Old and New

After a whirlwind couple of days with some much enjoyed surprise guests, and a day trip back up to Pennsylvania to search for a nursery dresser that we eventually found online...

we're headed down to the beach for a few days to bring in the New Year with some old friends. Could be our last little vacation, too, with all the business the upcoming year is about to bring.

Happy 2009!

25 weeks

25 down, 15 weeks to go!

This week Mia:

• weighs about 1 1/2 pounds and 13 inches long, which is about the size of a rutabega

• has a heart beating so loud that you can hear it if you press your ear to Mommy's stomach
• can make a fist, reach her feet, and may already be displaying a preference for her right or left hand
• continues to develop baby fat that changes her look from long and lean to round and chubby
• has developed a distinct hair color and texture
  

A note from Baby Mia

There's lots to share about our Christmas adventures, including the reason we are down to one car (no accident, nobody hurt, just inconvenient and expensive), BUT that will be another post.

Baby Mia was spoiled this Christmas...and she won't even make her grand entrance for another 3 1/2 months!

Look at how much she's loved!

One of my oldest friends, who obviously knows me well, gave Mia a box of "shoes" in a rainbow of colors. Ironically, we had just put something similar on our registry, but these are so much cuter. Thank you, Ms. Casi!

I also met up with my former college roommates for our annual Christmas lunch and gift exchange. They didn't forget Baby Mia! From Ms. Leanne, an adorable picture frame.

From Ms. Amy, a book by Eileen Spinelli. Not only does this incorporate both Ms. Amy and Mommy's love of children's literature, but the book is signed, to Mia, from Eileen Spinelli herself. Very cool!


Mia was blessed by her family, too. From her great-Opa and his wife, an assortment of BPA-free bottles. Thank you!

Her favorite Aunt Danielle (my sister) searched everywhere for these ladybug nursery decals. Also from Aunt Danielle, a soft and girly onesie. Thank you, Aunt Danielle, Baby Mia can use all the clothes she can get!

From her Mommy and Daddy, Mia received a few things that she really wanted (or needed...ahem). Some 4 oz bottles, pacifiers, hair bands (mostly cuz Mommy thought they were too cute to pass up), 2 outfits, a couple of board books, and a stack of burp cloths.

But by far, the most spoiling was done by her Oma and Opa (my parents). The pile below consists of a full bedding set for her nursery, waterproof mattress pads, a fitted crib sheet, a set of flannel lap pads, 10 books to add to her growing library, a ducky washglove, a nursery monitor, an ornament, a tiny pair of shoes, and a "Daddy's Princess" bodysuit. Phew! Mia is one lucky little girl and her parents are feeling extremely grateful. Thank you!

The nursery is currently packed to the brim with the boxes that normally hold our holiday stuff, so you can barely fit in the door. We'll have that all cleaned out next weekend, and then we'll start the process of actually putting the nursery together. I feel as though the next couple months are going to zip by before I know it.

Merry Christmas

There will be time for many more pictures and words later, including the tale of our wild trip to Pennsylvania, but for now, a simple Merry Christmas from us in our home to all of you in yours.

The "American" Christmas carols

In 1732, Rev. John Wesley sailed with General Edward Oglethorpe from Plymouth in Cornwall bound for a new colony in New Britannia. Landing on Yamacraw Bluff, 18 miles up the Savannah River from the sea, General Oglethorpe, to whom King George II owed a great debt, named the new city Savannah, and the new colony "Georgia" in honor of his sovereign. Rev. Wesley was the Anglican minister to the church in Georgia.

Two years later, Rev. John Wesley left Savannah for Fort Frederica, a fort on St. Simon's island, the southern outpost of Britain's territorial claim in North America. South of St. Simon's Island ran the St. Mary's River and on the other side, Spanish Florida. A town and with it, a church, quickly grew up around Ft. Frederica. John Wesley became the minister of Christ Church at Frederica on St. Simon's Island, Georgia.

The next spring John invited his brother Charles, the choir director at King's College in Cambridge. Charles joined his brother John as choir director at Christ Church while his brother served as parish minister. Over 1735-1736, he completed more than a dozen hymns, including the popular Christmas carols Hark, the Herald Angels Sing and Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. Every time I sing either of these, I smile at knowing that they were written in the Georgia colony.

My dad, now the seminarian, pointed out something else interesting to me recently. As you sing Christmas carols through this week and on Christmas, pay careful attention to the verb tenses. You'll notice that all of the verb tenses are in present tense. Each Christmas we celebrate not just that Christ WAS born, but that He IS born, year after year. These pictures are from our August 2006 visit to Christ Episcopal Church, still holding weekly services near the ruins of Fort Frederica on St. Simon's Island, Georgia:

Christmas in the White House

Once a year we get to bring our families and our cameras to the White House on the same day. Here's some pictures of Love and me (and Mia too), inside the Executive Mansion, December 17 2008:

Registry

Last night we went shopping, again. We knew that after Christmas it was time to start a baby registry. We were looking for things to put on it, but instead of writing things down to later put on a registry, we decided to go ahead and start one last night. We have no idea what should go on it. Baby registries are harder to make than wedding registries. But here's our attempt.

