Something for the new year

It's the last day of 2010, and I'm feeling the pressure. For the past few weeks, I've been contemplating something I would like to do in the new year. Before announcing my big plan tomorrow, I decided to post it here first and get the input of my wonderful and wise blog readers.

This is a resolution that doesn't involve exercising or reading a certain number of books or sending out more birthday cards or working harder. Whew!

I have been wanting to sit down with my iPhoto and create photo albums of our family. It's so easy to create beautiful photo books these days. No need for special papers or embellishments or acid-free glue anymore. In fact, the books themselves don't even have to be hard copies. They can play as slide shows on the desktop computer or travel with me on the iPad.

I started working on J's baby book and realized that I have so many great stories on my blog that I can cut and paste into her book to chronicle her first year.

So, I was thinking... What if everyday of 2011 I created one new page in my photo book? It could be a daily photo to capture the moment or a snippet of our life. Basically, I would like to do a better job keeping track of those "moments of meaning" that I talk about.

I would also like to post these moments on my blog. But here are my thoughts:

I would love to look back at 2011 and be able to remember one little thing we did everyday of the year. But I don't want to get so busy recording moments that I forget to enjoy the moments.

I would love to set a goal to do this every single day. But I don't want to add one more chore to my life that I stress about.

I would love to challenge myself to find the moments. It would push me to think of more creative ways to use my camera and my words to find the good in our everyday. But that also could change the tone of my blog. I don't want to lose my freedom to write about whatever random thought pops into my mind.

My friend, Kelly, does an amazing job of posting a photo and a short snippet to chronicle every day of the year at her house. She is also smart about it! She doesn't necessarily post every single day. Often she goes back and catches up from days she missed.

So, I'm trying to decide if this should be a 365 days of the year type of thing. Or maybe just a Monday through Friday thing. Or perhaps just a weekly recap.

Anyway, I would love to read your thoughts on the matter. You can feel free to encourage me in this idea or to be my voice of reason. And I also would love to know if any of you have a system for staying up-to-date with your photos and albums.

Gifts

When I was a kid, my brother and I had a long-standing tradition around Christmas time. As soon as our parents would leave us at home alone for any reason, we would look at each other and shout, "Let's find the Christmas presents!"

I can't remember how old we were when our parents started leaving us home alone. We had two older sisters who would watch us, and we lived in a small town where we didn't even lock our front door when we would leave the house. So, I know we stayed home alone at a much earlier age than I would ever consider for my kids.

I also remember that at age 10, I started babysitting for another family. Like most people, the neighbors probably confused my name with that of my older sister, Amy, and were actually hoping the 16-year-old would show up to babysit. Whatever, the case, I collected my 10-year-old self and figured out how to change diapers, make dinner and stay up until midnight, watching the backyard neighbors.

Anyway.

Most years, my brother and I had figured out what was inside all of our Christmas presents, and we had mastered the art of acting surprised as we opened each gift.

For many years, all I wanted for Christmas was a Little People set. I had the house, the school, the garage, the hospital, the Sesame Street house and several others. I'm sure I was a much older age than kids are today when I continued drifting off into my imaginary world to play with my Little People. (I think we called them Fisher Price People, back then.)

When I was in third grade, I distinctly remember begging my mom for a new electronic wonder called, "Blip."

"Please, Mom. If I get nothing else for Christmas, please just get me Blip." I spent hours back in those days scanning the landfill nightmare known as the JCPenney Big Book, circling every toy and game that looked even slightly entertaining. But the most awe-inspiring one that year was this electronic game that involved a single blip of light that bounced from one side of the screen to the other. Players tried to hit the bouncing circle and keep an opponent from scoring, much like air hockey.

In sixth grade, all of the kids in our family jointly received Atari. Boy, that was a relief not to be the only kid at school who did NOT get Atari. We used our joysticks to master PacMan, Pong, Tank and a racing game.

In eighth grade, my parents gave both me and my brother boom boxes. This gift required some extra snooping. When they were gone one day, we actually unwrapped our boom boxes and rewrapped them to find out what was inside.

Somehow, my kids have not inherited my obsession for finding Christmas presents long before Christmas Day. I supposed when we wrap a snowboard without putting it in a box first, it doesn't require a whole lot of investigative skills to uncover what it might be. The football and Lego sets were pretty obvious, too. Or maybe they also inherited my ability to act really surprised.

