the third week of Advent

The first week of December our whole family had the flu. We each got it a different night, which I suppose was the best way for five of us to get the flu, but it made for a really long week of laying low and laundry. And I got it last, which meant all the apple sauce, bananas and saltines had been consumed the days prior. But I made up for it in cinnamon toast and sprite.

The second week of December we took our very first family road trip to Kentucky! Three weeks ago Rory handed me a piece of paper with a map and day-by-day itinerary and told me we were going to take the kids on a trip. I was thrilled as road trips are basically my love language. We visited my Aunt Connie and Uncle Paul and cousins Jessica and Isaac and it was so awesome. I will blog about the whole trip at length...the whole thing was so good. And the kids did incredible and super fun memories were made.

And now we're onto the third week of Advent and we're back home but recovering from week one and two and it hardly feels like Christmastime to me. Has this happened to you? Some Decembers I jump in with both feet and others it takes me a while to find my Christmas spirit. Today Rory put the star up in the barn along with a candle in each upstairs window. It's really lovely and feels like a step in the right direction.

Other than that, I have been prepping the kids for Santa Lucia Day on Tuesday morning. They are excited, except that I just heard Elsie threaten Ivar, "If you keep being mean to me, I will not bring you cookies in bed because I'm Lucia!"

So we've got a ways to go to find our Christmas Spirit! But we'll get a tree this week and play in the foot of new snow we got overnight. And tomorrow I hope to make cookies and try to explain the generous and giving heart of Lucia which should keep us moving towards the true meaning of holy time of preparing for Jesus' birth.

this pregnancy so far...

Basically each day around 4:00 I get a wave of nausea that hangs around until bedtime. I feel crummy, but need to eat, and only odd things sound good to me. This is quite peculiar to Rory who will hear me talk about how sick I feel, and moments later find me in the kitchen heating salami, and wrapping a pickle with cream cheese in the middle. He'll say things like, "I thought you weren't feeling well." Even on the forth time around, pregnancy is still mystifying.

Other than that, I can't complain. I truly can't. I know the spectrum of sick from my pregnancy with Elsie, and this is nothing to complain about. I'm carrying a little life in me. I'm fine. Just don't say anything about my warm salami roll ups.

for the love of a good blog

Last week, while sick in bed, I checked A Beautiful Mess where Elsie announced that she and her husband are adopting. She shared that a few years ago she and her husband followed a blogger named Ashley as she wrote about the adoption of her own little girl from China and it really stirred their hearts. So I clicked over to read a little of Ashley's story and basically read a year or two of her life all surrounding the time she was waiting for, receiving and finally bringing her daughter home. My heart swelled while I read each post and I felt so grateful for her writing.

It's amazing how blogs can do that, isn't it? I sat in bed sick with sick kids laying all around me and got to peek in on another person's wondrous life, a life she is living fully and passionately, and it left me wanting to live fuller too. Ashley is an artsy-crafty girl, but wrote about how she tries to tackle small projects, even ones that take ten minutes, just to fulfill that need to create. She seemed very practical and intentional.

Anyway, I had Rory read a few posts and I told him what a gift blogs are for me. There are some blogs that make you feel less than, instagram accounts that make you feel left out or lacking. But then there are some that are completely the opposite. The ones that show you someone who is fully alive and leave you wanting to live your life that fully too.

So if you're looking for some good browsing, clicking and binge reading, I highly recommend Ashley's adoption story. It's so tender and beautiful. I felt grateful the whole time I read it for parents who hear the call to adopt and become Mom and Dad to these little babes.

This link will go to all of her posts written about her adoption process. If I were you, I'd start with "If we could sit down and have a cup of coffee" and then proceed clicking through to their trip to China to bring home their daughter. And once you've read those, you'll want to back up and read all of the pre-story too. Enjoy!

hattie's earrings

Apparently these pumpkin spice cheerios are bit stickier than the usual, but Hattie wears them very nicely. The kids were in stitches the whole meal when Hattie wore her special hoop earring.

Hattie is a kick these days. She is so busy. And into everything. Our house has a very minimalist look to it because if she can reach it, it will be reached. I have a friend who has a two year old and when you ask him what his name is (Bo) he replies with a straight face, "No, no, Bo bo."  Hattie will likely feel the same way, except her name would be a very exasperated, "Ah! Hattie! No!" I lovingly call her the terrorizer because she is always freaking someone out. I'll hear her dad, "Ah! Hattie! No! Not the papers in my laptop bag!" I'll hear her siblings, "Hattie! No! Mom! Our puzzle! Get Hattie!" Or when I find her in the bathroom, "Ah! Hattie! No! Not in the toilet! Kids! We have to keep this door closed!"

She keeps us on our toes, proudly and quickly crawls up the stairs and then claps for herself. She monkeys around on all the furniture and stands on her own, but doesn't seem to feel the necessity to take a step. She's a fast crawler, a great eater and gives great snuggles, hugs and kisses. So she's a snuggly terrorizer.

did you know this?!!!

On Saturday my mom turns 70!!! We are going to celebrate at her house on her actual birthday, but the bigger party will be in February when just my sister and I are flying out to Seattle to meet up with my folks (coming from Mesa) for a weekend with my brother! We are so excited for this time together and mom just sent me the confirmation information for our flight.

It was in that email from Delta that my eyes popped out of my head and I nearly laughed for joy. Did you read the restricted hazardous items?!! Delta no longer accepts HOVERBOARDS!!!

HOVERBOARDS!!!! Does this mean they are a real thing?!! And why didn't anyone ever tell me?!! I feel like my whole life has been waiting for the invention of the hoverboard! You only have to watch Back to the Future 2 one time, when you're eight, to know they have the potential to change everything. Your life would never be the same.

So I did some research on this FORBIDDEN ON DELTA, BUT THEREFORE VERY REAL HOVERBOARD, and thanks to the experts at YouTube, I have learned a few things. First, they have wheels. Hmph. That's not technically hovering, then, is it? They still look fun, but they seemed to be more of a segway without the handle bar. But I can't really judge. I still haven't come up with the technology to hover the earth on a board. The wheeled version looks fun, but I'm still holding out for the real, space-flying hoverboard...