

To be continued...

I'm back

It has been a horrendous two weeks. Not all of it bad, but I'm working really hard to see the good.

I have lots of fabulous pictures of the girls and lots of tales of the stomach flu and a stir-crazy pregnant mama stuck at home in the snow. It was a Christmas to remember for the family, extended and all.

I'm updating pictures and forming a (hopefully) cheerful post about the past two weeks. Instead of good, I'll look for the humor. Laughter is the best medicine, right?

Bloggy Break

With all this snow you would think I would be living to blog as a means of something to do. However, with prego sickness, cabin fever, and the potential of not getting home for Christmas I'm a bit of a downer. So I'm taking a bloggy break until after Christmas.

Hope you all are well, safe, warm, and enjoying the days (and snow) until Christmas. Merry Christmas!

Favorite Link Friday

Much to my dismay, Friday did not have much room left in it for FLF. My husband started vomiting at 4 a.m. and I quickly disinfected everything myself or the girls would touch and immediately bolted out of the house. I arrived back home just in time for bedtime and a frantic scour of the entire house. Dave says he feels like a leper. But if it means I won't get sick, he can go ahead and feel that way.

FLF will return next Friday.

If no posts before then, Merry Christmas. Enjoy it! Those in the NW, be safe with all the snow and travel.

Merry Christmas

It's our virtual Christmas card to all. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

by Bagdanoff Photo

baby #3

I'm fairly early in my pregnancy, 8 weeks. I know this is a bit early to announce but it's way too hard for me to keep a secret. I know there are risks in telling people early and I've experience miscarriage before, my first pregnancy (*). My feelings of loss during that time were not compounded by the fact that I had told people. In fact, I was glad people knew. It was just the support I needed during a difficult time.

Baby #3 is not the same surprise Lily was. We, especially Dave, had been thinking about the idea of a 3rd. I admit, I was a bit more reserved. After we had Lily, I was done. I got rid of everything; baby seat, clothes, a few apparatus's, etc. I knew that if I had another one, I could borrow from the many friends who were still having babies. So, after Dave's incessant begging, [:)] I caved.

I get excited when I think about 'life' with 3, but I don't get excited about newborns or the first 6 months. That is such a painfully out of control time for me that I am not looking forward to. But now that my girls are older and I see how short that phase is, I can power through.

We did not find out the sex of the first two babies, but I made Dave agree to find out with the 3rd. He's desperate for a boy and I'm pushing for a girl. So our surprise will come early this time and I can't wait.

I've been experiencing lots of crazy symptoms, the same as with the girls, and thankfully, no vomiting. Lots of tired afternoons and a slightly impatient temper. I know it will pass so that gives me hope.

Thanks for all the congrats. It makes me get excited for this little babe.

*I found out that I had miscarried at 13 weeks, but my body miscarried somewhere around 7 or 8 weeks. It is believed that I had a blighted ovum and carried a very long time. I miscarried naturally at home the next week.

Favorite Link Friday

Thanks for all your kind comments about the impending arrival. I'll post more about that in a few days, but first, onto Favorite Link Friday.

*I love Good things Catered. This is a great gift idea and fairly easy. You could forgo the alcohol for the kids :)

*This is one of my favorite sites to read. I love her Friday posts.

*I love this post about parenting. I especially like the middle about how easily it is to believe that our life is what we write in our blog. It was an encouragement to me.

*Cute snowman cookies.

*And if you needed one more baking idea, here are some cute pretzel Christmas trees

*I remember making these ornaments in school. I picture Lily trying to eat these like candy, so I think I may wait another year.

Have a great weekend! Hopefully we'll get a bit of snow here, but I'm being pessimistic so I don't get disappointed.

'3 because I'm 3'

It's a frequent phrase coming from our little Eloise these days. It goes a little something like this:

*I get 3 books at bedtime because I'm 3

*I should get 3 yum, yum's (M&M's) because I'm 3

*I only have to take 3 bites because I'm 3

*I want to play for 3 more minutes because I'm 3

*I'm going to do 3 jumps because I'm 3

*I want to stay in the bath for 3 more minutes because I'm 3

*I'll do 3 more slides in the bathtub because I'm 3

*I want 3 more bites of your dessert because I'm 3

*I want 3 pretty-pretty's (hair ties) because I'm 3

Well Eloise, it's a good thing you'll still be 3 when mama has baby #3 in July.

Kid - tivity

'Kid-tivity': kid friendly activity.

