{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

{this is the view from our B & B in Charleston where we had a 24 hour getaway to 

celebrate our 9th anniversary}

::Pregnancy Update::

For those of you who are wondering where I am in my pregnancy, I am 7 months (28 weeks) this week.

Here I am in all of my pregnant glory!

Tomorrow is my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes...I had my eyes checked recently and my doctor told me that my eye blood vessels looked good and were diabetes free...so, I'm hoping that I'll hear that same sentiment tomorrow!

It does seem that things are moving pretty quickly.  I'm feeling good, just tired (but as a mother, when are you NOT tired?!)

Ready to be back in my cute/fun clothes!

This boy still has no name.  I know many are concerned that he will be born without a name.  Don't panic, we'll figure something out.  And we've decided he is not going to have a room for now.  He will sleep in a pack n play wherever!  Poor little guy!  Stinks to be the second born!!!  At least he won't have to wear pink clothes as my friends are having a shower for me at the beginning of January.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

Decorating Gingerbread Houses, Year 2

This past Sunday night was the annual gingerbread house decorating party at church.

This was Chase's 2nd time participating.

She needed some help, which our sweet friend J helped with.

In all actuality it was a good excuse for her to eat lots of junk food!

(Sweet J was quick to point out that she put cereal, goldfish and pretzels in so that it wasn't all candy :)

Because I am quite certain more candy went in her mouth than on her house.

Oh well, whatcha gonna do????

Taking Pictures of Children

Aren't children delightful?

Isn't Christmas the most wonderful time of the year?

How about when you try to take your child's picture for the annual Christmas card...sounds simple right?

WRONG!!!

Little girl is in a phase now that when I ask her to do something that she doesn't want to do, 

she says "No thanks", as if that softens the blow to her refusal.  So, when I told her we were not done and I needed her to smile so we could finish, she said "no thanks."

Perfect!!

{Baking Cookies}

Chase and I baked cookies this week to take to a cookie exchange.

I always think it's going to be fun baking with little girl...but, alas, not quite yet!! 

Soon though, very soon!

We made this recipe that I found on Pinterest.com.

It was simple and delish!!

Little girl was quite pleased with the outcome and would have eaten a lot more than I let her if given the chance.

We had a fun night at the cookie party.  Chase had to go with me because John was at a meeting, and for being the only child there, did great.  She played with some food and a tea set and was offered cookies, but didn't really go for any.  That child takes after her daddy, not me!!

And we came home with more cookies than we could ever eat:  gingerbread men, tollhouse cookies, not mrs. fields/not nieman marcus cookies, mexican/italian wedding cakes x2, spritz cookies.  My faves were the gingerbread men; plus they were cute!

{Date Night}

We swap children with our dear friends, the C's, once a month ~ for a free guaranteed date night.  Pretty sweet when you add up "fun" and childcare.  We are pretty boring, normally we'll have a quick dinner and go to a movie (there's something about going to the movies for me that helps me feel "normal")

Last night was our night out on the town, and finally, we did go out on the town!

We trekked all the way down to Coronado Island, had a delicious dinner at a place called Coronado Firehouse (using a restaurant.com certificate).  We about froze to death during dinner though as the front wall was a garage door and it was open.  It was yummy yummy!  And empty, makes me sad to see so many restaurants empty all the time.  

Then we went down Orange Avenue found a place to park, got a delicious egg nog latte, and walked over to the Hotel del Coronado.  This is a very famous hotel and at Christmas they decorate it to the nines.  It takes 2 months for 3 men to hang all the outdoor lights, and they decorate with a theme every year indoors.  This year was silver bells.  It was so lovely.  There is an outdoor ice skating rink, so we watched the people in there skating (to the tune of $25 each!!) a very rough, worn looking ice rink...then walked along the beach path a bit (looking at my dream vacation destination, some villas that can be rented for a week at a time), and then walked along the beach road where there are huge, gorgeous houses.  Before we left the island, we drove around a bit looking for our friends' home that they lived in 9+ years ago when John and I fell in love!  Actually when John fell in love with me.  On Coronado is officially where we met for the first time (at said house).  But, in the dark, we couldn't find it.  Too bad.

It was so fun!  Such a great night.  It was cool, we needed our jackets/vests (hard to find something that fits me right now), but not too cold if you kept moving and had hot coffee in your hand.  It is always nice to reconnect with John and have a conversation without being interrupted and unable to finish a story.

And next week I'm the babysitter!!  

The Weekend

By the time we went back to the doctor at 4pm on Friday, Chase was doing much better.

The doctor was pleased with her progress and improved oxygen level.

We were much relieved.  She had to begin using an inhaler at home, which was still scary to Chase and she screamed through the whole thing, it also took 2 of us to hold her down.

By Saturday morning, she was even better.  John went off to a workday at our church for our upcoming Bethlehem Village while Chase and I stayed home and rested.  We finally watched Elf on a Shelf, a new children's tv movie that a childhood friend's husband directed.  It was cute.  

