Some more holiday photos

Here is the lovely blanket of snow we got for New Year's.

Aunt C, Uncle C, Grams and Gramps in my home for Christmas. I got my wish!
Here is the spread we put out. See my lovely Christmas China? Now if only I could get rid of the horrid orange counter tops in my kitchen! What were you baby boomers thinking?

Photographs and Memories

Here I am with my Cousin W. Daddy and my uncles thought I needed to join them in the Christmas festivities. (Don't worry, Gammo, the can isn't open)

Look closely at the try of my walker. That's snow! I didn't want to go out in the cold, so Daddy brought me some snow in the house. Boy is that stuff cold!

Snow is fun to play with, but it tastes weird!

Here I am watching a movie with the big kids.
I just LOVE my big brother! (He kinda likes me too.)
Check out my future Sister In Law. She's a cutie! (If I were older, I'd give you a run for your money, big brother!)
My Daddy spoils me. He gave me this piece of pizza. Mommy is a party pooper, she took it away from me just when I finally got a bite off of it. Bummer. It sure was yummy, though.
Here I am enjoying my very first sled ride. WEEEEEE!!!!!

National Lampoon's Nall Family Vacation

Well, folks, I must apologize for not posting for so long. I have been very busy, as usual, and keep forgetting to get my pictures downloaded so I can post them for you. I forgot them again today, so I’ll just have to post a text-only for now, and make sure to get them done this weekend. Hopefully I’ll be posting pics like crazy next week.

Christmas was fun and wonderful. Sunday we spent the afternoon at my Daddy and Momma J’s house with my siblings and nieces. My girls are such a blast! I wish they lived closer so that I could steal them for a weekend more often. W gets so much more grown up every time I see her, it just breaks my heart! My sister and I played pictionary against our husbands. That was something you should have seen! It was hilarious. We were over halfway around the board before they got off the first square. They kept looking at our paper and asking incredulously, “how did you get a ROBOT out of that? It’s just two squares!” To which we would respond, “No, it’s two squares and a line. See, that’s the neck.” Then they would assure each other that we secretly whispered the answer while they weren’t looking. It was great. It’s funny how my sister and I think alike considering how opposite we are in almost every way.

Christmas day J woke up talking sweetly at just the right time to wake me up to put the turkey in the oven. Then he just went right back to sleep on his own. What a good son! My mom was there with me (thank goodness) to help with cooking and with caring for J. I was so focused on getting the food done and coming out at the right time all together, that I forgot all about getting me ready. At about 11:30 I looked out the kitchen window to see my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle with their kids pulling up outside. I looked down and said, “Oh crap!” That’s right, folks. I was still wearing pajamas. I served a wonderful delicious Christmas dinner to my extended family in my pajamas. At least they were cute ones. LOL. Special thanks to my Mommy for giving me cute new pajamas on Christmas Eve, just like when I was a little girl. Dinner consisted of:
Sage and Garlic Roasted Turkey
Veggie Dressing
Mashed Potato Casserole
Pear-Cranberry Chutney
Orange Glazed Butternut Squash
Cinnamon Candied Apples
Fresh Steamed Green Beans tossed in Herbed Butter
Gravy
Pumpkin Pie
Chocolate-Pecan Pie

As we were finishing up dinner, before we had gifts, my aunt asked to take J outside to play in the snow. I thought it an odd request. What’s a baby going to do in the snow? But she bundled him up, so what’s the harm, let her have some fun. Next thing I know, my Grams is at the window laughing her head off. I looked out, and there is J sitting in a little blue baby snow sled! Cousin A is pulling him all around the yard while Aunt C runs along behind, winded and laughing her head off, making sure he doesn’t fall to the side. It was the coolest thing I ever saw! Who knew they make sleds for babies?

After everyone left J laid down for a nap and so did I. We were both more tired than I thought, because by the time he woke me up, we were already late for my other Aunt’s house. And I still had to pump and get dressed and pack up J’s stuff. We had a real good time there. We played Uno Spin, which is viciously fun. We had our gift exchange and Grandma gave J a wonderful gift. He got a wooden toy tractor and trailor set that my Grandpa made before he became too ill to do his woodworking any longer. (For those of you who don’t know, my Grandpa went to Heaven June 04, 2006, and he was an amazing craftsman who could make just about anything out of wood. He was famous all over the area, especially for his old fashioned children’s toys and his puzzles and his fretwork.) Part of me wants to keep these out of J’s hands and put them up on a shelf, but I know Grandpa would be much happier to see them played with as they were intended to be. So J will get to play with them as soon as he is old enough to. Then we played pictionary again. Once again I found myself on the winning team, only this time we had three teams of three people each. What can I say? I rock at pictionary.

