A Dealey of a Christmas. It was such a joy to be able to make this Christmas something special for Dealey as it will be his last Christmas as an only child. After weeks of waking up happy he decided to wake up totally pissed off on Christmas morning! A perfect morning for the average 2 year old I guess. He refused to get out of bed and wanted Mommy but then kicked me out of his bed when I came in to sit down. Then he asked for Daddy who was promptly shoved out the door upon sight. So then Nana thought she'd try, not sure what he did but we heard him scream. So hey why not let Gaffer give it a go, yeah my dad didn't even make it down the hall way before getting an ear full of 2yearold. So we decided to cover up Santa's gift turn on Jungle Junction and try Matt carrying him out like it was any other morning. As it turns out all he needed was 5 minutes of Jungle Junction to reboot his brain. I guess toddlers are like PC's always in need of updating, repair and the complete reboot at least once a week.

So after we got calmed down first a sweet picture with puffy red eyes then the kitchen was unveiled...

Next play time began, he of course washed his hands first!

Then time for some Christmas morning ice cream....of course! Followed by the perfect pose.

After a relaxing breakfast and some more play time it was time for a much needed nap then off to Nana's for Christmas dinner and MORE PRESENTS! But before we leave the house, we of course need to have car coming out of our eye.

Then before we could get coats and shoes off and settled in it was time to dive into Nana's manger. Unlike Mimi's this one isn't meant to be played with. So quick note to self: we need to get a manger scene Dealey can play with for Nana's house next year!

Before heading home we had a yummy dinner and opened some fun presents, including a pot & pan set for the new kitchen. After some banging of pots, Matt says, maybe we should have looked for a wood set....to which I responded what fun would that be? But before we left Nana's it was time for some trick-or-treating...uh?

And finally back home for some more kitchen play. I guess Dealey had a long day because before long this was the view....head in the oven.

All in all it was a wonderful day and while I'm so ready for Cohen to get out of me and give me my body back it was wonderful to share one last holiday with just the three of us. I definitely think this picture sums up the day perfectly. All smiles!

Matt and I hope each of you had a beautifully wonderful Christmas too. I'd raise my glass to you but Cohen's being stubborn and hanging out inside me so I'll have to raise my glass a little later! But never-the-less here's to another year of family, friend, fun and laughter.

Today was a very surreal day. It started off seemingly wonderful. We were looking forward to finishing up our Christmas shopping. Dealey was going to spend the afternoon with his Mimi and D•Dad and we of course wake up each day now wondering if today will be the day that Cohen arrives. Then about noon it was if the world just sucked the breath out of us both. The day would not be quite the same, Christmas will not be the same and even in a way seems wrong to be excited about the life we are anticipating and ready to celebrate.

First we found out that Matt's aunt Margie died last night about 1:30 am. It's a total shock and huge blow to the whole family. She was only in her mid 50's and just seems strange that we'll never see her again or talk to her. Margie along with a few other Maples family members have a congenital heart defect that sometimes causes you to feel as though you are choking. It's something that Matt's 80 something year old grandmother has as well as his cousin. It's something you can live with and function normally with and as best they can tell she had an episode of feeling like she was chocking and this time seems to have caused her to go into cardiac arrest. We won't know for sure until they do an autopsy but at the moment it seems to be the only logical explanation according to the paramedics and the hospital.

After hearing this news I called my mom to let her know what had happened only to find out that her cousin died yesterday as well unexpectedly from an aortic aneurysm. She too was young.

It's been a rough year for both our families. Matt and I both lost grandparents that are very very dear to us and I just hate that this is how this year will end. With heavy hearts full of sadness, eyes struggling to hold back tears and consuming thoughts about how unexpected and cruel life can be. Knowing that we too must plan for the "unexpected" is just about the worst feeling. I don't want anyone but Matt and I to raise and grow our family through life, any other way just doesn't seem right.

If you read this and think about it, please toss out a prayer for both Matt's family and my family that we will all be able to find a way to cherish both of these women during this Christmas season. And for those in both families that undoubtedly feel a sense of hopelessness that they will find and follow the life that still lies ahead of them. I know all too well that sometimes it's hard to look past the misery of the moment to see the possibility of hope and happiness that can be yours if you choose to pursue it.

IT'S DONE! Cohen's room is done and I love it so much I can't wait for him to be here and be able to start spending time in that room playing with him and Dealey. So here's a few pictures! I guess technically it won't be 100% done until he's here because we have some big picture frames to put some amazing pics that I know Allison will be taking of C & D and maybe a family pic who knows. In the 4th picture you can see the two frames sitting out in the hallway. One is going to go over the crib just to the left of the awesome molding shelf in picture 1. The other is going to hang just off center above the changing table.

