Christmas Eve

Well, we should be getting ready for our Christmas Eve service.  Karina was going to be a shepherd and take Lambkin up with her when all the little kids get to participate.  However, she woke up this morning sick.  Fever.  Puking.  Figures.  We have three days of holidays and birthday to get through, and I can't believe she's sick.  Keep your fingers crossed she feels better tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Quick update

Just quick, holidays are wiping me out.  I had a doctor's appointment Monday, and all is well.  Baby Eleina is head down finally and I'm 1cm.  I'm all cleared to make the 2 hour trip to my aunt's for Christmas with the extended family, and I have started my weekly appointments.  Won't be long now!

In case I don't write again til after the holidays, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!  If you don't celebrate Christmas, then I wish you a happy, relaxing, and restful season of peace. 

Karina's stress

I think Karina is really stressed out about the new baby and all the things Mommy can't do with her right now, like sit on the floor.  She has started to get really cranky about things and is taking out her frustration on her poor Lambkin.  We are trying to keep things calm and stable for her, but I know it's hard for her.  I just hope that as things get closer it doesn't get worse.  Hopefully, once Eleina is here and she can see that the only thing that's different is this whiny kid is around, she'll feel better.  I tried explaining things to her some, but I don't know if it was helping so I stopped.  She finally said something nice about the baby coming the other day, about how she would teach Eleina how to do things and she also asked if Eleina would talk to her.  She said, "Baby Leina kicks if I talk to her" and of course I told her yes, she does. 

We are keeping as many of her routines the same as much as possible.  I'm just not sure what else to do.  I'm open to advice.  You know how I love my girl and I can't stand for her to be unhappy like this.  So any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Decorating, Caroling, and Baby Shower?

Yesterday was the greening of our church, which just means putting up the trees and greenery.  I didn't go to that because there was nothing I could do to help out, being as big as I am.  I can't get on the floor to sort the ornaments and I can't reach up to hang greens.  So I skipped that.  But I did go caroling.  The youth group carols to several homebound church members each year, and it really brightens their day.  We love doing it and seeing their smiles and having a chance to talk to them.  We bring a little gift, too.  Then we have our youth group Christmas party.  This year it was scheduled at Pastor G's house, but she ended up having a wire go down in her neighborhood, so we moved it to Kelly's house.  PG went home to get all the food and stuff, and when she got to Kelly's, finally, with the pizza, finally (can you tell I was a hungry lady?), I was told to Sit and Stay.  So I sat and stayed in the rocker/recliner until I was "allowed" to get up.  I had some suspicion that something might be going on, mainly because we threw a surprise shower for Kelly once before.  So finally Kelly released me and lo and behold, they had done a shower for me!  I was so appreciative, I can't tell you, because being my second child, and second girl no less, I have not been given an opportunity for a shower.  I don't need much, really, just a few things need replacing, but still, I feel bad that Eleina isn't getting all the cutesy new baby stuff like Karina did.  But this was SO nice--PG baked 2 cakes!  One was chocolate with chocolate icing (my absolute favorite) and the other was vanilla with pink icing (but not strawberry, I don't like that--no, she dyed white icing just for me!).  She also made pink Rice Crispy treats and found pink "it's a girl" Hershey's Kisses.  Unreal!  Kelly did games with prizes, and even the two boys present at the event seemed to have fun.  I got some nice things, things I really wanted, but honestly the best part was just being made to feel special for a little while.  It was so nice of them to do that and it was so much fun.  I have said a thousand times today in thank you notes and things how lucky I am to be part of such a caring and thoughtful group of people. 

I hope everyone else had a nice weekend too!

Successful Party!!!

Karina's birthday party was a great success!  It went so much better than I ever could have dreamed, even though a few people couldn't make it.  Unfortunately, one of my friends was sick and another's daughter was overly tired from being kept out a little too late the night before.  But we had 5 wonderful friends of Karina's attend, and the whole day was just so much fun.  Karina was very excited to see everyone, although she was a little shy at first. 

