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So I may or may not be insanely grouchy at present. I am soooooooo indescribably tired, but can't manage to fall asleep. Jared, on the other hand, is enjoying what looks to be a very peaceful slumber. What a butthead.
To make a long story very short, we flew in from Houston this morning after missing our flight in to Lubbock last night after a monster delay out of Rochester. We ended up at Hotel Scary down the way from Houston Intercontinental at about 12:15 a.m. last night. After we showered and were tucked into our cozy little double bed, a member of the cast of the Fast and Furious spent 20 minutes revving the engine of his crotch rocket right outside our window. Lovely. I was actually so beat down at this point that I got the giggles.
Our five days of Christmas with the Buchanans, Coles, McCauleys, Panzicas and Minemiers were completely worth our 24 hours in travel Hades. Here's a recap of the memories we made with our dear, dear familia...
Christmas Eve in DC with the Buchanans and Coles featured delicious Pioneer Woman cinnamon roles lovingly prepared by Dee and Jess, a trip to the Spy Museum, lunch at Rosa Mexicano (ole' mole), touring monuments in the snow, and dinner at The Prime Rib.
DeVito and Arnold are ready for their appearance at The Prime Rib.
On Christmas Day, we loaded up and trekked to the home of Dee and Jessica's friends for the day. It was so lovely. Matthew had the best seat on the way.
Mike Cole introduced the Buchanans to milk punch. We were surrounded by milk mustaches.
Classy B saw the business end of Linus the Attack Cat. His total cuteness masks the heart of a forearm assassin.
The rock stars and groupies enjoyed some serious Guitar Hero action.
Jessica masterminded a delicious Christmas dinner crowned with this. Notice Dee trying to hone in on the culinary glory.
On the day after Christmas, Jared, Little C and I headed out for Rochester where we were hosted by the lovely Panzicas. We met the McCauley clan for Sunday brunch and were, as usual, spoiled rotten with gifts. Little C received some darling stuffed animals and adorable clothes. Grams looked so pretty. This was Jared's first Christmas away from his family. I was so glad we were able to get the traditional cousin picture with Jared, Grams and Kerry, even if we were a couple of days late.
We stopped in Dansville to see the Minemiers and again were showered with gifts. We had a lot of good laughs with Grams, Gramps and Jared's Uncle Ron.
This is one of my favorite walls in the world. It's like a visual Minemier family history. Silhouettes of children, a sweet portrait of Diana, a drawing of the Mitchell family home and a map of Dansville. I could stare at it all day long. It is just perfect.
I always love spending time with Jared's family. They are all so sweet. And they have all of these little tidbits about Jared's childhood that I absolutely eat up.
On our final morning in Rochester, we woke up to this complete beauty.
And Aunt Diane sent us off with this amazing french toast cassarole. She and Tony are the most welcoming, gracious hosts ever.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for our loving families and for a beautiful holiday week. We talked a lot about the fact that we'll likely be making the trip east with an eight month old next year. How crazy exciting is that?
Vital stats at week 24:
Heart rate: 155-158
Weight gained by the mommy: 21 lbs (there was an eek! heard round the world)It does not feel possible that the 2nd trimester is over. Things are going smooth like buttuh at present. No more phantom back pain.We're very excited to leave on our Christmas vacation in just two more sleeps. Little C will log in more frequent flyer miles with a 3 night stay in DC with Uncle Dee and Aunt Jessie followed by 2 nights in Western New York McCauley homeland.Our little one will be able to hear the voices and laughter of loved ones for the first time. Can't hardly wait!Week 23 belly shot
Belly shot at 22 weeks
Vital stats at week 22:Heart rate: 158
Estimated weight for little c: 1 pound 4 ounces
Weight gained by the mommy: thank the good, sweet Lord they did not make me step on that evil contraption obviously invented by a man because they don't get pregnant and gain copious amounts of weight because they have an sixth sense that tells them their husband has purchased a multipack of pepperidge farm cookies made especially for holiday entertaining and placed them on the top shelf of the pantry in hopes that he will actually get to eat a few before the hoover his wife has become gets her swollen little paws on them.
remember when uma finds the stash of narcotics in john travolta's trenchcoat and says, "Hallo," with a devilish glint in her eye? that's exactly what happens when i see a p farms multipack in my pantry. and here is the sweet, little one that is apparently growing a fully-functioning four-chambered heart and a brain and all kinds of limbs in the space right below my rib cage. thank you, thank you thank you for this gift!
oh, and in case you are concerned, apparently all babies look like they have the nose of nero at this stage. it might pass. don't you wish you could still touch your nose with your feet?
Firsts. I guess we will witness a lot of them over the next few years. Today brought a really sweet one...little c's first Christmas present. Gram and Gramps Minemier sent a sweet cloth Mother Goose book of nursery rhymes. It has all of the good ones:
"Pat a cake," which Jared and I always thought was "Paddy Cake." Kind of like how I've never really known the correct lyrics to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" for all these years. As Jared says, "What the heck's a paddy cake?"
