You've Got Mail

Or in our case, we don't have mail!  It has been almost 3 weeks and the good ole USPS still hasn't started forwarding our mail.  I submitted a change of address online, by phone and in person.  We even got this lovely little confirmation letter letting us know that we should expect mail in 7-10 days at our new address...but we haven't.  I spent a large amount of time on the phone and internet today trying to get krunk with USPS because I've played nice for 3 weeks now and guess what?!  The system that they use for complaints is currently down.  UGH!  Okay, I'm done ranting.

Making It Official

Well, this week has been about making the move official.  The Hubs started his new gig and our house is officially on the market.  It has been a crazy few weeks of moving, unpacking, celebrating holidays and loads and loads of paperwork.  I will be so glad when the house sells but in the meantime, we have been blessed with a wonderful listing agent and fabulous neighbors who continue to look after our home.  I got a call at close to 11:00 the other night from my neighbor asking if we were at our Horse Country home.  I told her that we weren't and she informed me that the lights were on in our house.  The listing agent must have accidentally left them on and my neighbor went over there at 11:00 and turned them off for us.  They really are good people.  Now, if our mail would just start coming to our new address we will be set! 

My Kind Of Resolution

A couple of years ago I read on a friends blog about a different type of new years resolution.  It was suggested that you pick a word for the year instead of other goals that typically just set you up for failure.  It's funny how the process of picking a word works, it seems like once you start trying to think up a word one will just stick out in your mind.  Then, as you meet trials and triumphs throughout the year you can see where the word of the year helped you or took on a new meaning.

I have been thinking about my word for 2012 on and off for the last few weeks and this one just stood out-

Grow.  I know there will be many opportunities for me to grow in the year 2012

and I am looking forward to it.

New Years Eve

We rang in the new year at Bab and Roc's house. We started the day out by making cake pops which Babs dubbed a success...I'm still a little skeptical about calling it a success.

Proud of her accomplishment, this was not her first time at the cake pop rodeo...I guess all other attempts prior to this one were major fails!

This picture below of the arrangement of cake balls illustrates why I don't think it can be called a success.  It was a group effort though- me, Hubs and Bab.

I lovingly referred to this as the NKOTB (New Kid On The Block) cake pop display because all of the pops kept touching, causing the candy coating to create "rat tails".

We enjoyed visiting with friends and family, watching guests play Just Dance 3 on the Wii, good food, lots of laughs and an amazing fireworks display by Roc.  Of course, like many holidays, I realized after we got home that we had no pictures of us at the celebration.  This is us, in our pajamas about to turn in for the night.  But at least I got our picture!  My Hubby sure is a good sport.  It should also be said that we were driving home when the clock struck midnight so we didn't get our New Years kiss in until about 12:04...safety first!

Me and my man.

Christmas Round 2

We were finally able to celebrate with the Hubs side of the family...everyone was illness free so we enjoyed a nice afternoon together.  We chatted, went to lunch at a new restaurant, came back to our place and opened gifts and just enjoyed each others company.  We got some nice gifts but I was especially looking forward to the bag of good chocolate that my mother-in-law is notorious for.  Little lady got the baby bullet (that makes homemade baby food) and a fancy baby monitor that senses movement, tells the temperature in the nursery and acts as a night light among other things.

And...who's ready for another awkward maternity photo?!?  I am trying really hard to poke out my stomach.  I mean, there's no doubt that it's getting bigger but it really hasn't rounded out yet.  I still have my belly button for crying out loud!  I still have to tell people that I'm pregnant, not that I'm complaining.  I have 3 more month to go and she'll make up for lost time. Let's just cross our fingers that my belly is a little less awkward looking soon because the time for maternity photos is quickly approaching.

27 weeks- it should go without saying that these pants are pajamas and I would never leave the house in them...I was just too lazy to change into real clothes but thought a pic in front of the tree was necessary.

This picture also doubles as proof that I did breakdown and put up a tree.  I actually snagged my small tinsel tree out of boxes before the movers put them in the attic.  And, all of the ornaments were in a get rid of it bag that I made last year and never got to give away. It will definitely make for easy clean up!

Christmas 2011

The Hubs and I Christmas Eve 2011

 We had a fabulous Christmas.  Technically we still have one to celebrate since Hubby's side was sick with the flu for the holidays but this post covers my side.  We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at Jas and Nell's.  Nell went all out with the decor this year. 

Part of the gorgeous decor done by Nell.

