Only Five More Days...

I don't understand those people who say they will be glad when Christmas is over with. I am one of those who with sorrow packs away the ornaments, and begrudgingly stops playing the Christmas CDs sometime around mid-January. It is such a beautiful season, with such a wonderful meaning that I hate to see it all end and go back to same old, same old.
This year though, there is something to look forward to that's even more exciting than Christmas...a baby! So after all of the decor is packed away, the cookies are eaten, and the gifts are opened, there will be work to do...on a nursery. The due date has been moved up, just by a week, making him a February baby instead of a March one. Well, only time will tell that actually, if he follows in his sister's footsteps he may STILL be a March baby! But it now seems so much closer and so much more real.
Last blog update, I posted a silly To-Do list. You know the kind, full of hope & optimism, the kind that totally disregards actual time & budget available, and that doesn't take into consideration other things that have to be done, you know, like daily life. Yeah, SO didn't complete that list, but did make some progress. We did get the living room painted, which was probably the biggest thing on the list. The other stuff was hit or miss. This year we didn't worry so much about getting things done, trying to make things just so (I won't say perfect - my name is not Martha, afterall), but on having fun, creating our own traditions, and enjoying Natalie being two at Christmas time. Below are some pictures of how we have spent our time, and what we did get done.

Fun Stuff:
Lights of the Ozarks

Playing LOTS of "Where's Natalie?", "Shakin' It" (who needs posed pictures?)

Dressing herself...and the cats (our cats wear necklaces regularly now)


baking (& eating) lots of cookies, decorating (& redecorating)


House Stuff: