Belated Christmas Wrap-Up Part 2

I know we are almost onto Valentine's Day (jeez, where does the time go???) but I have yet to finish my wrap-up of Christmas and New Years!

This was the first year in 5 that J and I just spent Christmas day at home together, not driving all over town trying to fit 20 people and 20 agendas in on one stressful day. It was super relaxing and cozy to just be together with our little family.



For his gift this year, I got him a fancy Covert Ops watch for maximum timetelling capabilities no matter what elements he may be facing... He was jazzed.


He got me some furry cozy boots to keep my little tootsies warm in these frigid Florida winters ;)


Jonathon made me this sweet card. Because the people on it didn't originally look like us, he made sure they did look JUST like us. Some might see this as creepy, but I think it's super sweet :)


When we first started celebrating Christmas together all those years ago, we decided to allow our ornament collection to slowly grow over the years. Since then, Jonathon and I have exchanged one ornament a year, you'd be surprised how quickly that tree filled up!


Joy to the World indeed! Even though this past Christmas is LONG gone, the good news is that the next one is now only 10 months away... :D

My Rachi is So Famous

My cousin Rach is studying to become a dietitian at the world's best college (UW!) and got to go visit her idol at a meet and greet event. She's talking about Bethenny Franel, fyi...


Isn't she precious?

File This Under G

Little Baby Grant is HERE and we finally got to meet him!

Check out the beautiful new family.


At 10 lbs and 13.4 ounces he is a BIG newborn and long too... From head to toe he was 22.5 inches on his birth day yesterday. That's a big boy!


Uncle Jack and Auntie T couldn't wait to snuggle with the little bundle. He is a sweetie too, so quiet and calm, he just wanted to be loved on. Don't we all?!


Teensy tiny feetsies...


Me, G and the beautiful mama looking great after a long and tiring 24 hours. I don't know how she did it... you are amazing Lindz!


I like to call this one... A family of Gators :)


Welcome baby Grant! We can't wait to spend more time with you as you get even bigger. Let me tell you, you are in great hands buddy. :)

Welcome Baby G!

After a LONG 24 hours, baby Grant is here! Isn't that a beautiful sight???


I can't wait to meet all 10lbs 13 ounces of him later today! YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT!!! He is going to be an athlete one day, I am sure. Whew... Mom did some gooooood work, look at this guy! :)


We hung around until late last night but gave up when it was looking like it would be an all-nighter. The hospital had BOGO frozen yogurt and all the Hanna Montana you could watch so we were quite comfortable... Lindzee's nursing staff was wonderful so I know she was as comfortable and cared for as she could be.



The little (???) guy didn't make his debut until 5:41 this morning. I know these three need their sleep so we will be meeting him for the first time later today. I seriously can not wait! It's going to be a long day for me...

Congratulations Lindz and Erik, and welcome baby Grant! We love you!!!

Go Pack Go! Go Lindzee Go!

Did you have your celebratory chocolate fudge brownie on Sunday like us?


We're super bowl bound baby! GO PACK!!!


And speaking of baby... my best friend Lindzee went to the hospital at 4am this morning to be induced! It's about time right? Say goodbye to this out of control tummy and helllooooo baby Grant! Can't wait to meet the little bundle tonight! Wish her well, won't you?

My New Office

Good morning!

Good news for you, my little guy is feeling much better. He still has a bit of a cough here and there but I think in general he is full on his way to recovery. Isn't he just the handsomest?


And, a quick little sneak peek of my new office in the "before" stages of me making it pretty... Once I un-bury myself from the piles of work before me, I hope to jazz this sucker up. Pretty exciting though, right?

Belated Christmas Wrap-Up

There are truly few things that will take the wind out of your sails more than the taking down of Christmas trees and packing up of ornaments and holiday decorations.

I'm a chicken: I usually make Jonathon do the job while I'm far far away from the house. The reality that an entire 365 days stand between me and that special warmness that comes only once a year is really hard to face for some reason. Well, while he was hard at work on another 7-day work week this past weekend, I faced the sad reality of Project Kill Christmas head on, and alone.

I will admit, it made me quite nostalgic for the holiday that just passed.

Here, a walk down a very recently trodden memory lane...



Christmas Eve morning at Townhouse Restaurant. Mmmmhmmm!


On our way to Christmas Eve service at Lindzee and Erik's beautiful house.


Orlando has a planned neighborhood owned by Disney that is called Celebration. I have wanted to visit Celebration at Christmas time since learning about it back in 2002 and Jonathon and I finally took the trip this holiday season. The whole neighborhood gets into the Christmas spirit and (even though we missed it) even makes it snow (via soap bubbles) down their main street. It is FUN!


The porches in Florida just kill me with their homey rocking chairs and big ceiling fans.




The best Christmas decoration we saw all season... "A Major Prize!"


More Christmas wrap-up to come shortly...

The Yin and Yang of it All

Sometimes I feel like right when life is really crappy, great things will flash into your life and vice-versa. When life is really amazing, something always seems to be a little off in the background. I'd love to tell you all about my deep philosophy on this and the yin and yang of it all, but really I think it's just life's way of reminding us to always seek balance.

This "philosophy" has certainly been at play in my life lately. I have had an incredible past two weeks and felt very positive and at peace. Meanwhile, my two boys have both been sick! It's no surprise to me that Jonathon came down with something. A) I was sick over New Year's and it's always only a matter of time before one of us passes it to the other (see photo below for exact moment of infection. you're welcome sweetiepea!) and B) he has been working 7-days a week, 10-15 hour days for the past few months and I think his body is like "d00d, chill." It's a good thing little mama's here to help with the soup, theraflu and ricollaaaaaaaaaa.


Teeny has also not been feeling well. Look at the poor baby! He has this horrible choking cough thing that just won't quite. He has had this in the past when he ate rawhide treats, but we haven't given him any and the cough was very persistent yesterday, so it is very disconcerting. Besides sounding horrible, the coughs scare him a lot so he stays right next to mama and even puts his head in my lap to comfort him. :( I hate when he is not feeling well because he can't just tell me what is wrong or what hurts and I feel so helpless. My poor little man.


Besides all of the germs, you must want to know the good news, right? Well, besides just returning from an amazing vacation in Costa Rica (oh yes, pics to follow soon) I officially started a brand new job last Monday! It has been an incredible two weeks!

Besides the job being fast-paced (read: borderline crazy hectic), very fun, and completely different every day... I now work on the same campus as Jonathon! Last week I ate lunch with him every day, which I know won't be the norm going forward but was so wonderful while it lasted, especially to get a id-day download of fist week jitters. For someone who's husband is a workaholic, you wouldn't believe how precious an hour a day of extra together time becomes. Besides lunches, we also now have more evening time together too because we carpool to the same place everyday! It's pretty wonderful. :)

More on the new job and pics of my new office and our vaca coming soon.