The next day it was back to work. You cannot possibly imagine how hard it was to leave J again after being with him 24/7 for four days! It was torture. But he wasn’t bothered. He was happy to have his Gammo back! Just three days and I was back at home with my guys. I had New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day off, so it was another four days without leaving my son. Heaven…I’m in Heaven!

And one of the best treats of the whole holiday season: My oldest son T came to spend the afternoon on New Year’s Day. And he had reason to celebrate. At midnight on New Year’s he proposed to his girlfriend W. Of course, she said yes. I was very proud of my son. He even asked her dad’s permission first! We had such a wonderful time just hanging out with him. J was on cloud 9, and couldn’t decide whether to play with Brother or W, so he just rolled back and forth between them endlessly. LOL To T I have to say that I love you so much more than you will ever know. You will always be my first son, and I will adore you till the day I die. I am so proud of the young man you have become, and the grown man you are striving to be. I am excited to watch this phase of your life unfold. And to W, I want to say welcome to our family. I could not have hand picked a better mate for my boy. You are a wonderful, sweet, smart lady. I have admired the person you are since I met you five years ago. I look forward to getting to know you better.

And now it’s back to the ole’ grind with no end in sight. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. It’s just hard to walk away from such a sweet precious smile every morning. Now that the excitement is settled down, who wants to place bets on how long it will take me to get my tree taken down? Hopefully not as long as it took me to get it up! LOL The weather has been so bitter cold lately. It gives me all the more reason to wish I could stay at home with J. I hate getting him out in the cold and wind. One day this week it was 12 degrees when I left in the morning! But they say it’s supposed to be nice this weekend. It’ll have to be quite a change to make it to nice, but stranger things have happened in this part of the country!

Hope you all have a great weekend, and I’ll meet you here again next week WITH PICTURES! I promise.

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Here is my basket full of Christmas Joy!

Well, this is the last post you'll see from me till after Christmas. I'll be heading home soon, where I do not have internet, so I will not be back till Wednesday next week. I wish to everyone who reads my blog and who doesn't a Merry Christmas and God's Blessings on you and your family.

I will be hosting Christmas at my house this year. I have a bit of a different menu planned, so I hope it goes over well. The guest list consists of: Grams, Gramps, Mom & Dad, Aunt C & Uncle C and their kids R and A. Just enough for a cozy Christmas.

There is little under the tree, but more in our hearts than ever before. I prefer it that way, really. The greatest gift that we could ever receive has already been given. That's the reason we are celebrating. For all who are willing to accept him, Jesus is our saviour and Lord. Each year it amazes me more and more how he walked so humbly among his creation out of love and sacrifice in order to keep us with him. There truely is no greater gift than this. May the spirit of God bring healing to the hurting, peace to the troubled, and joy to the wounded hearts.

Quote for the day: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

We've got a long way to go, and a short time to get there!

Here is another of J's great Christmas photos. Just look at all those rolls!

So, the Christmas countdown approaches! Care to see my list of chores? Here goes:
Vacuum carpet
Vacuum ceiling
Finish decorating house
Clean kitchen
Clear off dining room table
Get out Christmas dishes and re-wash
Borrow folding table & chairs
Straighten up nursery
Clean out refrigerator and freezer
Wash guest room bedding
Finish gift shopping
Buy fresh produce for Christmas dinner
Wrap gifts
Prep for Christmas dinner
Pick up clutter around the house (this will likely consist of throwing everything on my bed Christmas morning and closing the door, then throwing it back on the chair in the living room before going to bed that night. LOL)

Not too bad, eh? Think I can get that all done? Should I make that my new poll question? LOL Well, lets see, I have to shop on Saturday and have a Christmas dinner with my siblings & families on Sunday, so that leaves me four evenings and one full day to get all that list done. I wonder what can afford to be skipped?

Heaven.....I'm in Heaven!

This is one of J's 7 month pictures. Look at the first finger of his left hand. That is his very first little bandage. Yes, he was injured in the trenches of babyhood. (His daddy awarded him a purple heart.) I cut his little finger while trying to cut his nails. It was a small cut but wouldn't stop bleeding. So I had to make up a baby bandage. So sad! (I know, he looks scarred for life, doesn't he?)

Have I mentioned on here lately how much I adore my husband? No? Well, I do. Let me tell you why. Last year for Christmas he bought me a gift certificate for a one hour full body massage. Well, last night I cashed it in. I don't even know where to begin to try to find the words to tell you how incredible and wonderful it was. I literally feel like a new woman. I had never had one before. It was something I always wanted, and R got it for me last year when I was pregnant and having so much back pain. But I never did use it because I was afraid of laying on my belly that long while pregnant, and then J arrived and it's been so crazy busy ever since. I've thought about it often but never felt like I could fit it in. Well, the certificate was about to expire, so I bit the bullet and made an appointment. It was such good timing too, because I was really beginning to hold in the stress, and had a tension headache for about three solid days this week. I've never felt better, let me tell you!

