Christmas is coming together

Over the weekend I finished the photo albums for the grandparents, one for my mom, my stepmother, Doc's dad and his grandparents.  Around 150 pictures per album times 4 albums = around 600 pictures of TC that all needed to be dated and sorted and divided.  Why don't they print them out in the same order that you submit them?  But the end products were great and more importantly they look great.

This morning I decided to bite the bullet and get the paintings out of the way.  I knew it was be a mess and I was very right.

it started nice enough, non toxic paint finger paint and 9 canvases

it went to hell really fast

couldn't you die?  Hey crayola how about you make paint taste like peas, she would never eat it

She was miserable, she just wanted to eat the paint but we kept going, I wasn't going to make this mess again.

Momma, put the camera down!

OK bath time

I'm pretty happy with how they came out, I am sure the family will love it.

 

Tis the season!

Santa, I know him!

Yup 3 posts in one day, I'm a rock star like that.


I asked Doc a few weeks ago if he wanted to come with me when TC met Santa.  He told me that he didn't care because Santa is stupid.  Usually I would drag him out anyway because I know it's something that he really didn't want to miss but his pride was getting the better of him.  With this I decided not to do that, this time I would let him miss it and then he would realize that he did, in fact, miss a pretty big moment.

I wasn't sure how today would turn out, TC has never had stranger anxiety but she's had also never met a man with a big white beard and crazy read suite.  We had some time between when the kid before her was done and the "photographer" was ready for us.  I was very glad for that, I was able to let TC walk up to Santa and check him out, she sat on the floor surveying him for a bit and seemed comfortable.       

I put her in his lap when it was time and she was a natural, it took her a few photos to smile but by the time we were done I had a hard time picking.

When we left I told Doc what he missed and he seemed pretty bummed.  I know it was kind of harsh and I should have dragged him there maybe next time I wont have to.

I wasn't ready for all of the emotions, I had to hold back tears (like I am right now).  She's growing up so fast.  

I will admit it

I feel no shame in saying the best way to spend the day after one of Doc's 4 day weekend is him being on staff duty.  I feel bad for him because it's boring and he misses us but I welcome the break.  I love him but he is high maintenance! 

Dinner was freezer fries and wine.  Tonight I will crawl into bed whenever I damn well please and sleep with my arms and legs spread like a starfish.  I know some of my readers have husbands with head injuries so they can probably relate with this - the snoring!  When he does sleep it's so deep that his snores could wake the dead.

I will sleep well tonight but mostly because I know I will see him tomorrow.

help me choose

 Edit, we will be using this pic of the 3 of us not the uniform pic.

number 1

number 2

I can't decide.

the real reason I love Thanksgiving

Yes, I love the food and family and all that crap but what I really love is knowing that the day after I can put up my Christmas tree without getting the side eye.  Doc still thinks it's early but who asked him?  TC had me up before 8 and I was rearranging furniture before 9 the tree was up before 9:30.

We have a fake tree, I hate fake trees.  I am considering selling it after Christmas.

I don't know what I was thinking when I bought the tree skirt, it is way to contemporary for our Christmas stuff.  This weekend I will look for a new one that goes with our country Christmas stuff.  Also, in the past I've wrapped the art so it looks likes gifts on the wall, what do you think - is that picture too big?

We still need to get TC's stocking, I'm being very picky.  I keep her baby book out so I can keep it up to date.

My stepmother sent us chocolates in the snowman boxes a few years ago but it matches our snowman theme so I kept it.

Don't you love these guys, I got them a Micheal's today.

There's not good place to keep the jogger and I'm not going to lie, there are always sneakers laying around the house.  I can't wait for the day that we have a mud room!

TC's first ornament.  She'll get one every year from me.  She is also going to make one for Doc every year, I haven't decided what we will do this year but something simple (obviously!)

Kind of cheesy but a must have

I need 3 more garland stands to reach across the entire front.  We live in a 50's ranch (blah).  I'm proud to say that I am the first in the neighborhood with my lights up, I'm sure I'll be the first to take them down on the 26th as well.