I should back up.  First, she got 3 presents from me and Bill.  I gave her a special birthday shirt with Holley the purple car on it, and Bill gave her a toy truck and a book with pictures of outer space (she is really interested in the shuttle and how it "goes to the moon").  Just before her friends arrived, she decided she really needed to color this little wooden car I had gotten for the kids to have a craft in case we needed something like that.  So she and her first two guests, little girls M and C, sat at the table and colored.  When my friend Kelly arrived with her boys N and A, they wanted to play in the living room with the trucks, so that finally drew the girls out.  They played a little while and then Bill cooked the hot dogs for lunch.  They were delicious. and I learned that 16 hot dogs for 8 kids and parents is not nearly enough.  It turned out to be a good thing a few people couldn't make it!  We only had 4 hot dogs left over!  Then after lunch they played while we cleaned up the table.  Then Karina opened her presents, which she loved, and then they ate cupcakes and ice cream.  I thought everyone would leave, but they stayed a little while and let the kids play some more, which was so nice!  They all kind of took turns playing with each other in different little pairs, and even the shiest kids started to play and have fun. 

Karina loved her presents.  She got two stuffed Cars characters, a 3-inch Rapunzel doll with two dresses (who immediately had to play with the 3-inch Cinderella she already had), a Princess stories book, a vinyl cling "sticker" book, a magnetic wooden doll (like a paper doll) with about 8 different princess outfits to mix and match, and a toddler Cinderella doll that's about 15 inches.  I would have never even thought of something like that for her, but she LOVES it!  She kept saying, "She's huge!"  She loved everything, it was so perfect!

I had a good time, I know Karina did, and I think her friends had fun, too.  More than anything else, I just feel so lucky to have such wonderful friends who made this party nice for Karina.  I wanted her to have a fun party this year, since it's the last year she's an only child and her first ever friend-party.  And it was, it was just so much fun.  I wasn't even tired afterwards!  Now that's got to be a sign of a good party!  I even managed to put the Christmas tree together (no lights on or anything yet, but it's set up and ready to go tomorrow!). 

I did have one terrible failing today, and that is I did not take any pictures during the party!  I don't know what my problem was.  I do have some pictures to share, of the setup and stuff, but ugh, I can't believe I didn't take any during the party!  So I'm sorry.  I will post some pictures soon but now I am going to bed.   Another busy day tomorrow!

Birthday party tomorrow

Just to let you all know, this past week has been pretty hectic as we finalized everything for Karina's birthday party tomorrow (Saturday).  Plus I've been fighting a cold, so that has not helped much.  Sometime next week I hope to post a few pictures and let you all know how it goes, but til then I just wanted to make sure you knew I was still hanging around!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Gourmet Gift Baskets

You all know that I'm not a giveaway or review blog, just personal, but I recently found out that there is a great way to give back to our hard-working military folks, just by writing a review.  So that is what I am doing, happily, because I know lots of military people and living where I do, there are many more men and women in the service beyond my circle of friends.  I appreciate all that they do and sacrifice (and boy, do they ever sacrifice a lot!), and while my husband and I are not in the military, I know through friends how tough it can be when loved ones are deployed.  So when I saw this opportunity, I jumped on it.

Gourmet Gift Baskets (gourmetgiftbaskets.com) has a huge array of different kinds of gift baskets, which you can browse by occasion or theme or even price.  I found one link to "chocolate" and of course I had to check that one out, too!  They also have a really big selection of holiday gift baskets, which is the first section I looked at.  I was really surprised how many different options there are for the baskets.  They even have MLB themed baskets, for select teams such as the Phillies or Cubs (no White Sox, though, poor hubby!).

There are baskets for just about anyone you can think of, too, including ones with brownies, fruit, or wine. 

I don't really drink wine, but many people do, and there were lots of labels to choose from.  I liked the look of this one because it has horses on it.  But check out all the other stuff that comes with the wine (three bottles!):
Wild Horse - Cabernet Sauvignon
· Wild Horse - Chardonnay
· Wild Horse - Merlot
· Hors D'oeuvre Deli Style Crackers by Partners
· Hickory & Maple Smoked Cheese by Sugarbush Farm
· Butcher Wrapped Summer Sausage by Sparrer Sausage Co.
· Tomato Bruschetta by Elki
· Red Wine Biscuit by American Vintage
· White Wine Biscuit by American Vintage
· Nicoise Olives by Barnier
· Cashews by GourmetGiftBaskets.com
· Boulder's Mixed Nuts by GourmetGiftbaskets.com

I was also drawn to the breakfast gift basket I saw, because I am a sucker for tea and pancakes and things like that.

