Happy Holidays?

Now, don't go getting your tinsel in a tangle because I used the term "happy holidays" in my title.  Hear me out here.

I saw this image on a friends Facebook wall the other day.  It made me think.  While I may not totally "get" Kwanzaa I am sure there are many that don't get why our family does Advent, Christmas, and we actually give more than a nod towards Epiphany.  But as I thought about this image I wondered if I wished someone a Merry Christmas would they in turn wish me a merry/joyous/happy whatever they celebrate?

Little did I know that I would find out a few days later.

I was leaving the pediatrician on Wednesday with our newest one and our oldest one who likes to come help Mama with Miss S.  I was getting them secured in the van when Miss L asked where Miss S was at that moment.  I told her that Miss S was right next to me and that she was okay.  I realized a lady had moved to a bench behind me with the intentions of grabbing a quick smoke in the designated area.  Awesome.  I had basically parked in the smoking section!  This kind lady head me talking, realized I had a newborn, and quickly said she would wait to light up her cigarette until we were underway.  I appreciated her consideration greatly.  She then asked how old Baby Girl was and then wished me a "Merry Christmas."  I wished her one as well and then she replied, "Hanukkah, actually, but thank you."  She was very kind about it.  I engaged her a little about Hanukkah and I think she was surprised that I knew that it had actually started at sunset the evening before.  This whole time Miss L is shouting from in the car, "Merry Christmas!!" Precious and funny at that particular moment all at the same time.

I immediately thought back to this social network image.  Interesting, right?  Basically, I am fine with whatever you want to tell me as long as I can tell you my preference.  However, if I know you celebrate one in particular that is what I will tell you.  However, I do take issue with curbing what people would normally says for the sake of political correctness. Political Correctness, in my book, has overstayed its welcome.

So, from our house to yours...

Merry Christmas!

On a side note, my conversation was of enough time that she never had time to take her smoke break as her ride came to pick her up.  ha ha!  YES!!

And, yes, there will be a post about the arrival of Miss S. :)

Mayoral (Hopeful) Meeting

On Saturday, we all headed out to cast our vote for our city's next mayor.  Yes, some early voting places were open on a weekend.  Yes, they should just combine it with other elections to improve voter turn out and lower overall cost -- but obviously the country's fifth largest city hasn't clued into this common sense.  However, the candidate that we voted for has clued into this.  YES!

We heard good things from our candidate on the radio and then watched the debate.  While he didn't start out as the most poised speaker I thought that he came into his own by the end of the debate.  We were still confident that he was the man for the job.  While anything would be better than current administration this man would be MUCH better for our city.

Anyway... that was a bit of a tangent.

When we were approaching our voting place we encountered a man.  Husband recognized him right away and called him by name.  I had never met a political candidate before.  It was more exciting that it happened to be the person that we were voting for in this election.  Husband shook his hand and introduced me.  At that point W.G. looked at Miss L and asked her name.  She went right up to him and shook his hand.  (Proud mama moment!)  He asked he how old she was -- at this point she has never been really consistent in answering this questions -- she promptly said two and held up the appropriate number of fingers. (Proud mama moment!)  So, W.G. chatted with us some and with Miss L until she pointed out that he had blue eyes as did her sister.  It was a humorous conclusion to say the least.

We walked in and did our civic duty.  Miss L all of a sudden wanted to see the "baby" which meant trying to expose my tummy.  Ummmm... thanks!  HA!  She put my envelope in the box and all was good to go.

As we were leaving Miss L caught sight of W.G. and pulled Daddy along with her to talk to him again.  I appreciated that he found her so entertaining and worth talking to.  He got down on her level and they had their own little conversation again.  At the end of the conversation W.G. gave Miss L his sticker off his shirt.  She was SO excited.  Why?  Because it was a BIG sticker... at least in her world.  She took off her "small" sticker and gave it to Daddy.  She was a pretty happy girl.

Funny.

