2010

What a year it has been! Definitely memorable in so many ways. I stole this quiz from Lawyerish. Go read hers; she's full of fun!
 
1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before? Bought a house. That was a big deal.
 
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?  I don't remember making any this year. I doubt I will next year, either. Maybe a to-do list like Jennie, but probably not any actual resolutions. The to-do list seems much more manageable and smart.
 
3. Did anyone close to you have a child?  Yes! The day after me! :)
 
4. Did anyone close to you die?  No. Someone close to people close to me, but no one close to me.
 
5. Where did you travel?  Oklahoma. Lame, I know. But we moved here from Tokyo in January.
 
6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?  Motivation.
 
7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory?  February 19 (day we closed on the house). May 5 (day we found out we were pregnant). December 22 (day Eriana was born).

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?  Delivering Eriana. And finishing my Master's. But Eriana was the biggest.
 
9. What was your biggest failure? I think I felt like a failure for part of the year due to unresolved depression surrounding Angel's birth. But I'm really proud of the person I am and how I've been able to endure through great stress.
 
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Not really, no. Just regular sick and pregnancy sick and recovery from cesarean pain.
 
11. What was the best thing you bought?  Toyota Prius. Love our car!
 
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?  Jim's. He's incredible. How'd I get so lucky?
 
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?  Several members of our family who have been very not there for us after Angel's death and in the wake of our pregnancy with Eriana. Several people just didn't know how to act toward us and so rather than offering any kind of support they were silent. And others chose to avoid tact altogether, which was very disheartening.
 
14. Where did most of your money go?  Mortgage and furniture/stuff moving in; new car payment.
 
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?  Eriana.
 
16. What song will always remind you of 2010?  Wow, I don't know. I can't really think of one. I listened to a lot more NPR than music this year.
 
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:  a) happier or sadder?  b) thinner or fatter?  c) richer or poorer?   Happier; Thinner; Uh... richer in a lot of ways, but not financially.
 
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?  Run.
 
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?  Cry.
 
20. How will you be spending Christmas?  We spent Christmas at home, just the seven of us (including our pets and Angel's spirit). We were discharged from the hospital in the morning and got to take our precious present home.
 
21. Did you fall in love in 2010?  Every day, over and over with Jim. And each time I look at Eriana.
 
22. What was your favorite TV program?  The Amazing Race, probably. What a great show!
 
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?  No. Hate's a really strong word. There are definitely people with whom I've severed ties, but no one I hate.
 
24. What was the best book you read?  Tough one! I guess New York the Novel. Wonderful! I read it twice.
 
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?  ZZ Top. How great are they!?
 
26. What did you want and get?  A daughter I got to bring home.
 
28. What did you want and not get?  The job of my dreams.
 
29. What was your favorite film of this year?  I don't know. Harry Potter was pretty great. And Twilight.
 
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?  I was 28. I don't remember what I did... Must have been memorable.
 
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?  Angel.
 
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?  Comfortable. I was pregnant for half the year, so I was just trying to accommodate the belly and stay fully clothed.
 
33. What kept you sane?  Jim. He always keeps me sane. Oh, and good antidepressants.
 
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?  Uh... None? I don't know. I always have a thing for Will Smith and Antonio Banderas.
 
35. What political issue stirred you the most?  Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
 
36. Who did you miss?  My friends in Japan. Luckily most of them have left Japan now and we can hopefully visit with them soon!
 
37. Who was the best new person you met?  Eriana. :)
 
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.  Life is never what you think it will be, but always works out when you stay positive.
 
Here's to 2011; hope yours is as great as I plan on mine being! :)

Baby Guessing Game WINNERS!

