The Blizzard of 09

So it wasn't the 13 inches promised...but it was enough snow to give the Shepherd's a white Christmas!

Before the Fall

(title provided by Marty)

Before the fall there was laughter.
There was Marty teaching Daniel to make his favorite casseroles.
And some good eating at a table set for 8.



Before the fall there were stockings hung.
There were presents given and received
and there were cookie jars discovered.






Before the fall Grandmom's cookies were all gone!
Irish coffee made an appearance.
Plus Daniel had second dinner and Claire did thousands of dishes.

Before the fall Andrew and Kelly won a Scrabble game,
Even though Paul is probably the Scrabble champion
and Charlie is the wordsmith.

Before the fall Stephanie brought out the puffy paint.
Charlie discovered glitter
and new ornaments made it onto the tree.

Before the fall there was a blizzard.
The house stayed warm
and Pascal played with a new toy.



Before the fall there was shopping
and some Starbucks
and the Southerners experienced walking in a N'oreast wind.

Before the fall Charlie and Daniel did twirls.
Claire and Paul held hands.
And Andrew and Kelly smiled on ice.



After the fall there were sighs of relief.
But more smiles.
And the realization that bringing family together is risky
but oh-so-important
and worth it all.





Peace and Good Will to all the Shepherds! We loved having you here!
We hope to see ya'll in the spring!
We promise to get rid of the snow and ice by then!

Decorating

The other week Daniel and I registered for the little one at Target and Babies R' Us. It was okay but I felt a wee bit silly running around with a scanner debating whether or not I wanted green blankets or 'ecru' blankets. I opted for both since hey, the scanner was pretty easy to use! But for the most part it was completely overwhelming. So many baby things, so many baby toys (we really enjoyed the toy aisle but didn't request much since we figured that it would be more fun to pick out toys in general). Seriously, baby toys are just fun....

Now, toddler toys at Baby's R'Us however I will save for a different blog. Where in the WORLD are all the wooden, non-plastic, non-make tons of wracket, non-electronic toys for young toddlers? I'm talking blocks, stacking cups, rolling balls people!

Anyway, I digress. So we were pretty overwhelmed and also feeling a bit over-consumed. Which is easy to do this time of year anyway.

So we went and bought a tree. Because well, you know the best cure for feeling like a consumer is to shop :)

But the tree was beautiful and it wasn't plastic and it smelled heavenly. And we had so much fun decorating it.



Because let's face it. Humans like to decorate, we enjoy 'nesting' (I hate that word, that will be for another blog). When the lights turn on and the wise men walk through their cactus path to the manger scene and the Christmas music gets turned on, it's nice, it's cozy. The crazy red and green finally go together.

So, even though I really don't care if the baby has green or white blankets I thank my Christmas tree for putting me in a better mood about the whole crazy baby registry thing. We do need to convert an office which has 7 book shelves in it to a baby's room. And that means we might have to do a fair bit of decorating and deciding whether or not green or white makes the room cozy, comfortable, some place that we all might want to spend a lot of time in!

And also, as I look at the ornaments which are our favorites: (the wood cut outs we made the year we were engaged and our mothers said that we 'didn't yet deserve our own ornaments', the wooden ones that my grandfather made me, Daniel's little nutcracker man that he remembers from childhood) I know that being cozy and comfortable doesn't mean going all martha stewart in the nursery but simply being honest. I like green. Daniel likes white. We like white lighting with multiple lamps. We don't like cutesy. We like storage space. And that really what our little one will need is a space to make some good memories in....whether or not she has matching socks for her outfits (which, as Daniel's child and my mom's grandchild she has little hope for anyway...socks never match at our house!) I'm thinking all white, all the time!

Half-Way!

Wow! Time flies....

No it doesn't. That is SUCH a preggo myth. Yes, time is flying as it always does at the end of the semester. There are thousands of papers to grade/write/edit. There are holiday parties to plan for and decide to make time for. There is the rushing that comes from Thanksgiving turning into Christmas overnight. And yes, Daniel and I have stopped a few times and said, are we really at Week 20?