Needless to say she spoke about the encounter all day.  She mentioned it a few times Sunday.  She cannot say his last name very well but I can generally figure out the "g" and "t" sounds and put it all together when she randomly references W.G.

We hope W.G. makes it to the run off and is ultimately elected to office.  However, beyond his political stance we found him to be a very kind man.  Someone that we would most likely be friends with in every day life and would love to have as a neighbor.

Yes, so that was our brush with political fun.

25 Things You May Not Know About Me

1. I am a saucy girl. You know, I like some sort of sauce with just about every food

2. I came in second place at the school geography bee when I was in middle school thanks largely in part to “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego.”

3. I once had pet mice for a school science project that actually made it to the regional science fair.

4. I have a knack for keeping fish alive for a very long time. There was one exception and I feel horrible for traveling so much with him. (Yes, for a time my fish were well traveled)

5. I got frost nip (a step before frost bite) on my hands my senior year in college. I still feel the effects from that and I am not sure that it will ever go away. Oh well.

6. Never did I miss a varsity football game (home or away) in high school – insane, right?

7. With that, I was the only four-year letterman in football my senior year. So, yeah, it was a little awkward when the coaches presented me with the biggest trophy on the table at the award ceremony. :/ ha! (I lettered a total of 16 times in high school, including my academic letter)

8. My college degree officially was: Bachelor of Science in Physical Education with an emphasis in Athletic Training. Basically involving the watching of a LOT of sporting events and practices. I loved it. Oddly enough, I rarely get to watch any sort of sporting event anymore. Somehow I am still able to keep up on most team that I am interested in – college, not so much into pro-anything.

9. Some of the most interesting stories about college come from being a Resident Assistant in the dorms. Oh my!

10. The best part of living on the third floor of dorms is messing with drunks outside by pointing a flashlight around their feet. They never think to look up. It’s great entertainment when stuck in small town Nebraska for the weekend. Yes, I really did this.

11. I always thought that I would be the mother of all boys. I think God has something else for me to learn and I love it.

12. I almost drowned in a pool when I was taking lessons with my daycare center. I slipped off the steps and no adult noticed. My friend Jimmy, who also couldn’t swim, reached as far as he could and pulled me back to the stairs. That’s when the adults finally noticed what happened. I got back in the water that day and I still LOVE to swim. Although, the ocean sometimes freaks me out if I get too far out.

13. Once my friends timed me on how long I would laugh. I forgot what I originally was laughing at and kept laughing at the fact they were timing me. This went on for 15 minutes. For real.

14. At the ripe ol’ age of 31, I have had surgery on both of my knees and will probably need more. Awesome, I know.

15. I love to scare people (I double over laughing) and I think it’s really funny after the initial shock when others scare me – as long as it doesn’t play off of fears that people have. I just like jumping around corners and such. My favorite “scare” came from Samuel Withem (he was maybe 5?) a while back… we both laughed really hard. These are also my favorite videos on America’s Funniest Home Videos.

16. Monet is my favorite artist.

17. Ansel Adams is my favorite photographer. I know, so cookie cutter, right. But I am generally drawn to black & white. But, I would rather flip through a photography book rather than paintings…but I can totally appreciate paintings as well. I’m not a total cultural ignoramus.

18. My first opera was when I was a freshman in college and it was Carmen. Do you ever forget your first?

19. One of my favorite books is “The Education of Little Tree” – for a variety of reasons, including sentimental.

20. I don’t like cooked fruit which in turn means I don’t like most pies, cobblers, or crisps… it’s would be easier to tell you what pies I do like – chocolate and pumpkin (I know, strange) There was once recently a fruit crisp I did like, the first one ever, but I didn’t want seconds. If this makes me un-American for not liking apple pie, then so be it.

21. One of my favorite things to do is to get my wedding ring cleaned – shiny things make me happy.

22. During the last part of my pregnancies coffee tastes horrible! Yes, even my beloved iced coffee. But as soon as those babies are delivered I think my body realizes it needs the caffeine and we are back in business and things taste “normal” again.