By nighttime, I was ready for a good meal and some time out of the house.  I found a fun Swiss treat in Trader Joe's, authentic Raclette cheese. 

 This brings back fond memories of my time in Switzerland.  It's a good excuse for another cheese product!!  You melt this really stinky cheese over potatoes, the Swiss even have a machine special just for this meal.  I used the broiler in my oven.  I also served little onions, pickles and mushrooms.

Here you can see the gooey yumminess...John is not so sure about the meal

He was like "we're eating a large quantity of cheese".

I must say, it wasn't as good as in Switzerland, so I will wait until I'm back in Switzerland to try this meal again!

After dinner (and a walk to help with digestion), we headed to John's HP Christmas party...which was neither Christmas-y or a party!  It was at Costco!!!!  Talk about cut backs!  They sent out an invitation saying come over after hours, do your shopping, it will look like a winter wonderland and we'll be serving samples (imagine that, samples at Costco!!) and sit on Santa's lap.

Well, yes, there were less people, so not a long wait in the line, there were samples, but no utensils to get them with...cold and flu season is just when I want to be handling food that everyone else has touched (and they were nothing special or extra yummy)!  It did not look like a winter wonderland, it looked like Costco.  And Santa was there, but I'm pretty sure he was mute.  He never spoke to the kids and he just sat there like a lump of coal.  But this was the closest Chase would get to him because she has told us all along that she didn't want to sit on his lap:

After awhile, we realized that we'd been totally "had" and it was just Costco trying to get more business. 

But at least we made it out of the house!

Sunday she had improved even more...but she and I stayed home from church so as to rest some more.

By the evening we went out to a  kids' Christmas program with some friends at their church.  Chase really enjoyed seeing kids about her age singing, acting and dancing. She kept saying she'd like to do that one day. She did really well during the whole thing too.

Today we got out a little again.  I got Christmas packages out the door and on their way!  Chase was invited over to the C's to decorate cookies, so she had fun with her buddies.  I got to catch up with their mom.  It was a really great morning.  She is able to go to school tomorrow, so hopefully we can now be germ free for the rest of the year.  Is that too much to ask?

A Tough Day

Today was hard.  Actually, starting last night was hard. Chase had a little cough as of yesterday morning, but by night, it had gotten pretty bad, so much so that John texted me to ask about the steroids we give her when she has a croup episode(I was out for the night)  By the time I got home, she had fallen asleep but was breathing very difficultly.  We decided it best for her to sleep with John b/c he can help her and fall asleep immediately, myself not so much.  By this morning, she had developed a temp and was still breathing rapidly and shallowly.  As soon as her dr. office opened, I called, and got us an appointment.

We ended up being there for 2 hours.  They tested her saturated oxygen level, it was lower than they like to see.  So she had to have a breathing treatment.  This scared her to death because they wanted her to have a mask on her face.  I had to hold her down pretty much while the nurse held the mask to her face.  Then they sent us to get a chest x-ray, she screamed during that and I couldn't be close since I'm pregnant.  A nice older lady held her hand.  Then back up to the doctor's office to wait for the x-ray to be read.  It showed bronchitis and the dr. said it probably would have turned into pneumonia if we hadn't come in.  By the time we were sent to x-ray, I couldn't handle it alone, so called John to come.  And luckily he only works 5 minutes away, so he could come quickly.  He made it in time to be back in the dr's office, for a 2nd breathing treatment, where he could hold her and she calmed down by then.

We were sent home with a couple of prescriptions, and she asked us to come back at 4 tonight to re-check her oxygen level before the weekend.

Oh my how parenting is scary!  You have decisions to make, and you wonder what is in the best interest of your child.  And in the blink of an eye things can change.  Of course plans get derailed.  That's one biggie I'm learning through parenting.  I think I know what we're doing today or tomorrow, but that can change quickly.  I'm thankful that I have a heavenly Father that is watching over me and my family, and know that I'm not in control of my life.  I need to trust Him.  It's not easy, but it is safe.

This makes me thankful for so many things:  health insurance, a healthy child ( I think of those that struggle with sickness and terminal illness, that must be so hard to go through, watching your child be so sick, especially if in a hospital), a loving husband/daddy that will drop his work to help us, a good doctor that took a good bit of time with us, not having to stress/juggle a work schedule with a sick child.  I could go on and on....it's always good for me to remember thankfulness.

And as my sweet girl naps now, I'm going to put my head down for a few too, before we head back to the clinic!

{Thanksgiving}

We are coming to the end of our Thanksgiving Break.

We had such a nice, relaxing four days as a family.
Oh how I love spending time with my family!

(One thing I did this year to instill a bit of thankfulness in Chase's life, was create a "thankful tree".  I think that is something that will be easier to relate to as she gets older.  We just hung tags on these branches of things we are thankful for.  It was exciting at first (after we established being thankful for more than lamps and odd things), but none of us were great at adding to it.)

