Jingle Bells?

Once upon a Midnight clear...

As Weston and I sat near,

There was a rustling...
what some might call a Jingling,

within our Christmas Tree.

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Since Weston was next to Mommy

there was no way that he was naughty.

He gave me a look as if to say,

"Hey! How come I don't get to play?"

**********

We crept around our glowing tree

looking for the source of the holiday clatter.

And what should we find was the matter?

(see below)

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Nola... our cat in disguise as the Griswald Christmas Chipmunk!

Superman Jones

Weston had a huge, very busy weekend. Late nights, early mornings and little to no naps.

He left all Christmas presents alone and under the tree.

He was especially adorable around all extended family.

He opened his Christmas present at the Dalton Christmas Party with the wonder and laughter that we all hope for our children.

He raced that car up and down his "Mommy-ami's" legs, arms, and tummy as if I were a NASCAR speedway! He kept going, "Broom! Broom!" (No clue where he picked up the car sounds.)

The best part of the weekend?

As we're getting ready for bed, I hand Weston his sippy cup and ask if he wants a drink. He takes the cup from me and replies, "Tan You, Mom." I about cried I was so thrilled.

Christmas pictures

Thanks to our friends, Jason and Rachel Taylor (photographer and creative assistant, respectively) from Taylormade for setting up this impromptu photo shoot in our living room. It was so much easier to do something like this at home. And since this is our last Christmas in our house, it was so nice to see everything look so pretty! Some of the pictures are a little dark, but most turned out nice.
To quote Jason, I made some "artsy," of course I did.

Our Tree... wouldn't guess it was our house!

My fave!
Weston loves the bulbs! Obviously I worked on this one.

Weston, old school portrait style, a little too bright (my fault!)

a little blurry, but the happy couple

our family

fun family picture! (my face looks huge!)

Weston and Mommy... love this one too.

our holiday card, thank you Walgreens!

he reads my blog (!!!!)

Scott, July 30, 2008, at Mercy waiting for Weston to be born, while I was blogging. He looks so Buff.

So... Scott reads my blog. Fairly regularly from the sounds of it. I've known about this for a few weeks (months?) now. I always seem to forget that he reads it until he makes a comment about it. And then I'm slightly embarrassed and a little giddy that he reads my writing.

To be completely honest, I like what I write to be read.

I used to think I would be a writer. That I would make my living as an editor or writer for a magazine, that my life would famous through the written word.

I'm not famous, nor is my life extraordinary.

My life is simply a life. A trial of ups and downs (you always hope more ups than downs.) But, I write. I blog about my existence and the existence of my family. I used to keep journals, private thoughts. I started when I was 9 years old and was dealing with the death of my beloved grandma. I put my emotions to paper. It seemed safer than letting them out. An act I would repeat for almost two decades. But then life got so busy that it was hard to keep up. The funny thing is... I always sort of hoped that they'd be read some day. Not by anyone in my immediate generation, but by someone someday. I remember thinking about that even as a child.
So, now I blog. I put my thoughts and feelings into words and I share them with the world (maybe 6 people total.) And my husband reads this. He enjoys reading what I write. He finds me humorous and intriguing enough to keep reading and to actually have conversations about my writings. (Why this astounds me, I have no clue. He did marry me after all.)

It thrills me to know that he reads what I write. I get excited at the thought of him seeing into my head. I positively burst if he's proud of me or impressed by me (I get almost the same feeling when my sister starts showing off my blog to her friends.)

I feel Validated.

I feel Loved.

I feel Powerful.

So, thank you to all who read my ramblings, you devoted travellers through the Land of Erin. It warms my soul to know that someone is out there.

A special thanks to my Husband - You now know how thrilled I am with your literary interest. :)

blizzard...

Snow Day!

Snowed into the house with Scott and Weston. I will post more, hopefully with pictures soon! 15+ inches of snow and drifts almost to my shoulders. Wow.

life changing event... well, sort of

So... it's Official! I'm a Type 2 Diabetic.
Basically this means that my body produces insulin, but it either doesn't produce enough or it doesn't know how to properly use what insulin is available. Basically meaning that no matter what I do or did, my body has a flaw and I need medicine daily to correct the error. Of course this means that I need to be much more aware of what I eat. And I will be on a medicine called Metformin every day, twice a day, for the foreseeable future. I need to go back to counting carbs with a vengeance. And fortunately, I get to increase my calorie count to 2000 calories a day, my post-pregnancy nutritionist said 1600 calories or less per day. That's so hard to do right now. But I don't have a choice.
Surprisingly, I am so sad. I feel like crying all the time. It's not like I haven't been in this situation before. The last time I actually cried. I was so upset. The doctors at Mercy (evil bitches that they are) made me feel so bad, and told me all the things that could have been wrong with my baby due to my high sugars. They scared me to death. I changed my entire life in 2 days. This time around, I have already made most of the changes, so what do I do now? I need to go grocery shopping for one. I need to find better ways to eat and to purge my kitchen of pasta. I need to find a way.... Dr. Nowak wants me to lose 2-3 pounds a month. At that rate, it will take me a year to lose the weight I have gained back since March. Ugh. I want to crawl into my bed and sleep. For a long, long, time.