THE Christmas card picture.

Awhile back I saw this adorable rustic-y winter-y Christmas picture idea on Pinterest that involved a couple holding a "Merry Christmas" banner. I fell in love with it and decided we had to re-create it. Well us + our three adorable (and oh so cooperative) children. How hard could it be?! Just hold the sign and smile at the camera, right?

Ha! I should have known better. Pinterest ideas never work. At least not for me. 

We had a few unexpected challenges in capturing THE picture. For starters, I certainly wasn't expecting Hannah to be afraid of the sled. Thus requiring Joe to hold her PLUS the sign. Which doesn't sound too complicated...except everytime I ran to start the camera's self timer the sign would get tangled. And Joe was helpless to stop the tangling process...because...well...hands full o' toddler! (A toddler who refused to smile because of the "scary sled"!) Nor did I anticipate most of my letters (which I had painstakingly hot glued to the ribbon) would fall off due to the previously mentioned tangling! Oh and don't even get me started on the slightest breeze that would make the banner un-readable! I am sure the neighbors were enjoying the free show we were putting on in my parents' front yard. Oh the things we do for THE picture. 

So here it is in all it's tangled falling apart glory...the outtakes...

Oh how they make me laugh. (Though admittedly I wasn't laughing during the photo session.) I think I like them more than the finished product. Charlotte's one-foot-on-the-sled-hands-on-her-hips pose was ALL her idea. I didn't tell her what to do what so ever. And I love that she was determined to stay in that pose regardless of the chaos ensuing around her. Clearly Isaiah was most interested in watching the letters fall:) And Hannah was giving the camera a good stare down. Don't we look lovely? And full of Christmas cheer? 

Actually the finished (edited) product turned out alright, if I do say so myself....

It doesn't hold a candle to the original Pinterest photo, but I like it. It's got character. And a few funny memories to go along with it. Plus it reminds me just how much my husband loves me...remember when Joe was all sick and feverish upon his return to Minnesota? Um yeah, these pictures were taken at the peak of his illness. The man felt TERRIBLE, yet he still got dressed and stood out in the cold for me. And he smiled through it all. That's love.

Goodbye Nancy!

Joe very gently pointed out the fact that I have been a tad negative here on the ole family blog lately. He may or may not have called me "Negative Nancy". (Ok. He did.) Mostly he was confused/concerned because our life right now is quite pleasant...but you wouldn't know it based on my writing.

So let me set the record straight. 

I am happy. And life is pretty darn good. The girls got over their "colds" rather quickly and are back to their usual sisterly love-hate war-like antics. Isaiah is thriving in school and life in general. Joe is home...ALL THE TIME...well until Sunday when he leaves for more interviews:( And having him around is WONDERFUL. Seriously parenting is so much easier with a co-parent. He has been great at picking up my slack. And the larger I get the more slack there has been around here!

See? Definitely large. Having a hard time putting on my socks large. But happy and waddling my way through my days. I am trying to really enjoy these last weeks of (my last*) pregnancy. And because most of the time I feel good, it's been easy to enjoy. Baby boy moves all the time...which I love! And my varicose veins have decided to not ache constantly so that's pretty awesome too:) Plus I put some foam under my hips when I sleep and it has helped significantly. Not so achey anymore. Yay! 

Oh and as much as I complain about Hannah and her unruly ways, I am completely enamored with her and her blossoming verbal abilities these days. Two year olds are equal parts exhausting and adorable. Some of my current favorite Hannah-isms are:

"I not know" (ie I do not know)

"Where is dit?" (ie What is this?)

"I updown!" (ie I am upside down! A favorite position of hers recently. Hence I will be registering her for toddler gymnastics soon!)

"Where Tarlotte? (ie Where is Charlotte? This is typically the first question out of her mouth after nap. Melts my heart everytime.) 

"Who made dis? God made dis?" (ie Who made this? God made this?) 

And a less than favorite new phrase..."WHY?"  Yep. We have entered the phase of 200+ "whys?" per day. It's overwhelming because most the time I don't know WHY!!! Really I don't know why dogs bark or why it gets dark so early or why it is so cold in Minnesota. If I knew I would tell you Hannah. I promise. 

Life is good. I don't have any real ground to complain on. And it's about to get better...this weekend I am going to quilt retreat with my mom & cousin!!! (I won't actually be quilting but that's irrelevant. I will hopefully finish both my girls' baby books...never mind the fact that they are four and two years old...better late than never, right?!) Oh and Joe will be taking the kids to see Santa this weekend. Charlotte and Hannah both claim they will sit on his lap this year. We shall see. (I bet they don't). My sweet rule-following Charlotte asked me yesterday if we have to bring money when we see Santa...ya know to pay for the presents we ask for! I assured her we don't:)

Deck the Halls

So we did it again. We attempted to make another amateur video of the tree setting up and decorating process. And it was a PROCESS this year. Half the branches had fallen off and most of the other half were in the wrong location. It was slow and tedious but we persevered. Okay honestly mostly Joe persevered. I just grumbled and complained and tried to get the lighting right on my camera. And the kids were completely uninterested and playing in the other room. I don't blame them. It took a LONG TIME to fix....the tree and the camera setting.