Well, it took me a week, but I figured out the winners of the guessing game! I'll be getting in touch with the winners directly as soon as I can. Cut me some slack; I've got a newborn! :)

Weight: 7 lbs, 6 oz; WINNER: Anna!
Length: 18.5 inches; WINNER: Kelly!
Hair: Light Brown fuzzies; WINNER: Michelle (yes, I'm aware that this blog is protected, but if you know the family, you can get the password from Michelle)!
Time of birth: 8:43am; WINNER: Kelly!
Name: Guess - Eliana (so close!); WINNER: Jeanne!
Middle Name: Guess - Danielle (three correct guesses; winner chosen at random); WINNER: Amy!

Thanks to everyone for playing! Kelly was the big winner with 2 correct guesses!

Hooray!

Week 1

Eriana is amazing. We waited so long to be able to be parents to our child that this is just incredible and surreal. We look at our daughter and are amazed by everything about her. Parenting a newborn is hard, and we've had our share of learning experiences so far, with millions more to follow in the coming years. But we are so blessed and trying to take everything in stride. Here's the link to a photo album on Picasa that holds pictures of our girl. There's an option near the top of the screen to view as a slide show. I'll try to be diligent about updating it! We only take 10 million pictures of her a day. :)

picasaweb.google.com/JTDAngelo/ErianaDanielle?authkey=Gv1sRgCLDS_Nj495XMeQ&feat=directlink

We'll be sending out after-holiday cards and birth announcements in the coming days. If you'd like one and aren't sure if I have your address, please send it to me via e-mail at tara dot dangelo at yahoo dot com. :)

Gonna go snuggle my bug now. :)

Introducing...

Eriana Danielle!



Born Wednesday, December 22 at 8:43 am. 7 lbs, 6 oz; 18.5 inches long.

We could not be happier that our little girl is here, healthy and so beautiful. We may be a little biased, but we think her birth should have made the national news: "Most Beautiful Baby Ever Born in Oklahoma"! I'll share more later.

She was already sucking on her fingers and holding her hand up to her mouth by herself!



She was wiggling around in her monitor bed in the nursery so much that she kept turning herself the wrong way and scooting down to the bottom of the bed.

TOMORROW!

I woke up this morning with the song from Annie, "Tomorrow" in my head. I do love tomorrow! I can hardly wait to meet our girl!

My surgery was scheduled for 7am, and I was SO excited about that, but this afternoon I got a call that it changed to 8:15 due to a special surgery my doctor needs to perform. I guess I can wait an extra hour! Oh, but it's going to be so hard to wait! Still, knowing I'll see my baby finally tomorrow is so wonderful. I have to check in at 6:45, and I can't eat or drink after midnight. I'm going to be thirsty, but I doubt I'll have issues with the eating part, considering I hope to be in bed by around 9 tonight! My dad is meeting us at Pei Wei for dinner, so I'm definitely going to pig out on fried rice!

I feel like I might be in pre-labor, and it's not very much fun. I'm having some mucous discharge (TMI and GROSS, I know, but come on!), and that's how my labor started last time. But the baby's still moving a lot and I'm not having contractions, so I'm not really worried. Besides, by this point, if I go into labor we just pack up the car and head to the hospital and they call in my doctor to deliver. Not really that big of a deal, I guess, except for, you know, the terror I will undoubtedly feel.

I did NOT finish my freezable meals project, and I'm really disappointed because we have all of the ingredients for 7 more meals in the pantry and fridge that are not cooked and frozen. I'm hoping against hope that everything doesn't go bad before we can use it. And I'm really sad that I only have 17 meals. I know, that's a lot. And Jim can cook, so provided the food doesn't go bad he can make stuff when we get home. Still. Disappointed.

Today we installed the car seat, then I went to the fire station to have the installation inspected. The guys at the fire station were great. So nice. They were talking to me about the Prius and we got into a conversation about hybrids and electric cars. I think perhaps Jim should have gone because he's really into stuff like that and could have engaged the conversation better than me. Oh well. :)

My bags are packed, my last-minute packing-list is made, my text and e-mail lists are ready in my cell phone and yahoo account, respectively, the camera, cell phones, netbook and kindle are charged, and I'm ready to have a baby! I'll let you know how it goes! Until then, follow me on Twitter or Facebook, and I'll update the blog as soon as I'm able. Thanks for your prayers and positive thoughts! I'll leave you with my last weekly belly shot of this pregnancy. Raisele wanted to be in the picture, so I told her to sit and she stayed for the pic. Funny puppy girl!

