Sending the Cards Early

I don’t know if most people have strategies for when they send out Christmas cards, but I usually send them near the beginning of December. It is a great thing to check off the "To Do List." I also figure that people start decorating right after Thanksgiving, so they are already in the holiday spirit. Plus, some people display their cards as part of their festive décor. I guess I could even rationalize by saying it is fun to be one of the people that kick off the card sending frenzy. I try to get most of them done near Thanksgiving.

This year, I have sent them before December. That is right, they have all been mailed. I will blame it on two things (because nothing is ever my fault). One, there is an entire week of November after Thanksgiving. How can I possibly wait an entire week for December to start so that I can put them in the mail? I hate having them sit around staring at me. Two, I am trying to get all of my Christmas preparations done early so that I can be ready for the baby.

My family and friends already know that I am a wacko for holidays, so they shouldn’t be too surprised. As for Steve’s contacts, they will just have to get used to it. Soon, they will come to expect it from me.

I'm an Aunt Again!

Early this morning, I received a text message with a picture from my brother. His baby girl, Rachel, was born last night. That makes 5 for him. He didn't send any information besides that.

For Frustrated Toy Shoppers

A few weekends ago, one of my friends told me that she intends to buy toys that are not made in China for Christmas. Two thoughts ran through my head:

1. Good Luck!
2. I received a catalog last Easter that had lots of items made in the USA & Europe.

I did not think I kept the catalog, since I usually do not hold on to things like that, but I found it this weekend. Here is a link to their website: Magic Cabin. I am sharing this, because there may be other Christmas shoppers out there that have the same goal. This is not a recommendation, because I have never ordered from them before. They also seem to be a bit pricier than items from Toys-R-Us, but what do you expect when it comes from a country where wages are not pennies a day?

Now, I must get back to my online Christmas shopping. I was hoping to have more hands-on shopping this year, but I am supposed to be "taking it easy."

Two Ate Too Much

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful. We laughed and talked with everyone there. Lexi played with the kids and jumped right in whenever an adult read or did an activity with them. Not only did we enjoy the company, but two of us really stuffed ourselves. Our bellies were out there. You can see it in the picture above. I am the one on the left. The one on the right is going to have a baby girl the day after tomorrow. She'll be pushing hers out while I am trying to keep mine in a little longer.

Morning in the Hospital

My new thanksgiving thankful list should include the fact that I was just released from the hospital. This morning, I was feeling a tremendous amount of pressure and pain, so I called the doctor. She told me to go to the hospital.

I called my husband to come home from work and then called a friend to ask if I could drop off Lexi. Fortunately, she was more than willing to help out. She even offered to come pick Lexi up, but I know she has 3 little ones and that task can be quite difficult. After dropping Lexi off, I came back to pack a bag (just in case) and Steve showed up a few minutes later. We headed to the hospital.

Apparently, I am already dilated to 2cm and my contractions were 4 minutes apart. The baby's heartbeat was fine, but he is sitting VERY low. They decided to give me 3 injections of tributerol. I was told if it worked, I could go home and if it didn't they would keep me. I am only 34 weeks. Lucky for me, it did the trick. I was sent home with the instructions to "take it easy" and "drink plenty of liquids."

--Nothing was mentioned about bedrest & of course I didn't want to ask. I guess I am free to enjoy a relaxing Thanksgiving & my hubby has to make the dishes I promised to bring.

Thankful For

The last few nights have been rough with very little sleep. The worst was last night because of pressure and pain that goes beyond being uncomfortable. I am going to have to give in and call the doctor this morning, which I HATE to do. Rather than continuing to rant about myself, I am going to think about being thankful.

