Christmas pictures!

I'm on a roll this week with pictures.  Sure, we decorated our house the day after Thanksgiving, and sure, it's December 13th, which mean it's taken me several weeks to post these...but better late than never!


So here is our living room....

I decorated the mantel myself with candles, some green garland and white lights.  And of course, my garden gnome, Jerome, had to come in for the winter and get in on the festivities.  We love this new fire place...it's gas, so it's super easy to use, and it makes the room feel all cozy when it's on.  And yes, our stockings are hung by the chimney with care.  And for those of you with dirty minds, I did intentionally put the T & A stockings in that order :-)

We've waited forever to get a nativity scene.  It's something we've wanted for awhile, and this past Christmas, we've decided to just buy one.  We got this from The House of Ireland, and I've been told it's special because it's Belleek china.  I'm not familiar with that, but T assures me that it's very nice china.  I just think it's beautiful.

Another shot of the living room.....

And the outside of our house:  This year we chose to just do lights around the porch.  T ordered an extension ladder but that's coming this week, so next year, our goal is to outline the garage part, too.  But I still think it looks pretty darn cool.

Close up of our porch - real live Christmas wreaths, a tree, and candles, of course!

So that's our house!  To keep with the Christmas spirit, I also stole these fun questions from Chloe @ My New Life as a Housewife.  Enjoy!

  

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer gift bags, but that's only because I am really a horrible wrapper.

2. Real tree or Artificial? We do artificial. Growing up, my sister's allergies were why we did that, but T and I do think we'll go the real tree route soon.

3. When do you put up the tree? Day after Thanksgiving!

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime around New Years. I always hate that feeling...it's so depressing!

5. Do you like eggnog? I've had it once. And then had the stomach flu the night of my drinking it...so that would be the last time I'll ever have it again.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My O'Jenny Doll House

7. Do you have a nativity scene? We didn't until just this year...we bought a Belleek china one from House of Ireland, and I love it!

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad

9. Easiest person to buy for? My youngest niece, Roo. She's still at the age where she isn't wanting everything electronic and expensive

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Oh, always mail! Just got mine out, too!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The stomach flu. But that wasn't a gift. But it still sucked.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Love Actually

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I try to do it as soon as I can, but this year, I'm a huge slacker on it.

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? don't think so

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas cookies!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? clear

17. Favorite Christmas song? O' Holy Night and "All I want for Christmas is you"

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Some day we'll get to stay home...it's not too far off! We usually travel, though.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Sure can!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? angel

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open presents with my family on Christmas. T and I try to exchange them with just the two of us before then, though.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Commercials. Holiday commercials are SO annoying, especially jewelry ads.

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? Don't have just one. T and I buy one special for each year, so I'd say those.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Happiness and no stress

 

Shower fun

This weekend, my sister threw a baby shower for me at her home up in Noblesville.  It was family and friends, including some of my mom's friends from the neighborhood and her work, and it was a lot of fun.  I'm not always the best when it comes to posting pictures these days, so I'm going to make up for it by inundating you with tons of pictures.  Enjoy!

The cake was made out of a bunch of cupcakes from Meijer...and they were delicious!  Brought a few home with me to have a later date, too!

My sister decorated the house with a clothes line and put up outfits she had bought for baby, as her present to me.  I was told to sit in the chair next to the presents, even though when I first sat down to eat it was in the corner by myself.  (I'm SO social like that...) 

Mom and me, and of course, Half-pint had to get in the shot.  (And dude, I look HUGE in this picture!)

My sister-in-law, me and my sister, the hostess of the party.

Me and "the aunts" on my mom's side.  It was so nice to see everyone.

And of course, the girl cousins on my mom's side of the family, too.  Funny enough this isn't all of us either.  There are 14 total grandchildren, and I believe in this picture we're missing three more girls that weren't able to make it. 

Instead of cards, my sister asked that guests bring a children's book, inscribed to Half-pint, so now we have even more books to add to her library!  T is pretty excited, too, because that gives him more to read her.  We got a ton of items on our registry and some I hadn't even though of that weren't on the registry. My mom got us a glider/rocker for the nursery.  We hadn't thought to register for one of those, but man, after T set it up Saturday night, that thing is comfortable.  It was so sweet, last night T sat down in it and picture himself rocking her to sleep.  We promise to post pictures of the nursery soon...our goal next weekend is to put things away so that it actually looks like a nursery!

 

 

I'll be back tomorrow with even more pictures...it's a Christmas miracle! 

 

Present time!

So remember that worry I had about how we wouldn't get everything we needed for the baby in time for her arrival?  Yeah...I'm not one to enjoy admitting when I'm wrong.  But....well....see, here's the thing...


I may or may not have been wrong. 


