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Full of Thanks


Because I’m a copy cat and everybody and their mother is writing about things that their thankful for, I’m bustin’ one out here. Plus, making lists is much easier on the brain in comparison to putting together actual sentences. Here we go!

1.  Raffi. We’ve started listening to his Christmas album and I love it now as much as I did as a kid. Maggie has no choice, but to love him too. 

2. Caregivers. Having our nanny, Jessica, watch Maggie in the mornings while I go to work has worked out better than I could have hoped. We’re lucky that our little girl is loved by so many different people. 

3. Being home. I love my afternoons with Maggie (especially on the days when a major meltdown doesn’t happen) and know that all too soon her little life is going to be changed forever when her little sister arrives. I find myself trying to take every hug, kiss, snuggle, book, and game that I can with undivided attention. 

  4. B2. She’s kicking and karate-chopping her way around my tummy. She is already so loved by so many. Hard to believe that in less than ten weeks she’ll probably be here. To say we’re excited, would be a major understatement. 

5. Grandparents. My parents and Barry’s parents are awesome grandparents, Maggie is the luckiest of girls. But I too am a lucky girl, I’ve got pretty amazing grandparents of my own. 3G and Great Grandpa E. stopped by last week for a quick visit and they’re a shining example of what it means to be family. Nothin’ but love from those two! 

 6. Barry. So much of what he does he’d prefer it go unnoticed. He makes the beds in the morning, takes the trash out when it is full, empties the dishwasher, folds laundry, sweeps, dresses Maggie, and the list goes on and on. He does these things partially because they need to get done, but also because he is a caring, helpful husband and father.  He is amazing. We work because I don’t expect him to do these things, but am beyond grateful that he does. I notice. 

7. Cocoa Butter. Stretch marks showed up on my tummy two days before Maggie was born. Not sure that slathering myself in cocoa butter helps, but at least I smell good. 

 8. Facebook Homies. I actually don’t really like facebook, but I’ve got a ‘secret’ group on there with some of my A-Town friends and that little club keeps me laughing and truckin’ sometimes. I haven’t seen some of those women in a few months now, but because of our ‘secret’ group, I halfway know what is new in their lives. 

9. My madre.  Years and years ago I gifted her with the best thing in the world…..a nickname that is SO perfect: FIDGET. My mom, The Fidge, is about to host 25 people at Camp J. for T-Day and I know that  she’s already more ready than 98% of the rest of America prepping for the same holiday. She’s a planner, an organizer and a bustle of energy. She successfully helped me host a bridal tea last weekend and there is NO way I could have done it without her. 

10. Gestational Diabetes. I’m just thankful that I don’t have it. I had to do the three hour test and spent a few days feeling very sorry for myself that it was even a possibility. I’m feeling pretty amazing, regardless of being told that “I look ready” a couple times. I plan to go full-term, which means I’ve still got some serious baking to do with this babe.

11. Nog. I am thankful that we still have a shot glass or two from years ago because taking a shot of egg nog just makes me feel whole some days. Happens every year, I fall in love with egg nog and am done with it by Christmas. 

 12. Maggie’s attention span. There is no doubt in my mind that Maggie is an artist. She amazes me with her attention to detail and ability to follow through on a task. Our hallway closet that contains paints, glue, glitter, a roll of butcher paper, markers, stickers, watercolors, and other supplies gets used nearly every single day. 

13. Christmas. Often times Christmas is a stressful time for us because we’re trying our best to fit in more events than time allows. This year will be a bit different for us, as we’re celebrating Kara & Ryan’s wedding the 23rd, but I’m truly excited to see Maggie experience the holiday. 

14. Friends getting married. Kara and Ryan are getting hitched in about a month and seeing them last weekend made me really excited for their impending nuptials. Being with the one you love….it doesn’t get any better than that. Kara’s excitement over all things wedding is contagious. 

15. A stocked freezer. Charlyn has hosted a meal-prep night a couple times now and I’ve come home with enough food to fill our freezer. The meals are great on days that I don’t feel like cooking or our schedules are busy. I’m thankful for friends that plan ahead….and include me in those plans!

16. Work. It was hard to go back to work after being home with Maggie for a couple years, but I really do love teaching and I love my coworkers. I know that once B2 arrives I’ll fall back into the swing of things of being home, but for now I love the community and connection I feel at work.

17. My yoga pants. What pregnant woman wouldn’t put yoga pants on her list? My whole plan this pregnancy is this: leggings, tunic & boots. It’s been working pretty well, but sometimes in the evening I change out of my leggings into my yoga pants. That’s how much I enjoy my yoga pants. Plus, my yoga pants helped me locate a missing library book, but that is another story for another day. 

