One Little Word

I was browsing around blogland and ran into the concept of choosing one word to focus on for the year. One word to encompass what I want to make of the next 365 days. Alli Edwards came up with the idea here, http://aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/2007/01/one_little_word.html. So I've been thinking what word would I like to choose? Breathe, create, relax, enjoy, love? Right now sleep would be a good one :) But I think I am going to go with embrace. I want to embrace little moments with my children- not be thinking in the back of my head what is next on my "to do list" while we read a story or play with Mr. Potato Head. I want to embrace new experiences, new friendships, new food, new film and new literature. I want to embrace each moment of this human existence -the good and the bad- as experiences I can grow from. So buckle your seat belt 2010, you are about to be embraced!

2009 Survey Stolen from Superhero Girl

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Visited San Antonio and sampled the best guacamole on earth.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? hmmm my resolution making must not have been very effective because I have no idea what goals I set. oppps. This year I want to try at least one new complex recipe a week :)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? I myself gave birth.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Both of my grandmas passed away this year.

5. What countries did you visit? Rats, none.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? A food processor.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? December 23, the day John was born

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting Grace off the bottle.

9. What was your biggest failure? Sewing a pair of baby shoes. They turned out totally frumplicious

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really besides the c-section

11. What was the best thing you bought? hmmm I am a shopper so this is a hard one...oh I've got it. I bought the juiciest ripest strawberries I have ever tasted. Oh and our house :)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Neil for putting up with pregnancy crazy me. Grace for being an adorable big sister and John for starting to sleep 4 hour stretches

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? most celebs

14. Where did most of your money go? Buying a house

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Having a baby boy

16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Hmmm hard I don't really listen to the radio so pass

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? I will go with happier
b) thinner or fatter? Ugh totally fatter- not even 3 weeks since I gave birth
c) richer or poorer? A little richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Weekend getaways

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Being grouchy

20. How did you spend Christmas? In the hospital having John

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Nope it happened three years ago

22. What was your favorite TV program? I like Chuck. I couldn't stop laughing last night during the season premier

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nope I try not to be a hata'

24. What was the best book you read? My most recent fav would be The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and I also enjoy a series by Brandon Sanderson about people who burn metals to do magic but I can't remember the names of the books

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? If you play Queen for Baby G she comes up with some super wild dance moves. It is like she and Shakira are one.

26. What did you want and get? A baby and Julia Child's cookbook

27. What did you want and not get? Flat abs

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I liked Star Trek.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 27 and partied with my family.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More time with my extended family.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? "Mastering the art of pregnant dressing."

32. What kept you sane? Shopping, crafting, and decorating the house during nap time.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Ok- weird truth I love Queen Latifa. Neil gave me Last Holiday for Christmas and she is sooo funny.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? Health care reform.

35. Who did you miss? My extended family. Especially at Christmas

36. Who was the best new person you met? hmmm I didn't meet my friend Jessica this year but I think we have become better friends this year. She is a fabulous domestic goddess.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Sit up straight when you are feeding the baby or your back may go out later- learned early this morning.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "And I think to myself- what a wonderful world" (yes I am cheesey)

Grace Update

Since it is cold and flu season the doctor recommended keeping the baby home for eight weeks. Eight weeks is a long time. Especially since we were avoiding public places before the baby was born due to the swine flu. So here I am today, home with the baby while Grace and Neil are off at church..... and I am jealous. Grace was so cute last week, she came home and told me she was a "child of God." I'll have to see what she says she learned today. She is growing up like crazy so I am going to document some of her recent sayings and activities. When ask if her pasta was yummy she responded, "Its niice." She has taken to asking for bubble baths repeatedly during the day and since we are stuck at home she usually has two a day. And just this morning I closed my eyes for a second and she had climbed into the baby's bassinet and was giving him kisses. She was sitting on part of one of John's legs but he didn't wake up at all so I'm pretty sure he is unharmed. Her favorite activity is to hold the baby and she gets really mad if someone takes him away. Also Grace received a red wagon for Christmas from her aunt and uncle and refuses to call it anything but a choo choo. Grace is also an expert at sneaking away food and hiding it. While my mom was here she gave Grace a bath in the morning and then when she went to get Grace dressed she noticed Grace was happily eating a cookie. They hadn't been downstairs yet and we are still not sure where G hid the cookie. The same thing happened with a mysterious piece of toast too. Thats all for now- Happy Sunday!

I am hunger. Hear me roar- or just wimper in the corner.

While I was in college I went through a period where I was flat broke. So broke in fact that I subsisted on a box of Sam's club canned green beans my parents had given me for about a month. In short I was hungry. Very very hungry. I remember sitting at a bus stop and watching a fellow student eating a sandwich. Not even a fancy sandwich- just meat and bread but I had to fight down the strong primal urge to wrench the sandwich from the unsuspecting student's hands and run. Well, it appears those days of hunger are back. Yesterday I started my new diet plan in an effort to regain a figure that does not resemble a lumpy mattress and you guessed it I am already hungry! Strict dieting has never been my strong suit. In fact I think this is the first time I am embracing a diet plan. Usually I just eat what I like and really enjoy it but my brother is threatening to get married this summer and, lets face it people, pictures last forever so drastic measures must be taken. Enter the mommy make over plan. While teeth bleaching, highlights, and microdermabrasion are all on the list I have to diet as I can't exercise for 4 more weeks and cannot afford liposuction! Enter slimfast and calorie counting. I have until August to emerge a smaller fabulous me.

John's Birth Story

Ok- I have to write everything down before I forget it so here goes. I planned on having a scheduled c-section on December 28th since my due date was jan 1st but the baby had other plans. On dec 23rd (nine days early!!!), after staying up late cleaning (my laws were suppose to come over the next day) I woke up at 1:40 AM and my water broke. My first thought was, "is this serious enough to necessitate getting out of bed?" I was really tired. Well I got out of bed and discovered yes it was. I woke up Neil and told him to start packing a bag for me and then hobbled into the bathroom to take a shower. And here my crazy vanity is revealed. I planned on getting fully ready, make up, hair do, and all, but the minute I stepped into the shower I started having contractions. Not nice slow just starting labor contractions but contractions of death. I then had death contractions for the next three hours, three minutes apart. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I managed to finish my shower in record time and Neil and I drove to the hospital. I thought that if I went into labor I would get to the hospital and then have the c-section within minutes but that is not the case. I was checked and hooked up to some monitors. My memory is a little fuzzy here but Neil says I asked for drugs every time the nurse came in. I finally got some Demerol and they gave me something to try to slow the contractions but these contractions were a force to be reckoned with and did not slow down at all. And I was actually progressing this time. So the doctor came in an hour early and John Wilford Larson was born at 5:27 AM. Not without some difficulty however. If you will look a few posts back I told my doctor the baby was huge but she did not believe me. The hugeness of the baby was proven however when he became stuck as they were trying to get him out. I felt tugging and tugging and the baby started crying but out he would not come. His shoulders were firmly stuck. Finally with a quick yank he was freed and the doctor exclaimed, "He has to be at least 8 1/2 pounds and he looks like a football player!" And they told me he was barely 6 pounds before! John was in fact only 7 pounds 14 ounces but next time they will need to make a bigger incision, Grace had gotten stuck too. I felt much better after this c-section then the last one and they even released us from the hospital a day early so we got to go home on Christmas. And that is how John Wilford Larson made his appearance into this world.

Day One

After a week of making fabulous meals, cleaning my house, buying baby supplies, helping with the kids and grocery shopping my mom left yesterday morning :( and so today I have been on my own with two children. Lets just say we spent all morning watching Ratatouille and Grace dumped a big gulp size cup of water right in the middle of my bed. The biggest challenges are only going up the stairs once a day and not lifting Grace at all. These limitations are imposed with a c-section recovery. So far I have been a star at the stairs but I keep forgetting and lifting Grace, oppps. I hope I am not bleeding internally but I figure if that happened I would loose consciousness. So anyway so far so good. Here are some bags I made for the girls in my family this Christmas. I used mmmcrafts's tutorial to make the bags and then decorated them however I felt like. My favorite is the big flower bag and now I may have to make one for myself :) Oh and sorry the pictures are so horrible. I took them late at night right before I had to ship them.

Three Years

With the excitement of a new baby Neil and I totally forgot our three year wedding anniversary! Neil actually remembered half way through the day and reminded me. So in honor of our anniversary I am going to list just three of the many reasons why I love Neil. And yes- I can see my sister Jill's eyes rolling right now :)
1. Neil is an amazing father. While in the hospital he took care of cute little John all night long so I could get some sleep.
2. Neil is constantly surprising me with thoughtful gestures. I mentioned one day how I felt like muddy buddies and before I knew it he had gone shopping and made them for me. And Neil is also known to bring me flowers out of the blue.
3. Neil is fun to be around and almost never grumpy and takes me on the most amazing dates.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg! I love you Neil! Happy Anniversary!
PS Here are some more family pictures