 We had ham with all the fixings, a buffet of desserts and a hot chocolate bar.  Of course, no Christmas Eve is complete without seeing who gets the almond in their chocolate mousse.  If you find an almond in your mousse then you get money.  There is always an almond in one of the kids and one of the adults.  Jas and Kiki were the winners of the cash this year.

J as Santa's Little Helper- the kids take turns handing out the gifts every year and this year it was his turn.

The kiddos put on their annual Christmas play.  This year it was about how "The Grim Stole Christmas".  For the past 2 years these plays have centered around poking fun at my Dad.  We always called my Dad Grim when we were kid/teenagers.

Lou showing off the coveted white elephant gift.  It was a cosmetic bag with some funky purple polish that I gave and all of the little girls wanted it.  She held that thing tight throughout the game so that nobody would take it.

We then added a new tradition by doing a white elephant gift exchange.  Everyone had a good time but Lou was the happiest with her gift.  It was really funny to watch the kids trying to figure out if they should or should not switch gifts with others.  The adults weren't so shy!


The biggest surprise of the night- Mimi was gifted a Kindle by Pappy and she had no idea she was getting one.

Next we exchanged regular presents.  I think the most exciting gifts came from Pappy who gave Mimi an e-reader, E that got some remote control helicopter and Gigi and Munchie who got a Barbie house.  The siblings and spouses always draw names for secret Santa at Thanksgiving so it's always fun to see who got who.  This year Hubby was given an amazon gift card from Nell and I was given Victoria's Secret perfume from Roc. 

Kiki and Lou gave out their own presents to the adults this year with money that they earned.  The men were given gum ball machines, the women got notepads and our little lady got a cute little lamb bib from her cousins.



My Hubby said that this is the best gift my parents have ever given him.  It's a pen that has a bullet as the point, he loves it.  This will also have to suffice as the traditional shooting yourself at the holidays photo-op that is typically done by Bab.  We somehow managed to not get that shot this time.  :(



An angel picture for my sister draw especially for her by Kiki.



Some of the baby's loot.  Gigi was officially booted out of her position as the baby of the family by being given a normal sized stocking.  Something tells me she didn't mind!





Christmas pajamas have been a tradition in my family since we were kids and now the next generation continues it.



I think that pretty much sums up the Christmas Eve festivities in a nutshell.  We had a great time celebrating and look forward to next year!

The Big Move

Well, we got all moved in but boy was it a crazy few days!  I don't suggest moving the week of Christmas and I also would advise against moving while pregnant, the hormones were a little out of control.  After the movers packed and loaded all of our belongings we were left in an empty house.  Bab and her fabulous friend came and helped clean the house.  The only problem?  The movers took all of my cleaning supplies and vacuum.  We decided to go get some mexican food before we got started!  So with what supplies Bab brought and our shop vac that we planned on trashing we cleaned the house.  It wasn't bad but it was raining the whole day of the move so the floors were kind of yucky.  Just as we were finishing up the house in the sunroom my beloved potted plant fell over leaving a huge potting soil mess, that didn't make us too terribly happy.

It was getting late and Hubby still had a half day of work ahead of him the next day and I had to wake at the crack of dawn to get to the new place to let the movers in.  We left our beloved home but not without some tears shed like to babbling idiots in the driveway.  We spent the night at our dear friend Shell's house.  She and her new beau provided some much needed comic relief.  They were very understanding of my still blood shot eyes and my pregnancy hormones. 

Thursday morning Hubs and I left Shell's home- he went to work and I came to the new place.  Since the home kind of smelled like a dog to me the week before the carpets were cleaned, deodorized and given an enzyme treatment.  The only catch?  The electric wasn't turned on until late Wednesday night so the carpet cleaner had to come Thursday morning.  There was an overlap where he was still cleaning carpets and the movers were trying to bring in our stuff.  The movers probably hated me that morning but there was going to be no dog smell in our home!  After they unloaded us Dad and Munchie (who came to help me) and myself started trying to organize the chaos.  Hubby was at the new place by 1:30 and he was followed by Mom...with all of us we divided and conquered. 

Around 3:30 Friday morning I woke up to pee and noticed that I was standing on a wet floor...plumbing leak!  Later that day Hubby went out to the storage room where the water heater is to grab some tools that we put in there and he was standing in water too...good times!  After some do it yourself work gone wrong a plumber was called in and all was fixed within an hour.  Friday brought a whole lot of organizing and cleaning and Jas and Lou for a visit to see the place

It has now been almost a week and we finally got the last boxes unpacked today.  Old lady curtains have been removed , old ceiling fans have been taken down and donated...we are trying to put our own stamp on this place.  We'll get there!