Happy New Year!

Happy New Year friends!  

So, it's been a while, huh?  My little piece of the Internet has been seriously neglected lately.  I can't say I'm sorry.  Blogging became more of a chore to me; something I had to check off my to do list (I actually do love checking things off my to do list but that's neither here nor there).  So I took a break.  But I kind of miss my friends, the community.  So here I am!

Perhaps I should do a little recap?  

The kiddo.  She's going to be 2 on the 15th.  Like two whole years old.  I have no idea where the time went.  She is such a little person now with her own personality.  She is SO funny, but super laid back and chill.  She isn't shy but very cautious about certain things.  My favorite example is how she goes really slow walking through doorways.  It's like she's not sure about the change in surfaces or something?  It's completely endearing but super frustrating when we're in a hurry.

She's talking up a storm these days.  She was a late talker, which frankly had me a little concerned, but her vocabulary has just exploded within the last month.  We're working on her numbers and just yesterday I caught her counting to herself.  It was just the coolest thing.  Like, I taught her that.  

 

As for me, I took a part time gig late last year with a food tour company.  I give walking tours of a city close by and we stop and eat at four different restaurants along the way.  It is SUPER fun and I love getting out of the house and engaging with new people.  Plus, the last stop is for truffles and a wine pairing, and seriously?  I'd give these tours for free just to get these truffles.  

Opposite of truffles, I've coined this year the Year of Jenny.  I've been lingering around my pre-baby weight for 2 years now and it's about time I get my booty in gear.  I spend too much time and money at the gym for me to continue putting junk in my body when I get home.  So I'm not.  Well, the last three days I haven't and that's a start.

Hubs has been working like crazy and traveling even more.  It's a bit of a downer sometimes, but mostly I'm just thankful for his job because it allows me to have mine.  He was able to take almost two weeks off for Christmas which was such a treat!

 

 

So yeah.  That's about it!  You didn't miss much! 

Natalie's First Christmas!

I know this is super late, but if only for my own memories I’d like to recap our Christmas vacation.

Matt was involved in a trial down in Akron for most of the month of December.  We were concerned about it interrupting our Christmas travel plans, but luckily it wrapped up just before the holidays.  And he won!  It was a big case not only for him but for the firm and gave him such great trial experience.  It’s funny how before I met Matt I just assumed all lawyers tried cases like you see on T.V.  Believe me; it is not at all like that.  So not the glamorous job it is portrayed to be.  But in this instance it kind of was.  He actually got to cross examine witnesses and everything!  I am so proud of him and the effort he puts into his work.  Natalie and I are very lucky to have him.

Side tracked a bit, huh?  Since we were celebrating the holidays out of town, we had our family Christmas morning on the 21st.  Natalie had her first fever so she wasn't really into opening presents, but it was still nice to have that time as a family.







Her favorite gift, the bubble wrap.  Of course.

We headed down to Indianapolis on the 23^rd to start our week long stay.  I had my annual Christmas dinner with my high school besties and had an absolute blast.  We’ve grown apart over the last few years…it’s easy to do when you live so far away…and the little addition we have doesn’t make this easier…but I felt a closeness coming back to our group and I hope that sticks around.

Every year we go to Christmas Eve Mass at the church I grew up in.  Even though I’m no longer Catholic, I still enjoy going.  We attend the children’s service where in place of the sermon…the priest has all of the children come up to the front and he reads a story about the birth of Jesus.  I took Natalie up to the front this year and even though she tried to walk away the entire time…and left a pile of Cheerios in her wake…it was kind of a dream come true.  I cannot tell you how many years I have sat in the pew and watched those sweet kiddos run up to hear the story and dreamt about it being my little one.  It was awesome.

That evening we went to dinner with my whole family, Matt’s parents, and some of my dad’s extended family per our usual tradition.  Natalie was pooped though and she was having no problem showing it to the entire restaurant…so she and I scooted home and I put her to bed.  It actually worked out well seeing as she was fast asleep when everyone got there so I could enjoy the gift exchange…and wine J

Unclear why, but Natalie had a r.o.u.g.h. night that night.  I’m not sure if she was over excited to see Santa or what but she was up almost all night crying about something.  Not so fun.  But we rallied in the morning and opened presents with my parents and siblings.  Girl got some sweet loot!

Later that day we headed over to my aunt’s house to celebrate with my mom’s extended family.  We had a lot of fun and it was nice for some of my family members to get to meet Natalie for the first time. 

We finished out our celebrations with Matt’s parents the next morning.  We had such a full week of love from everyone and it was just a fantastic experience to celebrate Natalie’s first Christmas with us as a family.  Love that girl to pieces! 

 

Christmas in January!

Prepare yourself for the lamest post of all time.

I'm going to be posting pictures of our house all decorated for Christmas.  I know.  It's January the freaking 10th.  And believe it or not, I took all of this down last Friday.  But better late than never, right?  Just give me a pass people...38 weeks remember? 