Before I show the pics though I want to thank everyone who helped me pull this room together I couldn't have done it without each of you! My sweet friends, Erin, Nicole, Lynsi & Allison helped me paint the room and get things started. Nicole helped me dye the sheets and put one of the best features of the room up, the guitar graphic. My parents helped most of all though, my mom painted the closet, helped me paint the bed and cut and sew the curtains. My dad built new drawers for the changing table that I later painted the gold color. My dad also helped me measure and get the closet preped for hanging new rods and getting the bookshelf in there. And yesterday he spent many hours trying to figure out the stupid crown molding I just had to have as the top shelf of my little molding project. So it's easy to see that there is NO WAY I could have gotten it done without my friends and family!

A WEEKEND WITH NO BOYS....(except for the one I'm growing inside me!) This is something I know I will come to treasure as the years go on. Sadly though this weekend with the pleasure of no boys came the pain of not being able to spend time with Matt's family and celebrate sweet Ella's 2nd birthday. But I know Matt took a ton of fabulous pictures so I'll get a little slice of the fun when he gets home.

I had hoped to accomplish loads this weekend and as I started doing various things I realized I do this much every week, what was I thinking? I should be resting a bit. Alas I did get almost all my Christmas gifts made which I can't wait to share pics of them but I can't of course until after Christmas or people will know what they're getting.

I also got the last project for Cohen's room underway and it will be finished on Monday (thanks in advance dad for the help)!!!!!!!! I cleaned, did laundry, got my office/guest room put back together and yes I did rest a little and enjoyed a small glass of wine last night with my friend Erin. So I have a few hours left before the boys get home and I'm torn between doing a few more projects and just taking a shower and relaxing....In my perfect world I'd have time for both so I guess I should stop typing and get busy so I can get everything I can done before they get home!

SNEAK PEEK! Okay so today my sweet friend Nicole came and help me put one of the most important pieces of Cohen's room up, the guitar graphic. I mean who needs a bed when you have the coolest guitar graphic on your wall just above the coolest zebra print ottoman? Lucky kid. So I thought I'd give a little sneak peek of C's room. Sorry about the flash, I'll have Matt take some good pictures of the room once I get the last little art project done and the curtains hung on the window. You can however see a bit of the curtains in the picture we got the pair that went over the closet hung this weekend.


Also I lost the camera a month or so ago at my baby shower so I had a few fun pictures to share off it and thought why not throw them into this post rather randomly! So here's a picture of the yummy food at the shower. And while I'm on the subject of the shower I just want to thank everyone again it really was a special day. While I did get to have two showers when I was pregnant with Dealey they were stressful and awkward as I had already been put on bed rest and had to have them at our little loft which was fun, but tight and it was hard too that we couldn't register for some fun stuff because we had to think of how little space we would have once in NY. So thank you to everyone who made this day so special for me....

This last picture...Well, who can argue that there is any better place to watch "Meet The Robinsons" than lounging in a laundry basket? I asked him if he wanted a pillow and he said "no thank you mommy" and he watched almost the entire movie from this spot getting in and out a few times, I guess to stretch his legs?!

BABY UPDATE....Okay so I saw both the perinatologist and my ob this week and I'll start off by saying Cohen is doing great. He's still in the 95% for height & weight, coming it at just under 19" (avg is 17 at 34 weeks) and 5lbs 6 oz (avg is 4lbs at 34 weeks) but he was super cute in the sonogram he even looked like he was talking opening and shutting his mouth which was fun! I guess he's been hearing all the racket outside my belly and realizes he better come out talking or Dealey may not let him get a word in.

So that was all great, the frustrating part, on Thursday he was still transverse (sideways) in my belly. So I feared that my ob would not want to take the circlage out for fear if I went into labor and he hadn't turned that we'd end up in an emergency C-section. So I reluctantly went to my appointment Friday afraid of what she would say. She was reluctant to agree to take it out but I talked her into it so on the 18th my circlage will come out! She did however want me to sign in blood that as soon as I get home on Friday I must pack my bags for the hospital and put them in the car so that if I start having contractions or my water breaks or anything then I can get to the hospital as fast as possible. She said if I came to the hospital with an arm hanging out of me she would not be happy. I told her I'd do my best.

It was all a bit frustrating to think through but I'm happy she saw that it was still best to take the circlage out and I may end up with a c-section which I don't want (let me make note that it's not for any major reason other than I don't have time for that type of recovery, which my ob said was the funniest thing she's ever heard but she too has a 2 year old and totally understood where I was coming from) Anyways, but the flip side is if they don't take the circlage and wait until after Christmas he could easily be 9+ lbs and with my tilted pelvic bone I could end up in a c-section anyway because if you remember I had trouble getting my super skinny Dealey bear that was just under 6lbs out.....

We shall see, I'm close to finishing up the last details of Cohen's room so I'm just going to plug away at it and try to finish by the end of this next week. Then I just need to get our room all cleaned up and the bed set up in there for his first month or two of life. I'll keep you posted on the latest!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY