Christmas Happiness

Well there are all kinds of things to report with so much going on for the holidays. I first have to rave about the Christmas dinner party that we were able attend Saturday night. My friends Margie and Doug threw it at their house and it was absolutely fantastic. You would have thought it was a professionally catered meal--it was just over the top. And as if all the scrumptious goodies we partook of there weren't enough, Margie sent us all home with these enormous platters of all kinds of made-from-scratch confections. We've been snacking off it ever since. I really have never been to a holiday dinner party before and it was just so fun. Picture pending.

Dan's mom and dad were able to join us on Sunday and we've been having a blast. We've made caramel corn (Grandpa Griff's recipe), played lots of Scrabble, and had a Sudoku tournament. We even got to talk to Grant, Dan's brother who's on a mission, and he is sounding so happy.

I know it sounds like everything is perfect, but I have to admit there is one teeny-tiny cloud hanging over our household. You see, we just got my parents' Christmas letter. (Dramatic pause.) I don't have a copy of it with me, so let me just rebuild it the best I can:

" Jen and Dan are doing well.... Kent and Kate are also doing well and are so good looking that I would give them an award called the 'cutest couple award'."

What? What is this award? When were we notified about this contest? Was there an interview portion? What about evening gown? Sure, Kate would have smoked me on the talent part, but I still should have been given a chance. (For those of you who don't know my sister-in-law, she just happens to be a beautiful, talented ballerina.) It just seems kind of sneaky, Mom handing out secret awards without telling the rest of us there was ever a contest. Michelle and Robbie, how do you feel about this? Dan feels cheated too. Really Mom, if you're reading this, give us an opportunity to prove ourselves. We're cute, we promise. Some would even call us smokin' hot.

This entire to-do has probably been hardest on Harrison. After reading the letter (with a little assistance), he rent his clothing and stared despondently out the window. He's totally ashamed of us.

Anyway, here's a sampling from our first photo shoot kicking off our campaign for next year's "cutest couple award".

Let the winning begin

One of the things I love best about the family I married into is that they are game players. A different sort of game player than where I came from (cards, Guesstures, Catchphrase, etc), but game players nonetheless. I've learned to love Scrabble and Monopoly, which are probably the two biggest games when we all get together.

Last year, in fact, we had a huge 18-person bracket Scrabble tournament that was full of scandal and contention. It was fabulous even though I got knocked out first round. I believe Ben came out on top, though there are still disputes about the validity of his win. I'm really looking forward to the second annual Scrabble game, mainly because I know I've got a better shot since there are only five of us to compete.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that the gaming has begun. Lauren flew in Wednesday night and we just sat down to a good old Monopoly game. I wiped the board with both of the boys and my win has left me feeling extra festive. I can't wait till Mom and Dad get here!

Giraffe Stalker

I don't know what this giraffe saw in Harrison, but he kept following us along the path and seemed to be staring straight at him. Since I'm new at this whole video thing, please let me know if you're having any trouble viewing it. And feel free to applaud since this is the first published proof of Harrison walking!

This weather is for the birds!

Aaah. Yesterday was a gorgeous start to the weekend--right around 70 degrees! Dan called from work in the morning and made a plan for us to meet him up at the zoo; which is where we could be found the rest of the afternoon. It was such a fantastic day. If there was one disappointment, it was simply that the monkeys were not loud. The first time Harrison and I went without Dan we were overwhelmed by them. This time they just sat quietly grooming one another. I'm not sure Dan believed just how loud they were at our first encounter. We went into this little bird place that was all netted in and you could get necter to offer to the birds. As you can see, Dan was accepted in as one of them within minutes and they began grooming him. It reminded me of Mom's Hawaii picture where one is biting off her earring. Dan looked similarly comfortable.

We also rode the carousel again, but for some reason Harrison thought it was horribly frightening this time. Maybe it was our choice of animals--I sat on a quite large ostrich and Dan chose a very pleasant looking monkey. Who knows if we would have had success with the racing beaver again?

Anyway, we're off to a Christmas party tonight...and then maybe to begin our family Christmas tradition. No one has guessed close to it yet.

Oh--and I wanted to let my favorite friend-of-a-brother Shannon to know that I in no way consider her a stalker and I love that she drops in on our blog! Love you Shan!

An eggnog musing

It's funny the very strong response you seem to always get when you ask someone if they like eggnog. It elicits such emotion. I am among the eggnog passionate; hence, I am sitting here drinking an embarrassingly large mug of it RIGHT NOW. In order to justify this caloric monstrosity, I've mixed up the ol' half and half that some wise person taught me in my college days. That's right--half eggnog, half skim milk. Thus I am enjoying twice the amount of swallows of holiday deliciousness while not consuming any extra fat. Brilliant, you say? Oh, stop....

