Christmas 2009

We went over to Jim + Shawna's to celebrate Xmas eve with a game night and a special dinner. John got his family's spaghetti recipe, complete with pork chops, sausage and meatballs, and I made it the best I could. It took 6 hours to cook (simmering) and the meat was all very tender. I will probably make it again soon, but with more meatballs (that was pretty much everyone's favorite). The pork was pretty tender too.




We got Alex a bath toy, and little Jacob a cute little owl toy. And Shawna graciously relinquished the baby girl clothes she has kept, for me to use for Olivia soon. Very cute outfits! And the funny thing is, they got Lucas a gift that he really appreciated--this little book that lights up, with music and reading, was given to him by John's mom when we were in CA, but John spilled coffee on it and we had to throw it away---so when he saw the brand new one he was so pleased that it came back to life! Thank you!




This is the book!

This is the great picture john took of me playing with Lucas lol..

And Lucas bothering Alex when he's supposed to sleep...he likes Alex:



I was having painful contractions here and there all night, thinking maybe I would have a Christmas baby, but no luck yet. Next appt is on monday, so hopefully there will have been some progress.

And then for Christmas, we really just stayed home and played a little rock band with Norman, and then Susan decided to take us all out to dinner. There were very few places open so we ended up going to this Chinese restaurant by our house--so "Christmas Story" movie of us huh? The food was pretty good and Lucas kept flirting with the chinese waitresses and playing with the chopsticks.


Everyone's so into the movie!





Thanks Susan!
This was his favorite waitress


It was an alright Christmas; we keep telling ourselves every year, "next year we will really celebrate Christmas and buy stuff for each other.." but we always have something we need to save money for and decide not to. It kind of makes me sad, but I know everything will be different when John is out of the Navy and Lucas and Olivia are a little older. I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and that you will have a happy and prosperous 2010!

Lucas in his new Carseat

Thanks to John's parents, we bought Lucas his new big boy front-facing carseat. He loves it and still goes to sleep in the car in it. But now he gets to watch his movies on the screen in front of him too! Olivia will soon be taking over his other seat, so I am glad we got that out of the way. She is coming any day now--the last appt the doctor says I am 1 cm dilated, which doesn't mean too much for typical pregnancies, but considering that I was not dilated or effaced, and my cervix wasn't even faced forward the day before I had Lucas, I think it means she is coming early. I am also having little painful contractions here and there, which I didn't really with Lucas, until the day he was born. December 31st is a full moon, so let's hope for another 2009 baby! It will be wierd to have had 2 babies in the same year, but then she can use his "Born in 09!" outfit!
Here is Lucas in his big boy seat:

A Forwarded Email- thoughts to ponder

My friend Shawna just sent these to me and I thought some of them are pretty accurate! Especially the underlined ones:

Thoughts to ponder:

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer's history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died..

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13.. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to the ten-page paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever. (well, i usually wash/dry it anyway, hence the garment is ruined and i never wear it again..)

15. I hate it when I miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well..

20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with a Budweiser than Kay.

21. Why is that no one "just drops by" when my house is completely in order, only when it looks like a tornado just struck?

That is all. Hope you enjoyed them!

Thank You Grandma Croce

We were recently sent Christmas cards from John's family with money to buy Lucas his first Christmas gifts. Here is what Lucas' Great Grandma Croce 'bought' him:


He really likes phones and already knows to put it to his hear and talk!

He will like these legos soon, but for now he enjoys breaking what John and I make:



Thank you for the Christmas gifts! He also got a Backyardigans ball and bathtub ABC's, which he really likes playing with (and chewing on). We may take him to see Santa one more time and see how he does; he is beginning to understand Christmas a little, and tries to say it. He at least likes the Christmas trees and music!

Cookie Party

I was invited by our newest neighbors across the way (the only other Navy couple in our neighborhood!--the rest are pretty much army!) to a cookie party. I wanted to go, but I was kind of hesitant because I didn't know any good cookie recipes. BUT I tried this new ranger cookie recipe I found online and made a few changes and I actually really like them!


They are pretty fluffy--they have coconut, rice crispies, chopped peanuts, and chocolate chips. Everybody's cookies were tasty, but to be honest, we all mostly had 'girl talk', and a more specific kind, which is "military wife talk." We have all had pretty much similar experiences, but I think the main difference is this: specifically with the husbands that are lifers in the military (i.e. will retire after 20 yrs), they have had deployments far away from their family quite a bit, but when they are not on deployment, they have very few hours and get to be home a lot. With John, I have been fortunate not to be separated from him for more than a few weeks so far, but he works long hours, and has duty (24+ hr shifts) and is under a lot of stress as a nuke. I wouldn't say it's an even trade--all I can truly say, is that we are both anxious for the next 483 days to be over with and to be truly free from all that worry!