But I have found, after all of these years, that the best gifts are the ones I didn't see coming. The best gifts are the ones that weren't on my list. They are the ones someone else picked out for me. They are the ones I never would have even asked for. They are the ones someone else knew I needed or would love and they took the time to track them down and find them.

They are often the simple things, as well. Even in the mix of the Wii games, Barbie and Lego, my kids were still fascinated yesterday with teaching a Slinky to walk down the stairs and figuring out how to solve a Rubik's cube. We also spent a few hours solving mysteries last night with our new game of "Clue."

My husband did surprise me with the BEST. GIFT. EVER. in purely materialistic terms. (I will have to write about that one in a separate post.)

But this will also be a Christmas I will remember for the joy of giving. I was blessed because of a couple of totally strange and unplanned circumstances to give a few gifts to people outside of our family. Both instances were outside my control, and I guess you could have described them as life giving me lemons. But because of what happened, I was able to give someone else lemonade. (I so wish I could tell all of the details here, but I just can't.)

Anyway, God blessed me by allowing me to give those gifts to someone else. The beautiful thing was how much the people receiving them appreciated those gifts.

My heart was filled with joy this year at watching my kids open their gifts, even though they probably weren't as spectacular as some of the Christmases in the past. And I was overwhelmed with the thoughtfulness of my husband and his surprise gifts. I definitely scored on the receiving end this year, but my happiness at his gift also filled him with joy. So, I realized that although it's better to give then to receive, it's also nice to be a good recipient.

What about you? What is your most memorable Christmas gift? Was it something you gave or something you were given?

Thanksgiving day

I love Thanksgiving. It's the one holiday where there is no expectation to really do anything. Except eat. And taking a nap is totally acceptable. In between eating and napping, one can rest. And then, of course, there's always the option of sitting around and doing nothing.

I'm so thankful for the time spent with family during a highly unproductive day.

After a huge breakfast, the kids spent the morning with cousins. The boys had an air hockey tournament while the girls put on a fashion show.


We all spent lots of time being entertained by our almost 1-year-old. It's so hard to believe she wasn't even born this time last year! Little Miss Social loves all of the time surrounded by new people.



I've never been into shopping on Black Friday. I just can't think of anything I want that would be worth interrupting a night of sleep, going out in the cold and standing in line. But cyber shopping? I can do that! I spent a few hours browsing the virtual aisles and got some great deals.

Don't I look totally excited from the experience?


After a nap and more time sitting around, it was time for the Thanksgiving feast.



We burned off a few calories by playing Just Dance on Wii.

Even grandma got in on the action.

After all that hard work, we needed some pumpkin pie.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I'm so thankful for all of my family and friends, both real life and virtual! What was your favorite part of the day?

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Easter Sunday

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday. We were at home this Easter with just our family. I was kind of bummed that we weren't able to get together with extended family, but it's nice to be home sometimes on the holidays, too.

It turned out to be a good day. We had a great church service, then an Easter egg hunt in the back yard. Some friends came by in the evening. They are missionaries, and we got to see all of their photos of life in India. The kids thought that was AWESOME!

Instead of Easter baskets and candy, I got each of the kids a LEGO game. They have been playing with them non-stop!

Here are some photos:

Don't ask me why they wanted to wear those helmets. They had visited their uncle the day before and he is a firefighter. They have been wearing helmets ever since.

Not loving the cereal, but we keep trying!

This photo is so you can check out her little bracelet. A friend gave her that when she was born. Too cute.

The signature headband. It's the perfect low-maintenance hair style!

The kids had fun finding eggs and of course, decided to hide them several more times afterward.

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A little piece of string

During the past four weeks, the recovery from my C-section has been going much slower than with my last three surgeries. The past week has been increasingly difficult as my incision has grown red and swollen and too nasty to describe here on the blog.

But finally, I am starting to identify the culprit: A little piece of string.

(Now hang with me here as I get through the medical stuff because I do have a point.)

When the doctor sewed up my incision, he used sutures that were supposed to dissolve on their own under my skin. But apparently, mine didn't dissolve.

Instead, my body has been working overtime to reject this foreign matter in my body.

At the beginning of the week, a little piece of thread had worked its way to the surface and was sticking out of my incision. Each day, a little more of that white string busted through my incision. Now, about an inch of thread is visible above the skin, and I can trace the red, swollen, irritated path of that suture for several inches underneath the skin that has sealed up over the top.

On the first day of the new year, all of this has me thinking, of course.

I've been thinking about the figurative strings in my life.

How often do I add things to my life because they seem so good at the time. Could be a new hobby or a job or a relationship or food or movies or a cooking class or the Internet or even a workout regimen.

Perhaps these things help ease the pain of something bigger in my life. Or they help to heal a wound just like those sutures the doctor put in my body.

But after a while, they start to become the focus of my life. I can't stop thinking about that piece of thread that irritates me all day long. Likewise, I am spending so much time thinking about the little "strings" in my life that I start to lose sight of the bigger picture. As my old pastor would always say, "The good things become bad things when they crowd out the best thing."

After a while, I start to wage an internal battle against the "string", much like my body literally is doing now against that piece of thread. It's become a part of me, but my immune system is fighting against it, trying to expel it from my body.

I want to hang on to so many things that seemed good at the beginning. But now they are irritating me to the point they have become a distraction. As I start the new year, it's my prayer that God would show me what interests I should pursue and what strings I need to eliminate.

As for these sutures, I'm going to need professional help. I'm not sure how the doctor will get rid of this thread underneath my skin. I have a feeling it's going to hurt. But I'm excited to think about it being removed because I know that only after it's gone, my body finally will be able to heal.

And I have the same type of hope as we start a new year. It's time to eliminate some strings. Refocus. And get ready for a fresh start.

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Oh, what a year!

On this, the last day of 2009, I would love to write something meaningful to celebrate such an eventful year in our lives. Our family celebrated milestones, said good-bye to loved ones, welcomed a new life, faced challenges and made it through big changes.

But I'm a little too sleep-deprived to come up with the words to properly pay tribute to such an amazing year. So, instead, I'm joining other bloggers in wrapping up the year bloggy-style.


Here, I give you, the first line of every post of every month from 2009. I was surprised at how well this really did re-cap the whole year.

JANUARY

True confession. I'm waking up this morning on Jan. 1 with no New Year's Resolution. This is actually often the case with me.

I would learn later that there was a reason I didn't set any goals for 2009. I would find out in a few months that all things "Emily" would be set aside, and I would be called upon to take on some roles I would not have considered on my own.


FEBRUARY

Oh my, oh my... We are having the most incredible vacation in the history of our family. I wanted to give a quick update and share some photos.


The highlight of February was our vacation to Acapulco for the Discovery Toys incentive trip. It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was a trip we won't soon forget. It also was significant for me because this would be the first time in the last five years I made the choice not to set a goal to earn the incentive trip, making our past trip that much more special.

While we were in Mexico, we also lost my Grandma Dot, who had been a very special influence in my life.

MARCH

You might be wondering why I've been writing posts lately about opossums. Then again, maybe it didn't even seem odd to you, which is a really scary thought.


March marked one of my hilarious encounters with wildlife when THE opossum moved into our garage. Oh, what fun I had blogging about that guy. It even brought out the poet in me.

I also kicked off my own 40 Days of 40 countdown to my milestone birthday and unleashed my inner rock star.

APRIL

OK. I think I'm starting to understand. Seriously. It's all starting to make sense.

How could I recap the year without mentioning all of my posts about my favorite TV show, Lost? This was one in which I had reached the height of confusion about what was actually happening last season.

MAY

About five weeks ago, my friend, Julie, invited our family over for a cook-out. Julie is a busy woman, so I really didn't think anything of the fact that we had to make our dinner plans so far in advance.

I celebrated my 40th birthday in April with more celebrations than any one person should be allowed to have for herself. And then my girlfriends topped it all off by surprising me with this one the first weekend in May. I am blessed!

I also got serious in May, blogging about the topics of autism and allergies.

JUNE

Have you ever had a time in your life during which everything seemed to be falling apart?

And then there was June, the month in which I revealed what had really been on my mind the past few months. I was pregnant. We were going to home school. And I started blogging about my advanced maternal age.

JULY

A few days ago, I mentioned that my husband and I were planning to get away for a few days without our kids.