Oh, HEY!

I'm having a baby in three days. THREE DAYS! That's very exciting and scary and wonderful and terrifying and exciting a million more times.

Yesterday Eddy wasn't very active and I spent about half the day scared and pushing on my belly and trying to get her to wake up and move. Of course when I settled in to go to bed she went crazy, which was a lovely way to wind down my day. Today she's as active as ever, so I'm glad for that!

Today Jim and I are cleaning out part of the garage with my little sister today. We are anticipating getting a deep freezer in the next few weeks and need to make room for it. And I have 9 more recipes on my list for my freezable meals project with all ingredients bought and ready to cook. Except chicken. Because Baby Brain hit me pretty hard last night and I cooked 3 lbs of chicken so that I could have some ready for another recipe because I only needed 2 lbs for the meal I was making for dinner, and then instead of reserving 1 lb, I put it all in the casserole I made last night. Lovely. So I need 1 lb of chicken. But even if I don't get all of the meals ready and in the freezer before Wednesday, since the food is already bought and Jim can cook, he can make the remaining meals when we come back from the hospital.

Meanwhile, I finished all of my Christmas projects and could not be more thrilled about that! I wrapped everything and got the out-of-town gifts ready to ship on Monday, and the in-town gifts ready to deliver to my sister on Monday. I have a doctor's appointment on Monday afternoon, dinner with some girlfriends Monday night, dinner with my dad on Tuesday night, and I'm having a baby on Wednesday! I took tomorrow and Tuesday off of work, so I get to sleep in and relax/cook freezable meals on those two days, and just enjoy my time with Jim before it's the three of us instead of the two of us.

I can't help but be nervous and wonder how everything will go on Wednesday. I won't be able to breathe easily until I hear that baby screaming in the OR. I'm so ready. I'm so excited. I can't wait.

PS Don't forget to enter the Baby Eddy Guessing Game! Guessing closes tonight at midnight. :)

Eviction Notice

Dear Eddy: You've been a pretty good tenant (if we don't discuss the heartburn, nausea, rib and bladder kicking, etc.), but this notice is to inform you that you will be evicted from your current home one week from today and moved to a new home. If you so choose, you may move out early, but on December 22, 2010 you will be forcibly removed if you have not yet vacated my belly. Hope you have a good week! Love, Mama

36 WEEKS!/8 DAYS!

Wow, I really feel like this year has flown by. Maybe it's because I've been pregnant, maybe it's because we've had so many changes in our lives this year, but I can hardly believe I'm already 36 weeks along and we're just a couple of weeks or so away from 2011! It hit me over this last weekend that our baby girl could arrive anytime. Sure, we have this countdown going, but technically, I could go into labor and she could come early! So we're at 8 days or less now. YIKES!

I had an appointment yesterday, and the NST was good. Baby Eddy moves a lot, and was responding as she should. We also had an ultrasound and our little girl is not having any trouble growing. I'm so thankful for that! I'm still between 4-5 lbs gained, but she weighs right where she should for her gestational age (no hints, people; some of you haven't entered the guessing game yet!). The doctor isn't worried about my weight gain because the baby's doing fine, and I'm healthy. It sounds good to me, this not gaining weight thing. I'll leave the hospital lighter than I started my FIRST pregnancy at this rate. That will really help as I try to get back into shape! We got to see her little face in the ultrasound, and she's just so precious. She looks a lot like Jim, I think, and a lot like Angel did at birth. That's a little hard to swallow, the thought that she might look just like her sister would have as she grows, but I know that it is a blessing rather than a curse if that turns out to be true.

