Christmas

Okay, okay, here it is...

I don't know how to take a good belly shot but I finally gave up and just decided to have a cute little blonde boy in the picture with me to take some of the attention away.

Our Christmas Eve was pretty low key, but we did do the traditional reading of Luke 2 with our cool costumes (that are actually from Jerusalem!). Luke was supposed to be an angel but he only fulfilled his angelic duties with a steady supply of m&m's. We also opened up some Christmas pj's, told Santa stories, sang a few Christmas songs, and left out some oranges for Santa's low-calorie snack. Andrew and I thought we'd have energy for fun projects after Luke went to bed but instead watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and fell fast asleep.

Sorry there is no Stacey Family Christmas Card. Christmas was ALL about simplification this year. If you read our blog, you probably know way more than you want to know about our lives anyway. Still, I was feeling deep regret as the Christmas cards and pictures rolled in. I love re-connecting with friends even if it's just through a short note. Next year, next year...

Enjoy some of our Christmas Eve videos:

Finished

After a few months of sporadic effort, I finally finished the baby quilt I wanted to make for the Stacey boy on the way. It was actually a lot of fun to make and I don't think it will be my last quilt. Although, I wouldn't mind paying someone to bind the next one for me. I felt like I used pure force to get the binding on this one and up close it is obvious I have no clue what I'm doing. Overall, there are a lot of mistakes but I think the style lends itself well to mistakes. Can I just tell you how good it feels to FINISH!? There is so much in my life that is just an on-going cycle (which is fine) but it is great to start a lengthy project and actually get it done in a reasonable amount of time. It kind of makes me want to start another project but the timing would be a bit unreasonable I think :). I've got more important things coming my way.

So little baby Stacey, now that your quilt is finished, you are welcome to come anytime. However, it would be great if you could come between Dec. 24 (Andrew has boards on the 23rd) and Jan. 3 (when Andrew starts his next rotation). I know that means coming a little early, but I made you this nifty quilt, so help a mother out!

By the way, if you want instructions on how to make a similar quilt, go here. And if you live in Columbus, I would recommend this little fabric shoppe because they have really cute stuff.

Christmas Time

What I love most about Christmas is the opportunity to think about what Christ has done for me and how he has changed my life.

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Stress

This week has been a doozy and I think I'll just feel better if I write about it.

Andrew is out of town interviewing at various places across the country all week. He has been doing this a lot lately and usually I feel like Luke and I are really blessed while he is away and things run extra smoothly. Then this week happened...

-Luke came down with diarrhea. Ill spare you the details but it was about 3 days of awfulness and 1 all-nighter where I thought I might go into labor from being so grossed out.

-Because Luke has been sick we have been confined to the house...no visitors allowed. Some people wouldn't consider this a difficulty, but with an active little boy...it makes the list.

-I've had a lot of work to do this week (paralegal stuff). Normally I consider this a blessing, but this week it has just added to the stress.

-This morning the water pipe broke near our apartment and now the water is shut off indefinitely. Once again I should count my blessings that we have an adequate water storage supply to survive, but the fact that our management company seemed so nonchalant over the phone and told me to "have a good one" before hanging up has put me in kind of a sour mood.

- My body has morphed into a 90-year old body (it's called "being 9 months pregnant") and I just hobble around trying not to dislocate my hip. Sometimes I stare at a toy on the floor for a few minutes debating whether it's worth bending over to pick up. Most of the time it's not.

I know that none of these things are a big deal. These are just the little things that I can blog about. The truly stressful things are things that I can't blog about...the friends in my life who are going through awful circumstances and I can't fix it. That's the real stress.

But I have a plan. First, I'm taking Luke to COSI this morning because he is healthy and deserves to have some fun. Doing fun things with Luke is the perfect anecdote for stress. When I get home, he will be tired from having soooo much fun and will take a nice long nap, during which I will read this book until I feel better. It always works. Sometimes I have to read a really long time. But it works. Trust me.

Here is a video from the last time we went to COSI (we are sort of regulars there). I didn't tell Luke to do this...he just likes to match stuff I guess. It's fun to see your kids come up with smart stuff all on their own.

This boy has been making the funniest faces lately