Christmas 2008

It always seems like we have a million Christmas celebrations, which is wonderful and exhausting at the same time!

We started with a wonderful Christmas Eve service at church and Noah loved all the singing and stories.

Christmas morning we woke up as a family and opened Noah's gifts.

We got him a great wooden kitchen play set because he loves all the kitchens everywhere we go. He got right to work making us sandwiches and eggs. He kept putting everything in the fridge and saying that it was cooking!




After some playtime we headed to my mom's house in Reading.


We had a great brunch and headed downstairs for more presents! It was quite a whirlwind but Noah did so incredibly well. He never got greedy and was polite and excited about every gift. I was also really happy with the gifts that he got... both in size and quantity. Lots of puzzles and challenging things for him. My brother got him this thing called a billibo which is a European toy that children are supposed to do whatever with... they can sit in in, use it as a hat, or twirl it. It was designed to encourage creativity among children. We all played with it....

We also got the Elmo Live which, I must admit, was much cooler than I had anticipated.

After my mom's we headed to my grandmother's house where he proceeded to be gifted with a keyboard and an indoor t'ball set.... the loudest and most dangerous gifts! yipppeeeee! My cousin Kris played ball with him forever and everyone loved watching Noah giggle with delight.

We left there and headed home for the day. Friday we got up and headed to the Waters house for Christmas there. Noah got a great easel and we had a really great lunch with them.

We left that house to go to my mom's family's Christmas! I know, are you exhausted? I am! My cousins got a new version of Monopoly that you don't have to use money for.. it's all credit! Noah thought it appropriate to come over and move all the pieces every once in a while and everyone called him godzilla.

We got home late Friday night and crashed. then we got up Saturday morning to go to Paul's sister's house to see their family and exchange gifts with them. Nina's boys are always SOOO good with Noah. They play with him and take care of him and it was wonderful!!!!!


We came home Saturday afternoon to be greeted by the FedEx man who brought Noah a gift that arrived late from my grandmother... his first big wheel. He loved riding it around the house!



Then today we welcomed our friends the Evans who we see once a year or so. We were glad to be at home! The kids played so well together but when it came for gift exchange time, the lion I got for Gavin scared him and he started screaming and then his older brother started chasing him with the RC car we got him which made him cry more... i definitely bombed in the gift department!

So, here we are, finally relaxing and basking in all that we know as friends and family. We are beyond blessed and so thankful for all that God has provided for us. It was a really, really great Christmas.

Chrismtas Eve 2008

It is the glad season. . . .
Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged. . . .
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things. . . .
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. . . .
We tremble at the sound. . . .
It is what we have hungered for. . . .
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ. . . .
We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud. . . .
Peace.

Maya Angelou
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem

You hear over and over not to get caught up in the details. Not to be overwhelmed by wrapping and baking because it isn't about those things. I would love to say I have achieved this peace, but alas I have not. We had an ice storm Sunday that canceled church, which in turn canceled our cantata which also canceled my confirmation class that was supposed to go shopping for the family we are helping. So, we went shopping Monday instead but it took forever and I was late getting Noah, late getting home, didn't make dinner... on and on and on. Already a day behind schedule the anxiety set in. Still more presents to buy and wrap. All of the homemade things I wanted to do.... Tuesday went by with getting the gifts to the family, organizing all of my readers and ushers and making it, albeit late, to a Christmas party for Noah. By the time we got home last night I was so incredibly tired and yet I continued to wrap and organize. Earlier Tuesday morning the dog was walking around with my favorite hat (the only hat I liked in all of Iceland that I almost missed my flight to buy)... she had chewed a huge whole in it. I was devastated. Then as I wrapped Tuesday night I looked over at her laying on the floor only to realize that she had chewed a large whole in the new shag throw rug I bought LAST WEEK! I was furious and Paul carried the dog away quickly. I melted at my inability to perform all the tasks required of me. I was teary eyed that Christmas Eve was supposed to be a holiday and my to-do list was too long to even think about enjoying it.

I tossed and turned all night dreaming about all the work I had to do. The dog woke up barking incessantly at 4 and Paul went and threatened her life which made her stop finally. At 5 Noah climbed into our bed and we tried to convince him to go back to sleep but he just sat up in a jolly voice reciting "I wake up Mommy, Mommy, you wake up!" We trudged down the steps to begin our morning ritual.

Paul looked at Noah and declared that he was slimy and threw him in the shower. But, he refused to come out, so we spent forever dragging him from the bathroom screaming and then pinned him down to get him dressed. He wanted nothing to do with his carefully selected Christmas sweater.