I kind of broke down in fear the other night, and Jim was just amazing (as always) with his empathy and his love and his kindness. I'm so thankful for him! The closer we get to December 22nd, the more scared I get. I'm feeling better about things after Jim and I talked, but it's still really scary, having a healthy pregnancy so far and knowing our child is getting ready to come into the world. We have an excellent doctor, but we had that last time, too. I'm just ready for it to be surgery day, and meanwhile I'm being really diligent about kick counts and making sure she's not quiet for too long. I just love to feel her move.

The late-pregnancy "discomfort" is starting to wear me out. What my friend Leslie calls the "ice pick in the cervix" (sorry, male readers) is happening more times a day than I care to count, and sometimes will stop me in my tracks, it's so painful. This morning I rolled over in bed and got a super sharp pain at the bottom of my stomach which went unappreciated. And walking is proving to be more difficult each day, although I'm not waddling! I get out of breath easily, and I feel it more than ever at the end of the day when I have done too much throughout the day. Plus, I've been swelling a little bit when I've been on my feet too much through the day. I had hoped to avoid the water retention by delivering early because I really love my winter boots (silly reason, I know), but they zip up to mid-calf (so when my feet/legs swell they get tighter). And I've been feeling Braxton-Hicks contractions more than before, though they aren't painful labor contractions by any means. Just this kid right below my ribs makes my contractions push up further and makes me feel them more easily. Needless to say, I'm ready for this kid to be born (for SO many reasons)! I wish there was a way I could let my body know that it won't need to go into labor so that it would stop practicing, widening my pelvis, etc. Thank GOD I'm delivering 3 weeks early.

Since I finally finished the nursery, I'm breathing a little easier. Now I have to finish late December/early January birthday presents and cards, finish Christmas presents, get a little further in my freezable meals project, and get my lists of texting numbers/e-mail addresses ready to go to the hospital for the day-of-birth announcement. I know that our families will go easy on us if I don't finish birthday/Christmas stuff in time, but I'd really like for it to all be done. It would make me rest easier knowing I don't have to finish that stuff after we go home.

Anywho. Hope you're all having a wonderful week so far. 8 days and counting!

NURSERY IS FINISHED!

I FINALLY finished the nursery last night, with 12 days to spare. Good grief, what a relief! (Totally didn't anticipate that rhyming when I started typing it out, but because I'm a dork I'm going to leave it...)

Looking into the room from the hall. Door on the left is the closet. My sister made the curtains, and a good friend in Japan painted the elephant prints. The pink tub next to the crib is our current toy box (gotta have a lid so the puppies don't try to steal her toys), and the box on top is full of toys, but I haven't washed those yet, so they aren't in the box with the others.



Across the room from in front of the closet. All of the photos in the big brown frames are ones of elephants that friends or family members took. The house-shaped frame on the right is pictures from right before and right after my birth, and the rectangular frame below it holds pictures of Jim and me from our childhoods. The brown frame on the light pink wall is the Horizons cover made for me when I left my job at Marketing in Japan the first time I was pregnant.



Into the closet from the middle of the room. I'm only a little bit OCD. We have two of the calendars that are hanging on the inside of the door - one in Spanish and one in English. Once Eddy is alert enough we will start going over things in both languages every day to give her a basic knowledge of day-to-day stuff in both languages (before we let Dora and Diego take over her Spanish education).



From beside the crib across the room. The elephant print above the bookshelf is from Nerdy Baby and tells Newton's three laws of motion. The fire truck is from Jim's childhood. You can also see under the changing table which, again, expresses my little bit of OCD. This will all stay organized until Eddy's old enough to make it all a mess. Six months of nursery organization is more than I can ask for. :)



To say that I love this room would be a major understatement. And just so you know (since one of our friends asked), we are NOT trying to make our child a Republican. She can have whatever political beliefs she wants. I just love elephants. :)

Anywho... If you're local, I can't wait for you to see the nursery in person. If you're not, well, just know it's beautiful! :)

