Blue Christmas

So I had a little bit of rough Christmas this year.  It all began shortly after arriving at the Singer home when I got a voicemail from a friend asking if I had heard the bad news.  It took me a long time to call her back... at that point I wasn't sure I wanted to know.  I finally pumped myself up and made the call to find out that one of my art professors had passed away.  Kat Galloway was easily in my top 3 professors of all time.  She had such a passion for art and such a love for her students that you could not take one class from her and not be changed.  I will definitely miss her and feel so lucky that I was able to be her student.

From then on things got worse.  The antibiotics I was taking made me so sick.  The side effects included nausea, abdominal cramps, constipation, upset stomach, bloating, and vomiting.  I'll spare you the details, but I wasn't immune to any of them... I can't think of a time where I've felt worse.  My worst morning sickness was nothing compared to this.

Then on top of that I came down with a cold... the whole headache, congestion, and sore throat bit.

Thankfully, I took my last antibiotic Christmas morning and by that evening was finally getting some relief.

Mom and Dad Singer were so sweet and had a wonderful week planned for us (including really good food.)  Dan and Wendy were such good company (and it was so nice to finally get to know Wendy.)  Everyone made what should have been an unbearable week, bearable... and even pleasant.  Thanks Clem and Rita for everything!

On Wednesday we all drove to the coast to pay a little visit to the beach (Nate and my favorite).  The sun was setting and it was beautiful.  Then we headed to enjoy the Christmas lights at Shore Acres.  Afterwards we ate at this really yummy Italian restaurant and then headed home.

On the beach:

At Shore Acres:

Christmas morning was really nice.  We lounged around and Rita fixed us a very impressive Christmas breakfast, which we opted to eat before opening presents.  Then we sat around the tree snuggled in blankets while we opened gifts.

So I had saved all the pictures from both Wendy's and Rita's cameras onto my 300GB hard drive and now it's not working.  I'm so bummed.  There are some really cute pictures on there... and some not so cute pictures on there (Nate and I on Christmas morning).  So Rita, if you have a moment if you could email them to me I'll add them to this post.

What I wanted...

(The back was even more amazing than the front... the most beautifully stacked A-line I've ever seen.)

And what I got...

minus the really horrible bangs, of course.

I'm still wondering why it's so impossible to find someone who can cut my hair.  The first picture was the first time in my life that I really loved a haircut... the stylist was amazing.  No exaggeration, I had at least 40 people tell me that they loved it (many I didn't even know.)  So I call 3 or 4 months later to get a trim and she's gone... fallen off the face of the planet...  Since then I haven't been able to get one single decent haircut.  Oh well, I'll just wear this one in a ponytail (with about 30 bobbypins, it's so short) for a couple months just like the last ones.

Our Little Nate Jr.

(Complete with 2 arms and 2 legs.)

Surprise!  Nate and I just made it back from our first appointment and as it turns out it isn't all in my head... there is a baby in there.  Funny how it takes actually seeing the little booger on a screen before I was 100% convinced (you'd think the 3 pregnancy tests and 2 missed periods would confirm that.)  As we were waiting for the ultrasound equipment I asked Nate, "What if there isn't a baby in there?  That would be so embarrassing."  But I'm officially not crazy.  The nausea, "filling out", weird cravings, light-headedness, heartburn, heightened sense of smell, and frequent urination are legit.  (Although thankfully the "nausea" part is long over.)

We're now looking forward to the 5th of July.  I'm 11 weeks along and the little kiddo is the size of a fig.  (Next week's "lime-sized" was more appealing, but I couldn't wait that long and I didn't want to lie.)  We're really excited... and occasionally nervous.  Especially Nate, who after the initial excitement wore off walked around like a zombie for a week, with money stress written all over his face.  (Which has thankfully been relieved greatly thanks to some hand-me-down baby gear that won't have to be purchased... now all that remains is an excited father-to-be.  And can I just say that he is adorable about it?  He asked me if he could take one of the ultrasound pictures to hang in his cubicle.  I love it!)

So far I can't help thinking it's a boy (a mini Nate is what I always picture.)  I will be COMPLETELY shocked (although not at all disappointed) if I'm wrong.  I won't know until July though because we've decided we want it to be a surprise.

And finally the classic baby bump picture...

Weird... I had to do some scrounging to find a shirt that would "show."  Apparently most of my shirts flare away at the belly... so hopefully I can wear most of them as maternity clothes for a little while.  Nothing too extreme... but there is definitely an emerging baby bump there.  The jeans are definitely a lot more snug... 

Mashed Potatoes

The other day Nate and I were sitting on the couch watching television and a commercial came on.  Not sure what restaurant it was, but there were mashed potatoes.  I said, "Oh man, mashed potatoes sound so good!"  Nate turned to me about ready to get up and said, "Do you want me to go make you some?"  I started laughing.  "No, Nate, I think I'll be alright."  He said, "No, seriously I could just peel and boil a couple potatoes... it's not a big deal.  I can even make you some gravy."

And that, my friends, is why I am the luckiest girl....

Deck the Halls

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the decorating and while we don't exactly have a whole lot of decorations yet (we are still living in an apartment) Nate and I got out our Christmas boxes this Friday and got to work.  We literally spent the whole evening Christmasing up our place while listening to Nat King Cole's Christmas album.  There is something about putting up the twinkle lights, decorating the tree, and hanging the mistletoe that officially puts me in the the Christmas spirit.

In our 5 Christmases as a family we've only bought one Christmas tree.  Not only is our apartment super tiny, but we just can't justify spending $30 on a tree when we're gone half the month anyway.  So this year I got the genius idea to decorate our ficus tree.  The branches are a little weak, so we had to be extra careful about only using light ornaments... and then I remembered some cute fabric I had bought recently.  We ripped the fabric into strips and then tied them into cute little bows.  Nate calls the tree "our Charlie Brown tree."  I think it's pretty cute and it definitely helped our place feel a whole lot more Christmasy.

Nate's parents surprised us this summer with a nativity set that they had found at an after Christmas sale.  We were so excited to put it up and each took turns adjusting this wisemen and that shepherd to better face the baby Jesus.  Again, it's amazing how something so small can make such a big deference.  I love it!

There's still a few more strands of twinkle lights to be hung, but overall I am loving our apartment right now.  Is there anything better than snuggling on the couch with your hubby sipping hot chocolate in the glow of Christmas lights?  I didn't think so...

Nate and I having some fun taking pictures of our deciduous Christmas tree.