Most of my decor focuses on the family room.  It's where we spend the majority of our time so it makes sense for it to the be happiest and jolliest place in the house.

 

 

 

 

Evidence that my hospital bag is indeed packed...

 

 I'm a real tree kind of girl.  Always have been, always will be.  Our ceilings in this room are lower than in our last house so our tree had to be downsized (much to my dismay) but I think this one was pretty perfect.  Super full, branches held up really well, and it smelled heavenly!

And as you may recall, we had our whole family up this year for the holidays.  It was my first chance to play hostess and use our new dining room table!  And of course our wedding china from 3 years ago.  Ha!

I didn't take any pictures of the table all set, or all of the sweet goodies I made...but trust me, it was insane.  I'm definitely going to cut back next year.  For a pregnant lady with gestational diabetes, it was pretty much my personal hell.

But I did have a chance to snap some pics of these cute little cake balls my sister brought.  How adorable are they??

Overall, we had a pretty fantastic Christmas.  I'm super sad to see it come to an end...as my house looks entirely too empty and boring after all of the decorations have come down.  But I'm pretty sure we'll have our hands full with excitement all over again very, very soon.

A Few of my Favorite Things...

I was blessed with many a wonderful thing for Christmas this year.  Here are some of my faves:

Also, my sister and BIL took one of our maternity pictures and had it blown up in black and white and framed.  This is the one they used:

BUT...the kicker!  See that little name there on the bench?  They had it changed to our last name.  It is just the most perfect gift of all time.  Now, where to put it?

A Little Update...

So much to update you on!  What better way than with the old stand by bulleted post, right? 

• My last day of work was on the 17th.  I'm officially a SAHM with no baby yet :)  It was a bittersweet last day as so many of my co-workers were incredibly thoughtful about me leaving.  Isn't it sad, though, that you only really find out how much you are appreciated until you leave? 

• Upon my retirement, I spent all of my time preparing the house for our Christmas visitors!  I finally cleaned up the dining room and the study which had become catch-alls for anything and everything I didn't know what to do with.  I also baked my little heart out!

• We welcomed a whole host of visitors this year to Cleveland for the holidays.  My parents, Matt's parents, my sister and her husband, and my brother all stayed with us for several days to celebrate.  Everyone was so worried about me having to do so much with everyone here, but I seriously don't think I did a thing.  Whenever I woke up the dishes were done and put away and the kitchen was always clean.  It's like I had a built in maid-service for three days. 

• Christmas was just wonderful!  I got some amazing gifts from my family and we were able to soak in so much time together.  Simply precious.

• My brother stayed a few extra days to help Matt and I get the nursery ready!  Her little room is now finally painted (touch ups still to be completed), she has a completed hutch, and her glider came yesterday!  All of her furniture is here just waiting for her arrival.  I even knocked out the assembly to the stroller by myself.  Impressive, yes?

• Speaking of the babykins, perhaps I had an exam yesterday and I am already at 4 cm and 100% effaced!  I was 3 cm about a week and a half ago so I am progressing slowly...but my doc assured me to get to the hospital ASAP when and if I break my water...as this baby girl is coming fast!  Apparently I am a great candidate for a natural childbirth, if I choose to go that route, as I am already further along than many women at the beginning of their labors.  So...we shall see!

• Matt went back to work today so I feel as if this is my first day truly being "home" and not working.  So far I have gotten up at 6 a.m., done two loads of laundry, made a list for Walmart where I intend to get my extremely overdue oil changed, and watched two episodes of Saved by the Bell.  I'm pretty sure the day can already be classified as a success.

A Christmas to Remember

Alright peeps.  Y'all have been chatting up these Shutterfly Christmas cards like it's your job.  So I had to check it out.  I haven't been really into the picture cards for a few years, but I figure this year is special.  I'm huge and I should document that, right?  Ha!  Plus, it would be nice for family and friends to see our little girl all nice and snug before she makes her appearance next year.  And fortunately I am taking maternity picture over Thanksgiving...so it's perfect timing!

I'm currently loving these:

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Check some out for yourself right here!

The choices are endless!  And seriously, once our little girl is here, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stop myself from getting these:

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And just in case you have been living under a rock, thanks to Shutterfly...bloggers get 50 free holiday cards this year just for being awesome!  Or, you know, for blogging about them.  So sign up here!

P.S.  Christmas music is now on the radio!!  Forgive me but I am totally in the spirit :)

Friends That Last

I'm still lounging around in Florida for the rest of the week...

But I thought I'd tell you a little bit about bestie Jill who is with me!

Jill is one of two people I talk to from high school.  I'm of the understanding that you either have college friends or high school friends.  And I definitely have college friends.  But Jill's stuck.  And AJ, he's our other friends, he's stuck too.  They're people I can go months without seeing and pick up in exactly the same place and time when we are reunited.  I feel more myself with them than anyone else...except maybe Hubs of course :)  Probably a good thing, right?