Baby Registry

What did we miss? What "can't live without" thing should we add to our registry?

24 Weeks

Today is rainy, cold, and chilly. My plans to do a little late-season yard maintenance were thwarted and, honestly, I can't be bothered to do anything except bum around the house until it's time to go in to work at 3:00. I put laundry in, just so that I can say I was semi-productive. In the meantime, I'm browsing around online for possible registry items, since I have had a beginning of January deadline "imposed upon me" by my Mom and sister, who are planning my February shower. And because, let's face it, time is moving on pretty quickly and we need to start thinking about this sooner or later.

Meanwhile, in Mia-world, at 24 weeks, she:

• is about 12 inches long and weighing in just over the pound (I'm now gaining about a pound a week) and is roughly the size of an ear of corn.

• is too big to do any more flips and cartwheels, though she lets her presence be known in other ways.


• continues to be attuned to outside sounds.


• is still pretty lean, but will start filling out soon.

Physically, I'm noticing a big difference in me, which has become more and more apparent as I'm flipping through the holiday event photos. Logically, I know that this is what is suppposed to happen, and I'm not even upset by the getting larger. But it's strange to look at myself in photos and not quite recognize me. Here, life is busy as usual and moves pretty fast, and yeah, yeah, things are changing, but it didn't hit home so much until this past week. So I'm transitioning. Definitely a process.

Oh, but in other news, my Christmas shopping is completed, wrapped, and under the tree/in the stockings. Yippee!!

Hard Core

Baby Mia looovvvveesssss to hear her Daddy sing "Twinkle Twinkle." She rewarded him last night with 4 strong kicks during the time it took him to sing that song.

Rock out, baby girl.

23 Weeks

Technically, this was Friday, but I haven't done an update in awhile.

This week Baby Mia:

• weighs a little over one pound, about the weight of a large mango

Image courtesy of babycenter.com

• is about 12 inches from crown to rump


• is about the size of a large melon


• kicks and strethes regularly (ya think?? anybody know anything about prenatal gymnastics classes??)


• is sensitive to loud noises, but prefers more soothing tones (no Pink Floyd for this little girl..she's more a Barry Manilow type)


• has become used to regular loud or sudden noises, such as the alarm clock, and is no longer startled by them


• has developed a sense of movement and will respond to swaying, such as in slow dancing


• is developing blood vessels in her lungs that will prepare her for breathing

Classy

I took a break from my graduate paper to do a little Christmas shopping with Love. We enjoyed ourselves at Fair Oaks Mall, which is one of the "nice" malls in Northern Virginia. We strolled among the fancy stores and imagined what it would be like to be able to just drop in and plunk down a couple hundred bucks without thinking twice about it. We were, however, productive in getting me a new cell phone. My old phone had been mine since summer 2005 and it was time for a new one.

On the way home we got a phone call from Bank of America's fraud prevention department. They were calling to alert us of unusual activity on our credit card and wanted us to confirm that we'd made certain purchases over the weekend. The first was from a retailer called Slumber Parties Inc. The name didn't sound familiar, but Love and I were just discussing on the way home how we would create an online retailer with a generic-sounding name so spouses could shop for their loved one in privacy and not give up their Christmas surprise when he saw "The Apple Store" on the credit card statement. Many companies use generic-sounding names as it is, like the Exxon station near Love's workplace appears on credit card statements as "Oakton Auto Service".

Bank of America transferred me to a polite, helpful customer service representative. I asked what the store sold. She said it came up as a "General retailer of flowers and merchandise". The lady canceled our cards (in mid-December, gggggrrrrr) and said we would receive new ones in 5-7 business days. Then I looked up Slumber Parties Inc.'s website. They market certain...feminine pleasure products.

Classy. I'm glad to know there's a con artist out there using our credit card number to buy such tasteful stuff.

Holiday Pictures

For the last week, I've been planning and fretting and preparing for last night's party. In the end, the decorations were up, the fireplace was lit, the food was declared a hit, and our guests stayed and chatted and visited for four hours. Which, I think, qualifies as a success. A few pictures from around the house--

Train set in the living room. We have quite a few pieces, but only a few up last night, since it takes up so much space:

Formal tree in the living room:

This is the tree in our den. It's much less formal and has ornaments from our childhoods, as well as ones we've collected from places we've visited:

The stockings were hung....One for each of us and a little pink one for the one-to-be:

Two guests kindly brought sparkling grape juice/cider last night, since I wasn't drinking the wine or other alcoholic beverages that we served along with the soda and water. There was no question, however, that something was different about between me and the approximately 9 other women who were there last night. See the picture below? I'm the round one on the end... ;)


Despite being up late last night, we were up early this morning because we had been asked to light the advent wreath at the early church service this morning. After the service, I was chatting with another church member, when a third that I recognized only be sight came up, rubbed my stomach, and commented on how at this time next year there'd be another little one. And then she moved on. This is another milestone, I suppose. The first "stranger" who has taken it upon herself to rub me like a lucky Buddha. I know other women are completely freaked out by this, and I actually found that I don't care that much, but still, it's weird. When else in society is this considered acceptable?

