Dishwasher Drama

I can't believe I forgot to post about the dishwasher drama in my last post!!! On our last morning in Atlanta, the dishwasher needed to be run. Butch got it started. A while later, Butch, Lacey & I were downstairs in the basement and Nancy yelled down for help. The dishwasher was leaking bubbly water all over. First thought was that Butch put too much dish soap in. Wrong. He used the regular dish soap - that you use in the SINK for dishes. So, Nancy ran the rinse cycle a few times to get the soap rinsed out. My poor hubby. (And this is the man that the government thinks needs to be on the Watch List.)

Christmas

We left for Atlanta on Christmas Eve. Everything went so smoothly at the airport. Well, not everything. We tried to check in at curbside, but for some reason, couldn't. So, we went inside to a kiosk and had the same problem. The computer said "see an agent". So, we waited for several minutes until one of the people behind the kiosks decided to help us. It turns out....that my husband is on the watch list. Weird. He has to just wait it out until they decide that he doesn't need to be on the watch list. Ugh.

Anyway, we got boarding passes and headed for the security line...or lack of line...and breezed right through. Lacey decided at that point that she had to be a real traveler and pull her Dora suitcase behind her. Too cute. Wish I had taken a picture, but Butch had taken the batteries out of the camera!!! (Why?) Thankfully, the airport was pretty empty and she wasn't in anyone's way. She was an angel while we waited for the flight to board. I really thought we'd be chasing her around, but she stayed close. She fell asleep as soon as we sat down on the plane and woke up about 45 minutes later crying. I think her ears were hurting.

We got to Steve & Marilee's house around 3:00ish, I think. We had a fabulous lasagna that night. After the girls went to bed, we opened gifts and had cheesecake for Butch's birthday. Marilee also had these great chocolate covered strawberries that she had received from a client or someone at work. Yum-o. Waayyyy too much to eat, but so good.

Steve & Mar got Nancy a cool gift. It's a framed print of the record of arrival for Nancy's ancestors. It's a copy of the actual page -- so cool. We'll have to look into this site for my side of the family, too.

Christmas morning, Lacey woke up around 6:50. And, Sam slept until 9:00! ;-) (Samantha is sick and sleeping well/a lot. I don't know how she does it since I can never sleep well when I'm sick.) So, once everyone was up, we had a breakfast bake, then helped the girls open all of their (too many) gifts. (All the gifts you see under the tree were for the girls.)

Later that day, we had ham, stuffed ham, green bean casserole, potatoes, bread, etc. Followed, of course, by dessert.

The day after Christmas Nancy, Marilee & I snuck out for lunch while all the men stayed home with the little ones. It was nice to get out and be able to talk without wondering what they were doing. We went to a cute little shop while we were out, too.

Lacey & Samantha's interaction was "interesting" and a little stressful for me. Toddlers normally like "parrellel play" at this age and that is what Lacey preferred, but Samantha wanted to play with her a little more. Even though I had read that toddlers don't "get" sharing until they are older, it was still embarrassing! After I got home, I had to do some reading on sharing again....to make sure that I wasn't raising an out of control kid. Luckily for me, she's not. It's not until age 3-4 that they really get it. It's best just to practice sharing with them and not to expect too much when they are around other toddlers. I also checked with Miss Lisa (daycare) about how Lacey is there and she said she is very good for her age. She especially plays well with the older kids. Mary Kate (who is 4 months younger than Lacey) and Lacey don't play well together b/c they both want the same toys. And, apparently, Mary Kate is a "taker". Miss Lisa thinks Lacey has just learned to be very defensive and fight for what she wants to avoid losing things.

Anyway....we left for the airport on Wednesday morning and arrived about 2 hours before the flight. It's a good thing that we did. By the time we made it through all the lines and went to the bathroom, we only had time to grab something for lunch (to eat on the plane) and board. Insane. I can't believe it took so much time. Lacey was cranky, but after she ate a piece of pizza and had a cup of milk, she was happy. And delerious. The girl stayed awake the entire flight. Decided she'd fall asleep after we'd landed, so she slept for about 10 minutes. She even stayed awake for the drive home.

It was great to see everyone in Atlanta, but it was good to be in our own bed again (with Lacey in a separate room so she could be restless and noisy by herself).

We've already taken the Christmas decorations down. They are so pretty, but it is always good to get the clutter away.

Today, Butch is taking lots of cardboard and our tree to the recycling spot. And, we are planning on a lot of NOTHING for the weekend. The neighbors are having a New Year's Eve party, but it's "no kids" this year, which is unusual for them. I think we'll just have a nice dinner and enjoy a movie.