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The Random Files

RACING

We pulled out of our driveway last Sunday morning at roughly 5 a.m. to make it to Seattle to watch Barry’s 6:30 start of his race. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go – me carrying Maggie around in the backpack while we watched the swimming, biking and running; however, she surprised me with how much she loved watching all the action. The night before she had helped Barry clean his bike and lay out all his gear, which meant that she was well versed in what he’d need for each portion of the race. 

When he transitioned from his bike to the run, she was very worried that he might not change into his running shoes and when we saw him at the finish line, she immediately checked his feet to make sure he had the right shoes on. She’s quite the little boss-hog. Not sure where she gets it from….must be Barry. 

Barry did great at this olympic-distance race, as usual. He’s so humble and would never tell you all the hard work he puts into training, but I’m here to tell you that most mornings he is up by 5:30 and off working out.  It became especially inspiring to me durning my first trimester, when I wouldn’t have traded a million dollars for a few extra hours/minutes/seconds of sleep. 

And by the way, isn’t he hunky? 

OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES & PICTURES

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be 80 degrees and when I heard that I instantly checked our popsicle supply ~ worry not, we’re good to go. All joking aside, it is supposed to warm up tomorrow and I can hardly contain myself. We’re going to meet up with some friends and I’ve already set out the cooler, sun screen and towels.

(Really gross side note: I have a bit of a rash and was talking to Lara about it today and we wondered if it was heat rash. Wouldn’t that be AWFUL if I got heat rash in 60 degree weather. I would equal a TOTAL Weather Wimp if that were true. I think I must have eaten something weird, or at least that’s what I’m hoping.  Sorry to share my rash with you. Gross. )

I feel energized again in terms of taking pictures, but recently came to the realization that I have almost zero photos of me. I need to get better at handing the camera off to people or even setting up the self-timer for some shots with Maggie. Right after I had Maggie I read a compelling article about The Invisible Parent – the one who usually takes the pictures – and how children often don’t have pictures of themselves with that parent. For the first year of Maggie’s life I worked really hard to get an image of us together at least once a month, even if it was posed, and I have totally slacked off since.  This is my declaration of trying to take more pictures of us together…and letting go of the image in my brain that I hope the photographer will get. Just having images should be enough. 

CAN YOU FIND ME?

CAMPING

We’re finally going camping in a few weeks. We’ve been putting it off – sadly I’m not sure that we went at all last summer – and now we’ve actually got some time on the calendar. I’m excited, but after setting up the tent in the backyard, I’ve determined that any excitement that I have is superseded by Maggie’s. I went to run some errands last weekend and came back to find that Barry and Mags had set up the tent. As I walked through the door, I could hear Maggie yelling, “Mama! Mama! I working in here! I working in here!” 

By the time her frazzled head stuck out I was doubled over in laughter. The sweet little Nugget was so excited to have the tent up that she was literally bouncing off the walls. I really don’t know why we’ve waited so long, since we love camping so much. The last time we went, Maggie was 3 months old. Geesh. 

 

 

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Behind the Card

With the exception of maybe one or two people, there probably isn’t really anyone interested in seeing how we made Maggie’s Christmas card this year. It was a fun project to do, but I’m thankful that we don’t have to do it on a regular basis. I’d had an idea in my head and what we ended up getting was pretty close to what I’d imagined.

I picked up some extra tall wrapping paper and we taped it to the wall. We originally were going to try and do a whole family shot, but with the amount of space that we were workig with along with my camera that isn’t remote friendly, we decided to stick to a Maggie only photo.

Barry wasn’t opposed to being a test subject, however. Isn’t he cute? And now you know where Maggie gets the cheese-ball smile.

While we were setting up the wrapping paper, Maggie was entertaining herself in the other room trying to ride her bike in boots. The girl loves boots, I can not say that enough. We tried to convince her that she’d have better luck riding the bike without shoes, but she wasn’t into that. We brought her into the photo shoot room and she was ALL about being a test subject with Papa, cue the cheese-ball smile.

After changing her outfit and fluffing her locks, Mag-Pie was ready to work her magic.

But she kept wanting to touch the wrapping paper or the lights, which is totally understandable because it isn’t every day that we’ve got our wall covered in Ho, Ho, Ho paper and insist that she stand directly next to plugged in lights.

But I think she did pretty good.  I only wish that I would have thought to take pictures of Barry behind me and beside me. My Man was a clown and Mags ate it up. Again, cue the cheese-ball smile.

We tried to get her to hold the chalk board, but it was slippery and she was too busy laughing at her Papa to concentrate on holding it.

After a few more cheese-ball smiles, Maggie decided that she was done and proceeded to cross her arms in protest and announced that it was nap time.