And maybe now that I am not puking every day and am sitting down at the table for dinner and manage to stay up at night without completely falling over time will fly. But for all those women who told me that this magical time would simply fly by...

No, it doesn't. When you are in agony and exhausted and getting up to go the bathroom every 2 hours at night and your back hurts and you can't move your hips because they have locked up and your husband is twice as exhausted because he does everything around the house x2 plus works 75 hour work weeks....TIME DOES NOT FLY. It crawls. The seconds simply tick-tock by.

Pregnancy (at least for me) is work. It is effort and sweat.

And I know that this sounds like a whiny, complaining post -but it's not. Not really. Because, since time hasn't flown by for me I have experienced this pregnancy. I feel like I know it. And I feel like I know our little girl a little bit.

Now when she kicks me I can say, yes, of course, this is what we were working towards. And we are working towards still bigger kicks and a really hard day around April 19th. Which will also be work. And I am sure that it won't "fly by".

But that's going to be a good thing. Because too much of our life flies by. We don't stop to catch it to savor it, to smell it, to experience the pain. We wait for our next piece of entertainment, the next big project, the next big thing. We hold out for birthdays and Christmases to see our family and friends.

We shy away from the work, the pain, the agony of what it means to live day in, day out.

So bring on the work baby, we're ready.

Happy Thanksgiving!

WE were so thankful that our little one had a healthy checkup and it was a wonderful surprise to find out WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!!!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!




To celebrate Mom and Daniel fixed an amazing Thanksgiving Feast in the new kitchen (with newly mudded walls by Dad and Daniel). Kevin supervised.

I actually ate most of the Thanksgiving Feast...skipping over only the wine and the squash casserole (one of which I never partake in anyway, I'll let you guess which one :)

I've provided a video of the wonderful weekend. There are some pics on the Picasa site as well. Mostly however we just enjoyed being a family... a lot of games (including one of Risk where the pregnant lady took over the world!, some tears, a newly discovered love of feeling the baby kick, introducing mom and dad to Sushi, learning how to watch football with Kevin, fixing drywall, shopping urban style (meaning not a mall in sight!), and enjoying having 4 more people to boss around other than Daniel!

BOY or GIRL?

Okay everyone....this week is your last chance to make your final guess....

BOY or GIRL?


If the little one cooperates this coming Wednesday we'll have an answer. For those of you who need some clues in your guessing.

-I'm still morning sick.
-The foods I do like are mangoes, apples, peanut butter, yogurt, whip cream, and strawberries.
-The foods I hate are chicken, peas, and lasagna, and garlic (the last two mean the baby agrees with its parents assessment of New Jersey :)
-My hands are soft.
-the heartbeat is 150 bpm
-When Daniel dangles a ring over my belly it goes from side to side.
-I'm carrying high (although on my short torso I'm not exactly sure where low or high really would be!)
-I sleep on my left side unless I'm sleeping on my right side.
-The little one was conceived in July.
-I am 29.
-I have had exactly three dreams about the baby. All of them scary but in one the baby was a girl in one the baby was a boy and last night the baby just cried and I couldn't get it to stop but I have no idea what sex it was.

I hope that helps. I am refusing to guess. Daniel has his own guess. My mother swears she knows because (and you all didn't know this but apparently she is a psychic). And my brother changed his guess once he came and visited me.

Good Luck. We'll let you know soon!

Kitchen Remodel Part IV

Wherin Pascal helps build shelves, the sink starts running water, and there is a guest appearance of french toast! Unfortunately I took the french toast making video with the wrong kind of computer file.



But Daniel make a lovely breakfast the other morning of orange, ginger, and vanilla french toast with navel oranges on the side. We cooked on the stove, used water from the sink, and took dishes OUT of the new shelves. There obviously is still a lot of painting, sealing, and aesthetic work to be done but I actually think that we might be on the way to completely a successful kitchen remodel.

I use the word "we" very generously as Daniel has worked his fingers to the bone getting this accomplished. I have managed to put together a few shelves and shared a few choice critiques....but truly this has been Daniel's project and he has done it so very well.

Also a shout out to my brother Kevin who visited for a week and really worked hard...even missing a Bengal's win as he stayed in our non-cable abode.