(Sorry I didn't figure out how to keep the flash ON until we were well into the process. So it's a bit funky at the beginning but I promise it gets better...after the about the first 25 seconds of the video).






And just for fun, HERE is the video from last year! So yeah, this year's video is a little better. But there is definitely room for improvement...maybe next year. Third time is the charm, right?! Once I get that camera remote for Christmas (**hint, hint family**) I will be in business. No more relying on self timer or running back to the camera a zillion times to capture the moment.

an un-thankful night.

It is 4:30 AM. The morning after Thanksgiving. Except I haven't really slept so it feels like it is still Thanksgiving. Just one long never-ending day.

And I am not feeling very thankful. 

Instead I am feeling irritated. And frustrated. And tired. And crabby. And uncomfortable. A little angry too. Oh and hungry too. Basically anything BUT thankful. 

Since midnight when Joe and I turned off the movie we were watching and called it a night, Joe has been asleep. Or so I assume based upon his breathing pattern. And I have been trying to sleep. But it has proved futile. Mostly because I am surrounded by small, needy children. 

The two year old has weaseled her way into our bed. And she insists upon having her arm across my head and leg across my belly. Which I could tolerate except, the four year old is on the floor next to me because she needs her faucet of a nose wiped every 15 minutes. (I wish I were exaggerating. I am not. Every 15 minutes for the past four and a half hours she has woken up whimpering until I wipe her runny nose.) And when I roll over (ever so slowly thanks to my achey hips) the two year old cries and kicks as if I am leaving her FOREVER. It's ugly. And painful. And it has wiped every thought of thankfulness from my mind. Ironically. 

And now it is 5 AM. And I don't know where I am going with this. But for the first time EVER I wish I were out shopping the middle-of-the-night Black Friday deals. Then maybe I would feel like my night has been productive. Not that wiping the nose of a four year old (who is completely capable of wiping her own nose) isn't a good use of my time as well...that totally counts as being productive, right?!

I tried to find solace in Facebook but that proved to be guilt-inducing...

Because I am not quite there yet. I am still stuck in the first paragraph. Minus the "Thank you Jesus" part. I am just feeling stretched and messy and chaotic. The thankfulness component isn't there quite yet. It's been wiped out of me momentarily...

 

seventy-three

I have this handy little (free!) app on my phone that counts down to all the important upcoming events in my life. I love it because it tells me things like there are only 113 days until MATCH DAY. And 190 days until Joe's graduation day. And only 73 days until my estimated delivery date!

Eek. 73 days! That's not very many.

73 days until our world turns upside down...again. Seriously having a baby changes things. Like family dynamics. And routines. And everyone's emotional stability! Brand new babies throw everything off kilter. It's amazing how much havoc a brand new person can create. Every time I have been pregnant I like to deny that this is going to happen. But inevitably it happens. And then we trudge through to find our new "normal". 

This time I am not living in denial. I am living in fear. Seriously. I know this is going to be a hard transition for our family. And no matter how much I LOVE newborn babies (and trust me. I really, REALLY love babies!) it doesn't change reality. We are in the calm before the storm. 

A lot of my fear is rooted in the fact that Hannah is a VERY busy...and...ahem...challenging toddler. I barely have a handle on her at this moment. So I can not fathom being able to manage her + a baby. I say "yes". She says "no". I tell her to stop. She runs into the street. I say sit on the stool. She stands on the counter. She fights sleep like it is going to kill her. She constantly picks on Grandpa's dog on purpose...she WANTS to get bit so she can go to the hospital! 

So...ummm...yeah...not sure how I am going to adequately monitor her and keep a brand new baby alive! And I only have 73 (+/- a few) days to prepare. It just doesn't seem adequate. And by "prepare" I do mean eat many many bowls of icecream to calm my fears...and fatten this baby up. I mean the bigger he is the better, right? A sturdy baby will be more likely to survive this household. Kidding. Kinda.

Along with the impending sense of doom that came with opening up that app this morning came an urgency to take "maternity" pictures with Joe. I have never before taken maternity pictures. And I am not sure how I feel about them. They are kind of awkward and corny. And really, what does one do with maternity pictures?! Frame them? Hang them up? Put them in an album somewhere to be forgotten? Put them in the baby book?! And yet despite all my reservations I just HAD TO TAKE THEM TODAY. Because this is it folks. My last pregnancy. And I am determined to do it right. To dot all my "i"s and cross all my "t"s so to speak. To have no regrets. And while I am not over the moon excited about having maternity pictures, I am happy I won't ever have to wish I had taken them. Yes I am that neurotic. I took pictures so in the future I wouldn't regret not taking these pictures. Makes perfect sense. 

And now before I disclose any more of my craziness to the world, I will end. With the maternity pictures of course. And a big bowl of ice cream.