Its funny, Matt and I are going to spend our first and last Christmas this year as just the two of us. No family, no kids, just us. I'm excited and sad. Its weird knowing that all of my family has gathered in Houston and to not be with them but at the same time, I'm excited to share the day only with Matt. I hope it all goes well and that the few gifts I got him arrive before Christmas (I was very late ordering so it will be my own fault if they don't). With the baby coming and the new house, we don't plan on having gifts under the tree or anything spectacular and for the first time, since before I started working at 16, I don't have amazing gifts for my family and friends. We sent out cards and I'm in the middle of making a few things but overall I'm just not prepared for the gift giving part of Christmas. I hope everyone isn't disappointed in me because of it.
That being said, I'm excited for Christmas for the first time since Mom died. I am listening to the music and rejoicing in the season. I think a lot of that has to do with the small one I am growing in my belly. At mass on Sundays the message goes straight into my heart and soul and I feel such a bond with Mary. In fact it seems weird that our baby isn't coming on Christmas day but a few weeks later instead. I just feel ready and expectant, I hope the baby isn't too late :)
I'm scared of the birthing part and the pain but I know that Matt and I are blessed and I can't wait to see Matt as a dad...he will be great at it.
Peace and joy this week of Christmas
Monday, December 22, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Parties, Bellies, Snow Hunting, Christmas decorations and more!
This has been a pretty busy couple of weeks and as usual I am behind in my blog.
First, Matt and I attended the ICF/Jones and Stokes Christmas party. We were very surprised by how wonderful and fancy it was, of course since we have both mostly only worked for the federal government that we haven't ever been to a company party before. We had a great night and met some new people who will hopefully become good friends. The company also paid for each of us to recieve a professional couple picture...so here it is:
(Not the best picture but hey they were free and Matt looks great)
My belly has been growing by leaps and bounds as you can see in the above pictures....here are a few more. One is the Matt's view and one is mine. As you can see from my view, half of my belly button is now poking out, I call it my ski slope :)
In semi gardening news, we finally decided on our Christmas tree this year after many false starts. The first time we went looking, we ended up with brand new bookcases from Ikea instead. The next time, Matt went in to sticker shock over the price of trees and finally realized why so many people not from Oregon (where the trees come from) buy fake trees. In the end, we brought in my Norfolk pine and decorated it. We also got the lights up outside the house and its beginning to look a lot like Christmas:
Today, after spending the week decorating and cleaning the house, we decided to take the girls out to see snow for the first time. We went "snow hunting" on interstate 50 and found an amazing spot. It was beautiful and it even started snowing again while we were there. Surprisingly, the girls seemed to be in heaven:
Although, I think Chaquita might have duplicated herself (due to some very werewolf like behavior during the full moon the last couple of nights, howling, screaming and breaking the wire that closes the door to her house) and is now living in AZ at a very nice house....as seen in this magazine add below:
(You can barely see it but this dog is as gray in the face as Chaquita)
Last but not least, we finished the baby's room (well almost). I am very proud of it, I even made the mobile myself....
Oh wait I almost forgot....Cathy and Barbara from Matt's side of the family sent me the best baby shower gift ever!!!!! Fresh strawberries covered in chocolate and a note saying I don't have to share with anyone. They made me so happy that I giggled and laughed for almost an hour straight.
Some times blogger just doesn't cooperate....sorry for the strange layout but I am done trying to make it work!
First, Matt and I attended the ICF/Jones and Stokes Christmas party. We were very surprised by how wonderful and fancy it was, of course since we have both mostly only worked for the federal government that we haven't ever been to a company party before. We had a great night and met some new people who will hopefully become good friends. The company also paid for each of us to recieve a professional couple picture...so here it is:
(Not the best picture but hey they were free and Matt looks great)
In semi gardening news, we finally decided on our Christmas tree this year after many false starts. The first time we went looking, we ended up with brand new bookcases from Ikea instead. The next time, Matt went in to sticker shock over the price of trees and finally realized why so many people not from Oregon (where the trees come from) buy fake trees. In the end, we brought in my Norfolk pine and decorated it. We also got the lights up outside the house and its beginning to look a lot like Christmas:
Today, after spending the week decorating and cleaning the house, we decided to take the girls out to see snow for the first time. We went "snow hunting" on interstate 50 and found an amazing spot. It was beautiful and it even started snowing again while we were there. Surprisingly, the girls seemed to be in heaven:
Although, I think Chaquita might have duplicated herself (due to some very werewolf like behavior during the full moon the last couple of nights, howling, screaming and breaking the wire that closes the door to her house) and is now living in AZ at a very nice house....as seen in this magazine add below:
(You can barely see it but this dog is as gray in the face as Chaquita)Last but not least, we finished the baby's room (well almost). I am very proud of it, I even made the mobile myself....
Oh wait I almost forgot....Cathy and Barbara from Matt's side of the family sent me the best baby shower gift ever!!!!! Fresh strawberries covered in chocolate and a note saying I don't have to share with anyone. They made me so happy that I giggled and laughed for almost an hour straight.
Some times blogger just doesn't cooperate....sorry for the strange layout but I am done trying to make it work!
Monday, December 1, 2008
This Month
The month of November has been busy for us. We met some new friends, worked on the nursery and of course celebrated Thanksgiving with Matt's family.
We went birding with the Sacramento Audubon Society earlier in the month and met a young couple that we had a lot in common with. Later in the month they invited us to go with them to Bodega Bay to see an Alaskan bird that had decided to make its home there for the winter. We had tons of fun, saw the bird and I think made friends with an awesome couple at the same time.
We have also come to the realization that the baby will be coming in less then 6 weeks (if it is on time) and that we really need to get its room ready. The two weekend leading up to Thanksgiving we worked hard to get the paint on the walls and some of the stuff put away. I hope to get it completely finished this weekend. In the meantime, here is a picture of Matt working hard on the painting.
To finish out the month we went on one last long roadtrip to Portland to celebrate Thanksgiving with Pat and Pat and to see Harrison and Haley's new baby, Rowan. We had a blast and discovered a great park to walk the dogs at. The scenery was amazing on the way up and back:
but the temperatures were just a little cold for the dogs:
We did the touristy thing out at the Gorge and took some pictures from Crown Point:
On the way back we stopped at Lake Shasta and took a short walk....I recently discovered that overalls were super comfy for long drives (never thought I would wear those again).
I hope that everyone enjoyed their Turkey Day as much as we did.
We went birding with the Sacramento Audubon Society earlier in the month and met a young couple that we had a lot in common with. Later in the month they invited us to go with them to Bodega Bay to see an Alaskan bird that had decided to make its home there for the winter. We had tons of fun, saw the bird and I think made friends with an awesome couple at the same time.
We have also come to the realization that the baby will be coming in less then 6 weeks (if it is on time) and that we really need to get its room ready. The two weekend leading up to Thanksgiving we worked hard to get the paint on the walls and some of the stuff put away. I hope to get it completely finished this weekend. In the meantime, here is a picture of Matt working hard on the painting.
To finish out the month we went on one last long roadtrip to Portland to celebrate Thanksgiving with Pat and Pat and to see Harrison and Haley's new baby, Rowan. We had a blast and discovered a great park to walk the dogs at. The scenery was amazing on the way up and back:
but the temperatures were just a little cold for the dogs:
We did the touristy thing out at the Gorge and took some pictures from Crown Point:
On the way back we stopped at Lake Shasta and took a short walk....I recently discovered that overalls were super comfy for long drives (never thought I would wear those again).
I hope that everyone enjoyed their Turkey Day as much as we did.