Efficient

Holden managed to "pack" about 10 boxes in the time it took me to pack one this morning.  There was no stopping this kid.  I expect it to take me about an hour to undo the damage of his "packing", but it was totally worth it.  

Normally, the organized person in me would be having an aneurysm at watching him distribute Legos one by one into various boxes, but not so much today.  The reason for this is twofold.
1)  That organized person has pretty much been in hiding since the beginning of this pregnancy.
2)  Earlier today Holden informed me that he is "growing bigger and bigger each day."  Yes you are, my child.    Yes you are...

Be Mine

Reo is going to clean my house for me.

My sister brought over cherry hearts and cookies.

Holden was extra sweet and cuddly.

The most Valentine's Day enthusiasm I could muster was looking at Pinterest to see if I had pinned anything that I could accomplish without leaving the house (turns out no).

So, I requested a do-over.  Sometime this Spring my family is entitled to a make-up Valentine's Day, where I do crafts, heart shaped food, love letters, the whole shebang.   This should appease all the Valentine's Day haters out there who say we should be showing love all year, not just one one day.  I couldn't agree more.

So really, I didn't fail....I am just spreading the love.

My Thoughts On Being Pregnant

* That's my view of my belly.  I assume I still have toes, okay, even feet,  but it's unclear.  I'll let you know in about 12 days.

* For a brief couple of weeks, people kept telling me how small I was.  No one says that anymore.  Which is good, because they would be lying, and I would know it.

* 3rd trimester morning sickness is no joke.  Unless it is some kind of cruel joke.  Which it must be because it has been taking me DOWN these last couple of weeks.

* Between my two pregnancies, I feel as though I have experienced pretty much every pregnancy symptom in the book.  Except one.  Apparently there is this thing called Nesting...Heard of it?  Supposedly it is pretty common.  It is nowhere in sight for this pregnant girl.  Too bad I have a to do list 14 miles long, because nothing much is happening outside of the basics these days.  For instance, if the dishes get done and Holden and I both get dressed before lunch, the day is a success.

* On a positive note, my sweet husband (who must have been pretty tired of hearing me complain) scheduled a mother to be massage for me, and I actually WENT!  So there is one to do list in my life that is getting some progress.  Verdict?  Not so bad,  I guess I can see how people enjoy it.  But I had a hard time relaxing because I was spending so much time feeling badly that this poor person's job was to have to touch me.  I have the same problem with pedicures.

*Finally, baby girl will be here in less than two weeks.  And we are ready.  Well, as ready as we can be considering that as of now she is both nameless and soon to be homeless (Oh, did I not mention that?  More to come).

 Ready or not, here she comes!

One of the Reasons I Am Enemies With Snow

Twice in the last three days, my plans to go grocery shopping have been foiled by impromptu blizzards that make it onto YouTube.    That means food is getting a little scarce around these parts.  Scarce meaning that my fridge is pretty much down to condiments and Diet Coke (because I would never run out of that, that is just crazy).
Last night,  while the snow was coming down in droves while I was supposed to be at Costco, I had to get creative.  I dug back to my Snow College roots and we had cheese fries for dinner.

Holden was not entirely convinced, so I brought out some carrots and pineapple to help me sleep at night.

P.S.  I just realized my last three posts have included pictures of Holden sitting at the table.  I promise we do things besides eat...Well, Reo and Holden do.  I am 14 and a half months pregnant.  All I do is eat.

The Trickiest Part of Parenting my 3 Year Old

All of the sudden, the kid is on to me when I try to throw his stuff away.  You know, important stuff, like his coloring pages, broken toys, half eaten apples...Stuff like that.   He seems to have a sixth sense about when one of these "treasures" has made it into the trash and gives me the third degree about why I could have possibly thought it was a good idea to throw away what was apparently his most prized possession.  It's like the garbage police live here. 

Sorry kid, our house is on the market.  Only the necessities make it out alive.  If I can live without a microwave, you can live without the hair covered gooey hand you got out of the quarter machine at the grocery store.  

He's cute though, right?

Big Plans

I had big plans for New Year's Eve..Big plans involving getting caught up on episodes of Parenthood and eating my weight in ice cream.  Instead, I gave up and went to bed at 10 o' clock.  Must have been an inspired decision, as Holden was up at 6 AM to ring in the New Year.   I thought it was because he was sooo excited about going to the "big kid Sunbeam class" at church today.

Turns out he had a bad dream that he lost one of his quarters.

Ahh, 2011.  The highs were high and the lows were low.  I am expecting no less for 2012, as I have come to realize that that's what years are like when you are a grown up.  I am still crossing my fingers for more of the high highs than the low lows.

Happy 2012!

Twas Two Days After Christmas..

..and all through the house, there is lots of post Christmas recovery to take care of, so I am blogging instead.

We ate a lot:

Pictured:  Holden giving my cinnamon rolls (30 by 30 checkmark!) a thumbs down.  He was totally wrong by the way, because they were awesome;  Christmas Eve dinner extravaganza.
Not Pictured:  The 14,000 other times we ate good food.

We got visited by Santa:

Pictured:  Checking on Santa's location one last time before bed; Running around like a maniac checking on all our Christmas spoils
Not Pictured:  Holden holding still and/or looking at the camera.  Santa's gifts wait for no man.

We literally opened presents for hours.

Pictured:  SOME of the presents we had shoved into my parent's living room (in our defense, there were 12 of us)...But we were also spoiled.  Baby Girl even got her fair share of gifts in utero; a happy three year old opening said gifts.
Not Pictured:  Holden picking out which present he would open next while there were still 10 people to go before his turn came around again.

We took obligatory awkward family photos

Pictured: My way too pregnant belly;  MORE of my way too pregnant belly next to a cute and tiny pregnant belly in the form of my sister in law; and proof of my inability to take a picture without giving someone creepy glass eye (I thought the camera on the iPhone was supposed to be foolproof, what am I doing wrong?)
Not pictured:  TONS of other people, because we were lucky enough to see so much family that if I posted all the photos you would still be reading this blog post tomorrow, when you really wish it was already over.

Oh, also?  Merry Christmas!