23. I’ve never met a potato that I didn’t like. Well, except that one time at Wendy’s. Fries are my favorite. You will know you rank pretty high if I share mine with you. My friends show me love by giving me what’s left of their fries… even when I am full. Ha! “Hi, my name is JMC and I have a potato addiction.”

24. My Husband is the best thing about me.

25. I am really fine with not using my college degree. I learned a lot of life lessons during my time in college and there are certainly parts of my degree that I can use in everyday life. Seriously, though, I wouldn’t trade my life right now for anything. I am blessed beyond measure.


(Originally poted on my FB page)

Two Girls, Two Rooms

One of my sweet friends asked me to blog about my final decisions to put Miss L and Miss A in their own rooms for the time being.  So, here's a bit of my thought process and those with other experience can share, too.

The reality is that Miss A probably will not go into her own room for at least a month or so after we come home.  Mostly for my own sanity she will be in our room.  Hopefully, she will "probably" be sleeping through longer stretches of the night by then, too.  It will really come down to how long she is actually sleeping through the night, if I am getting much sleep while she moves and coos, and ultimately if she keeps Husband up at all during the night.  He has to function at work, you know.  He doesn't have the option to stay in PJ's or have Grandma come help him, or take a nap at work.

When we do move her we realize there may be several trips in during the night to check on her, feed her, or any number of other things.  Knowing that, we also want to preserve Miss L's sleep schedule.  Sometimes she is totally "out" if we walk into her room at night.  Other times she will wake up right away as soon as the door knob turns.  We are not sure how sensitive she will be to Miss A crying so some of this is based on unknowns that could surprise us when Miss A does come on scene.

So, with that we decided to keep them in separate rooms until they are basically on the same sleep schedule which could be when Miss A is about 18 months old.  It's not very long in the grand scheme of things.  Husband likes the idea of our kids having their own rooms -- he and his brother always had their own rooms.  This is fine if the Lord should decide that we are done at two.  However, should there be more... :)

Even if the Lord says, "two is it" we may still move them into a room together.  They are so very close in age that it wouldn't make that big of a deal.  Then we can reclaim our guest bedroom.  Granted, we don't have a ton of visitors as most of our family lives nearby now.  However, it's nice to have the option.  We do have plenty of floor space and air mattresses are always an option.  We can also create a makeshift guest room if need be in our office or in Miss A's room by moving the girls together (or Miss A to our room) for a temporary fix.  Options...always options.

We will move the crib to Miss A's room this weekend.  I am on the search for a changing table and will make that a one-stop-shop for changing both girls.  Seems easier to have it in Miss A's room at this point in time.

Okay, there you have my pretty simple thought process.  I know quite a few others have put their kiddos together from fairly young ages.  I would love to hear especially the how's and why's.  Usually the "why" is because...well... that's the only option really.

Claim Jumper

I told you about a restaurant from our California adventure.  So, now I will tell you about one from our Colorado excursion.  However, this one I tell you about for a very different reason.  While the atmosphere is fun and the food is pretty yummy, you can visit this restaurant just about anywhere.  Actually, there is one less than three miles from our home.  For me there is some sentimental value in this place as some of our premarital counseling actually happened here. But I digress...

While in Colorado we found ourselves at this restaurant twice.  The first time because we just needed a place to eat when we got to town.  The second was because our extended family really wanted to go when plans to White Fence Farm fell through. (FYI:  I have never been to WFF)  This was the first time that we had been to CJ with Miss L.  We were promptly informed of a "baby plate" that was of no charge.  No charge?  As in free?  What?  It consists of a slice of turkey (I think it's a thin slice of what they have on hand for their turkey meal) two different kinds of cheese sticks, a lovely helping of their homemade applesauce and milk.  Because Miss L tends to have a slightly bigger appetite we just shared the rest with her from our meals because...well... the servings at CJ are substantial!  We ordered some veggies for Miss L one time but we found they were not quite tender enough for her and her lack of certain teeth.  But if someone else were to have them we can find some that were suited for her without the charge.