Pancakes, syrup, fruit, coffee assortments, jam, even a dish towel!  There was no tea in this one, but that's okay for me since I only drink one kind anyway and am not generally a fan of flavored tea.  The pancake mix and syrup alone make my mouth water over this one.

And candy.  Oh, do I love candy, so I saw this basket and had to check it out of course.

I mean, do you see the candy just leaping out of this box??  Mmmmmmm.  And this is just a very very few of the baskets they have.  A gift like this is great for anyone, because there's bound to be many things in it that they will like.  Plus, it's a great gift for someone to share!  Gourmet Gift Baskets has so many choices that it would really take a while to choose, but I just know anyone would appreciate something like this.  Plus, they have taken all the legwork out of it by building the baskets for you.  You don't have to go hunting up things to put in it, it's already done!  Check out gourmetgiftbaskets.com and see their large selection for yourself. 

(Truffles!   Cheesecake!    Pet baskets!   There are just so many choices!)

And if you have a blog and are interested in doing a review such as this, go here to learn more about what to do.

I wrote this post of my own free will, received no compensation of any kind, and everything I wrote is my own opinion. 

Craft Fair--Unusual Sighting

On Friday, my friends Stephanie and Janice and I went to a big craft fair about two hours away.  The thing is huge, with over 500 vendors selling almost anything you can imagine.  We have been going just about every year, and we always have a great time.  Stephanie likes to drive, so she and Janice met at my house and picked me up about 830 in the morning.  Karina was not at all happy about me leaving for the day, but she endured.  It kills me to watch her standing at the door waving good bye.  Ugh, rip my heart out, child.  (and she was NOT happy with me when I got home!)

Anyway, we set off for the craft fair, chatting away, and as we got onto the interstate I noticed a pickup truck some ways ahead of us in our lane.  In the back of his truck was a port-a-potty, which was kind of leaning to the side.  I warned Stephanie about traveling behind him because that just didn't look good.  So she got in the middle lane and off we went.  Just as we started to pull up alongside him, Janice shouted, "Look, it's going!" and sure enough, that port-a-potty was flying out of the back of the pickup!  Splat, right onto the interstate (luckily, there was not a lot of traffic and no one was directly behind him, so no one was hurt).  Since all was well, we could laugh without guilt, because that was funny to see.  Who expects to go to a craft fair and see a flying port-a-potty? 

The craft fair itself was fun, I got some things for Bill, my brother's girlfriend, Karina, my cousin, and fudge for me!  Then we had lunch/dinner at Cracker Barrel (I love their breakfast menu, but we almost never go there) and did a little shopping in their store, too.  I got two cute little 4-inch dolls for Karina that reminded me of the old Kelly dolls that were Barbie's littlest sister back when I was a kid. 

Overall, it was a wonderful and fun day, great company, and a funny story to go with it.  I only wish I had had a camera, not that I would have been fast enough to catch that potty go flying, but still.  I'm sure you can imagine!

