Christmas 2010

Our first Christmas in Alabama was one of my favorites. Claire is at that age where she is so curious about all the details of Santa. We fielded about a million questions from her about the ins and outs of Santa's operations. Morgan was just excited for Christmas because she was just so sure she was going to get the one things she had been asking Santa for months- a Woody doll. Luke was so excited, he slept in until 10 o'clock on Christmas morning (awesome).

On Christmas Eve, we the big traditional dinner with some friends of ours, read the nativity, and sent the kiddos off to bed. Christmas morning, the girls found their presents from santa in their stockings and the presents under the tree. They were delighted. Morgan and Woody became best of friends and he hasn't left her side since. Claire received Jesse, who also became best buds, and Luke received Buzz, but he just doesn't know that they are going to be best friends yet. It was so much fun.

{isn't that knot hair awesome? Yeah, we deal with that EVERY morning!!!}

And just for a very, very special gift, because Santa knew how hard I had been dreaming of a White Christmas (plus I watched White Christmas three times), it started snowing on Christmas morning- here in Alabama, where it doesn't snow often and it hasn't snowed in my town on Christmas for the 100 years they have been keeping record. It made me so happy.

{Snow, snow, snow, snow, snow!}

We had a really lovely Christmas break just relaxing and hanging out around the house. Most days we all stayed in jammies the whole day.

{Morgan's two buddies- Woody, and Knuffle Bunny}

PS: I made the best batch of cinnamon rolls I have ever made on Christmas and I am not even going to pretend not to be conceited about it. Still thinking about them two weeks later.

{So good}

Have a. . .

The Key to Success

A successful night of gingerbread house making.

The key to success is to buy the kits where the house is already put together and all you have to do is add frosting and the candies provided. Oh, and to not be OCD if the girls put the candy on all crooked.


This particular kit was purchased before I had Luke, so the whole time we were putting it together, I kept telling the girls not to eat the candy, because it was old, old, and old and would upset their tummies. Yet, I still caught Claire eating the candy. Even threat of severe pain wasn't enough to deter her from eating candy (I don't know why, but I just thought about Michelle, here).

You may recognize Morgan's outfit as her Halloween costume. But they are actually pajamas, that she still thinks is a costume and she loves that she can wear them to bed. And during the day. They are her favorite things to wear. Best six bucks I have spent in a long time. She even insists on not turning on the bathroom light when she has to go potty, so that she can see her skeleton glow in the dark. Now that is dedication.


We had a lovely time. And we owe it all to pre-assembled gingerbread houses.

Thanksgiving

If you haven't already caught on, we live in Alabama, far, far away from our family and people who say "pecan" the same way that we do. Due to this distance, we are forced to spend family holidays, such as Thanksgiving, all by our lonesome, in a place where egg custard is commonly considered a dessert. Though we miss our family something fierce, we really do have a good time with our own little family and whatever other friends that happen to also be marooned from their families.

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house with another family. Just some background info here: In the past when I have had to prepare Thanksgiving dinner, I have always made ham instead of turkey. Because A.) it's more yummier than turkey, B.) It is a whole lot easier to prepare than turkey, and C.) it is a whole lot harder to mess up than turkey. Cody and I are in agreement on this matter. However, we realize that when we invite another family to celebrate Thanksgiving, they might be severely disappointed to find out we won't be serving Turkey. So I was forced to make a turkey this year. First time ever. With no one to show me how.

I was really nervous about messing it up, and I read a lot of articles on the internet, talked to friends, sisters, my mom, getting all the advice I could and on Thursday morning I felt prepared. Until I pulled the bird out of the fridge and realized for the first time, I have issues with the fact that it looked like an animal. I am currently in the stage of whenever I see a baby animal it somehow reminds me of Luke. So seeing this turkey with its body parts flapping all around made me sad. I almost started to cry. That was unexpected, but Cody and I managed to laugh off how lame I was being, until I realized just how gross the whole sensation of cleaning out the inside of the bird was. I was just plain grossed out. But I handled it like I do everything that is serious- I laughed inappropriately.

After a few emergency phone calls to my mom and sister, the turkey turned out fine, as well as the rest of the dinner. We stuffed ourselves, had a good visit with our friends, and sent them on their way, feeling like we made it through our first turkey experience okay, though somewhat traumatized.

The next morning, I woke up with the bridge of my nose and corner of my right eye grotesquely swollen and infected. I looked pretty awesome, kind of like the blue monkey people on Avatar. You see, what had happened was almost overnight a cyst sprung up in the corner of my eyelid, almost in the exact same spot I had one several years ago. And thought the swelling has gone down, the cyst is still sticking out there, just so lovely. Our Christmas card will only include pictures of my kids this year, while I wait for my appointment with a plastic surgeon. Awesome.