"This little piggy." Can't wait to count little c's piggies.
"Twinkle, twinkle little star." This was an all time fave of mine.
"Hush a Bye," which is really kind of a frightening rhyme if you really think about the words. We won't over-analyze. I don't think we'll teach little c the really scary prayer Cam and Dee and I said at bedtime, either. It contains the line, "If I should die before I wake." Not the best focus at bedtime.
I digress. We are so grateful for this little first and can't wait to teach all of the rhymes to the little one. Thanks Gram and Gramps!
Today is the birth day of little c's second cousin, Wyatt James Watkins. Wyatt weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz and measured 20 1/4 inches in length. Let's hope he and little c start out on a better foot than Wyatt's mama and I did. For some reason, Jenifer didn't appreciate me biting her as hard as I could on the cheek. What can I say? I'm a biter. Always have been. Maybe one day Wyatt will bite the stink out of little c and I'll have something to hold over Jen's head for the rest of our lives. I can only hope.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for a safe birth. I am so happy for Jen and Kyle and can't wait to meet their little cowboy!
Vital stats at week 21:
Heart rate: 150
Estimated weight for Little C: 1 whole pound
Weight gained by the mommy: 16 tiny little pounds
Belly shot at week 20/21:
I have so many things to give thanks for today. My wonderful husband. An incredibly close and loving family. Good, stable jobs in scary economic times. Dear, sweet friends. The opportunity to be a parent. The list goes on and on...
Most of all, I am grateful for the source of every single item on my list of thanksgiving. As we gathered for our Thanksgiving celebration today, my Uncle Jeff read the following passage from Acts 17: 22-28:
So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: "Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it : 'To an unknown God.' This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I am telling you about. He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples and human hands can't serve his needs-for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him-though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, "We are his offspring."
As I held my grandfather's hand and looked around the room while Uncle Jeff talked about Paul's message, I was overwhelmed with gratitude that our little one will be blessed with a family that acknowledges God as The Source. I am thankful that I know Jesus. That through Him I have a relationship with the One who gives life and breath to everything.
On another note, we have hope that our child will also be blessed with Uncle Cam's flair for fashion...
So Jared has a collection. Of DVDs. Of almost 500 DVDs. And hey, that's a yot of DVDs. Said collection has resided happily in the closet of the man cave for the last two years. Since the man cave will soon become the baby cave, the collection needed a new home. The original plan saw the movies in a giant swiveling storage unit tucked away in another closet. One small wrinkle: the giant swiveling storage unit would not swivel in the confines of the closet. Or any other closet in our home.
Ironically, the giant was delivered on November 17th, our 2nd anniversary. Since I was battling a nasty cold, I didn't feel like going out. Last year, we celebrated at an intimate, candlelit restaurant. This year we ate Chinese takeout and puzzled out how to connect the A bolts to the G inserts. How things change. Yes, we assembled the giant swiveling DVD tower in our living room. Where it is visible to anyone who walks into our home.
I know this may be getting a bit deep over a storage unit, but I am hormonal. When I look at it now, I see something besides its monstrosity. I see a father making room for a little C in his life. And I love him for that and a whole yot of other reasons. Maybe even more reasons than DVDs in the collection.
Happy anniversary, J!
Love made visible
On Christmas Day, we loaded up and trekked to the home of Dee and Jessica's friends for the day. It was so lovely. Matthew had the best seat on the way.
Mike Cole introduced the Buchanans to milk punch. We were surrounded by milk mustaches.
The rock stars and groupies enjoyed some serious Guitar Hero action.
Jessica masterminded a delicious Christmas dinner crowned with this. Notice Dee trying to hone in on the culinary glory.
On the day after Christmas, Jared, Little C and I headed out for Rochester where we were hosted by the lovely Panzicas. We met the McCauley clan for Sunday brunch and were, as usual, spoiled rotten with gifts. Little C received some darling stuffed animals and adorable clothes. Grams looked so pretty. This was Jared's first Christmas away from his family. I was so glad we were able to get the traditional cousin picture with Jared, Grams and Kerry, even if we were a couple of days late.
We stopped in Dansville to see the Minemiers and again were showered with gifts. We had a lot of good laughs with Grams, Gramps and Jared's Uncle Ron.
This is one of my favorite walls in the world. It's like a visual Minemier family history. Silhouettes of children, a sweet portrait of Diana, a drawing of the Mitchell family home and a map of Dansville. I could stare at it all day long. It is just perfect.
I always love spending time with Jared's family. They are all so sweet. And they have all of these little tidbits about Jared's childhood that I absolutely eat up.
And Aunt Diane sent us off with this amazing french toast cassarole. She and Tony are the most welcoming, gracious hosts ever.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for our loving families and for a beautiful holiday week. We talked a lot about the fact that we'll likely be making the trip east with an eight month old next year. How crazy exciting is that?