Maternity Belt and another story

I feel like I have a watermelon growing out of my stomach.  I feel HUGE!  I know the baby is a little on the big side, but I am carrying her all in front, which is not how I carried Karina.  So I have been using my old maternity belt for a while now, but it just hasn't been working well for me.  It is basically a 3-inch wide, long piece of sturdy elastic with some velcro strategically placed so that it's adjustable.  Well, if I was a little smaller it would be more adjustable.  That was only part of the problem--that it wasn't long enough anymore.  It also sat across my lower abdomen, and after a while, it would feel like the belt itself was hurting, and I'd yank it off, only to have my big ol' baby belly start to sag and I'd be sore no matter what.  Last night was it.  I was in so much discomfort, I decided I was getting a new one.  So today, I headed out to the one store I could think of that carries these things, Motherhood Maternity.  They did have them.  Lots of the kind I already had and didn't want, and only one of another kind, which was what I wanted.  It was size Small.  Not going to work, not by a long shot.  I was so bummed!  The girl working there was really nice though and after chatting for a few minutes with her, she suggested I try Babies R Us.  I would never have thought to look there.  I know that was sending business away from her store, but I can certainly say that it makes me more likely to recommend them since she obviously was more concerned with helping me than making a sale.  Off I went to Babies R Us.  Success!  They had plenty, and they had the kind I wanted, with a wider strappy thing and better support and larger sizes.  I stood there debating over medium (supposed to fit prepregnancy dress size up to 16) or large.  Sometimes the sizes are accurate and sometimes they aren't.  A saleslady was standing nearby doing something else and I asked her if she knew if the sizes ran true or not.  She said she had no idea and said I should just open the package and try one on.  That's exactly what I wanted to hear.  I tried the medium first, and decided it was too close and might not last the next two months (during which time I'm sure my little watermelon will get even bigger, sigh), so I got the large and left a happy camper.  I drove back to preschool to get Karina and put it on in the bathroom there.  What a relief!!  Bliss!  Happiness beyond compare and I wore that thing all the rest of the day.  I can tell you, I am not sore tonight.  Not even a little.  I am so happy because I'm going to a big craft fair on Friday and it will be tons of walking.  I was almost dreading it, knowing how uncomfortable and sore I was going to be, and now I can just look forward to it again! 

PS Motherhood and Babies R Us had nothing to do with my post.  They didn't give me anything and my opinions are mine alone and based on my experiences.  

The other story I have is a short one, about Karina tonight.  First, some background information:  her light switch doesn't control her ceiling light, it controls an outlet that we do not use.  So we have a touch lamp next to her bed so she can at least turn on a light herself when she goes in there in the dark.  Usually she leaves it alone though.  She sleeps in a toddler bed with half-rails and since she loves her books so much there are always several shoved in the crack between the rail and mattress.  Now the story.  After tucking her in for the night, I turned on the TV in my bedroom, and Bill came in and we were chatting about her.  She was muttering a little to herself, and Bill asked if I thought she ever turned that light on.  I told him I didn't think so, since I've never gone in there in the night and found it on.  After he left and went downstairs, I turned on the computer and after a few minutes, I heard her say something I couldn't understand.  She sounded upset, but didn't repeat herself like she usually does when she's calling me.  I decided to go make sure she was all right, and there she was, sitting up in her bed, the little lamp was on and she was trying to shove her books back in the crack of the mattress after she had finished reading them.  Little turkey, after I just said she doesn't turn the lamp on.  But you saw that coming, didn't you?

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!  (We did, twice.)

Big Bruise

My husband gives blood every time he is able to.  He has been doing this forever, and has never had anything like this happen to him.  This is what his arm looks like 2 days after giving blood.  He said when he was giving blood, it hurt a little, but nothing serious, and he thought afterwards maybe the bandage was just too tight.  The next day, I saw his arm.  He hadn't even realized what had happened.  He says it doesn't hurt, is just a little bit sore now, and neither of us can figure out what in the world happened.  The bruise is pretty much the length of his arm.  Gross, huh? 

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, I don't have any amazing stories to post about or fun anecdotes, I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for so many things, it is impossible for me to list them all.  First among them are my family and friends, though, and I definitely include you all in the latter category!

I hope that tomorrow you are all able to spend time with special people in your lives and also to eat something delicious!

We'll be with family and some of them haven't seen Karina since last Christmas, so I'm sure they'll be surprised at how much she's grown. 

Now, bring on the green bean casserole!!

Random stuff, with pictures

 Above, Karina and I did some crafting one day and made some cute fake cupcakes inspired by some I saw in an Etsy shop.  We used this new craft stuff I found at Toys R Us called Whipple.  I think it's a lot like lightweight spackle, but in an icing bag.  It was fun and easy (Karina couldn't do that part).  When you first put the stuff on, it's kind of tacky so things stick to it.  It's kind of like real icing.  But it gets hard, and then everything is glued into it.  We're going to be giving some of these to family and friends, as well as Karina's teachers at preschool.  I got some more supplies to make more of them, it was so fun!  PS I wasn't paid or compensated by Toys R Us or Whipple.  It's just where I happened to find the stuff, and it just happens I did find it, used it, and liked it.