Gentlemen, if any gentlemen read my blog, buy your ladies a massage for Christmas!!! It's worth twice what you'll pay for it, I promise. Ladies, ask for one. As for me, next time I'm going for the facial, manicure and pedicure. Does that sound great or what?

Just another Manic Monday....

If you look closely in this picture, you can see J's two teeth. They are getting bigger and bigger every day.



Well, we survived another weekend. It was a very busy one again. Friday my dad and I headed home from work about an hour early because we were told that it was snowing hard back home. I’m so glad we did! As it was we had a tough time the last few miles. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if we’d waited another hour. My dad drives me to work each day. He drives a Mustang GT, which is totally fun and awesome….except on snow or ice. Then it is really scary! The snow was pouring down and it looked so pretty. R got out to bring me and J home from my mom’s house. We got home and stayed toasty warm inside all night. The snow kept up through the night. On Saturday morning we woke up to the loveliest blanket of sparkly white! We had about 8 inches overall. It continued off and on through the morning. J was totally mesmerized watching the snow fall outside the living room windows. Then he had lots of fun watching his Daddy shovel the walk and driveway. He was leaned way over staring out the window. Then BAM!! Daddy threw a snowball at the window right in front of his face. It was funny.

We bundled up and went out into the snow about 1:00 in the afternoon. R and J and I went to town for some mega shopping and errands. It was so nice to have R take care of J for me in the store. It made the whole trip so much nicer and faster. We had to pick up our “Angel Food,” which is a ministry run through a church in town. It is a nation wide thing, and they buy a bunch of food in bulk and distribute it through churches to people at a discount price. We get a huge box of fresh and frozen foods and dry goods, including lots of meat for only $30 a month. Well, the pickup day was Saturday. Since I was going to town anyway, I picked up my mom’s, step-mom’s and grandma’s orders too. So we had to go to my step mom’s to pick up her ticket (can’t claim the food without it) and stop at grandma’s for her ticket, then get to the curch and pick up the food. After that we went to Wal Mart. R and J looked at the goldfish, and the lobsters, and the flashy singing toys in the toy department. Then J decided to be difficult. He didn’t want to sit. He didn’t want to lay down. He wanted Daddy to hold him while he leaned waaaayyy back and looked at the ceiling. (The same ceiling he was looking at while laying down, but that wasn’t nearly as fun.) When we were all done, R took all the groceries out to the car and drove up to the front door, so that all I had to do was carry J out the door. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my husband? After that was a quick run into Home Depot, and through the pharmacy drive through, a stop at grandma’s to drop off her food, and back home. We had to hurry to unpack the vehicle, put away the food, feed J, and get dressed for R’s company Christmas party.

The party was a lot of fun. J got lots of spoiling and attention. A made a wonderful dinner of chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and dessert. There was a little girl there who was 20 months old and she and J totally fell in love! (She was blonde, of course. How am I going to teach this boy to love brunettes?) They just hugged and kissed each other over and over and over. It was totally sweet. We had fun with our gift exchange, and then J got tuckered and fell asleep on his Daddy’s shoulder so we headed home.

Sunday we cleaned up around the house a little. Not as much as I need to. Played with J and fed him his breakfast. Then he had a nap and when he woke up he and I picked up my mom and went to my aunt’s house for holiday candy making. My grandparents came over for lunch as well. J had a great time. He had his Mommy, Grandma, Great-Grandma (Grams, as we call her), Cousin A, and Great-Aunt C all at the same time. If he wasn’t just the prince of the province, let me tell you! Once he got under Aunt C’s Christmas tree before Grams could catch him. The little booger is fast! He got his nose scratched a little, kicked the tree and watched the little pieces flutter down, and pulled off an ornament. Not harm done besides the tiny scratch. When we went home J was so tired. I still needed to take my step-mom’s angel food to her and make a stop to see my cousin who had a reception for her college graduation that day. So the executive decision was made to leave J with Daddy while my mom and I did that. Poor R. Not long after we left J very suddenly started screaming and would not stop. Nothing would pacify him, not a bath, not a bottle, not a binky, not laying down, not sitting up, nothing. By the time I got home R was sooooo stressed and upset. I took J and he practically raced downstairs for a smoke. (R, that is, not J, LOL) J finally calmed down, but he would have not part of his bottle and went to bed about an hour and a half earlier than usual. That left him with only having had 18 ounces of milk all day. I was very worried.

Today J has eaten better, and is gnawing on things with the right side of his mouth like crazy, so I hope that was the issue and nothing serious. He normally eats about 30 ounces a day, and lately has had only 24 several days. But 18 is just not enough. I hope he is over the problem soon. Poor baby.

Well, now that I have written you a book, I will go about my business for the week. Christmas is just around the corner, I can hardly believe it. Hope everyone has a good week. I’ll see you soon.