Cookies for Santa

Every year, Joe and Ian make cookies for Santa to put out on Christmas Eve. This year, Ian requested to make gingerbread cookies--which I'm sure is a nod to his friend, Ada, and her gingerbread-man-decorating-birthday-party. He's been talking about gingerbread cookies ever since. So I made the dough this afternoon and the boys went to work after dinner. A good time was had by all. =)

The First Snow

It's going to be a white Christmas here in Massachusetts. We got hit by The Big Storm you all probably heard about....but it was relatively calm by the time we got it....only about 8". It was timed just right, though, that they had to cancel church (about 30 seconds before we were about to get in the car and head out)....

You can imagine how excited I was that my enormous self struggled for 10 minutes to put tights on. =)

After lunch, Joe and Ian set out to shovel and go snow-shoeing. (Ian is showing marked improvement on his snow shoes since last year....where "marked improvement" means "he can actually use them without falling over.")

Two things

I'm sorry I've been a terrible blogger. 'Tis the season for a mushy brain, I suppose.

1. Ian and I made peanut butter cups yesterday. It was more of a warding-off-cabin-fever strategy, if I'm going to be completely honest with you. Ian's job was to spread out the muffin cups (which was, apparently, his dream job).

2. If Ian is good and pleasant during our grocery store trips, he gets a cookie at the bakery. Do your grocery store bakeries give kids free cookies? Mine does. It's awesome. Grocery shopping is always so pleasant! And usually, the cookies are smallish sugar cookies or chocolate chip cookies...but apparently, they were feeling particularly holly and jolly this season. Check out the size of the cookie they gave out on Thursday. (And at that point, he was already halfway through the thing).

An Aloha Thanksgiving

Greetings from Waikiki!

As I sit here in my bed, Ian is watching 'Curious George' and practicing breathing through his snorkel. Without the luxury of my mother and grandmother's cooking today, we decided not to even attempt to cook a traditional Thanksgiving for ourselves....but rather, we'll be spending the day firmly rooted at the beach--giving thanks just the same.

We arrived here in Honolulu on Tuesday afternoon, after 2 very long flights, 1 night in a very mediocre hotel in Los Angeles, and many, many visits to the airplane lav. (Bridget, you'd be so proud of me. I hadn't used an in-flight toilet since the beginning of this decade--no exaggeration). But being nearly 6 months pregnant, and not wanting to die of deep-vein thrombosis, I was able to overcome my distaste (understatement) of airplane lavs. And you know what? It wasn't that bad. By the end of it all, my ankles still looked liked knees and my shoes didn't fit, but whocarescauseIjustlandedinhawaii!!

It took me less than 5 minutes on the roads to realize that my goal for this trip was to simply relax. That's the Hawaiian way, you know. No one's in a hurry. No one breaks the speed limit. Heck, no one goes the speed limit. =) And even though there's a significant bit of aloha that courses through my veins, I apparently did not get the relax gene. At least, not to this degree. BUT...being Hawaiian can also be a learned behavior, I think. At least I hope so.

On the docket today: snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and relaxing at Kailua Beach. And lots of swimming. And eating. And playing in the sand. You know, intuitive Thanksgiving stuff.

And while we realize that no amount of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts or Hawaiian sweet bread can make up for missing out on my mother's rolls and pies, we're happy to be here...

October Review

In October, we were so excited for Shara and Jackson to come visit for a week. Apparently, the brisk Wisconsin weather decided to follow them here, but we had a FANTASTIC time. It was a great Boston-in-the-Fall week together. Below are some fun moments from our visit to the Boston Children's Museum.

Here are some other October highlights---------------

Apple season was in full swing at our house--which provided Joe and Ian with some fantastic cooking opportunities. For the record, Ian owns two aprons.

A family in our ward had us over to carve pumpkins...it was quite impressive....

...and then Ian found the trampoline... =)

For Halloween, Ian was a "silly green monster." I thought he was adorable...but once again, we got our annual cold/ear infection at Halloween (it's the third year in a row), so he wasn't as into it as I'd hoped. Here are Ian and Joe at the ward Halloween party.

...And it wouldn't be right to show pictures of our family without pictures of Chester. =)

Okay, Okay

Joe thinks I should post this picture. I think I would rather not. But I think Joe wins. And believe it or not, this is the compromise. =) (He wanted it to be on the Christmas card). HA!

Yeah, you can tell that I wasn't totally prepared and/or thrilled about this picture. But you know, we have to document the process, right?

So, as a baby update (and I'll be posting more pictures of our recent adventures soon, I promise) I'm about 23 weeks and feeling....good. The slight hesitation is for my new-found tension headaches, which you know...well....yeah, they're not fantastic or anything...but definitely bearable. Other than that, I'm doing far better than I was up until about 20 weeks. Who knew a person could throw up that much!!? =) Food is finally looking good (great!) again, and I'm back in the kitchen cooking.