July was the month of vacations. CapableDad and I visited the Smokies without kids. We camped. And we joined four generations of family for a get-away that I wrote about in August.

Oh, and we also found out we were having a GIRL!

AUGUST

We are home from our little get-away with family.


Our high-flying family really got into the swing of things on that trip.

SEPTEMBER

Monday was our first day of school at home! The day went better than I expected...


And then we got down to business in September. We started our journey of doing school at home.

OCTOBER

Despite the fact I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, I still found myself running around like a crazy woman at 9:15, shouting, "Has ANYONE seen my Hannah Montana wig?!?"


By October, the third trimester of pregnancy was taking a toll on my body... and my brain. In this post, I wrote about how I was starting to go a little crazy trying to keep everything straight.

NOVEMBER

Judging from all of the cards and letters I have been receiving, you all have been dying to know what ever happened to my UNBELIEVABLE Seven Day Meal Plan That Never Changes.

We celebrated a Golden Birthday in November, and our anniversary. But the first post of the month happened to be one about my never-ending quest to answer that age-old question: "What's for dinner?"

DECEMBER

Introducing... The one... the only... the cutie pie, the perfectly sweet baby...
Jayda Grace
7 lbs, 2 ounces
20 inches
Born TUESDAY, Dec. 1 at 8:40 p.m.


Awww... And of course, the highlight of our year happened on Dec. 1 when we welcomed this sweet gift to our family.


I'm a little exhausted just reading about all of the events of 2009. I'm ready for a fresh start and optimistic about all that 2010 will bring.

Happy New Year, everyone!

** Head over to Musings of a Housewife to find out what 2009 was like for other bloggers. **

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It hit me

I woke up Monday morning after only a few hours of sleep strung together between feedings, rocking, crying and more feedings, when it hit me.

It could be years before I go back to getting regular nights of uninterrupted sleep.

It hit me.

I have only left the house four times during the entire month of December.

It hit me.

While everyone else seemed to be buzzing about from one Christmas gathering to the next, we had spent the holiday at home with only our little family.

It hit me.

I have spent the last three days in bed because the incision from my C-section, which should be almost completely healed after four weeks, was looking a little scary.

It all hit me at once, and I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I started crying, and I couldn't stop. My crazy hormones were finally pouring out of me like a flood. My head was spinning. And I was overcome by the need to get in the car and drive and find some people and have a conversation and laugh and eat food and just. leave. my. bedroom.



And then it hit me.

Some people live like this all of the time. They are slaves to their own physical restrictions. I started thinking about a talented musician we know who has been confined at home for years by a debilitating illness. I even started thinking about people held hostage, missionaries taken captive, people wrongfully imprisoned. (I warned you that the crazy hormones had taken over.)

And then it hit me.

Whatever situation someone is in, it's up to that person to choose to go on living. To make the most of it. That life isn't just about fun activities and what we are doing on the outside. But about how we are growing and where we are going on the inside.

We had made it to a pretty comfortable place in our family. Our three kids were old enough to get up in the morning and make themselves a bowl of cereal and play happily together without disturbing my sleep. We were done with diapers and feedings every three hours. We had just reached a point that it was getting easy.

And then it hit me.

I wouldn't trade any of that for this.



When I look at this face, I wonder who she is and what she will be like. And at the same time, I feel like I've known her forever.

It's been an adjustment. But it feels like she has always been part of our family.

Why would I wish away this quiet Christmas? It's been a rare treat to have a new baby in the house at Christmastime. It's the kind of Christmas at home we've always thought about when we've been on the road traveling dark highways through snowstorms.



And haven't I always dreamed of spending three days in bed while someone else took care of the kids and the dishes and the laundry and the cooking?

And when will I have another chance to spend a month inside? Not aloud to run errands. Not able to go anywhere. Just spending time with my family.

And then it hit me.

For now, for this time, it couldn't get much better than this.

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Getting movies

It's time for Part 2 of my highly-anticipated three-part series on Christmas Gifts I Love.

Gift #2 is something I purchased for my husband. But it has turned out to be a great gift for me, as well, after I caused myself some post-surgery damage using Gift #1 and ended up on a CapableDad-imposed bedrest/complete lockdown for two days in a row.

First, for the background.

