Ready, Set, Here We Go!

I was just looking at the calendar this morning at work and wondering where January has gone! The time that I have been anticipating for months has finally arrived. We are 36 weeks along and on the countdown. (Noelle came at 38 weeks- Yikes) I am to that funny point in the pregnancy where I flipflop back and forth between thinking, "I can't wait for this baby to come" and "Oh, maybe I can wait!". Yes, we are getting really excited! Dan pulled out the carseat and basinet and now it is just a game of waiting! We have been going through all of our photo albums to show Noelle her baby pictures and pictures of the hospital. She just looks at us in that two-year-old way, "Yah, yah-you've been talking about this baby for a long time now-where is he?" Boy will she be surprised when he does arrive! I am on my last week of work. What a bitter-sweet feeling! I love my job and the time I spend at work, but am having a heck of a time standing on my feet for long shifts. I am planning on being on maternity until May! I only took 6 weeks with Noelle, so this long time-off is going to be a treat for our family.

Dan just started back to school this week and is pleased with his classes. It is going to be a busy one-but the last at Sac State. I keep telling him how nice it is to put on that cap and gown. That thought really pulled me along my last semester. We are all so proud of him for plugging along while somehow finding time for our family. He's a great husband/dad!

Noelle is just enjoying playroom time with her cousins. (Lucia and Marco) We love having them next door- at our request for play any time of day. Right now they are pretending to mop and clean. Lucia is the ring-leader- coming up with elaborate story lines while Noelle and Marco trail behind and follow her instructions. It's really cute!

Life is good! I'm off to make dinner- it's gymnastics night for Noelle! We will keep you all posted on the baby progress.

The Holiday Tornado

It seems like if you blink around mid November, and then open your eyes, you will find yourself taking down Christmas decorations in early January. Every year the holidays come and go like a mid western tornado, and the effects are also quite similar: complete destruction of our house for two months. This year, as we celebrated Noelle's second birthday, and Christmas, we found ourselves being a little more festive. We stopped more often to look at Christmas lights, so Noelle could soak up the holiday spirit. Making a big deal out of little things, like getting and putting up the Christmas tree made our Christmas celebration a lot more special. Though Tami and helped Noelle with the Christmas experience, I think we actually got more out of it than she.

We had a lot on our plate this year. From finals at school, to Noelle's bithday party, to Christmas morning, and all the shopping in between, to supporting my Dad, who had his prostate removed due to cancer (all of this happened within two weeks); we are absolutely exhausted. Nevertheless, this past holiday gave us a chance to reconnect with family members, and that is the real intent of Christmas: to become grounded; not to get caught up in all the wrapping paper and material gifts, but to enjoy the presence of those that are closest to you, and give them the most precious gift possible: which is the gift of love. I wish for one Christmas our whole family could get together and rent a huge cabin up in Tahoe; the only presents we would bring would be ourselves, and a promise to not bicker or argue, but to be completely passive, and tolerant of each other. Someday perhaps...

In other news, Tami is about to pop! We are expecting our baby boy March 3rd. Thank you all for participating in our poll. It's great to see everyone's opinion as far as the names are concerned. Even if you don't like the names, it's good to know you at least thought of us. I really appreciate your coments, too.

Well, enjoy a couple of the hundreds of pictures we took this year. TTFN!