We also got to share each of our miraculous birthing stories, every one different and fun to hear. Stephanie, the host, has had 4 kids, all within 2 years of each other and says she's had the most easy and quick births. I guess you could say mine went well because it was QUICK, but not having had an epidural still traumatizes me...Anyway, it was nice to bond with the nice women in my neighborhood and they all are anxious to see Olivia and help with the new baby on the block!

Lucas was all of a sudden shy and scared of everyone, and only wanted to be held by me. Honestly, it was a little comforting because he seems so independent. It makes me feel like a true mommy to be needed or preferred by my little boy. But he enjoyed watching Stephanie's kids and smiling at the women and seeing their big Christmas Tree. He was a good boy. Here are the few pictures I caught:







I said I may venture out and host a 'poker night' at my house one of these nights before Olivia's arrival. Looking forward to making some money! j/k :)

Yankee Candle Santa

John surprised us and came home last night, but he had to go back this morning til tomorrow for duty. He had been gone all week for a fast cruise. We decided to take Lucas to the Yankee Candle Factory to see Santa. We figured he would probably be afraid, but it's still cute for pictures! I fixed his hair a little and took a few pictures at home and at the factory. It's one of only 2 flagship stores and it is huge and great for free kid entertainment. Lucas liked the Christmas rooms and the real snow every 10 minutes.

Here are the ones I took at home first:




And at Yankee Candle:

Nativity Scene

Watching other kids with Santa

Lucas likes the water fountain

At the build-a-bear room

NOW he smiles..


Looking at the fake-real snow falling
They have these cute little model Christmas towns all over

Smiling for a female employee lol

Trying to walk the bridge

The strange pickle tree


The Huge candy shop---he was looking at the choo-choo-train that goes through the whole place

He knows what "Christmas Trees" are


He was looking at another little boy

And what you've been waiting for:


He cried as soon as John put him in Santa's lap, but it was still cute. He looks like me when I cried as a kid! Maybe next year he will be better with Olivia to sit with him.
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies...

I made some sugar cookies and got to use my cookie cutters--Lucas watched curiously. Then I tried to ice them and decorate them, but they look like Lucas made them lol. It was still fun and we would have eaten them, but when we weren't looking Tyrone somehow got on top of our table and licked them all...the chairs have to be pushed in ALL THE WAY or he manages to get his skinny butt up there. I wanted to kill him, but he is already supposedly in pain because he was FINALLY neutered on thursday. I am hoping his being fixed will fix some of his horrible behavior---he has been more and more aggressive towards Shmoopy and he's always been loud and obnoxious and pees everywhere because he's so nervous. I think we both regret buying him, even though John loves him. Shmoopy isn't behaving too well either--always chews Lucas' toys and I have to throw them away. I have always liked dachshunds, but they sure are needy of attention.

I happened to snap a few pictures before the cookies were ruined:



The culprit:


They weren't anything great or homemade or anything but I was happy with my attempt at making veggietale cookies for Lucas. Maybe next time we will get to eat some.

Christmas Stuff

We really haven't bought a tree or anything for each other (or anyone else..) for Christmas pretty much since the first year we were married. There was always something we need to save money for, or tragedy, or John was working. We have a kid now and that makes it mandatory (and fun!) so we got a little tree yesterday:


John will be away for a few weeks this month, and every subsequent month for pretty much the rest of the 490 days he has in, but they won't be full deployments so hopefully we will fare well...especially considering I will soon have 2 babies by myself! I know many women do this all the time, but that somehow doesn't make it any less frightening right now anyway.

I am 34 weeks pregnant, and feel and look huge. I have an ultrasound to check my gallbladder tomorrow morning, since I have been getting those sharp pains again and nausea, even when I don't eat anything. I feel like we might end up having Olivia earlier than her due date for some reason. I am very scared to endure the pain again, but I doubt I will go "natural" this time; as long as I get there in time for an epidural this round! I tested positive for this Group B beta strep test, which I guess is fairly common--although I tested negative with lucas. They said they will have to administer I.V. antibiotics when I go into labor with Olivia. I hope this birth experience is less traumatizing and that John will be here for it also.

Here are some pictures of us shopping at walmart last night for some groceries and the Christmas tree. we decided to get a small one on a table so that the dogs wouldn't get it and it won't hurt Lucas if it fell over. It was prelit $18, but we had some extra colored lights to add to it.
Me and My Sweet Pea

Lucas Likes Cheez-it's

I just bought him those shoes- he hates wearing them

Still confused about all this Christmas stuff
PLUS, we just got a package from grandma emma and grandpa charles, with this adorable "baby's first Christmas" ornament---with Lucas' picture in it! I thought it was very thoughtful and came just in time. Lucas likes it too!
Thank you!