Daycare Christmas Party

Last Thursday was the daycare Christmas party. All parents were invited at 5:00. Lisa provided dinner, had arranged for Santa to stop by and the kids had all participated in a gift exchange. Lacey had Kyle for a gift and Kyle had Lacey...hehe. Anyway, he got her some cute things that she loves.

Lisa also spoiled them by getting gifts. Lacey got a doll that has a binky & bottle and some peg puzzles.

And, the parents were given a goodie bag of things that the kids had made over the past week or 2. The first is actually a card that Lisa did, but I had to post it to show that Lacey will sit still (and smile) for a picture in the right circumstance. (I am not around and Amanda, Lisa's daughter, is there to make her smile.)

And, finally....cake. Who can resist?

Merry Christmas!

Southern MD Stuffed Ham

If you haven't had it, you really don't know what you are missing. Dad is the pro at making it and does so every Christmas. For several years now, I've wanted to send some to Annie & Steve (in Houston) because I remember her commenting about how much she loved it at our wedding. (Yes, it was a main course at the wedding reception.) I just couldn't figure out how to handle shipping it.

This year, Butch, Lacey & I are flying to Atlanta for Christmas. It would be my first Christmas without stuffed ham. That was enough to get me moving on how to ship it. (Yes, Annie, my own personal issues are what finally got my butt moving.)

Dad did the ham on Wednesday. The plan was to let it cool and to ship 2 boxes on Thursday via UPS. Well....due to the size of the ham and the weight of the ice packs, the cost was $117 to Houston and $101 to Atlanta. Um, no. We regrouped and repacked. I tried to send it through the post office via Express Mail (a.k.a., "sometimes overnight"). However, because both zip codes were too far from the airports, they couldn't guarantee an overnight delivery. So, I drove back to the UPS store and shipped a smaller package of it to Aunt Annie. It wasn't as much as we wanted to send, but it is a nice taste of it and didn't cost $117!!!

We'll be taking a cooler on the plane to Atlanta. We'll have to take the ice packs out and leave them in the car. Then, go through security. Then, get ice at a restaurant/fast food joint once inside security. Delta has assured me this will work fine. (Hopefully security doesn't hassle me.)

The package to Houston arrived safely today and (thankfully) was cold upon arrival, so it should be FINE. Whew.

An Early Christmas at Home

Things have been so busy lately. It feels like we have a huge list of things every week and it just keeps growing. 3 weekends ago was filled with decorating, 2 weekends ago was our party and last weekend was Christmas with my family on Sunday. We also had 2 parties on Saturday, but had to bail because I was feeling to stressed about it all. On top of all of this, I've had to have all Christmas shopping completed b/c of needing to ship things to Atlanta and be ready for my family yesterday. Whew.

So, Santa came last Saturday night and left Lacey some of her big things that he didn't want us to bring back from Atlanta. She got a table & chair set, a doll & stroller, a Dora sit & spin and a Dora suitcase. She adored the doll & stroller from the start and spent a good part fo the day coloring at her table. Since then, she's insisting on having her meals there. (It's sitting in the sunroom, next to our table, so it works.) Everyone arrived at the house for brunch by around 10:45 or so (except the "kids".....Kristin, Kyle, Jessica....who were late b/c of celebrating Kyle's 21st birthday). We had a WONDERFUL brunch. I love breakfast food. We had an egg & sausage casserole, an egg & ham roll-up, Grand Manier french toast, home fries and fruit. Mmmmm. And, for every one not pregnant (everyone but me) there were Mimosa's!

Lacey was tired and cranky for the gift exchange, but that's okay. She enjoyed everything later, after a nearly 3 hour nap.

Leaving a toddler unattended

Lacey was happily playing in my room the other day. I went to check some things on the computer, then came back after a few to check on her. This is what I found.

Any thoughts on what it is?

Lipstick! She'd gotten into my purse. It was all over her face and hands, but luckily, not on the carpet or bedspread. When I talked about her being a mess, she kept looking at her hands - no clue it was on her face. So, I had to take her to the mirror, where she just grinned.

Christmas Party

We had our "annual" Christmas party on Saturday. Just after Thanksgiving, I started putting up decorations. The weekend before the party we got the tree. We scaled back on the number of people invited because it was a bit overwhelming last year (probably about 50 people). We weren't really able to talk to everyone. There were probably about 30 adults and a few kids this year. Just right.