So instead of doing the whole gift thing for Christmas, the three of us go out to a fancy dinner.  No husbands, no significant others, nothing.  Just the three of us.  It's a great opportunity for us to catch up and enjoy our time together like the old days.  We don't get to hang out a lot because I live so far away...but we make it work.  Jill and I always joke that she is my longest relationship :)  Ha!

So here's a little look back at our Christmases of yore.

Christmas 2007.  I cannot believe I am posting this.  For some reason I felt the need to stick my butt way out in this picture.  I have no idea why.  It's huge as it is...and I felt the need to accentuate it?  Idiot.

Dude, AJ dressed up a lot nicer the year before, huh?  Ha!  At least it's a step up from the sweatshirt and sweatpants we usually get :)

We noticed this year we always stand the exact same way.  Weird?  We were also totally pissed that Jill's parents were not home so we didn't have anyone to take our picture in front of their tree like we ALWAYS do.  How dare they not rearrange their schedules to accommodate our Christmas dinner!  So we went to AJ's parents' house instead.  It'll have to do...

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!  I'm flying back Monday evening so hopefully I can catch up with you on Tuesday! 

XOXO

And yes, I just did a post about Christmas.

In May.

When I'm at the beach.

I'm crazy.

A Christmas to Remember

Because Matt and I were leaving for Indianapolis on Wednesday afternoon, we decided to do our Christmas on Tuesday evening. This year we opted for just stockings. Here is my sweetie with his goodies:

Check out all of my loot!

Every year my two best friends and I go out for a fancy shmancy Christmas dinner to celebrate the holidays. It's become a tradition to get our picture taken in front of the Christmas tree as a little memento.

Jill, AJ, and I

Seriously delicious dessert! Carrot cake, Cheesecake, and a Chocolate Truffle that was to die for.

Jill and me

Matt and I stayed Wednesday evening with my parents. When we woke up, my sister and her husband were there. We spent the morning chatting and decorating sugar cookies. So fun! Well, for a little while :)

Jessi was really, really good. I was okay...and then I sucked. Those cookies take so long to decorate!

Here is her cookie of her husband. Absolutely hilarious. He's even holding candy. Love it.

So, of course, I had to make a cookie that looked like Matt. This is what I came up with. What do you think? He was not impressed.

Jessi's Santa

Matt and I headed over to his parents' house to visit for a few hours and to do some last minute wrapping. Then we went to Mass with my family and headed out to Chili's for our annual Christmas Eve meal with my dad's side of the family as well as Matt's parents. After dinner, everyone came back to my parents' house for a gift exchange and family game night.

Mom's Christmas Eve spread

Me, my brother, and my sister

Action shots during the gift exchange: FIL, cousin, grandma, aunt, and grandpa. I took away two board games and Matt came home with a dirt devil. Great. I know who that gift is really for.

Let the games begin! Here is my BIL in action. It was boys vs. girls in a game of Funglish. I had never played this game before and it was super fun. Great game for a party!

Matt and I stayed another night with my parents and woke up Christmas morning to find this:

Clearly Mom went a little nut-so with the large gifts this year! We could hardly walk in the room! But what a beautiful tree!

Every year we get lotteries in our stockings. Here is my BIL, sister, Mom, and brother scratching them off. Matt was actually the big winner with $10 :)

My BIL decided to wrap himself up as a present with the excess wrapping paper. Oh dear.

Highlights of my gifts include some cake decorating supplies, a new sweater, a leopard Snuggie!, a dutch oven, a new stock pot, several books, and a few kitchen gadgets. Matt got a lot of Colts gear, a Brooks Brothers gift card, an outdoor smoker/grill, and a shop vac. My family was so generous with all of their gifts and we were so thankful!

We played a few games and then bid farewell to my sister and her husband who headed up to Fort Wayne to spend the rest of the weekend with Dave's family. Matt and I went over to his parents' house around 12:30 p.m. and spent the rest of Christmas with them. It is there that I received my new Chi straightener!! I'm super stoked about this! I have already used it and it is just fabulous. I could not love it more! Matt cleaned up with every tool you can imagine. Now, what can I make him build me?? Hm.

Saturday some of Matt's extended family came up from the Louisville area and we walked away with a few more board games. Later in the afternoon, Matt and I left for our final Christmas celebration with my mom's side of the family. She is one of seven so it is always a houseful no matter where we go.

After the gift exchange there, we had the joy of watching my brother participate in a pick up game of football. Oh how the mighty have fallen...

For some reason, Mook had tucked his jeans into his boots whilst playing. I guess they were too long?? Who knows...but it was hilarious.

We had an amazing Christmas with family and friends and I am so sad to see the season ending. But I am looking forward to the New Year with much anticipation for new adventures to come!