Tonight I had the best brainstorm. It had been a long day and my excitement for bedtime was great. However, the process to get to bedtime was not. I've mentioned before that I fly solo for bedtime, which to be honest, I love. Bedtime happens when and how I want it to. But there are still some nights where it's just a bit much.

Christmas lends itself well to late night drives. Coupled with the low gas prices and lots of twinkle lights, you have yourself an easy way out of books every now and then.

I piled them in, jammies and blankies and we drove around looking for sparkle lights listening to Christmas music. I also happened to stop by McD's for a $1 sundae and did not feel one bit guilty keeping it all to myself.

By 7:25 they were out! I really do love all the people who hang Christmas lights up. You really make my children happy.

Searching for sparkle lights
Lily: "Sparkle lights, wheres ares you?"

Favorite Link Friday - Christmas

Most of these are Christmas Links but I had to add a few for laughs.

*Snow Globes - was our craft of the week. It was a fun project. It might be a bit better to do it with plastic jars for little ones b/c the glass ones are a little heavy. But if you have baby food jars, those would be perfect.

*I have this same fear. I do not like opening these cans at all and there is a good chance someone will have to open one this holiday season.

*Oh My! Really?!?

*Fruity Christmas Garland - we are stocked with cereal so I think we may attempt this at snack time.

*Recipe booklet - hit all those after-Christmas sales to find all the materials for this one.

*This would be fun to do with Christmas colors and stamps. If only I had the space this house does and the cute decor.

Hope Christmas is going smooth for you all. Enjoy the weekend and don't be one of those crazy frenzied shoppers.

The advent calendar

Some of you noticed it behind the Christmas tree. Here it is. I have finally finished my advent calendar. Not quite Pottery Barn, but it works. It took many hours and alot of stitching, but I'm hoping it will pay off with years of use.
It's not complete yet, but it will do for this season. We put small cards listing either a verse, activity, or reminder for the day. We try to do it before Dave leaves for work in the afternoon. Eloise is getting pretty excited about it and connecting some of the verses with the people in her nativity. Lily just likes to swing the ornaments on the tree.

Only 21 more days until Christmas!

Thanksgiving Weekend part 2

My parents own a tree farm. Think small trees, not big Christmas trees. They sell the small ones to companies for promotional events, as wedding giveaways, and for reforestation purposes. They started the business the year before I was born. I've spent many a winter and spring in planting and harvest. It's not my favorite and I'm certainly not standing in line to inherit the family business. I can think of about a thousand more occupations I would rather do with my life. But...it does have it's perks, like Christmas trees!

I must note here that these small trees, if not sold get planted on the back of my parents property for Christmas time. The search is not really for the perfect tree, it's for which tree has 2/3 of it 'acceptable' for decoration. My brother has been known to drill holes and glue in branches. My mom, for strategically placing ornaments to hide a hole. That said, I found a true gem.

The girls piled into the wagon and my dad headed out with the chainsaw (no manual saws here).
We found our little 5 ft tree and posed for that perfect family pic. (remember the family skills at picture taking - not good)

We loaded it up and brought it home. (that's why it's only 5ft tall). That is my parents tree on top of ours. They had to lob off the top of a 20 foot tree...now that was funny.

And here's the final product.

And my favorite ornament...the blueberry fairy.

It's been a fun Christmas season so far. I look forward to the coming weeks.

Thanksgiving Weekend part 1

We had a great weekend away with my family. It was fun to celebrate Thanksgiving and prepare for Christmas. I was able to spend some time with my high school bff's and their kids, make wreaths, and pick out our Christmas tree. I did my best to document the event, but with the lack of a good camera (which i just purchased in July) and my inept picture-taking family, a few have come out blurry. However, they still capture the moment.

Part one of the weekend:

Lily found this small doll cradle and decided it had to be her new crib. She even pretended to sleep at one point. Crazy kid.

The day after Thanksgiving we traveled down to my parents farm for wreath and advent logs. My bff's from high school came to make wreath's. My mom supplied all the greens.

our final product. (we had trouble getting everyone to look at the camera)

The the kids made advent logs. You light a candle each Sunday counting down the weeks before Christmas. It was fun to see them spray the snow and drizzle on the glitter.

The kids also got tractor lessons from papa, cow petting, and horse 'sits'. My brother made a huge fire and my mom, of course, supplied the food. We had so much fun catching up and watching the kids play.

Part two: Christmas tree