Here below is David's surprise party I threw for him.  My mom brought over this singing and dancing skeleton guy that Karina is really enjoying.  I labeled the food as things like "Flat Bones", "Deformed Bones", or "Elbows in Cheese".  That would be our bone-shaped sandwiches (thank you Mom for helping me cut them all!), Cheetos, and macaroni and cheese (thank you Nana for making that).

 And finally, here is my enormous, humongous, gigantic belly.  My mom swears that I only look pregnant from the side or front.  I think Karina laid sideways more, and this baby seems to be going straight out.  Nice to not look so heavy, but man, she is killing my back!  People, I am ONLY 31 weeks!!!  Can you imagine what I'm going to look like in about 2 more months?? 

Wildest thing I ever saw

This was the scene in the parking lot of my local big box store today as Karina and I loaded groceries into the car.  I know the picture isn't that great, but I'm sure you can understand why.  I was pretty far away.  It's about 50 police cars and they have stopped that blue car and all the people inside were put into police cars in handcuffs.  It was like watching that show COPS but in real life!  They used the megaphone thing and everything.  As we drove out of the parking lot, another police car came speeding down the road, and I thought he was going so fast he must be going somewhere else, but no, at the last second he turned across three (empty) lanes and into the parking lot.  I was just happy he didn't hit us as we were waiting to turn right.  It was the most incredible sight I think I ever saw.

My brother graduated!

 That's my brother David and his girlfriend after he graduated last Wednesday night from his radiography (x-ray tech) program.  Mom, Nana, and I went and met Erin there with her two roommates (also friends of Dave's) to watch him get his diploma and possibly an award.

 Erin and her roommates made these signs to hold up for David during the ceremony.  Ceremony is really too formal a word though.  There were only 17 in his class, and it was a small group of guests as well.  David's teachers spoke briefly and I could see why he liked them so much, especially Mr. A. 

 Mr. A read the names of each student, and Mr. P gave them their certificates. 

 I'm sorry the pictures are so bad.  I was sitting too far away for the flash on my little camera to do much good.

 Then they handed out three awards to students and a few of the cooperating techs at the sites where the students went to learn.  As Mr. A pointed out, most of the learning was done at the cooperating sites (there are a ton of them).  David was hoping to get the highest award--he had awesome grades and was well-liked by all his classmates and cooperating techs.

 Unfortunately, another student (David had said he thought W might get the award instead of him) got the highest award.  I know David was really bummed out, but he did get another award, for excellence as a student.

 Once David had gotten the other award, he knew he wasn't getting the big one.  Mom and Nana and I just sat so bummed out.  When Mr. A announced that W had gotten the other award, David was the first on his feet to applaud him.  I was so proud of him at that moment, I can't even tell you.  I knew just how much he wanted that award, and he totally deserved it (so did W).

Yesterday David took his registry exam to be licensed and passed with flying colors.  He did great.  He's now a registered technician in radiography, which means he is permitted by the state to take x-rays as a profession.  His job is to take them, not read them; for that you have to go to med school for a billion years and get a medical degree as a radiologist.  There is another step though, which is a radiologist's assistant, which doesn't require the medical degree and does also pay more, so he may go for that in a few years.  Either way, I'm so proud of him.  He's been applying for jobs all week and has a phone interview with a nearby hospital this week.  I will let you know when he gets a job!

Blowing Bubbles

Recently we had some phenomenally nice weather (right before the temps plunged literally 35 degrees overnight) and Karina wanted to blow some bubbles.  Her preschool teachers had given each of the kids a small bubble wand in a test-tube like thing for Halloween.  Karina thought it was awesome.  So I pulled out a bottle of bubble mix we had and this crazy huge wand Bill had bought her months ago (and which laid on my dining room table untouched) and took her outside.  You would have thought I had just roped the moon for her, she had so much fun!  We used up all the bubble solution and I had to try to quickly mix up some homemade stuff (not as easy as it sounds).  She must have played for 2 hours.  AND the best part?  I have pictures!