Kevin helped me set up my Christmas gift this afternoon. My old one was over 4 years, and while not ancient by any means, was not quite able to keep up with the demands I was making on it. This one is noticeably faster, and has a much sharper image. Crazy how rapidly technology changes. We'll be cleaning up my other one and donating it to a good home.

So next on the holiday to-do list? Shopping. Because yes, I am still not done. In fact I've barely started. So I'll be the woman running around to the packed malls this week and hitting up the online stores in order to make all this happen in the one week I have remaining. Eeks!

A good name

Mia,

You have it pretty good right now. It's a big, bad, mean world out there. The kind of place where wrong is wrong, only for a brief moment, as long as the ends serve the means. People will do anything to gain even just a temporary advantage. The Proverbs remind us that a good name is rather to be had than all riches, honor, and glory.

As I think about being your Dad, I think of another Dad a thousand miles away in Springfield, Illinois. I think of his daughters, 4 and 10, who were awakened on Tuesday morning by the FBI arresting their father because he forgot that a good name is rather to be had than all riches, honor, and glory. According to the Government's affidavit, for a little while, he had riches and glory. But now his name is dirt, and always will be. I think of their mother, who projected a philanthropic image of public beautification and children's literacy. Yet according to the Government's affidavit, it is allegedly her voice heard in the background in a profanity streak "Hold up that f---ing Cubs s---. F--- them" encouraging her husband to withhold state financing to facilitate the Tribune Company's sale of the Chicago Cubs because the newspaper owned by that parent company resisted pressure to fire a member of the editorial board who called for the governor's impeachment.

It is easy to be like the Pharisees and point out how sinful "those people" are when, in reality, there but for the grace of God go I. Pray for them. Pray for me, that I remember that a good name is rather to be had than all riches, honor, and glory. Pray for me that I might teach you the same, too.

Daddy

10 Random Thoughts

1. My house is a holiday-making disaster. Kevin and I are hosting a party for about a dozen people (maybe more?) on Saturday, and I'm determined to get the house all festive by then. And it will be. But in the meantime? There is stuff everywhere and that makes me crazy.

2. I got my hair cut short for the first time in about 6 years. I like it now, having just left the salon on a few hours ago. I hope I'm able to recreate it again tomorrow.

3. We never got around to cleaning out the gutters, and it's now halfway through December. Is that going to be a problem?

4. I am still having total cravings for chicken nuggets and french fries. This has been going on for 3 weeks. I look forward to Thursday nights because Kevin has class till late and I can indulge in this guilty pleasure.

5. I need to get started on the baby scrapbook. Not sure why I'm dragging my feet on this, except that maybe I know that I have one shot to do it, as time will become more limited in the near future?

6. I/we are so behind on our Christmas shopping. Maybe I should be focusing on that instead of blogging and watching Dr. Phil?

7. I think Mia has a crush on Josh Groban. She starts jumping and jiving every time this song comes on my CD. If you haven't heard it before, that's Faith Hill singing with him.

8. I think these cookies look so yummy, and I want to test them out before my neighborhood cookie exchange on December 22nd.

9. I have seriously contemplated buying The Elf on the Shelf, even though it will be several years before Mia is old enough to really participate. Still considering it. Is this worth $35? I think it could be a fun tradition....

10. I'm pretty much at a happy spot right now, but also feeling guilty because I'm not working full-time and I have more free-time on my hands right now (while I'm between semesters) than I've had in a long, long time. I thnk I need to get over this.

Shifting gears

The semester has officially ended, which means I should be able to catch a breath for the next 4 weeks until the next one starts. Sorta...but not really. The holiday season is in full swing, and that means the calendar is pretty full. This past weekend, we went to back to my hometown to celebrate St. Nicholas Day. My parents and I did a little shopping (my wardrobe is now updated for all holiday events), while Kevin fulfilled a work obligation. We all met up at my parents' house that night to visit, then go to bed. We had some amazing Italian food on Sunday at the restaurant where my sister works. The rest of Sunday afternoon was spent in a rush getting supplies for the holiday party that Kevin and I are hosting this coming Saturday. Getting ready for this event will likely take up the rest of the week. My house is perfectly decorated for fall, but not at all for Christmas. There is a tree to be bought, inside decorations to be put up, outdoor decorations to be assembled, dishes to be prepared...

But! We can check one thing off the list. We decided on the nursery theme last week, centered around this bedding from Kidsline:

We're moving forward...

Brief Hiatus

We're back from our Thanksgiving travels. There will be a brief hiatus, as this week is jam packed with last-minute graduate school work.

Back soon!