Almost ready to get out the door, Noah was sitting quietly on the step waiting (always a sign of danger) when Paul realized that he had his hands in Sophie's crate which was filled with doggie diahrrea, hence the 4am cry. I tried to clean it up but I just couldn't so, trooper Paul washed off Noah 100 times and then cleaned the crate and took out all of the evidence.

Paul went to turn the car on only to find more ice and another 20 minutes of scraping.

So, here I am, trying to write my last sermon for TONIGHT plus complete my baking and wrapping and letters and make sure I have a clue about the worship services this evening. All of this in the next 3 hours. And then, I have the flurry of Christmas Eve that will last until 12 am tonight. Then, I will finally find breath of fresh Christmas air as I leave the doors of the church alone, greeting the Christmas morning, hopefully with peace. Thanks Maya Angelou for the heart check.

Merry Christmas Eve.

11.5 weeks

Today was my second appointment, the first one with the OB. I hadn't been feeling quite right and so she wanted to do an ultrasound to make sure all was well. It was amazing to see the huge difference between last time and this time. The baby was moving so much and even though it looks alien-ish, it was really awesome to see it squirm and wiggle. I know it's only a few more weeks until I can feel movement and I'm REALLY looking forward to that again.

The doctor was thrilled with my progress. She compared my chart with last time and I'm 15 lbs less than I was at this point with Noah. She had to do some tests to monitor some of the issues that I have been having over the past few years and they will continue to monitor where my placenta implants. If it implants on one of my fibroid tumors there is a high probability of low birth weight. I'll have two more ultrasounds.... one with an early screening for some disorders and then the normal 18-20 week ultrasound which should show the placenta as well.

My nausea is pretty much gone, though I do have to take my pill every morning. I can finally stomach some real food and proteins. I'm back to the gym and running again as well. Because nobody knows most of the time I even forget that I'm pregnant! Except for the fact that I am completely and utterly exhausted every second of the day, I wouldn't remember at all. Oh, and the REALLY weird dreams have returned. Last night I dreamt about spending hours showing one of the older women at church all of the functions on my iPhone. Weird.

Say hi to the little alien Templin Ashford!!!!!

11 weeks -- It's A......

It's a baby!

Hilarious, I know. Well, most of you know that we are not ones to wait to find out the gender. I've got painting and shopping to do! So, we read online about this urine test you could take as early as 10 weeks to get conclusive results about the gender of your child. -- The ad said for Moms who just can't wait -- that's me!


So, it was cheap and there was free shipping so we ordered it, just for fun. We were fully aware that it was not going to tell us anything for sure but we thought it would be fun to play along. The website said it was 90% accurate for a girl reading and 85% accurate for a boy reading. Paul said the website had a typo and that it should have all said 50% accurate, just like every other gender predictor!

So, this morning we decided to test it out. We followed the directions and we got absolutely nothing! The cup is labeled so that when we looked at it from the girl side it looked like it was girl colored and when we looked at it from the boy side it looked boy colored. I'm actually sort of happy with the results and even a bit amused. I have no more expectations than I did yesterday. Tell me what you think!?

Passing on Traditions

I've always had a Christmas Tree. Even when I was in an apartment I had one. We have set up a tree each year in our house, but this year it seems so much more special. Last year we thought Noah would knock stuff off the tree but he pretty much ignored it. But this year, he helped put the ornaments on and now puts them on and takes them off each day! If the tree isn't on he begs for me to turn the lights on. And every morning he comes down the steps and says "Christmas Tree Mommy!!!!!!!"

Well, when Paul was little his dad always set up a huge Lionel Train display complete with towns and mountains. This year we dug out the old Lionel Steam Engine and set it up around the tree. Noah was allowed to push the button that made it say "Woo Woo" and allowed puffs of steam to come out. It was a magical moment....

Advent Conspiracy

This is the super cool movement that our church is focusing on this Christmas. I love it and we have all really gotten into it... being creative and giving of ourselves in radical ways. Take a minute to watch it and change your Christmas! Find out more at www.adventconspiracy.org

Pictures!!!

So, it's no surprise that I'm in love with photography and even joke about opening a studio some day. I just love capturing the moment in photos. When I think back I was always obsessed with pictures!

So, last month, I had the privilege of 2 of my photos being selected for different publications. This was completely random and just happened from people looking at my pictures on Flickr.

This picture will go in the Philly Fun Guide for Tourists. Each place on the map for people to go has a picture that goes with it and this picture will be the icon for the Philadelphia Zoo:


And this one will be in the Strasburg Railroad Visitor Brochure. It will also go into a photo album in the Railroad History Museum in Strasburg, PA.


So, neither of these are what I would consider my best or most exciting photos, but hey! And I don't get any money for them, but I do get name recognition and a copy of the publications once they are finished. I was pretty proud.... Now, if I could only find time to use my new lens, filters and flash!