Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year!

Okay, okay, so Christmas was a long time ago. You have all moved on by now I'm sure, but I still wanted to share a few of our photos. This Christmas was special to us. As we wait in expectation for our first child to be born in March (April?), we experienced the Advent season and its characteristic waiting and hoping in a new way. We are reading books, preparing the nursery, taking a birthing and parenting class, and just becoming mentally, emotionally, and spiritually prepared to be parents. We could associate with the Wise Men who were watching the stars, the prophet and prophetess who paced the temple, and the young virgin who prepared to be a mother.

Here is the gift that Ryan presented to me. It is an "end grain" cutting board constructed of cherry and walnut. I absolutely love it. It sits in the middle of our kitchen island. Stir fries and other dishes that require much chopping are no match for this puppy. I almost hate to use it though, since it's so beautiful.

Here's goofy Ryan with his Christmas present. He is a game-aholic and this one has already given him hours of fun. I definitely don't play it with him enough. Anyone want to come over and play with him? He won't let you win, though; he's a cutthroat when it comes to games.

After opening our presents at home on Friday night, we boarded the train Saturday morning in Fairhaven enroute to Tacoma where my folks picked us up. Dad took us to his favorite Asian grill and, man, was it a thrill. The highlight was the "onion volcano."

This is my "look alike" cousin Daniel and here we are with our mouths open doing what we do best--never shutting them. He came to our house twice during his holiday leave from the Marines. I don't know if it was to see us or to ride the powder at Mt. Baker. Either way we were grateful for some quality time with him.

"Smile and hug the pregnant lady!" Angie, Ryan's sister and the one hugging me, came with us to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Christmas dinner. Heather is my new cousin-in-law, but she's not that "new" since she has been a friend of the family for years already. But it's great to make our connection with her official.


Since our family continues to grow and we don't want to turn anyone away, my Uncle Darrel constructed a HUGE table for the holidays. It's made of plywood and 2 X 4's which rest on their round, oak table. It was truly a feast. The only things missing: beer songs and an elf or hobbit dancing a jig on the table.


After Christmas my sister came up to help me paint the nursery. We spent the morning choosing and buying colors. Our original choice: this green and a light yellow. Once we painted the first coat on the walls, the yellow proved to be...well...um...yellow. My brother-in-law, Daniel walked in the room and exclaimed, "It looks like a Sprite room." I should've contacted the company before we painted over the spunky color. Maybe they would've used the room as a n advertisement. It was definitely too bright--our child probably wouldn't have been able to sleep even with the lights off. So Ryan and I painted blue over the yellow, and now it's perfect.

My mother came to visit after the new year. She hemmed our curtains and helped me pick out fabric to cover the glider. A piece of the fabric sits on the glider, but my mother has the cushions and will be covering them for us since I'm no seamstress.


Ryan took this picture of me just last Saturday. I'm at 28 weeks now and losing track because the weeks are getting so high. It's easier to remember the countdown: 12 weeks to go! (Of course, give or take a few weeks.)