Yes, I answered that as a lawyer. 


I tend to get freaked out about things, rationally or irrationally, but usually the latter of the two.


This past week we have come home pretty much daily to at least one or more packages for baby.  We have started keeping our UPS guy in business.  If he hasn't figured out that we're expecting, he is not a very smart man.  Just the other day, on Monday, we came home to two boxes of diapers (awesome deal I got at Babies R Us), a pack and play box, Target box, and one from Babies R Us.  Either we are having a kid, or we have some really messed up collection of baby stuff. 


It's been fun seeing all the cute stuff we have for Half-pint. Sure, I registered for this stuff, but honestly, I have never seen it in person.  I have done about 80% of my registry online.  I hate going to stores and getting all overwhelmed, and I'd much rather sit on my couch, sip a little ho cho by the fire, and peruse the store online.  But I've got some really cute stuff. 


Not sure if I have talked much about what her nursery will look like, but the theme is monkeys.  Color scheme is purple and a lighter green.  I promise we will post pictures, but right now, everything isn't really settled in the nursery.  We have the crib put up, but no mattress yet so there's nowhere to put the bedding.  We are still waiting on the dresser (mess up on Target's part - they shipped it, then said we asked to return it before it got to us, and so apparently we won't be getting the dresser until next week because I was forced to reorder it.  Pain.)  I'm hoping we'll get the mattress soon so that we can set everything up.  But it'll look super cute. 


I have to admit, it is fun checking the registry to see what items have been bought, and I can't believe how generous people are.  Above and beyond what I'd ever ask for...I'm not one to say "buy me stuff, please!"  But people have been so nice, and we appreciate it so much. 


We better get rolling on that nursery, though, because my family baby shower is tomorrow, and I have a feeling we're going to have even more items to put in there. 


So I apologize for my momentary freak out a week ago.  Nain's under a ton of pressure...maybe, just maybe that pressure got to her. 


And maybe, just maybe, I was a wee bit wrong. 


But I will neither confirm nor deny that.

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On a side note, I need your questions still!  Thank you, Robin, for your awesome questions, but I need more for a really good vlog!  So ask away! 

Buried but still here!

Yeah, so I'm not quite sure what has happened this week.  It started off okay....and then...things got crazy.  Hence the lack of blog posts.  Sorry, guys!  See, I'm trying my best to get ahead of the game and line everything up so that things are organized and ready to go when my maternity leave starts and IF Half-pint decides to make her entry to the world early.  If she's anything like me, she's impatient.  So it's likely she will.  So that means Nain is running around like a mad woman doing about 30 things at once.  It's not pretty. 

 

 

So yes, I'm a neglectful blogger.  So this post will be short, but it does have a point!  I promise!

 

 

Anyway, in the meantime, I need something from you, my fellow bloggers and readers.  It's been awhile since I've done a vlog, so I think it's high time to do one again.  So....what I need are some interesting questions to answer.  Got some burning question you're just dying to ask?  Well, here's your chance!  So I really need your help...otherwise, it will just be me talking aimlessly into the web cam.  And we don't want that! 

 

 

I do promise to write as I can.  Until then, I can't wait to see what questions you have!

  



We need longer weekends!

I believe three day weekends should be an every weekend deal.  Seriously, because two days are just not enough to get everything completed that needs to be done.  Not to mention when do you get to just relax?  This was one of those busy weekends for T and me, as seems to be the norm for us these days.    I even had the best of intentions to take pictures of some of the things we did this weekend, but sadly...I have none to share.  Maybe I'll find a spare moment this week to snap a picture and upload, but I make no promises, my blogger friends!


So Friday, my coworkers threw me a baby shower during our lunch hour.  It was a lot of fun, good food, and we got so much helpful stuff.  I'm still learning what is what in terms of helpful items for baby and things I never have heard of until now.  That, and we have a lot of new pink outfits I can't wait to see Half-pint wear.   T came over after work, helped me haul everything to the car and then into the house, as carrying heavy items is becoming more and more difficult as the weeks go by.  We did as we usually do on Friday evenings and cleaned the house before relaxing and hitting the hay.  Sure, cleaning the house doesn't seem like the most fun thing in the world, true.  But our theory on it is, if we get it done Friday night, the rest of the weekend is ours to do with whatever we chose.  It's a good routine we've gotten into.  Watching Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel and cleaning.  I'm still able to do quite a bit, but again...things are getting more and more difficult as the weeks go by.   But T's such a good sport and helps out so much to make sure things are done. 


Saturday morning, we both got up early, T to run and me to hit the grocery store before all the crazies were there.  I absolutely detest grocery shopping with a passion, so if I have less people to deal with, the better.  T spent the majority of the day out in our garage mouse proofing the garage (yes, we had a mouse siting a few weeks ago..ugh) and cleaning out both of our cars.  Me, I spent the day organizing my Mary Kay closet and office, getting ready for an event the next day and of course, getting a start on my Christmas cards.  After church that evening, T put his carpentry skills to work and put together Half-pint's crib!  It looks great...just need the mattress and the bedding, and we're good to go!  Now we're waiting on the dresser to arrive this week.  It seems T's new hobby is putting together nursery furniture, and it's a good thing he's so handy because I would have no clue what I'm doing if I were put to the task. 


Sunday we headed up to my brother and sister-in-law's house, as I had scheduled a Mary Kay Holiday Coffee with her.  It's basically an open house like I had a few weeks back at my own home, but hosted by a customer instead of myself.  It was pretty successful, which is great because I have a feeling this event may be one of the last ones I have until Half-pint makes her arrival.  I do have one scheduled in January, but that may be a bit ambitious.  We'll see...


So yes, it was a busy busy week in the Nain and T household.  This week won't be much better and neither will next weekend...family/friend baby shower coming up!  Don't know about all of you but I am so ready for some holiday down time! Hope everyone had a great weekend!  And I promise to be back with pictures!

Pregnancy brain

When we first got pregnant, I read everything possible online or in books on what to expect.  I'm not one of those girls who likes to just fly by the seat of her pants.  Nope, I have to know my facts, know what's coming.  And I kept reading about pregnancy brain.  Forgetfulness, mixing things up, not being able to focus.  Sure, sure...some women might have that problem, but not me. I have my stuff together...I won't be that bad.  Right? 

Wrong.  Fail.  Completely off the mark. 

Nain's brain has officially left the building.  This week was living proof of that. 

I seriously don't know where my mind has gone lately.  It's like this week something was just switched off.  I can't focus, concentrate or be productive at all.  I keep making mistakes on things that normally I would be so on my game with....and big mistakes, too.  Embarrassing mistakes.

It's gotten to the point where T no longer really likes for me to drive anywhere.  I just zone out or don't pay attention.  I mean, sure I'm not a hazard on the road or anything, but I'm not exactly a shining beacon of safety. 

Talking in complete sentences? Not so easy.  I try to tell someone something at work, and I mix up my words or forget what I'm saying.  I sound like the female version of Yoda half the time.  God help me with some of the radio interviews I'll have coming up for a local work event.  I might need someone to come with me just so I sound somewhat intelligent. 

Please...moms out there...tell me that it does go back.  I like to pride myself on being together for the majority of the time.  And now?  Yeah...not so much. 

   

Baby update!

Back with another baby update!  (I know how you love them!)  We had another visit with the OB the other day, as well as an ultrasound to check on Half-pint's growth.  We've had ultrasounds every month due to the fact that my heart condition can cause her size to be small.  Well, she's defying those odds for sure.  At the last ultrasound we were told she was in the 93rd percentile for growth.  This time she's in the 84th percentile which is still awesome.  She technically was supposed to be at 27 weeks and 1 day but actually measured at 28 weeks and 5 days.  So she's growing along just fine!

The thing I love about having all of these ultrasounds is we get to see her more often than most normal pregnancies would.  We get to see how much she's growing and changing.  Also, we get to see her personality kind of develop.  We can already tell she's a stubborn one.  Every ultrasound, she's covering her face with her hands.  Actually, she looks like she relaxes with her hand on her forehead just like mommy does.  (Isn't that crazy?)  And she's active.  Every ultrasound, she's constantly moving, almost like she's not wanting to let them get a normal shot.  I think we have a strong-headed kiddo coming our way.  Wonder where she gets that? 

Me, I still feel like I'm getting more and more huge by the day.  Bending over to pick things up is becoming a difficult task. Sleeping...not as easy as it used to be.  I'll be starving, try to eat, and I get full with just a few bites.   Not sure how Half-pint is growing as much as she is because I honestly feel like I don't eat enough, but...whatever.  Still monitoring my blood pressure, and so far, it's doing okay off and on.  With the holidays coming up and having a few days off, I'm hopeful I'll have some time to just relax, unwind and maybe catch up on my sleep.   (Only if Half-pint cooperates, that is!) 

I have two baby showers coming up, too, which is exciting!  One is this Friday for my work and the other is
next Saturday for family and friends. 

While we were at the doctor, we did get a few 3D pictures of our little girl, and I wanted to share them with all of you because they are just so cute.  Baby girl only cooperated for one picture in allowing us to see her face.  (Notice she still has that hand over her head like mommy), and then we got a shot of her cute little feet. 

I have never wanted to meet someone so much in my life.  I can't beleive that in just 10 weeks, I'll be holding my baby girl. 

I'll keep you all posted with baby updates as they come!