Jim's Birthday Plus Miscellaneous Stuff

Saturday was my love's birthday and we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate because, well, we're kind of boring (and we like it!). Jim turned 27, and I'm so excited that he did because when Eddy's born he'll be 27 and I'll be 28 and it will SEEM like I'm just a little bit older than him (until I turn 29 in the spring) and that makes me happy. I know, I'm weird. We slept in on Saturday morning and I made cinnamon scones (from a can) and coffee. We watched tv and then I cleaned the house and Jim worked and played video games. Then Saturday evening my sister and her wonderful kiddos came by and my mom came by to give Jim birthday presents and love.

Side note: Best question so far this pregnancy came Saturday evening from our sweet 2-year-old niece. She asked me, "Did Baby Eddy fall out yet?" So funny.

Jim was the happy recipient of candy, Coke Zero, coffee and money for his birthday. What could be better? Then we went out for Mexican food and to a late movie (the 9pm show!) to see "Due Date." It was a VERY funny movie. We both laughed a lot. It's not for the faint of heart, though. If you're sensitive to dirty humor you might avoid this one. :)

On to the miscellany!

-I sent in questions to a couple of my favorite blogs and they were posted here and here. I love these blogs and even more because they are HELPFUL in addition to being entertaining!

-I am 35 weeks pregnant today. I went to the doctor yesterday and everything was good. The baby is fine, movement is good, I wasn't dilated (I had to have a swab, so he went ahead and checked me... sorry for the tmi :)), and the NST was great. I have an ultrasound next Monday along with my normal NST and doctor check-up. 15 days to delivery!

-My alma mater, the University of Oklahoma, played the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the Big 12 Championship title on Saturday and I'm SO excited that we won. My step-dad is an avid UNL fan and it's a fun thing about which to taunt each other. In honor of the big game on Saturday I decorated his car while he was at work. He has the unfortunate problem of working in a building behind my office building and my office looks out on his parking lot. Sorry, Bob! Lots of love to you!



I didn't get to do as much as I might have because I was rushing, hoping he wasn't going to come outside for a break. But the windows are all written on in car chalk, and the balloons all say OU. I posted the pictures on Facebook, too, and one of my step-brothers was really indignant that I would desecrate his dad's car. Fun times. :) (I told my mom I was nervous because I've been playing pranks on Bob and that since payback hasn't come yet I feel like I should be looking over my shoulder; she told me she would if she were me... Kind of forboding!)

-I only have 2 more work weeks left, and I am really excited about that! I feel like the days are dragging by, but I know that December 22 will be here before we know it. I'm taking the two days before my delivery off to finish getting everything ready, pack my bag, relax, etc. Meanwhile, in the evenings and on weekends I'm still working really hard on Christmas presents and late December/early January birthday presents, hoping I'll get everything accomplished in a reasonable period of time. I wish I could bring Christmas presents to work to work on, but that would be a waste of company time. Not a good idea. :)

-I started a new book series this week (Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins) and the books are so far so amazing that five days after the purchase of the first book I'm halfway through the second. (Of course they aren't particularly long, and I read fast, but still...) The verdict is still out, until I finish the third book (it's a three-part series) but for now I'm loving them. More on the book page once I'm done; I'll write a short review.

-I started my cooking project for freezing meals before Eddy's arrival. I cooked for about half the day on Sunday and we now have 8 meals in the freezer (some are duplicates) ready to be heated/cooked. I have a stack of recipes to make over the next two weekends. My goal is to have about a month's worth in the freezer before the 22nd. (If you have any freezable recipes to share let me know! And I'm planning to type all these recipes up in a collection so that I can send them to those who ask. One prego friend already has asked, and I'm very happy to share the ones that have worked for us.) It was really nice after my first pregnancy to have a bunch of meals already made and in the freezer. Of course, our wonderful friends kept us fed for almost a month after we came home from the hospital, which was a blessing in and of itself, but I don't want to rely on the kindness and generosity of others and not make contingency plans, especially because I'm delivering right before Christmas. Plus, how wonderful will it be to not have to worry about dinner for awhile!