So yea, I'm excited.  I was telling TC that she is going to love Christmas and Doc chimed in with "yup, you're not going o have a choice in this house."  As if that's a bad thing!  She seemed to love the tree and we are lucky to have that front room as a room that we don't use much so we don't have to worry about her getting into everything.

I ventured out to Target and Micheal's today and got some supplies for Christmas gifts, the grandparents are getting photo albums filled with TC's first year.  I also picked up a bunch of canvases for TC to finger paint on (as long as she doesn't eat all the paint this time) to give as gifts from her.  I'm thinking that I am going to have her help me with a Christmas paintings, her little hands will make wonderful reindeer antlers. 

stuffed

take 2

Looks good right?  Cranberry apple chutney, it's my favorite Thanksgiving side.  Doc hate it so I make it just for me and I will eat it for days.  I made it this morning and couldn't resist a little taste before I put it away and I was very surprised, it seems that I grabbed the chili powder and not the nutmeg.  I LOVE nutmeg so I am very generous (in fact this recipe didn't even call for any) but nope - it was chili powder.

I am most surprised by the fact that I didn't hate it, the sweet and tart cranberry sauce followed by a hot chili powder taste.  But I think I am going to have to toss it and start over, this is the one time I make this dish so I want it without the kick.  I am so glad I did it today and not tomorrow.

a planner should never marry into the army!

First I just wanted to share a little bit about my amazing husband: I know I have show a lot of frustration with the situation and his injuries but he has his moments where he reminds me of the man I married.  The counselor he is seeing asked him what I have to deal with all of this and he told him about all of you.  Well maybe not you all individually but he told him that I have a blog and it really helps me.  The counselor asked Doc if he had ever read it and he told him no, this was the thing that I needed and if he read that it might ruin it for me.  Now if the tables were turned and Doc had a public blog I would be all over it but I guess that's just me.

Now back to the topic at hand...

When Doc and I were just kids in a whirlwind romance and he told me he was joining the army the plan always was for him to do his 20  years.  When I accepted his "I think we should just get married" I accepted that.  Originally we thought he would do this special operations bad ass soldier bit for a while then he would go to PA school and become a Physician's Assistant.  That had been the plan until a few years ago when he started looking at all of his options.

After his last deployment he has really been interest in the Nurse Anesthetist (NA) program and I really think tat is where we may end up.  We've been talking about where we will start out and we (he) is thinking infantry officer, which makes perfect sense.  Yes he's a medic (W1 to be exact) but in his unit it's infantry first.  We aren't sure but at the moment he may qualify to go directly into the NA program.  His next step is to take some college classes in January, he wants to get all different parts of his brain working. 

So that's that, I felt like I left you hanging last time I brought up OCS.  And the part about a planner not marrying into this...well I wish I knew when he would be going to OCS and when we would start making more money so I can just go ahead and get knocked up again already.  I just want to know that I am done with that part of my life and have my family complete.  I think that when TC is 18 months old would be a good time to get pregnant again, think we'll have answer in 8 months?? 

goings on here

McLewis was hit by snow, we had 2 good days of it resulting in about 4 inches in my back yard.  For a New Englander such as myself it's not a big deal but for most everyone else who lives here it may as well be a foot and a half.  I can't totally fault the people here, the area also lacks the resources to deal with this stuff, I think I've seen one plow the entire 3 years I've lived here and never a salt/sand truck.  Luckily we are all set as far as Thanksgiving is concerned so there is no real reason to go out.

TC not really caring about the snow.

Watching it come down yesterday

This morning

 Because of this wonderful weather Doc is home form work which meant that I had extra time this morning so I actually "did" my hair.  I love having straight hair but it's just so much work, especially since I need a haircut like it's nobody's business.  I don't remember the last time my hair was so long.  I am starting to realize some of the fun little perks of having a daughter, like borrowing her hair "pretties".  Thanks Gymboree, I really wanted my hair out of my face while still looking cute :).

You're not cool unless you have a snowman in your hair.

  And no that's not a huge mess back there, it's TC's bibs on her high chair. (Embracing the clutter...)