Bah humbug....

Well, I'm good to my word. The votes favored of Ol' Nutty rather than me so now he stands gloating at me from my lawn. All ten glowing feet of him. So those of you punks that call yourselves my friends come on by and get your laughs. Just know, next year he could be the pink flamingo in your lawn....

Can you believe how big this thing is?

And Matt and Steph were true to their promise too ... Nascar Santa rides with pride in their front lawn. They too are already plotting retribution for next year so watch out if you live in the Springfield, Missouri area!

Yeah, Steph's eight months pregnant and you can't even tell!
I'm so jealous...

Jolly: (adj) merry, festive, or happy

Can you believe we are less than two weeks away from Christmas? As the days decrease, it seems my to do list increases. Though I fully realize that a majority of it is of my own making. Why you ask? Because my parents and youngest sister Kelly are coming HERE for Christmas! Jonathan and I are so exited to have them come and share Morgan's first Christmas.

Having them come to San Antonio poses some interesting new challenges ... like determining what holiday traditions to keep, tweak, or pass on altogether. This is a pretty big deal because in my family we have pretty much followed the same holiday routine for as long as I can remember. Some decisions have been easy while others have been a bit harder. Nonetheless, it's fun to start new traditions with my new family.

Now take a minute and tell me about your holiday traditions/preferences...

1. Colored or white lights?

For our "official" tree, it has to be colored lights. However, our unofficial tree and our outdoor decorations are white lights.

2. Favorite holiday food?

I love the cookies! Mostly I love the variety of cookies that the season brings - different flavors, shapes, and colors and always displayed together on festive holiday platters. So irresistible...

3. Open gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Christmas morning (though JD's family always did it on Christmas Eve). There's nothing like all your holiday pictures depicting you with bed head and in pajamas!

4. Favorite Christmas song?

Gosh, I really don't know. It really depends on my mood. However, I think I will always like "White Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" because of my Midwestern background and living so far away from family.

And for good measure, what are you asking Santa for this year?

My "Santa" is bringing me a new set of dishes! We've had his set of Walmart dishes since we got married, and I've been looking to replace them ever since. "Santa" did so good ... he even picked out the pattern himself (and I like it!).

Countdown: (noun) the final moments before a significant event

Though I'm not sure I'd consider putting Ol' Nutty in my yard significant as much as traumatic, the countdown is on nonetheless. Less than twelve hours of voting remain before Nutty's (and mine and JD's) fate is decided. Midnight is the deadline so don't forget to vote ... and get all your friends to vote :)

If voting trends continue as they have, you will be able to drive by my house tomorrow night and the twelve foot inflatable beacon that is Nutty will be illuminated in front of our house. Oh the shame...

Have you ever met a centenarian?

I have! A centenarian is someone who is between the ages of 100 to 109, and Jonathan's great grandmother turns 106 today. No kidding! This picture was taken of "Granny" on her birthday last year. Doesn't she look great?

Willard Scott saluted Granny this morning on the Today show in his Smuckers Birthday Greetings segment. She was the first person he mentioned. Amazingly, she was one of three women all turning 106 (I guess it's true that women live longer than men!).

Granny is truly an astounding woman and an inspiration to us. She loves her family and lives to see each of member happy. She is an avid reader and researcher and has used those skills to focus on health issues. Obviously, she has learned a thing or two from her studies!

Another amazing characteristic about Granny is that she still lives in the same home she has lived in for over fifty years in Los Angeles. In fact, they have built a subdivision around the home because it's been there for so long! Granny lives there with her son Richard ("Uncle Dick"), and they take great care of each other.

In past years, Jonathan and I have gone out to L.A. to help Granny celebrate each new birthday milestone. Unfortunately, this year with Morgan we are unable to make the trip. We celebrate with her in spirit and plan to visit her at Mother's Day where we fully intend to get a five generation photo. You don't see those everyday!

We love you Granny! Happy Birthday!

Tacky: (adj) not tasteful or fashionable; gaudy; flashy; showy

Growing up my sister Steph and I had this odd fascination with anything tacky. The more hideous, the better was our montra. For example, the interior ceiling of the car we shared in high school (a gold Crown Vic which was atrocious in and of itself) was covered with a collage of random crap we deemed worthy of display. Then when I went off to college, Steph gave me a fish pillow. It looked a bit like this one, except mine was a rainbow trout. I think Steph wanted to make sure I didn't make friends in college.

Well, we've aged a few years since those days. I think deep down we each are still amused by the truly tasteless; however, now neither of us wants it in our homes. Despite this, two Christmases ago, Steph and her husband Matt got us an inflatable twelve foot nutcracker. Hideousness at its prime.

Now I share Kara's disdain for inflatables ... to the point where Jonathan and I left the stupid thing at my parent's house in Illinois in hopes that it would be forgotten about by all. Sadly, my parents didn't forget and, when they came to visit us last summer, they flew Ol' Nutty down with them! (Seriously, can you imagine what people were thinking about them as they toted the Nutster through the airport?)

So when Christmas rolled around last year, Jonathan and I debated whether to release Ol' Nutty from his cardboard home and expose him to the world (i.e. our poor, unsuspecting neighbors whose home values would be placed in jeopardy). Well, we like a good joke so Nutty had his big debut in our front yard. No joke, when we looked out our second story window you could see his hat!


Needless to say, we got Steph and Matt back as best we could when we visited them for Christmas by setting up a Nascar Santa inflatable in their yard for them to come home to :)


Here we are a year later and debating what to do with Ol' Nutty, and I've decided to let you decide. In the right hand margin, there's a poll for you to determine Nutty's fate. Polls close Friday at midnight so don't debate your choice too long! And please only vote once.

And if it sways your decision any, Steph has said that if the results dictate that Nutso gets freed once again then she too will put out the Santa speedster.

Unselfish: (adj) willing to put the needs or wishes of others before one's own

Today is Jonathan's sister Jen's birthday (Happy Birthday Sis!). When I asked Jonathan this morning for one word to describe Jenny, he said "unselfish". He went on to describe his sister as continually thinking of others and ways to bless or help them, always placing them in higher regard than herself and her own needs, desires, or problems. This is so true; we often have to pull these things from Jen because she is so focused on us!

And let me tell you when it comes to her niece Morgan, there are few who rank higher in Jen's book :) The last several times Jen has come to visit Morgan she has come equipped with gifts - most notably economy-sized boxes of diapers and wipes. Yeah ... Aunt Jenny rocks!

If you haven't gathered yet, Jonathan, Morgan, and I truly value having Jen in our family. We pray that she allows herself to be blessed today on her birthday by us and all the others who care for her. We love you Jen!

Three months, Eight hours, and Never

Three months - the length of time it's been since I last slept through the night.

Eight hours - the amount of sleep I got last night.

Never - the last time Morgan slept through the night.

That's right! Morgan slept through the night for the first time last night. What a huge blessing!

Ironic too because I was reading about baby sleep patterns in the third month yesterday in What to Expect the First Year and was contemplating switching up Morgan's sleep schedule. However, I decided to wait and pray about it before making any changes. God's answer was NOT what I expected ... it was way better!

In fact, I had been doing okay with getting up in the middle of the night. But when the two month mark passed a few weeks ago, I finally noticed the lack of regular sleep wearing on me. So God's timing and provision are perfect in giving me this gift of rest.

Please Lord may this continue...