I think that's all on my agenda for now. Hoping these next 15 days fly by in some respects, but crawl along in others. I really need to finish up Christmas presents! :)

My Maternity Clothes Must-Haves

I don't claim to be an expert on maternity clothes, by any means. But I have been pregnant for almost the last two years straight, and I have definitely figured out what I like and what I don't, what I needed, and what I didn't in the realm of maternity clothes. I worked in a business casual office, didn't work, worked in a bit dressier business casual office, and finally in an office where I wear jeans and comfy "business" casual shirts. Here's a list of my must-haves from my pregnancies.



1. A comfy, STRETCHY pair of jeans. I have 4 pairs of jeans and some casual pants, but one pair of my jeans don't have a panel at all, and weren't very conducive to a growing belly after the middle of the second trimester, and the other two pairs don't have a lot of stretch which doesn't really work for me in my third. My casual pants are okay, but one pair doesn't have a full panel and it slips a lot, and the others don't have as much stretch as I like with my giant belly. I wear this pair every day, no lie. I wash them 3 times a week so I can wear them every day.

2. A few pairs of maternity slacks. I bought these and they are so comfy. There's a lot of give, a full panel, and I can wear them with flats or heels. Also, they are dressy enough for work, if you need work slacks, but can be paired with a casual shirt for family events, non-jean events, or church.

3. A couple of dresses. I found great sales at Motherhood and have three maternity dresses I bought from there. They have been great for fancy dinners, baby showers, work, etc. It's nice to have something a bit more dressy, but still super comfy.

4. Shirts in a handful of colors. I kind of went overboard the first time I was pregnant and had a million shirts. Also, both times I have been pregnant from the spring to winter, which requires a full year's worth of clothing choices. I found that I have my favorite shirts, and I pretty much wear them over and over again. Most of them are jersey (t-shirt) material, and they are in a variety of styles/sleeve-lengths, so that I can wear them with jeans or slacks and dress them up with jewelry or heels or a fancy sweater, or wear them to run errands or whatever else. I found a fantastic selection at Old Navy, and a lot of my maternity shirts are tight because I like to show off how big the belly is! :)

5. A couple of fun t-shirts. Let's face it, being pregnant isn't the most fun thing in the world. Sometimes you need a laugh, or to make others laugh not at your expense, but with your situation. Having a couple of fun shirts that will make people do a double-take is a necessity for me.

6. Maternity/nursing bras. Not all women experience a significant change in their chest size while pregnant, but a lot do. I bought these bras the first time I was pregnant and wore them toward the end of both pregnancies. Since they are also nursing bras you can use them for more than just your pregnancy, so the price is justified, and you can buy them in a bigger size than your normal bras so that as you, um, grow, you're still comfortable. Plus, these are so comfortable!

7. Bigger pajamas. This may seem unnecessary, but my regular pajamas don't fit me very well these days, and I love having the bigger-sized pants and nightgowns I bought during my first pregnancy. Plus, I wore them after my first pregnancy when everything was sore and I was still larger than I wanted to be. I have stretchy, comfy pants and nightgowns that I wear as long shirts. It's much more comfortable than Jim's pj pants and undershirts (my back-up bigger-sized pjs).

8. Cardigan-style sweaters. As I mentioned before, since my pregnancies have spanned the seasons quite nicely, it has been necessary to have a full-year's worth of clothes. However, the heating coil in my belly keeps me pretty warm, even when it's 30 degrees outside. I swear by cardigans, which tend to be stretchy, so you don't have to buy maternity sweaters, and tend to be a bit warmer than a light jacket (and not as confining), but aren't as warm as a winter coat. I have about 5 cardigans that will still button or tie over my belly. I wear them pretty much every day.