Speaking of cysts and surgeries, remember the witch picture of Claire from Halloween and the cyst that randomly formed on her eyebrow? She had the surgery about a month ago to remove it and she now only has a little scar in her eyebrow. We recently got her lab results on what it actually was, and surprisingly, it was a tumor. A benign, cystic tumor which, I am told, is nothing to be worried about.



There you go. Probably more info than you could possible ever want to know, but I was getting a little tired of just posting pictures.

Lukesters

A couple of days before Thanksgiving, we celebrated Luke's first birthday in a big way (when I say 'in a big way' I mean I made him some cupcakes, iced with store brought frosting (gag) and chocolate sprinkles on top). I am starting to be much more realistic when it comes to birthday parties for my kids. This year it just had to be simple. Besides, Luke is a party, in and of himself.

He is so busy. He is constantly on the go, constantly chasing after me at home in hopes I will either feed him or hold him. But if I am holding him (such as at church) he just tries to get away from me. He loves to play on the stairs, loves to empty kitchen cabinets, loves to hug by butting his head into your chest. And he is constantly happy and thinks everything is funny. Well, except for the Big Foot toy at Target. It freaks him out and he cries so hard when he sees it. So I make sure we stop and look at it ever time we are there.

We love him so much- he's kinda got me wrapped around his finger. Such a sweet boy!

Vegas

I remember when Cody was applying to dental schools and we first got the interview request letter from the University of Pittsburgh, I thought it was such a random place. I didn't even know that Cody had applied there. When it came down to making a decision on which school we would attend, Cody and I made a little list of the pros and cons of the schools and cities and without much hesitation or uncertainty, we accepted Pittsburgh's offer. What a blessed decision.

I don't know if you couldn't tell, but I LOVE Pittsburgh. It is old, crowded, and the road system was apparently designed by a blind man, but it is all so wonderful (okay, the road system is not wonderful). And though the city, by itself, is pretty cool, I know I wouldn't feel the way I do about Pittsburgh if it wasn't for the wonderful people I met there, and the amazing friends I made. It really was such a wonderful experience and time in our life. I have often thought back to that initial decision of Cody's and mine, how we could have chosen a different school, a different city, met different people, had different friends, and while I am sure that we probably would have had a good experience somewhere different, I am just so happy we were blessed enough to find ourselves in Pittsburgh.

Last month, I had a chance to get together with several of these Pittsburgh girls in Las Vegas. We have all gone our separate ways, and some of us haven't seen each other since last years girls trip, but as soon as we saw each other, we instantly fell back into that fun, comfortable friendship that we enjoyed in PA. We talked non-stop for four days, laughing, crying, sometimes laughing and crying at the same time, eating, getting spooked by Amy's mere mention of ghost stories, and then talking some more. I really had such a fun time.

These are lovely girls, inside and out.

As for the agenda, we really didn't do anything very 'Las Vegasy'. We went to one Comedy show and we drove by the Bellagio fountains while I imagined Clare de Lune in my head. We ate yummy food and just enjoyed good, good company.

It's been over a month ago and I am still smiling about it. I am just counting down the days until I get to see them again.

In the News

So I was on the news.

Normally when I watch people being interviewed on TV, and I am talking regular people who don't normally appear on TV, I always think to myself, ". . .and that's what you chose to wear?" I know, so judgmental, right? Especially for one who often goes out in public looking pretty scrubby. But if I was appearing on TV, I would give some serious thought to what I chose to wear.

I definitely wouldn't have chosen my sparkly striped shirt that makes me look like I am trying to be 14.

And I would have done my hair. Just saying.

My friend, Adrienne, and I were at a park with our kids when we were accosted for a simple interview.

Now I have been interviewed once before on camera, back when I was in high school, for my best friend Bridget's documentary for her film class. When she finally showed us all her documentary, I was MIA in it. When I asked Bridget about it, she told me with the all the sensitivity befitting a best friend, "oh, yeah. I couldn't use any of it." Because I was that bad.

11 years hasn't made me any more eloquent. The interview went basically like this:

She asked a question- I sputtered like a doodlebug.

Then she asked another question- I buttered like a spoodledug

She asked Adrienne a question- Adrienne answered with complete and coherent thoughts.

She asked me another question (the interviewer is a slow learner)- I manage not to sputter like a doodlebug and get out a complete sentence. Unfortunately, I ended up quoting the cheesiest line known to mankind, and of course, that is what made it into the final cut. Since this was Alabama local news, I really wish I could have said something a lot more sensational, like "hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband. . . you are so dumb, you are really dumb, for real." Maybe next time.

I am on it a couple of times, so is my friend Adrienne, and so is, apparently, Erin, the secretary from The Office.