Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Right Now

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Right Now the kids are downstairs wrapping Christmas presents for me and Neal.  Aedan’s is apparently something he made at school today (his last day of the year) and Lily just “shops” around the house for things and wraps them.  There is a large assortment of boxed pudding and cake mixes wrapped with “snappy tape” and “oh so beautiful” bows from her under the tree, each carefully labeled by mom for their intended recipient (one even says To: Lily, From: Lily).

IMG_85361Can I just say this is the kindest looking Santa ever? Love Lily’s Santa Phobia. Our little village has a BIG Christmas party.

Right Now the baby is kicking me a lot.  I have to go back for another ultrasound in two weeks because the baby was positioned in such a way that they couldn’t get all their measurements.  We are a bit worried that I am getting a fair amount of swelling at this point in pregnancy, having low iron and such, and I am just hoping and praying I don’t wind up on complete bed rest. 

IMG_8546Neal and Lily on the Holiday Train at the Illinois Railroad Museum

Right Now Lily’s pants are riding low as we have been working on potty training this month and she is out of diapers.  She is not quite 2 1/2 yrs and if I was feeling up for it she might have been trained earlier but my goal was by the end of the year so not too bad.  My limited experience doing potty training has led me to believe that potty training is more training for the parent than the kid.  We just go straight to underwear, no diapers (except overnight) and while there are accidents, it works pretty well and quick.  I am THRILLED to have a handful of months without diapers!

Right Now the house is a mess.  What’s new.

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Right Now Neal is working hard so that he can take time off  for the rest of the year (starting tomorrow!).  We are looking forward to a quiet Christmas at home.  I can honestly say I am so thankful to not have to be dealing with the stress, money, time, and more stress of travelling for the holidays.  But we do miss family.

IMG_8570Daddy is good for making the kids smile when they don’t want to.

Right Now I am organizing my to-do list for the weekend.  We have two sets of missionaries here for Christmas Dinner (so much for quiet) and we are trying to figure out menu.  So far Vichyssoise Soup, Beef Wellington, roasted veggies, rolls, salad, homemade applesauce, and maybe some pie. Most can be prepped ahead of time. What are you having for dinner?

IMG_8481The kids perusing the toy catalogs, marking up what they want for Christmas.  We used to do this as kids, it was kind of funny to watch them do it.

8 comments:

  1. LOVE this post. What sweet kids wrapping things up for you in secret! Catalog shopping is so cute and really is a forgotten childhood memory. Dap got Ash to write Barbie on his list for her... that was an amusing argument. Sorry to hear things are complicated with your pregnancy- you look great. What are we having for dinner? I'm "officially" thinking about that tomorrow and...
    your list looks pretty good. :)
    Staying home is great! If we didn't miss family we'd never have it in us to travel for Christmas. Merry Christmas!

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  2. p.s. Aedan's pj's rock.

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  3. Can we come over for dinner. Your menu sounds fabulous. So sad we couldn't be with you guys this season. We're glad you still did the train.

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  4. Super cute post. I love Lily's presents--reminds me of Mel on our birthdays so long ago! I LOVE staying home for the holidays--we miss family a little, but it's worth it to not be traveling, staying in new places, living out of a suitcase. Plus my kids get to wake up in their own bed on Christmas morning. Your dinner sounds fab--we're having ham and funeral potatoes (taking a break after the over-the-top Thanksgiving dinner last month!) I remember catalog shopping before Christmas and dreaming of so many lovely things I only ever saw in the JC Penny catalog--glad your kids are embracing that tradition. I hope you guys have a lovely vacation--Todd is done after today until after the new year, and I cannot wait! Love to you and yours, dear friend.

    PS--my house is a mess, too. Sigh.

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  5. Oh, and I really hope that your next ultrasound goes well and that you don't end up on bedrest for any stretch of time. Although, that first day of bed rest isn't that bad. :)

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  6. Hoping you don't have to go on bedrest. I had to go on bedrest for 5 weeks with my third & it was basically impossible. How are you supposed to lay in bed all day everyday when you have 2 monkeys to chase after? Hope you have a merry Christmas!

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  7. Jackie and Neal, I haven't been to blogspot for a long time. Agnes told me that you guys are expecting. Congratulations!! Aedan and lily are getting so big. We really hope we can see you guys again. We are moving to HK this Aug and can't wait to live closer with all the yuens and Oliver and Priscilla. Have a great year and wish your pregnancy goes well.

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  8. We tried the "cold turkey" method of potty training, too. Hope it is going well. Miss you!

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