For the record, Joe stepped it up big time in the culinary department. I didn't cook for a full five months, and he didn't once complain. I even caught him in the kitchen one night with three batches of cookies going all at once. "You don't bake anymore," he said, "I'm having withdrawals." And many people were the beneficiaries of Joe's withdrawals. In fact, our freezer is still hosting quite a few of Joe's withdrawals.

As far as we know and have been assured by our doctor, our baby boy is doing well--and measuring about a week big. (But when you consider his genetics, that comes as no surprise to me....I'm talking to YOU, Mr. Joe Jackson I weighed 9 pounds, 10 ounces). I wasn't much lighter, to be honest.

As for Ian, he's well anxious to be a big brother. In fact, he's so excited that he loves to insert himself into the Great Name Debate of 2009. At least 4 times per day, he'll turn to me and say, "Hey, Mom, what do you think of the name [fill in the blank]?" So far, his favorite name suggestions are Trotter, Kotter, Totter, and Motter. I am not making that up.

In all seriousness, we're starting to hope that this little boy is born with a name tag. So any name suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Really. Keep 'em comin'.

Pictures coming asap.

It's been a while, eh?

A Fair is a Veritable Smorgasbord

This post is about a week late, but I've been sidelined for most of the last five days or so....better late than never, eh?

We went to the Topsfield Fair--and I love fairs. Like, in ways that I can't even articulate. So I absolutely cannot even begin to describe how disappointing it is to go to a fair and Not Even Be Able to Stomach The FAIR FOOD. I'm sorry, but fried dough is one of the great pleasures of life, and I nearly cried when I looked at the vendors and realized that it didn't look good.

And that, folks, was my big takeaway from the fair this year. That, and the fact that a person who is fighting second trimester morning sickness should know better than to walk into a building labeled "POULTRY BARN."

But considering the fact that I love fairs--pregnant or otherwise--I had a great time. Joe and Ian had a blast. From the cow sculpted out of butter to the pig races to Ian making his own beeswax candle, it was a fantastic evening.

Witness: Time Flying

(other than the initial gasps in my head saying, "Wow. I used to fit into that dress," I think it's kind of cute, eh?)

On October 9, 1999, I went on my first date at BYU.....with a blond kid from Tennessee who claimed that I was his "first choice" for homecoming. (That part is still up for debate.....wouldn't you agree, Brianne?). I didn't know him well at all--I wasn't in his Freshman Academy group (heck, I wasn't in Freshman Academy at all), we didn't have any common classes, and we never really ran into each other during the day..... He did, however, live in a neighboring dorm and we did go to church together every Sunday and we did tend to pal around with the same group of people on the weekends.

He was safe, he was funny, he was a great overall choice for homecoming.

We were going on a train--as in, I would have to dance on a train--but it sounded fun, right? No matter how silly I looked? Right? (Please nod in agreement for the sake of my self esteem.)

Thank you.

And really, looking back, it was the perfect date. (Especially when I look back at a lot of mediocre-or-worse dates I endured at BYU before Joe and I started dating in 2002....I realize now that BYU men everywhere should have been a fly on the wall of that train that night. Or at the 7-11 in Heber when we got slurpees. Or in the car when it broke down on the way to Squaw Peak {scandalous...}).

And to think that I married that blond kid from Tennessee is the best part, I'd say. But I'm biased. Because I look at those pictures from that night and realize how lucky I got.

'Cause, lest you haven't paid attention during my years of blogging, I married myself a CATCH-of-a-man, I did.

(And today, as a present to you, Joseph, I officially forgive you for making me take that special library tour.)

Comes with the territory.

Hi. It's Joe. For the record, I made Jen dinner tonight. Three times. I feel somewhat at liberty to post this since the previous post alludes to the possibility of changing eating habits in our near future. The first dinner (Mac'n'cheese mixed with peas, and green beans and carrots on the side) Ian and I ate alone downstairs. Good boys who finished their dinner got to have a popsicle. Jen was sick in bed. I figured this one might get snubbed.

After dinner, we came upstairs and received Jen's special order: "Please bring me what rabbits might eat." Kind of a strange request. We don't have spinach shoots or watermelon rind. So instead Ian and I made a green salad. Ian's job was tearing the lettuce, which he did a great job. He placed the carrot sticks (abandoned from the first dinner) around the edges, then sprinkled the diced tomatoes over the top. He even added a layer of croutons for good measure. I carried the dish upstairs, but Ian was proud to make the presentation. After spending too much time trying to find a suitable salad dressing, I was informed that the salad would no longer be required. Snubbed again. I'll admit I was just a bit frustrated.

Round three. This was about two hours later. I figured Jen was getting hungry. "Baked potato please." No problem. I can do baked potato. "Anything on it?" The simple response, "Sour cream." Well, I upped the ante. I topped that beauty with butter, melted sharp cheddar, salt/pepper, and THEN sour cream. It was a sight to behold. The simplicity... the elegance. She took the bait.

I was rather proud of myself for having the patience to present three meals. One of them even seemed to take! I really am glad to take care of Jen and I was happy that she wouldn't have to go to bed hungry. Except, now she is asleep, hungry, and sad, because she lost it all right before bed.