Nightmare before Christmas... Iowa Style

To the left you see my view of the world today. This is what it looks like from our front windows at work today. And it's 6 degrees outside, and only 61 degrees in our building. So basically it feels almost as cold inside work as it does outside of work. (One of our boilers is broken.)

Now... look at this picture. It's incredibly dreary and depressing. And that's the way it looks outside! Less than 10 days until Christmas (and my birthday) and I want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head and nap. Winters like this make me want to hibernate! I think I was a bear in a past life, large and sleepy in the winter. I think we are up to 3 inches as of right now, and it's still falling. It should only snow on the weekends when I have nowhere to go and I can sleep in, all cuddled up with Weston, my cats, and probably Scott. Stay warm and try to drive safe... I'm driving with my most precious cargo this evening!

Merry Almost Christmas!

We had a wonderful Spring-like Saturday with Santa! Weston did wonderful and actually smiled right before his picture was taken. I hope that you all are having a wonderful holiday season and are anticipating Christmas as much as we are. We had a miraculous year and hope that 2009 has as much to offer!

Predictions and Salutations

In the Land of Erin... there will be a Blizzard. Or at the very least a Severe Winter Storm Advisory. We're expecting anywhere from 3-5 inches of snow between 3pm today and 6pm tomorrow night, starting with rain. Which means ice under the snow. I am not very excited. I hate driving in snow. I never know which route to take, all I know is that I need to avoid the highway as much as possible, which leaves 2 possibilities, neither of which are plowed very well. Snow scares me. There is nothing I like better than snow when I am sitting at home with nowhere to go. It's cozy then. But in the middle of the week when i have to go to work, or tomorrow night when I have dinner plans with the Chi Os... it just plain sucks. Enough said, I dislike snow and ice, I don't care how pretty it is.
So... I put up our Christmas decorations yesterday. And I will admit, I took the easy way out. I only put up the 3' Christmas tree from my apartment days. The funny thing is... after placing various small bulb ornaments, I only decorated with snowman ornaments. I figured it was easier to pick a theme than to decide on my favorite ornaments. I think it turned out kind of cute once I placed it on the trunk and decorated with the tree skirt. I also decorated the house with the wreath and various trinkets, and i put a gorgeous tablecloth on our table. It looks lovely, though I still feel somewhat guilty about the small tree. But we will only be home this coming weekend. After that, we're out of town until January 5th. I love family holidays!
I hope you all have a wonderful few weeks until your holidays. Enjoy the candy!

A Clinton Thanksgiving

So, we drove back to Clinton for Thanksgiving. We try to evenly divide up holidays among the families, and Scott's mom used to spend Thanksgiving with her husband's children. This year I felt incredibly guilty since Hugo had passed November 2nd, and we had already committed to Clinton. But Scott's nephew and sister stepped up and had a traditional holiday with Lila. And we called during the day. And Weston sent his Grandma a card with pictures taken 3 days before the big day so she could have a recent look at his gorgeous face. I hope we did ok.

We arrived in Clinton around 11pm. Very late. And I actually stayed awake for most of the ride. Shocking, I know. Weston did awesome, barely waking up at all.

We enjoyed our wonderful dinner about 2 hours late, and Nathan's girlfriend still didn't show. She came later as we were cleaning up and then filled her and her daughter's plates... I'm not so sure about her motives sometime, but that's a different tyrade for a different time. Trust me on this.

I love family holidays. Generally we are all happy to see each other, but as the day wears on and on, emotions come to the surface and everyone takes everything personally. And then we yell, fight and cry. This year... none of that really happened. It was awesome. Some people were kind of touchy, but I actually did my best to hold in my snide comments (that usually run out of my mouth of their own free will) and I think things went ok.

We generally try to watch movies or play dice or hang out... but if we are doing something, then the happiness seems to continue. We usually play dice... basically you roll 6 dice, 1's are 100, 5's are 50, and then 3 of a kind = that number times 100, like three 3s - 300. three ones = 1000, and rolling 1,2,3,4,5,6 on a single roll = 10,000 and the game is over. As long as you roll at least one counter die, then you can continue rolling the remaining dice. My grandparents used to play this, and it's great especially for groups and for talking around a table. I rarely win, and hardly ever lose, but when I do lose, I lose horribly.

So, the point is, we usually play dice. But this time, I brought home a few games... and shockingly, they picked one! My Mom, sister and aunt chose to play Scattergories! And my Dad joined in about 1/2 way through. It was high-larious! I generally play board games with Scott's family (and I usually win) so I am usually rated PG or PG13. Not my family! For the list starting with the letter "P"... name "Something Soft" I put "Plush toy." My adorable, sweet Aunt Linda started giggling and wrote "Penis"!!!! Seriously! Same letter... name "Something played with" I said Puppets, my Dad wrote the same answer as my Aunt Linda's "Something Soft"!!!! What kind of game are these people playing?!?!? I very rarely ever laugh that hard at anything. But this Thanksgiving reminded me of the time that my Dad stopped by for dinner on his way through town. Our power was out and we were grilling and playing board games. We played Cranium Pop5. My dad did a charade of Paris Hilton that would kill you with laughter if you had seen it. It still cracks us up.

I had a wonderful holiday. Weston seemed to enjoy himself. I can't wait for Christmas, I left the games with my parents. And the best part? My birthday is the 26th, I think we will be having Chinese takeout and cake and sparkly bubbly beverages and a family game night! Because it's my party and that's what i want! And my Aunt and Uncle are living with my parents while their new condo is being completed, so it will be like a slumber party!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are headed home to Clinton for Thanksgiving... it should be interesting. We'll have Weston, and Nathan's girlfriend/baby-mama Jeramie and her daughter Zoey. 3 New people, if you leave out Nathan's Great Embryolio, Paisley.
I am very excited. The older I get, the more I like spending time with my family. We still tend to argue, but I think we have more fun together than most people.

Weston's Thanksgiving Outfit! Doesn't he look thankful?!?

Weston has learned to roll over! Granted he does it mostly in his sleep, and when he realizes that he is on his tummy, he gets so mad! He hates Tummy-time. It's so funny to us. I can't wait to show the family how big he is and what he can do now. And I can't wait to see pictures of my almost-niece!!!

I hope you all have a very Happy Thanksgiving and that you enjoy the long weekend. If you have to work Friday, I'm sorry, it sucks, but I've been there. Just put in your time and go home to the leftovers. :)

Before I was a Mom...

I got this forwarded to my email today... and it expresses everything I am thinking every day.
On a very happy side note, my brother Nathan is expecting a perfectly healthy baby Girl (!!!) in April! Thank you to all that prayed for her health and well being!

Before I was a Mom, I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

Weston - 3 months

So, I forgot to put Weston's 3 month pics up. He turned 3 months old on Halloween. I also have more pics at home... Trick or Treating, playing with his aunts/cousins. Here are the 3 month pics though: