baby bump day

Friends, we made it through 1 whole month together! Thanks for joining me (whoever you are!?), I hope you enjoyed it. Now, I am taking a bow, and exiting stage right. We will continue to post here and there, maybe keeping up the baby bump day and highlight life here on S Street. (just don't look for a post everyday.) Cheers!

Christmas Cards

December is almost here (huge sigh of relief that my month of blogging is almost up). And with December comes lots of Christmas preparations. One of my favorite being Christmas Cards! We already have the perfect picture thanks to Danielle Hill, now we have to make the perfect card. This year I will be outsourcing to one of the lovely print houses, but here are some of our past creations:

2006

2007- didn't quite make it out before Jan. 1

2008

2009

2010 (well it was in the New Year so, 2011)

Christmas Card 2011, coming your way soon via USPS. Cheers!

Mini

The mini-photo shoots by Whit and Whimsy happened, they were quite successful, and lots of fun!

We ended up scheduling 4 of the 8 shoots, which, in the end we figured was about all we could handle. This pregnant lady was in need of a nap after 2 in a row; I over estimated my energy level!

Here are my favorites from each Family. (oh, yes, one had to cancel due to Croup)

It is hard to pick just one favorite from each shoot, there were so many cute ones! And each family was a joy to work with.

again, thankful

Tonight, I am thankful to be home. Mostly, thankful to be out of the car. We all did OK, but the time we spent going 5 mph on the Pennsylvania Turnpike was a real bummer. It seems getting back to DC is never easy; weather it is from the North, South, East, or West. We will be hearing traveling horror stories for the next week, it is always fun to hear how long it took someone to get back to our City especially when those stories include potty breaks in the woods!

Anyone drive home from Richmond today? How long was that drive?

More Gratitude

6 years ago, we were united before God, our family, and our friends.
I am full of Gratitude for that day and every day since.

Black Friday

What does Black Friday do to our spirits? This morning, already in the news, is a story of a woman attacking people with Pepper Spray to get her goods. Stories like this make me wonder what our consumer driven society is doing to our morals, or rather my HOPE that humans will be decent to other humans.

This article in the LA Times, however suggests that spending is good for the soul, and "our demonization of consumer culture....[is] self-defeating, particularly in an economic downturn."

What do you say? Did you go, and was it worth your time and lack of sleep to get 'the deal'?

Giving Thanks

I am most Thankful for this little one growing in my belly and his big sister. And my sweet Mister. This little family of 3 turning 4 is the best thing in my life. I am so happy that these are the people I have been given.

and I am thankful for this feast!

I am also so Thankful that my belly is not yet bigger than the turkey!

Last week P came home with a "Thanksgiving Tree" and each of the leaves had something listed on it she is thankful for, here is her list.

• Soft Blankie
• Baby Brother
• Momma
• Daddy
• Glue (yes, without glue that project couldn't have been completed!)

It is a good practice to think about what it is we are grateful for. I loved reading this post today about being grateful; An Attitude of Gratitude. And I always find it inspiring to read what others are grateful for; Rockstar Gratitude.

I am also Thankful for the all the People in my life, I do indeed have a life full of people I love and my heart is full of thanks today for you all!

baby bump day

After a long ride in the car, we made it to our Thanksgiving destination!

I am thankful for:

• An early start, so traffic was light
• A child who napped in the car (this seldom happens!)
• A momma who got to nap in the car
  
• Rest stops on the Toll Road (for all those pit stops)
• Sunshine!! We started off in Rain and ended in Sunshine; lovely.
• Homemade Chili when we arrived.
  

Preparations

This week feels both short and long. The two days before traveling have been jam-packed with errands, laundry, packing, and work. With all the prep, I do hope this Thanksgiving and on into Advent we can focus more on the Light....the light of being Thankful and the Light of Jesus coming.

For the Wee One

These Sweet prints by Sarah Jane are just the thing for our sweet little boy's room. Maybe once all the stuff currently occupying the soon-to-be-nursery has found a new home, I will get these prints ordered and on the wall. Until then, I will just dream of how lovely they will look on the wall!

I love my Dad

I Love my Mom

Turkey

This weekend we had our first Turkey of the week, oh, my, it was tasty! There were 2 Fried Turkeys and one smoked Turkey; all excellent.

We gathered for the Breaking of the Bread.

And spent time in Good Fellowship!

And all the People said, Amen!

Daddy - Daughter

The mister and P have been spending a lot of Saturday Mornings together, which has been such great time for me to get a little extra sleep. I think these Saturday outings will be even more handy in the third Trimester and right after this little baby comes to the world.

Today, I invited myself to their early morning breakfast, which we somehow managed to push back to about 8:30 (rather than 7). P didn't seem to mind, but she certainly wanted to sit by Daddy while at Capital City Diner.

Daddy and Daughter share the Super Happy Fat Boy Breakfast, P eats the pancake and the Mister eats everything else. It seems to work quit nicely! I ordered my own eggs and bacon. (I am trying to keep up my egg intake per the Bradley Method!)

It is a lovely little Diner not too far from us. The service is great! And the customers are friendly, today we chatted with a few other folk, and waved at another family; mom, dad, and little one. It is a great tradition and hopefully a great memory P will have with her Dad.

Finding Joy

When I pulled out Joy of Cooking this morning to find a basic coffee cake recipe, I was reminded that I should find Joy in cooking. I do enjoy cooking, it normally is a basic creative outlet for me. But when I tasked myself with making coffee cake before leaving the house at 10:30 with a toddler underfoot, I wasn't feeling so full of Joy.

I tried to recall some scripture with the word Joy to adjust my attitude, these were the ones that came to mind.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds... James 1:2 (not that I was facing a huge trial, just a verse that comes to mind)

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10

Shortly after this exercise, P found something to entertain herself with; play dough, and I happily created Sour Cream Coffee Cake with a Crumble Top. It was tasty, and a Joy to share with friends at bible study this morning.

Highlighting {handmade}

My friend, Lauren, has started her own business that does just that, highlight all that is handmade. Her business Umba Box, is "a monthly handmade subscription service". This essentially means that one subscribes to the service for a fee, and each month you get a box filled with handmade loveliness. The best part is that Lauren spends hours and hours scouring Etsy, Local Markets, and friend's blogs searching for that perfect handmade gift to send out to her subscribers each month.

I love handmade items, and I love to support local businesses, but do you ever find that it is a bit difficult to decide which vendor to buy from or which market to visit? This takes all that out of the equation, you get something beautiful and special each month! So, again, if you are looking for a special gift for your mom, co-worker, babysitter, sister, etc. hop on over to Umba Box and subscribe for one month or 12!