Last year at this time, we decided we would show the cable companies of the world who is boss. We were tired of sending money each month to Comcast and the Dish Network just so we could watch TV.

So, we canceled it all and put a good ol' fashioned antenna on top of our house. Now, it's not as bad as it sounds. We still get 32 channels, including the major networks.

But once in a while, I could see that CapableDad was longing for a few more options in TV viewing. And when I heard some friends talking about their Roku player, I decided that might be the perfect surprise for him for Christmas.

First, I got a subscription to Netflix. For the same subscription price, the Roku box allows us to immediately watch hundreds of other TV shows and movies through Netflix.

We also can watch all of these same movies on demand on our computers. But the Roku player is nice because it streams them quickly, without any glitches that sometimes occur when streaming through a computer to the TV. We also don't have to set it up each time we want to use it, as we would with a laptop.

I have heard a few people complain that Netflix doesn't have a lot to offer for on-demand movies. Perhaps we are very sheltered and just haven't watched many movies or TV shows in the past, um, decade??

We have actually been overwhelmed by the vast number of choices available. In addition to movies and TV shows, we have also found some cool educational videos that complement some of the subjects we are studying in school this year.

So, are you excited to find out what #3 is on my list of favorite gifts?

Have any of you tried Roku, Netflix or another alternative to renting movies? I would love to know what you think.

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Getting Active

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Now I know that Christmas is NOT all about the gifts. But I'm such a kid inside that I still love the thrill of unwrapping the packages under the tree.

I received (and gave) a few gifts that I love so much I just have to blog about them.

The first one is the only thing that was on my Christmas wish list for myself. I really wanted some type of workout program to help me get back in shape... I'm tempted to say "post-pregnancy", but let's face it: I wasn't really in shape before I got pregnant!

I decided I would be more motivated to workout with the Wii than I would a DVD. So, I researched a few of the top sellers and asked for EA Sports Active.

I have only played it one time so far, but here are the things I already like about it:

• The game lets you choose your level of intensity and creates a workout right for you.
• You can choose a 30-day challenge, which keeps you on track with a different workout each day.
• The workout is only 20 minutes and rotates between a variety of activities. I have done Wii Fit in the past, but didn't ever feel like I was getting a lot of exercise because of all of the set-up time between each activity. Active keeps moving from one exercise to the next. For example, my first day included walking, jogging, boxing, lunges and arm curls, among the exercises.
• The workout then changes each day, rotating activities to work on different muscles. The 30-day challenge also includes days to rest.
• The set includes resistance bands to increase your strength exercises.
• It also allows you to workout with a friend, which you can't do with Wii Fit.

I do miss a few things that are part of Wii Fit.

• I love how Fit keeps track of anyone who uses it so you can compare your progress to others in your family.
• I also like the fact that Wii Fit tracks your weight, BMI and gives you the completely inaccurate "Wii Fit age". My age swings from 29 to 82 within a matter of days on that game! And yet, I still love finding out my Wii Fit age.
  

I also have a word of warning about EA Sports Active:

IF you have recently had surgery and IF your incision has not completely healed and IF until now you consider walking from your car into Target a major workout, then you might not want to start the 30-Day Challenge...

BECAUSE you will attempt to tell your "personal trainer" that it's not a good idea for you to jog or kick box or do lunges due to your physical limitations BUT she won't listen to you and will continue to encourage you to "give it your all" and "try harder"...

and IF you are a people pleaser and driven by goals, you won't want to let her down and you won't want to quit mid-way through and you MIGHT end up injuring your incision to the point you have to spend the entire next day trying not to move...

and THEN you will worry about what your personal trainer will say when you skip the next two weeks and you will even consider asking your husband to pose as you so she doesn't get mad at you.

But if none of this applies to you, then give it a try!

Um, me?? If you happen to bump into my digital personal trainer on the Wii, could you let her know I'll be back sometime AFTER the New Year?

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A tale of two babies

It was a calm Christmas morning.

Our five-year-old daughter received two babies for Christmas. First, she got a baby sister.

And today, she received Kit, the American Girl doll. She thinks Kit's name should be "Lilly".

Baby #1: Wow, Lilly. You look sweet in that outfit. All they give me to wear are these sleepers with the footies.

Lilly: Thanks. This outfit was $54 at the American Girl store, plus $13.95 for shipping.