9. Tank tops. It's proven well-worth it to me to buy maternity tank tops. I generally like to wear a tank top each day, because I'm not too keen on showing off my cleavage or bra straps, and tank tops seem to cover this problem. But maternity tank tops are made for big bellies, and go all the way down to the bottom of the panel on your pants, or past that. Even though you will just wear them during pregnancy, it's worth it.

What maternity stuff did you/do you swear by?

Christmas!

Monday I put 2 and 2 together and realized that if I'm having this baby in 23 days (21 today), then Christmas was 26 days away, and I should probably make the time to finish up the presents I'm supposed to be making. You'd think I would have realized this earlier, especially since I bought all of the stuff to make the presents awhile back and started working on them several weeks ago. But I've been working on the nursery and had a stomach bug and then had Thanksgiving, and then had Angel's birthday and... I haven't gotten the presents done.

I did, however, start working on them a bit last night. So if you're a family member who is expecting a Christmas present, even though we won't be at Christmas this year (you know, having a baby and all...), then rest assured that you will have a present to open from our family. Even you out-of-towners. I'll get them done.

I'm actually really excited about the presents we're giving this year. We're on a pretty tight budget (you know, having a baby and all...), but I still wanted to give something that was both thoughtful and useful. I think I've managed to succeed on all accounts. Jim thought my ideas were great. He's a little partial to me, so sometimes I just have to take his high opinions of me with a smile and nod, but he seemed legitimately excited about the presents with which I came up. Of course, since my family members read this blog I can't reveal the presents until after Christmas (I'm sure I'll have a whole lot of time THEN, haha!), but I'm excited. And don't worry, family members: this isn't like Tara's budget Christmas where you all got homemade stuff on my $50 budget that you probably threw away or gave to Goodwill. This is stuff that takes thought and effort and time.

On my Christmas list this year was a cheese grater. Yes. I asked my husband for a cheese grater. Have you seen this one? Wow, so cool. It has a measuring device on the side so you can SEE while you're grating how much you're grating, and it has a trap at the bottom so that if you have to readjust halfway through a block of cheese you don't have to worry about all of it falling out onto the plate or bowl or kitchen counter where you're grating. It's really cool. I also asked for a designer hospital gown, which I just ordered for myself over the weekend. And I added a baby to the list, in case Jim wants to give me one of those. I'll take a little girl. About three days before Christmas.

Jim said he wanted a baby for Christmas, too. And that we could share the cheese grater. I may or may not have listened to him on that and I may or may not have gotten him something really great for Christmas. :) He doesn't read the blog very often, so unless one of you family members or friends decides to rat me out, there's a good chance he won't know till I give him a present (that I MAY or MAY NOT have gotten him) and he gives me a sheepish grin, and hopefully a hug and kiss of joy (UNLESS I DIDN'T GET ANYTHING FOR HIM) that he's getting something besides half a baby and half a cheese grater (UNLESS HE'S NOT!).

We put up our Christmas tree on Friday, with a lot of help from my baby sister, who was in town and working hard on the nursery for us. It was really nice to put it up this year, and even nicer to have family around while we did it. We've never had family around when we're decorating for Christmas. Last year we didn't celebrate Christmas. It is good to have something to celebrate again this year. (Ignore the fact that our tree topper looks like she's about to fall off the tree; I think this will be the last year for our $25, used Christmas tree as it's been pretty troublesome.)



I also, inspired by this post, made a wreath for our front door in the shape of our last initial. I must say that it's a difficult letter, because it was hard to not make it look like an O, but I think I did a pretty good job! If anyone local wants to try their own, I have an extra 12 feet of greenery I didn't need that you're welcome to (I already threw out the wrapping, so I can't return it).



Well, that's about it for now. Can't wait to reveal my work on Christmas gifts after the holiday! Hopefully our family members will be excited about them and appreciate my efforts. :) To all of my readers I wish you a lovely holiday season. And to you Jewish folks especially since Hanukkah starts tomorrow!