Christmas is near!

I've been avoiding you... under the ploy of 'trying to get things done.' The real reason I've not been posting is that I had a secret. One I was afraid would shine through in my post in some weird way. Because it has changed every routine and process I thought I had down. Its morning sickness, but it lasts all day, and rears its ugly head about the time my stomach empties itself out, and then is there to torment me while I try so hard to figure out what actually sounds good and is worth the effort to make. I have to fight this about every two hours, and its tiring, especially with two little girls, and sometimes one or two boys, demanding food, time, energy, and attention. And most especially when I open the fridge and gag. That's the best:)

But I also know that along with this, will come a most precious gift from God. We will be adding a new baby in July, when Bella is just turned 4, and Bianca is 21 months old. We are all very excited about this new addition. Isabella has started asking if it's here yet. I have tried to explain to her that she will have a birthday, it will be warm, and we'll be swimming again before baby gets here. That lasts for a couple hours, and then we have the conversation again.:) Bianca just knows that something is up, or maybe not. She can't decide. But the Christmas presents are cool!

In all of this, Christmas could not come at a better time for me! I mean, there's always food, and I don't have to fix it all the time! I have thoroughly enjoyed the food at each celebration we've attended. I even dreamed about it. Maybe that should have been my first clue to pregnancy. Food is never foremost on my mind. Sometimes there are more important things to do than eat.

We are getting ready to head to Illinois for Christmas. I'm not sure how we'll make it there, with everything we need to bring. Thankfully, we have a minivan this year, and we may have to take the back seat out! Someone asked for a couple large gifts from Santa this year. I'm working on packing and wrapping today, and hopefully leaving the house in some semblance of order!

This Christmas will be fun for our family! Bella is old enough to start asking if her Santa (in our family, it is tradition to believe in Santa, but know who it is:) will come down the chimney. She was concerned that her Nina's house have a fireplace just for this reason. This may be the first year that we have trouble getting her to sleep. But then, there are so many to entertain her, she may just zonk out. Bianca is just excited, but not sure what about. Her sister is very eager for something, so she is also!

Memaw and Pepaw Pittman, along with Aunt Angie and Aunt Jessica have sent gifts for the girls already, so we let them open a few each day this weekend. That lightened the load a bit, and will make for a shorter Christmas morning. Bianca averages about 5 minutes to open each gift that isn't a toy, because once she sees the white box, she's not as interested, but if its a toy, its about two minutes! Except for when she can see the toy, just not quite get to it, she has to stop and check it out. Sometimes big sister gets a little impatient with her and decides to help, and she doesn't really mind that at all!

Random thoughts on a rainy Tuesday...

December is such a busy month, I'm having trouble keeping up with laundry! I'm still doing Christmas shopping, and trying to get things wrapped as they arrive. We've also all been extra tired recently, and have been going to bed much earlier than normal! We have managed to stay healthy this month, which is a relief after the past two months!
This past weekend was the beginning of our Christmas celebrations, with the Indianapolis District Christmas Banquet at Camp Camby. Also this week, we have the Youth Leadership Christmas party at our house (usually running around 50 guests), a childcare interview, and a baby shower. Next week will be our Church Christmas Banquet, Church board Christmas Dinner, Youth party, and a day trip to Illinois for a family Christmas. I love Christmas parties, but I'm all partied out by New year's! If I make it through these next two weeks, I may need a vacation:) But I always look forward to all the good food at the parties! And getting to visit with friends and family is the best!
Today we will be wrapping presents, catching up on laundry, and maybe baking a bit. I haven't had a chance to try out my new mixer yet, and I'm very eager to do so! I'm sure we'll be quick friends:) Somewhere over the next two weeks, I'm hoping to get to Joann's (or maybe I'll order it online!) to get some fabric to sew some Christmas p.j.s!

Thanksgiving Recovery

So I am exhausted from Thanksgiving! We stayed up later, ate more, played harder, cooked more, and put away dishes more often than I ever remember!! Just today I got enough energy rounded up to put away the clean dishes of which only I knew the proper place. I also finally got the kitchen floor mopped and counters cleaned off! But oh, how we enjoyed having our family here for Thanksgiving!

I've been doing lots of Christmas shopping the past week or so, and I haven't even left home! I've also not paid full price for anything! I'm very excited about that:) Scott and I have discovered this lovely website where random people post awesome deals that they find, plus coupon codes, and free shipping codes. I can't tell what I've purchased because I know some of the items are for some of my readers:) Just know this, they are awesome deals! So good, I even bought myself a present on Monday, a $60 KitchenAid hand mixer for $25 with free shipping, plus a $5 rebate to come, so totalling $20 shipped! Its blue, with 5 speeds! I am very excited about this, because I have been unable to make any special treats recently due to the retirement of my trusty 6 year old hand mixer. We made some lovely things together in our years, but it just couldn't handle any more.

Oh, you're waiting for the website aren't you?! Its Slickdeals!