So here's what has been going on at our house:

• I just finished another proofing job. It was a self-help/motivational thingy and I enjoyed it. I felt kind of guilty turning in my invoice because I didn't feel like I'd done any work. Yeah!
  
• Harrison seems to be able to communicate with me better every day. My friend, Tenniel, babysat him yesterday and got quite a kick out of him. She said, "He just kept eating! He'd see some food and say 'num-num,' so I'd give him some and then he'd do his sign language for 'more'. It made me wonder if I'm starving my boy because I kept thinking we were done, but no, 'more, more, more'!" That made me glad that he can tell me when he's hungry. He also is getting really good at giving kisses. Not to people so much as pictures and toys. When he sees a kitty in a book he likes to lay a sloppy wet one right on the page. He does the same thing when he sees pictures of himself. A little narcissistic, but adorable nonetheless.
  
• Dad G blessed us with a visit today all the way from Michigan. He did some builder/construction stuff with Dan and then took us out to dinner. He's leaving first thing in the morning, but it was so fun for Harrison to show off his walking skills to Grandpa. It's just amazing how fast they change.
  
• Dan and I have decided on the Christmas tradition that we want to start with Harrison and have it be our thing. People always ask what traditions your family has for the holidays, and I want to make sure Harrison will have a good answer. We might start it as early as tomorrow night. I'll let you wait in suspense for now as to what it is. Maybe I'll get some good guesses that'll be even better than what we came up with. I'm open to suggestions....

Alright, another night is coming to a close and I still have not made an attempt at a Christmas card letter. Starting to feel the pressure, but evidently not enough to actually sit down and write it. There's time, right?

Happy Healing, Mama!

I just wanted my sweet mama to know our thoughts and prayers are with her today as she recovers from her surgery. We love you!

The tree has been up for a while, but we haven't shown a picture of it yet. Here's a shot of our cozy living room to distract you from your drainage tubes....

Monkey see, Monkey do

Harrison is turning into quite the mimic. He loves pretending to talk on the phone now and has started trying to do what I do. The other day I was singing and dancing for him in the car and I caught him trying to do the same arm motions I was. Up till now his dance moves have all been bum, shoulder, and head stuff. Fascinating. Yesterday I was sanding the wall in preparation for some painting and H-man would not calm down until I handed over the sanding block and got out of his way so he could do the job right. See pic for proof.

One way I hope he doesn't try to copy me is my new dental trend. I just went to the dentist this morning--first check up since I was pregnant. Keep in mind I've never had a cavity in my LIFE....three cavities. Unless you're a jerkface like Dan, who says it's five. Two of the cavities are between teeth and go into two teeth each. I say one cavity, two teeth. Jerkface disagrees. What do you say, Dentist Ben?

Also, the other night we had a treat when Dan's very cool cousin Shawn was able to come visit from Fort Campbell. That's been one of the best bonuses for living here in Nashville--being able to see him fairly often due to the proximity. Love it.

Advent calendars are stressful

I was so excited about this sweet little advent calendar that Uncle Kent and Aunt Kate gave to Harrison. I've never done one before and it's obvious I'm a newbie. There are all these little doors numbered one through twenty-five and it is intended that you open one a day until Christmas. Here it is the third before I remember, and I panicked. I found myself stuffing Harrison's mouth with not only today's chocolate goody, but Friday's and Saturday's as well. He didn't seem to mind. I've gotta stay on top of that one.

I was able to talk to a super old friend yesterday and it made me think that there are literally only a handful of people in the world that you can talk to after months and months and MONTHS of silence and not have it feel weird at all. At least for me that's true. So here's to my fantastic friends and family that I love so much. We really are old souls that have big histories.

On a side note, I was just reading back over what I typed (habit of an English teacher) and the first sentence of the previous paragraph made me laugh. What would a literal handful of people be? When I picture it, it's kind of a gory image, so let me revise what I said. There are very few people in the world you can talk to like that.

It is here I draw the line

We all have our own codes of conduct and I've just discovered another one I live by. Once the Christmas tree is up and it's the LAST DAY OF NOVEMBER, I simply will not use the air conditioning. It's a matter of principle. My house may be 79 degrees (honestly) and my 14 month old son may have, in desperation, figured out how to wiggle his pants down over his chunky little thighs (again, honestly), but here I will stand as a strong woman. I might let a lot of things slide, but here you have found where I stand strong. After Thanksgiving, I will only use the heater. That's the rule.

BTW--By the time I actually sat down and typed my little rant (the next morning), it was COMPLETELY FREEZING outside and my heater has been running and running to catch up. Sigh. Things are as they should be.