Looking back over this year, I realize that a lot has happened and that we are in a better place in life. I have a lot to be thankful for including:

1. A healthy pregnancy (being able to get pregnant again)
2. Moving from Miami to Houston
3. Becoming a SAHM so I can spend loads of time with Lexi
4. Having great friends nearby
5. A happier husband, who seems to be recovering from the death of his mother
6. Upcoming visits/help from family members
7. Spending 4 days with my husband for Thanksgiving weekend (big help with the crazy toddler)
8. Having a toddler that is excited about all things Christmas, including the music
9. Spending this holiday with good friends
10. Four days of cool weather starting tonight (first half of the week highs in the 80s, second half highs in the 50s)

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. When I was working, the joy of having a 4 day weekend was one of the primary reasons. I also love spending the day with family and friends in a relaxed atmosphere. How often do you get together just to eat good food and hang out? As soon as it is over, you have a month of excitement while you prepare for Christmas. That is why – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

A Decade of Collecting

Before I moved to Miami, I was into scrapbooking, card making, crocheting, and most things crafting chicks like to do. I can’t pinpoint an exact reason that I basically stopped doing them. Perhaps it was the fact that I didn’t have any friends there that were into it. ...or possibly the long hours of designing and creating things at work on the computer, left me with little desire to spend time cutting & pasting things together.

That is when, I began using the computer to design Christmas cards. Many years after designing the company Christmas cards and having 500 ordered, my personal ones were not so thrilling. Several times, I even bought the generic ones with the cutout for the picture to be slipped into. **I should admit that I made my own wedding invitations and programs and a few other things, but most of the time everything was ALL computer generated.

Now that I have been a SAHM for about 3 months, I am beginning to think crafting would be fun again. It all started about 2 weeks ago when a friend hosted a Christmas card stamping party. When I got the invitation, it sparked a new interest in making Christmas cards. The class was full of people I had known prior to moving to Miami. They were quite shocked when I revealed my lack of crafting for the past decade. It was fun to sit and chat with the girls. I enjoyed the time with them and the fun of digging in without using a mouse or keyboard.

For several years, I have been thinking about the advantages of each method. I have old scrapbooks and I have a new one that I made digitally and printed. I printed several copies of the new one to share with family members 2 years ago for Christmas. Doing it the traditional way would have been a nightmare. I have also created numerous cards over the years with the computer. There are things I really enjoy about using the computer for crafts, but I have also missed the layered affect and bit of that homey feeling.

When I got home from the stamping party, I decided to sift through my crafting bins. Would you believe I have five big ones? Ten years of ignoring that part of me meant that I would continually forget what I had, so when a new project came up I just went out and bought more. I don’t even want to reveal how many paper cutting tools I have. It is embarrassing.

In light of my rekindled interest and the discovery of mountains materials and tools, I think I am going to put extra time into my cards this year. I don’t have to worry about being burned out on company Christmas cards, so why not? Perhaps, I can find a way to mix the best of the digital world and craft world. I usually send out about 50, so we’ll see how I am feeling over the next few weeks.

Everyone Is Feminine

Lexi calls everyone “she.” She knows the difference between boys and girls. She even takes great pleasure in pointing them out. When we are out anywhere, she points at girls and says “She’s girl.” If it is a boy, she says “She’s boy.” For the most part, I don’t think anything about it.

However, when it comes to referring to her dad in a feminine sense, I can’t help but laugh until I cry. He always crinkles up his nose and gives me a strange look. It is especially funny when she calls his soft sided lunch cooler “Dada’s purse.” Like when Lexi told me, “She’s get dada’s purse from she’s truck.” Yes, Dada was getting his cooler out of his truck.

Oh, I can’t leave out when she called him the highest honor in her vocabulary, “a Princess.” It started off innocent enough. She said, “Lexi a Princess. Momma a Princess. Dada a Princess.” After a little snicker, I politely explained to her that boys don’t like to be called Princesses (ok, some might, but she isn't ready for that lesson).

As anyone can imagine, my very guys-guy/sports loving/construction type of husband is looking forward to having another boy in the house. I guess all this girly-ness is just a little much. At least, she likes football.

Take It To the Street?

When I was 9 years old, a cute little neighbor girl (3 or 4 years old) was riding her big wheel across the street when a car came whipping around the corner. I don’t remember all the details and probably never heard the extent of what happened, but she was in the hospital for what seemed like months. That incident just drove into my mind the reason my parents had nagged us about safety and the fact that kids should NEVER play in the street.

I have come to assume that this is something all parents warn their kids about, but apparently NOT. I am hoping that I live in a bizarre little neighborhood where playing in the street seems to be encouraged and that this is not an American fad that developed while I was living in Miami. I just can’t figure it out. Perhaps the neighbor parents are from a younger (possibly latch-key) generation that never learned to stay out of the street. I wish I could even say that it is just one rouge family, but sadly most of the kids (all ages) are in the street every single day, even the cute little 2 year old girl.

