Because I’ve got this leaf here so really I’m all set.
Although…these things are bright and shiny. I could get behind that.
But what am I supposed to DO with them, Lucca?
Ohh…there’s something inside. Well whatever Cameron has, I obviously want it. You can tell by my grabby little hand, look of intense focus, and tongue that is about to come out of my mouth.
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It was a fun Easter weekend. Busy, because David had extended family in town – aunt and uncle, cousins, and their little boy Lucca – so we had a lot of gatherings planned. Plus I had to spend some time with my own family too, in addition to doing some baking and the regular weekend chores. But I love our families, the chores got done, and the baked goods were yummy. And Meredith was obviously adorable. So it was good.
It was also strange, because we still don’t have a “home church.” We decided to go to church with my parents, and it was kind of surreal to be a visitor on Easter Sunday at such a big place. I felt like one of the masses after so many years of being intimately connected to a group that was like a second family.
Another thing is that on Saturday David’s grandpa fractured his hip. He was playing mini golf with the great-grandchildren and fell off one of the little bridges and hit hard. It wasn’t bad, and the surgery only took fifteen minutes and three pins, and he’s in otherwise good health, but he’s 87 years old and has dementia so the recovery might be tough. Right now he’s in the hospital and not complying very well. So prayers for that are appreciated – especially for his wife and David’s mom who are his primary caretakers.
Anyway, it’s back to the grind now, but it seems a much easier grind now that I have my daily coffee back. :)
This year we had a baby and our lives changed forever.
First family picture (she's so small!)
There’s nothing else that stands out like that, and the rest of the year is kind of a blur, but going back over my archives I was reminded of some other things that happened this year:
>I started a book blog, which I have sorely neglected, but I’m glad I have it and I plan to revive it in the coming year.
>My best friend Becca, her husband Micah, and their children came to visit.
>We took a trip to South Carolina to visit my aunt & uncle.
>Our dog Oliver went to live with my parents and our dog Eddie dealt with some severe anxiety issues.
>The church that I have attended since high school and that David grew up in closed down due to some really sad circumstances, and we are still dealing with the after effects.
>My brother David got married to Maggie (yay!)
>David’s grandparents moved to town from Pennsylvania.
>A lovely Christmas happened:
Before Christmas Eve service with GigiWith Aunt Maggie on Christmas morningChristmas nap with Uncle BarryChristmas dressSanta baby (Christmas evening)
It was a good year.
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I usually love the start of a new year. I always make resolutions because that kind of thing works for me. This year I’m not doing that, only because I’m still so far behind and exhausted from life in general that I’m not prepared. There are some things mulling around in my head that I want to do (revive the book blog, mini scrapbook each season, blog makeover, overhaul our budget, more time with David, cook several times a week, exercise, etc.) but I need to step back and get some perspective first.
My 101 goals in 1001 days is also coming to a close this month, and there are some items that I could complete without too much effort beforehand, but I don’t think I will. I just need to rest right now and get my bearings. Sometimes it’s so nice just to cut yourself a break.
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When I think about the holidays, what comes to mind is winter. I don’t know why, considering this is Houston and half the time we can wear t-shirts on Christmas Day, but regardless, sometime around the holidays we usually get a few weeks of coldness. And since I prefer my t-shirt weather, when I think of comfort I think of WARM. So this is what I do to make it through the “winter” holidays:
>Put the quilt on the bed. Most of the year we sleep with a sheet and a light blanket, but it’s always kind of fun to break out our beautiful handmade quilt (a wedding gift from David’s boss) and snuggle up. And speaking of beds, I have no problem with this post being sponsored by Tempur-Pedic because we have one of their mattresses and pillows, and I am telling you it is my favorite thing we own and worth every penny.
>Don my fuzzy socks. I have so many pairs of these, yet I seem to always need more. When I take off my work shoes and put them on in the evening my body instantly relaxes.
>Turn on the fire. We have a gas fireplace which makes it SO easy to get a nice warm fire going. It really does heat up the entire house, much to my husband’s chagrin. (We may have different opinions on how warm is too warm.)
>Make hot drinks. Hot chocolate is the easiest and a classic favorite, but this year I really want to learn to make my own apple cider. Mmm.
What comes to mind when you think of holiday comfort?
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Comfort is the perfect gift for everyone on your holiday gift list, so be sure to take advantage of Tempur-Pedic’s Buy 2, get 1 free pillow offer! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.
This really should be broken up into two or three posts, but since time to blog is hard to come by these days I’m smashing it all together here. So, onward:
The long Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful. So much time spent with the family, especially quality time with Meredith. By the end of the weekend I really felt connected to her again. And she saw Santa:
It was kind of impromptu. We were visiting a Christmas tree farm with David’s family, even though we didn’t get a tree (we’re getting a secondhand fake one this year). But we wanted to go to hang out with them and see our nephews, plus we wanted to get into the spirit of things. It was actually cold out, I drank an apple cider, bought an ornament, and Santa was there. Meredith told him that she wants new carpet in the house before she learns to crawl.
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Oh, so anyway, the long weekend was awesome but going back to work/daycare has been ROUGH. Meredith was fussy at daycare for three days and isn’t napping as well, and at home with us at night she wants to be held constantly. As for me, I’m back to nearly crying when I drop her off, and if I’m late getting home I feel sick about it.
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For Thanksgiving I contributed one dish to each family dinner. For my family I baked macaroni and cheese. My greedy little brothers took all the leftovers home with them and left us with none. For my husband’s side, I made a chocolate sheet cake, mostly because I wanted to eat it. I guess that’s how everyone felt about dessert though, because there was a lot of it. Most of my sheet cake was left, so I just had it sitting at home in the kitchen all weekend. WAY too easy to just eat a few bites every time I walked by it. By Monday, I was kind of disgusted by myself. It took much willpower, but I threw the rest away. And I’ve been eating less this week, and hardly any sweets because I’ve GOT to shake these cravings. I’m sick of not fitting in all of my clothes. Next step is to break out the 30-day Shred.
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Here’s another video I took of Meredith over the weekend:
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Now for some good things that happened in November. Because it’s DECEMBER now!
1 – Watching GG (David’s grandmother) hold Meredith.
