Re-Married

I haven't worn my wedding rings in six months.
One of the sad side-effects of my pregnancy was that my knuckles swelled (well, a lot of things swelled, but the knuckles are the only parts relevant to this post). So I finally bit the bullet and had them re-sized.

They say a woman will look at her engagement ring more than one million times in her life. Well, I'll tell ya, I probably logged a couple hundred on the day I picked them up from the jeweler, and I felt like I had just gotten married again. I promptly called my husband and thanked him for picking out such a gorgeous setting. Funny how such a material thing can lift one's mood!

In honor of that mood, here's a little anecdote:
It was pouring rain on the day in March when B and I closed on our house. We were completely unprepared for just how long the process would take, but had taken the entire day off work. After we signed our last signature we immediately drove to our new neighborhood. We were starving, so we picked up a pizza from Papa Romeo's, took it to our sparkling new house, and ate it on the dining room floor.

Three and a half years later, we are blessed with a great dog, a beautiful baby...and we no longer eat on the floor--much.


(Now, how to "re-size" my shoes...)

Carols at the Spinnet

In my quest to actually enjoy the holiday season, rather than be constantly overwhelmed by it, Munchkin and I sat down at the piano to sing some carols.

No more than 2.5 minutes into our attempt at holiday cheer, he pooped himself so badly that I had to cut his onesie off his body to avoid getting poop in his mouth.

Bah humbug.



(Thanks for the idea, Auntie G. Not sure I would have thought to perform that ER procedure on my own...)

Stand Up and Be Counted

I'm about to be high-maintenance.

I use this very fancy program called Google Analytics. With it, I can tell which blog posts get the most traffic, where that traffic comes from, etc. But it doesn't tell me (for obvious reasons) who is reading, and I seem to have the same 3 or 4 people who post comments--which is totally fine, BUT my curiosity is getting the better of me. Also, it is always helpful to the author to know his or her audience when composing.

So I'd like to conduct a little two-question survey because, really, what else have you got to do on a Sunday afternoon in December (haha). You can participate by either posting a comment below (feel free to stay anonymous) or emailing me. You can only email, however, if you already have my address. I don't want to post it here, sorry.

QUESTION ONE:
How often would you estimate that you read this blog (choose the best answer--just like school):
a) I read every post.
b) I read many posts, usually NOT on the day they are originally posted.
c) I read very few posts.
d) This is my first time on this blog.


QUESTION TWO:
Choose from the following statements:
a) I am a relative of Hannah or Brad.
b) I am a friend/aquaintance of Hannah or Brad.
c) None of the above.

Thanks for playing! I'll post the "results," if you're interested.
H

Fasten Your Seatbelts!

Last week we took Munchkin on his first airplane!

The ride itself was fairly uneventful, and the surrounding passengers remarked at how great he was on both flights. The vacation itself was quite jam-packed.

Among our activities were the following:
- an evening with Munchkin's Great-Grandparents (Hannah's Grandparents) and Great-Aunt Pat
- an evening with the Osadchuk relatives (Grammie Val's family)
- a few hours at the pool and golf course
- a dinner at the country club for pasta night and Brad's birthday
- a trip to In and Out Burger (Yum!)
- facials and shopping for the girls
- golf for the golfers

We enjoyed the company and the weather, and can't wait to visit again, soon!


Visit the link for pictures: http://gallery.me.com/hannahrae#100192


(Sorry for the lack of "color" in the posts lately. November and December have sucked out all my creativity. :o) )

Joy to the World

Please observe, as my baby shows you how to be joyous.
In two different locations, no less.

3 months

Dear Munchkin,
You lucked out! No doctor appointment this month, and no shots. Hurray!

Overnight, it seems, you have morphed from a baby into a little boy...which will sound ridiculous to my friends who have older children, but nevertheless. You continue to make great strides, developmentally, and you're such a joy to be around.

I love that you...

- squeal blissfully at the monkey sounds coming from your playmat.
- continue to eat your hands.
- have official tickle spots.
- hold your head up all by yourself.
- can find yourself in a mirror.
- often continue a sucking motion, even when nothing is in your mouth.
- laugh like a real boy at your Dad's funny sounds (and sometimes mine, too).
- "drown" when wind gets in your face...too funny.
- have a windshield wiper arm when you're nursing.
- have to hold my hand when you're trying to fall asleep.
- watch my hands during "Eensy, Weensy Spider."
- seem to truly love monkeys...on your mat, on your shirt, at the zoo (just like your friend, Huey).
- sleep with your arms up over your head (just like your Dad).
- reward me with huge smiles when I come home from being out.

XOXO,
Mom

Haul Out the Holly

NOW it's time for Christmas. :o)

The Rose Family has finally decorated our first family tree. In fact, I've lived away from home for 11 years, and this is my first tree without my mother. What a strange thought. We had a certain set of "rules" when it came to tree trimming in my childhood home. Yes, they were rules we insisted on ourselves; I guess that'show traditions are formed. Here's generally how it went:

1. Purchase a live tree, usually from the parking lot of a furniture store or the equivalent. You couldn't cut a better one down yourself, anyway, and it's only 5 minutes from home. That way, if it doesn't QUITE fit atop the little Honda Civic, it's only a few miles.

2. Bring down the ornament boxes. Or bring up the ornament boxes, I can't remember. That was actually one of the best parts. See step 3.

3. Papa and Mom set up the tree in the metal stand, water it, arrange the skirt, and string the lights (always white) while the kids examine the boxes of ornaments we hadn't seen since last year--or longer, if some of the less attractive homemade ornaments had "accidentally" not made it onto the tree the previous year.

4. Be sure to have holiday music playing on the CD (or tape) player. Bonus points if you have hot chocolate, too. At least one year, we had live music on the piano.

5. Decorate the tree. Kids concentrate on the bottom, grownups on the top. Don't forget to hang ornaments on the BACK of the tree, too, because there are windows there. And yes, that's the best spot for the gigantic dough ornaments made in art class. Be sure to use a hook and not just the string on the ornament, and hang it far enough away from the end of the branch that it won't slide off.

6. Consider things like color, composition, balance (this sounds like the opening to "Sunday in the Park With George"--look it up). And if you don't get it right, don't worry, someone will rearrange it after you go to bed, anyway.

7. Add the tree topper. This should always be some kind of angel in a cone shape; never a star, and certainly never a lighted topper. Tacky.


So, now that I'm an adult, here's how my tree experience went:
We purchased a fake tree. Oops. But it looks real enough that I can tolerate it, AND it won't be a fire hazard when we leave town in a few days. It's gigantic: 4 whole feet tall. When I came downstairs on Saturday morning, my wonderful hubby had assembled the tree, plugged in the lights (let's hear it for pre-lit trees!), and added a few ornaments, at which point I almost panicked. Was he trying to decorate the tree during the day?! Heavens, no. Trees are decorated at night. As we added our meager collection of ornaments to our tiny tree, I caught myself correcting his placement:
"No, you have to use a hook."
"Why."
"Because that's how we do it."
"Um, okay."

We did enjoy ourselves, and I found myself rehashing the history of each ornament in my head. I think it's pretty neat that our ornaments are new enough that I can remember where each came from. (And, admittedly, I "adjusted" a few ornaments after B left the room.)

And we have no topper, and no skirt. I guess we've left room for improvement!

We have tried to purchase an ornament from each vacation we've taken, but we often forget. Here are a token few, however, that we enjoy:

From Maui


St. Lucia


San Francisco


Australia


Sedona