If there was no other place to play, I would probably be more understanding. We all have backyards though. There is also a grassy park less than a block away. They do not monitor their kids in the street, so what would be the big deal of them being in the park by themselves?

To be fair, I can understand that kids who are 7+ years old need room to ride bicycles. Still, what happened to teaching them to get out of the way of cars? One mom, who happened to be outside when we were coming home one evening, actually half jokingly told us that we were ruining all the fun. We politely chuckled. Hello – don’t you know that the street is for vehicles not kids?

I am sure I have become known as the over protective mom. I actually insist on holding my daughter’s hand when we are near the street. I don’t let her play there either. We go to the park or the backyard for that. I guess my children will have no neighborhood friends. We’ll just drive over to my friends’ houses so they can play with kids that are also not allowed in the street.

That is So Nice

The ever so kind Princess of The Princess and Johnsy Blog has graciously selected me for the Nice Matters Award. She even posted a picture of the two of us. Her award has inspired me to stop complaining and start being nice again, because really that is more like my usual self (most of the time).

Given the fact that I am basically a nice person, I prefer to read blogs of people that I consider nice too, which means selecting 5 will be difficult. Here is my list in alphabetical order:

Aerin from A Cranberry Blog: She is a mother to twin toddlers, a full time (plus) working woman, deep thinker, great writer, avid reader, and still finds time to pop by my blog. She is also very down to earth and kind.

Annie: I really do not want to like someone that only gained 10 pounds during her pregnancy. On top of that, she came home like a week ago has lost the 10 pounds as well as an additional 15. However, I must give her the award. She is such a nice person. If you click on the link you can also see pictures of her little baby and that is always nice.

JAG from Nothing to Show But This Brand New Tattoo: She has been through a lot, but keeps her head up and always encourages others.

PageWize (my sister): Although her scary Halloween themed blog seems like it would be from some monstrous weirdo, she is nice. Actually, the blog theme is my fault. I have decided to award her this honor because she was kind enough to be Lexi’s nanny two summers ago. Then, last summer she was kind enough to fly to Miami to help me entertain Lexi on our long drive/move out here. …and she is going to spend her winter school break here helping me with Lexi and the new baby. What other college kid would put up with a demanding sister like me? That means she is pretty nice.

Sofi from A New Blog, A New Day: I bumped into her several times around Miami when I was looking my absolute worst and she always said Hi. She is just nice like that. I also like her blog. Her writing is always entertaining and edgy enough to keep me coming back.

There you have it. Bloggers who are very nice and deserve attention for it.

All About Complaining for 6 More Weeks

Yesterday, one of my friends told me that she can’t believe I am this far along and I never complain. Boy, do I have her fooled or what? You can bet that I started laughing. Me? Never Complain? Steve would certainly disagree. Would you believe that Lexi has started rubbing her back and pretending that it hurts? I can’t even hide my complaints with a little mimic around. I wish I could be the ultra-happy pregnant woman, but I saw a poll the other day that said something like 20% of women don’t like being pregnant. Well, that is me. I just want the baby already. Six weeks feels way too long.

I also was surprised by the numerous compliments I received yesterday. I actually made an effort to blow dry my hair, but that wasn’t the reason. Everyone that complimented me said something about me being such a cute pregnant lady. It didn’t take me long to put two & two together and realize that all of these comments came from mothers. I believe it must have been out of pity. They saw the big swollen belly and said to themselves, “that poor girl is gigantic.” They also must have reflected on the end of their pregnancies and felt sorry for me.

Last week, my mom was kind enough to confirm my suspicion about pregnancy being harder the older you get. She had me when she was 20 and my sister right before she turned 35. The energy level, recovery and everything was much easier in her 20s. I will be turning 35 a little after this baby is born. So, I feel I am entitled to continue my complaining streak at least for 6 more weeks. After that, I will complain about being sore, engorgement, my belly not shrinking fast enough, etc. etc. etc.

I am certainly a fun person to be around. Don’t you wish you were spending the holidays with me?