We had the same waitress both times we were there.  She was as great with our group of 20 as she was a few nights before with our group of five.  She was great with the kiddos, too!

Apparently, CJ is ranked one of the top 10 family restaurants by Parents magazine.  Not that I put a lot of stock in many things that come from Parents, but like anything, some good things can come from it, too.

Their other options for older kids meals were pretty good, too!  We will be filing this place as places to go when Miss A arrives and is ready to eat solid food, too.

For Real?

As of yesterday I am 23 weeks pregnant.  I don't think that I am getting very big.  I'll have to post belly shots once I get a shower later today (impossible right now because our fun window installers from Serbia are here... that's another story.) 

Anyway...

I stopped at a "roadshow" clothing booth at Costco this morning.  The only reason that I stopped was because I recognized their brand name from a half-off company that was featuring them this morning.  They have clothes that you can wear while preggo and then can also be used when not expecting.  It's a pretty genius way to get more for your money.  However, they are a bit pricey.  Even at "half-off" as they were touting at Costco a frilly t-shirt was $28.00 and jeans were about $34.00.  While I was kind of eyeing certain pieces and "wishing" the sales lady kind of turned me off.  First, she was all up in my space continually getting closer and closer.  Not a fan when it's people that I don't know.  Then when she learned Miss L's name she compared it to the "S.ex in the Ci.ty" movie where some character had a daughter named "L" and the other was "R."  She then asked if our next would be named "R" and I said, "No.  Her name is 'A.'" 

So, here is the kicker...

When asking about my next baby she said, "Oh!  Really soon, right??"  If by soon you mean in 4 months, then yes.  If by soon you mean any day now... I think I shall knock you up side the head.

Chick Flick Cherry

Yes, I know that Mother's Day has long since passed but I am still enjoying my gift.  I am not a knick-knacky sort of person.  Give me something that is practical in that it will be useful in the day-to-day or that is consumable.  I will enjoy it for a time and then it will be gone and no longer taking up space in life.  So, when it comes to "minor" holidays I usually tell Husband that a pedicure or massage (or both) really are quite sufficient (actually, these work for me on "major" holidays as well!)  Nothing fancy but I get sheer joy out of the whole experience.

Last Mother's Day I went for a pedicure on my own not far from our old house.  It was fun to see other mothers there with younger daughters.  However, it was a group of ladies that represented three generation of women in their family that really caught my attention.  I watched as the older women laughed and chatted through the pedicures.  The two younger girls squealed with delight as they picked fun colors to paint their toes (they just did paint -- no spa treatment for them).  I delighted in this group and thought, "I want that." 

So, this year my MIL, myself, and Miss L went to the salon to have our toes done.  Miss L is in kind of a weird stage right now that painting her toes would be an interesting feat.  So, she just hung out with us and offered her toes to the nail tech from time to time.  It was cute.  I think that she will be old enough next year to have her toes painted.  Plus, we will have another little girl in tow!  I think it will be a fun tradition for us all.  Plus, we now have Mother's Day covered.  Husband's breathe a sigh of relief.  Not to say that my dear Husband doesn't do anything else... it's just not as big of a deal for us.

Anyway, I usually get a french pedicure when I get my toes done.  For some reason I opted not this time around and found a fun and beautiful red.  It was called "Chick Flick Cherry" which should then in turn tell you that it was an OPI brand nail polish.  ha!  They have the most creative names.  There used to be one called "You're Such a Kabuki Queen" which always made me smile.  I loved the "Chick Flick Cherry" so much that I was going to buy my own bottle of it but the nail tech (who happens to own the salon) gave me the bottle which was far from being empty!  Nice.  Now I can touch up my toes as needed.

On a random note, OPI and Dell have merged to create a new designer computer that I think is rather spiffy.