2012. What a year! There were some really big (awesome) things that happened. Others were smaller but still significant. Most weren't on my 2012 goals list and I didn't expect them to happen this year but I'm so, so glad they did. In just one year it feels like so many things have fallen into place and I'm so happy to find myself exactly where I am right now. The big things that happened this year were: I got a new job. And I love it. I started 2012 thinking that I needed to change my attitude about my job... Read more →

Wishing you a cozy day surrounded by loved ones. And if you're celebrating Christmas I hope that Santa brought you something to make you smile! Read more →

Chris gets so excited about Christmas he can't resist putting things in my stocking early. Unfortunately one of those things was a king size Reese's peanut butter tree. The stocking never had a chance. Perhaps an opportunity to get matching family stockings before baby comes along next year? Read more →

It was really fun to include "baby" on our Christmas cards this year. Next year we'll be wrangling a vizsla and an infant for the photos - can't wait to see how that turns out! I used our return address stamp on the front and a simple snowflake stamp that I bought at Hobby Lobby on the back. Never been a stamp gal before but Elise may have convinced me otherwise. Of course our photo shoot with Chris's sister included some outtakes...such as this gem: and this awesome photo-bomb by our nephew: P.S. A peek at our Christmas cards last... Read more →

Six months along now! And definitely bumpin'. (That's our Christmas tree that snuck into the photo.) I'm not sure if it's the holidays, the fact that I'm feeling so good, or that I'm more than half-way through my pregnancy but time is definitely speeding up. So unlike the first trimester when time seemed to crawl by. On the one hand I'm so looking forward to April and holding my baby, something I've even dreamed about recently. On the other hand I think I'll miss being pregnant a little bit. Right now there's just so much to look forward to and... Read more →

This weekend the weather was just I'd what been craving: cold (which is what we call 50s here) and wet. It was the perfect weekend for being inside, listening to Christmas music and cooking, which I did most of the weekend. On Saturday I made spicy vegetarian chili to freeze and have when my parents visit next weekend (yay!) and a batch of my favorite beans and rice + cornbread for a friend who just had a baby. Early Sunday morning I found myself wide awake with a kicking baby in my belly at 3 AM. And because we couldn't... Read more →

I feel like I must be hitting what will be the best part of my pregnancy: I feel great and have lots of energy, I'm finally looking obviously pregnant and I love my growing belly and that people notice, and I can feel the baby move throughout the day. On exactly the day that I was 20 weeks I was laying in bed and felt like I was feeling pretty strong kicks. We'd been told Chris probably couldn't feel anything for another few weeks but I thought he might be able to feel something. Sure enough, I laid his hand... Read more →

I love the tradition of having a live Christmas tree every year. I love celebrating the beauty of nature by bringing an “ordinary” bit of the outdoors into our home and adorning and admiring it. Sunset magazine just ran a comparison of real vs. fake Christmas trees and I was pleased to see that they determined that you should "go with the real deal if the ritual and environment are your top priorities". That’s us! (They also said go with a fake tree if "you prize convenience and no-mess holidays.") This year I was especially excited to cut our own... Read more →

Even though I'm trying to be really conscious of "taking it easy" it seems like I'm finding myself suddenly a bit too busy. We have birth class every Monday and this week we also have our hospital tour on Tuesday. Next Tuesday evening we have an appointment with our midwife. On Wednesday evenings I have spin class, on Thursdays we occasionally get together with friends for Thursday night TV and on Fridays I go to spin class again. This past week we couldn't even make Thursday night TV because I had to bake brownies for a work baby shower. So... Read more →