Baby #1: You know, Lil, I think we're about the same size. What size shoes do you wear?

Lilly: I'm a size 0, of course.

Baby #1: Me, too!

Baby #1: You don't mind if I just borrow this for a few hours, do you? I have a big party later this weekend.

Lilly: I don't think so. I'm going to need my cardigan back.

Baby #1: Whaaaaa!!!!

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Merry Christmas!

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Brighter days ahead

I have been so busy taking naps, eating the wonderful desserts that friends have been bringing us and trying to protect the baby from six little hands that constantly want to touch her nose and ears that I almost forgot to recognize that this is one of my favorite days of the year!

It's the first day after the Winter Solstice. Starting today, we will be getting a little extra sunlight each day until June 22. After Christmas Day and the summer solstice -- the longest day of the year -- this has to be one of my favorite days.

Oh, I can be realistic and face the fact that spring doesn't come to this part of the planet until late May. But at least the promise of more sunlight gives one hope, doesn't it?

I can't believe we still have two full days before Christmas. The reason I can't believe it is because I have barely done any shopping (I actually only left the house one time and only ventured in to two stores), and yet I feel like I'm ready for Christmas. Online shopping has been my friend.

I'm excited to be at home this year snuggled together with a new baby and our family. I'm looking forward to seeing our kids unwrap their gifts. And although I wish we could be with our extended family, I'm excited to be here, doing things at our own pace.

We have started a few traditions with our immediate family, but I would really love to start a few more. Would you take a minute and tell me in the comments section about your favorite family tradition at Christmas?

Here are a few things that we try to do:

We add handprints to our Christmas tree skirt. I'm having a dilemma though, because our skirt is almost full. I could squeeze this year's handprints on, but I'm thinking I should start a new tree skirt now that we have a new family member.


On Christmas Eve, we get out our Playmobil nativity set, and the kids act out the Christmas story. We also read through all of the pages of our Advent book.

We don't make a big deal about Santa at our house, but we do put out a cookie and cup of milk for him. I love seeing the reaction on the kids' faces when they see the half-eaten cookie on Christmas morning.

We open gifts first thing in the morning. When I was a kid, my parents would let us get up at 4 a.m. to open gifts. We usually wait until 6:30 or 7 a.m., but we definitely do it first thing.

I also like to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast. I need to find a good recipe to make them from scratch.

Since it's just our family here on Christmas Day, I'm trying to decide what type of meal I should make. I'm also starting to think about what we should do on Christmas Eve.

What are your family traditions? I would love some creative ideas!

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You haven't seen Christmas cookies like this before

The past 19 days have been a blur. A comfy, cozy, cuddly, sleep-deprived blur.

The days and nights are a never-ending cycle of naps, feeding baby, changing diapers and staring into deep dark baby eyes, sprinkled with home school, taking turns holding baby and trying to sneak in a shower sometime before bed.

On Friday, I looked at the calendar and realized Christmas was a week away. I have only left the house twice since coming home from the hospital to attend the Christmas programs of the kids.

I haven't wrapped a gift. Or purchased a gift. Or baked a cookie. Or read the Advent book. Or purchased Christmas cards. Or even located the Christmas music.

So, I went online and made a few purchases. I found the Charlie Brown Christmas CD. And I sent my husband to the store to get some ingredients for cookies.

While I was holding and feeding baby, I asked CapableDad to make some cookies with the kids. I gave him a simple recipe: Holiday Wreath Cookies.

They are basically Rice Krispie Treats, but made with corn flakes and green food coloring.

I couldn't believe how they turned out!


The recipe said it would make 18 cookies. They managed to make 10. Have you ever seen Holiday Wreath Cookies that looked quite so... so... um... so... gloppy?


They were soooo gooey. And green! And wow! That was a lot of red hots!


They were definitely the best wreath cookies I have ever tasted. The bright green marshmallows were stuck to our fingers and hair afterward. Really? How can you go wrong with a recipe involving marshmallows, cereal and butter?

I immediately ate three, which would have been six cookies of the normal size. I'm saving the rest for breakfast.

I just showed my husband the cookies in the photo.

"Ohhhhhhh," he said. "So, THAT is what they were supposed to look like?!"

Um. Maybe I should have let him see the picture in advance.

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