There was TONS of food...too much despite trying to cut back from last year. Meatballs, hanky panks, veggies, crab dip, fiesta dip, cucumber sandwiches (pampered chef), buffalo chicken dip, etc., etc. Yum-o. And, of course, lots of sweets. (I had a migraine on Sunday from eating too many of the leftover sweets.)

The drink of the evening was Frostini's. I must admit that I had a taste. I had to. With Bailey's and Godiva Liquor?! Dee & Kristin already had a glass of wine when I started making them, but that didn't stop them.

Lacey was an angel the whole time. It amazed me how easily she handled all those people being in her house. To start the night, she played with Britney (neighbor who is about 7) and they drug every last toy out of the toy box. Even with Britney leaving, Lacey went on playing. She lasted until 9:00 and probably would have stayed up if we'd let her.

Now that the party is done, we can focus on all of the other Christmas projects. I've got to finish up shopping this week. Anything for Butch's family (and Lacey) needs to be shipped to Atlanta since we'll be there for Christmas. And, everything for my family needs to be done because we are having brunch on Sunday to celebrate since we leave the following weekend.

I managed to get Christmas cards done for my work peeps yesterday, so I can mark that off my list. I still need to address all of our personal ones. Another thing to be done this week. Ugh. So much to do.

On top of all of the holiday preparations, our office is moving on Friday. Same building, same floor, just a new spot. So, I spent the entire day yesterday packing my office. (I have cuts on my hand to prove it.) I still have a few boxes left to do tomorrow. (I'm working at home today.) Thursday is our dept. holiday lunch and Friday is the floor holiday lunch. Whew.

Today, I have a doctor's appt. and have to do the Gestational Diabetes test. Hate that. The stuff I have to drink is yucky. (Speaking of, I need to get that in the fridge so it tastes a little better.) And, last time I failed it and had to go for the 3 hour test....drinking that stuff several times and sitting in the waiting area of a lab for 3 hours.

And, despite that test this afternoon, I'm having a hard time staying away from all of those sweets today. I have to wait until after the test!!!

Here's a funny story: Butch took leftovers for lunch to work yesterday. Put the meatballs into the microwave and couldn't figure out what the smell was. He had taken peanut butter balls instead of meatballs! So, they were melted all over the place.

Okay...better get some work done.

A visit to Santa

On Thursday, daycare was closed. (In my opinion, one of the only downfalls of in-home daycare -- it's only 1 caregiver and she DOES deserve some time off.) Anyway, Lacey stayed home with me and I had the day off. So, after a nap, we headed for the mall....and a visit to Santa. Normally, Lacey is not a fan of the stoller, but she got in without a fight. She was an angel for me - not complaining once as we stood in line at NY & Company. After we finished, we went to find Santa. In line, she stayed in her stroller and was just checking everyone out. She would point to Santa and say "Santy!" with delight. When we were next in line, he waved at her. The nerve. She just just turned her back. I let her out of the stroller and she walked through the entrance with me, but walked in the other direction....away from that scary man with a beard and hat. What was momma thinking, walking toward him? So, as any good mother would do, I picked her up & plopped her on his lap (after trying to calmly get her on his lap). She screamed. I told them just to take the pic. They took 4. There were 2 where she screamed so much her eyes were closed. Anyway, she recovered a few seconds after I picked her up and we have this wonderful picture to share. ;-)

Thanksgiving

Chuck & Nancy arrived on the Tues. before Thanksgiving. Lacey stayed home from daycare on Wednesday so they could spend more time with her. Butch & I took advantage of having them here & we went Christmas shopping for Lacey. It was good to get some things done!

We had a fabulous crab quiche (if I do say so myself) on Thanksgiving morning and then got to work preparing our contributions for Thanksgiving dinner. Nancy made sweet potato casserole and a reuben dip; and I made a crab dip and corn pudding (Kyle's fav). Yum-o. We headed over to Dee & Buck's around 1:00ish to spend the day.

There was a pretty good crowd at Dee's house....Dee, Buck, Kristin, Kyle, Rick, Kristina, Jess, Justin, Dad, Linda (Buck's mom), Ed (her husband), Wally (Buck's bro), Chuck, Nancy, Butch, Lacey & me.


I had gotten Lacey the most adorable outfit to try to get some good pictures, but she wouldn't cooperate, which is the norm these days. She is just way to busy to sit still for a picture.














Our big news for the day was announced.....that I'm pregnant! We hadn't told anyone in the family yet, so it was a good time to do it with almost everyone there.


We didn't do much else during the weekend, but it was good to have some time around the house. I can't tell you how hard it was to get up on Monday morning. Lacey may not let us sleep in, but at least I didn't have to shower & get going right away.