Thursday morning both John and I got some exercise, separately.  I went to the gym, he played in our church's annual Turkey Bowl.  They had a lot of fun.  Chase and I watched the Macy's Parade together while he did that.    It is still not my perfect idea of a tradition with Chase...but it will be soon!  The problem is, they have so many Broadway acts that sing and dance and all Chase wanted to see was the floats and balloons!  It was not as good as in years past.  But, I did see a guy that I used to babysit for singing in the Naval Academy Glee Club, and that was a real treat!

For dinner we headed over to the Carters.  Another dear family joined us.  I baked a pumpkin pie and a chocolate amaretto cheesecake, made a salad, an appetizer, and John made the green bean casserole.  All were great additions to what everyone else had made...2 different brined turkey breasts, apple sausage stuffing, sweet potato casserole, peas, carrots, rolls, along with several cheese appetizers.  Apparently we all think alike!!!

The girls had fun playing, as always...they even enjoyed the dinner...until Chase bit her tongue and then she was DONE!

Friday we relaxed around the house in the morning, then we went to visit a dear friend getting cancer treatment in the hospital.  It was perfect timing because they don't want little kids there due to germs, but his family was there playing games with him out in the common space, so we were all able to visit.  Chase did well considering she'd never been in hospital circumstances like that before, kind of scary if you think about it.  Then we went over to La Jolla and walked around.  It was a perfect day.  Sunny but a little cooler.  That night John got inspired to pull out the Christmas decorations.  That was a miracle!  I normally do them alone, but he was excited because he knew Chase would enjoy them.  That is quite a job...and we have a small house and tree!  I can't imagine living in a huge house with a huge tree!  But our house looks so beautiful now and we can enjoy it before going out of town.  John even put up lights outside for the first time.

Saturday, both John and I had our annual eye exams.  John's vision got a little worse, mine stayed exactly the same.  Then I got a little alone time.  I took Steph to get a pedicure for a birthday treat.  That was nice, but they were quick.  We love our sparkly red toes!!  Then we shopped in Tuesday Morning a bit...then she left and I went and did some Christmas shopping.  It was nice to have some time to myself.  J and CJ finished decorating and napped.  Then we had family movie night and Chase watched "Rudolph" for the first time.  She enjoyed it.

Sunday was our usual outing to church, including music practice, teaching Sunday School, singing, worshiping...we always love being with our church fam!  Then we relaxed in the afternoon, I did a little crafting, the Chargers lost (apparently they suck?!) and then headed back to church for a special service of prayer and praise.

It's always bittersweet coming to the end of a long weekend or vacation.  But our countdown to Christmas break can commence!  Before we know it, we'll be getting on the place to Nannie and Poppy's house!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor,  and remember.

** getting out the Christmas decorations **

Daddy-Daughter Date Night

As many of you know, my fave restaurant, that finally made it to our neighborhood in the last couple of months, is Chick-fil-A!!!  There's nothing better that reminds me of the South.  On one of my many visits, I saw that they were hosting a Daddy-Daughter date night and thought that could be fun for Chase and John.  I mentioned it to John and he too thought it sounded fun.  So I made them reservations, and when John came home from work that night, he rang the doorbell and brought little one white roses!!

I'm pretty sure this little girl floated on out of the house feeling soooooo loved!

She was so excited to be going out with daddy, leaving mommy behind with leftovers.

John said they had a great time.  They had a real tablecloth on the table, with cloth napkins, and even a "special" menu to order from.  Their dressed up cow walked around (handing out small stuffed cows) and they took pictures and then the girls could decorate a picture frame.  They even gave each girl a carnation!

We were pretty impressed.  What a great little memory for this little girl to have.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. 

A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

**this is what we do on a rainy day in southern california...camp out in the garage, watch movies, have a picnic, while mommy goes through the 7 bins of girls clothes...kind of a bummer that they won't get used again...but the good news is there are several new baby girls in our church coming**

Halloween Fun

Our Halloween festivities began on Friday afternoon.

HP always hosts a cubical trick or treating fest as well as crafts and snacks.

So Chase got all dolled up in her Ariel gear, complete with orange sprayed hair!

It was a pretty funny sight!

*her newer friend Ela, she came to her party too*

Then for Halloween night, we went over to our friend's, the C's...

There were 5 families total, the kid count was 8.

We had a yummy dinner then went out for trick or treating.

This night Chase decided she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty...

there was a Minnie Mouse, a cowgirl, a flapper, Ariel, Strawberry Shortcake, dinosaur

 and Sherlock Holmes.

They were all pretty excited.  All went well, much better than years past.  

Chase knew a little better of what to expect and John had talked to her a bunch about the decorations and what all of it was and what was all pretend.

There was one scary house where we'd sent several kids on their own and then a skeleton popped down with glowing red eyes...the twins ran!  Chase backed away but conquered her fear and got the candy anyway.

Then one house did a sort of haunted house and I peeked at that but Chase stood on the street.

I think she ate about 2-3 pieces of candy all night, licked a few licks of a cupcake's frosting,

and by the next day had forgotten all existed!

I on the other hand.....have not!