It's that time again...happenings of '10 and predictions for '11

Here is what I thought might happen in 2010:

January: Less rent, more square footage.

February: I turn 30. I'm feeling about 100% on that one.

March: We buy a new TV!!!

April: We buy cute Wood Co stuff with our extra pay checks. I love 5 friday months when I get payed on 3 of em.

May: Paul and I start ballroom dance classes.

June: Happy One Year to us. We go on a fun little anniversary trip.

July: I hear the biological clock a little louder than usual, and we start to talk about trying to grow a human in my righteous womb. We talk about the future and about moving to California.

August: We spend a lot of times in the mountains, camping, fishing, shooting guns, boating, etc.

September: I start writing a book.

October: We move...again...

November: We start "trying" to get pregnant.

December: We have a Merry Christmas. And we win a contest and get a free trip to the Bahamas or somewhere warm and beautiful.

Here is what actually happened in 2010:

January: We moved to a bigger place for less rent. I found out I was pregnant. I thought I had a miscarriage. I didn't.

February: I turned 30. Paul's family came to town to celebrate my birthday and to celebrate me being pregnant.

March: No TV yet. I had a lot of morning sickness. Tried to work everyday. Did ok til 3:00pm everyday. Slept a lot, threw up a lot.

April: We bought a new TV, and a lot of cute Wood Co stuff. A dresser, changing table, crib, high chair, book shelf, buffet table. All the baby furniture wasn't part of my '09 wood co predictions.

May: We found out our little munchkin was a boy, and we picked his name and kept it a secret for the next 4 months. Oh, and there was no dancing.

June: We went to St. George for our anniversary. It was a free trip because the first half was business for Paul. It was a nice little last getaway before baby. A 'babymoon' some may say, but I refuse to call it that. Maybe next year we'll go somewhere a little more exotic, but I was too hot and tired to plan.

July: 3rd trimester exhaustion set it. I quit my job. I finished arranging and decorating the nursery. Looking back, I had way too much free time, but I really enjoyed all the little details of preparing, even though babies don't know the difference. We went to California twice this month. Once in early July, for fun. And once in late July, because Paul had to do a funeral out there. I went with him just so I could go to his mom's chiropractor. That's how good he is, and that's how bad my back was hurting. But the 10 hour drive each way when you're 7 weeks from having a baby kinda canceled out the adjustment.

August: Stayed home a lot. Napped a lot. Did a lot of projects. Watched a lot of TV. Nothing outdoors, except walks in our neighborhood.

September: Baby was born.

October: October is kind of a blur. The new mom thing was exhausting, and overwhelming, and October was full of that. But I loved it. Taylor came to visit from Alaska to meet his new nephew.

November: Still learning the mom thing. I suppose I'll say that every month for the rest of my life... Paul turned 25. We had a fun party. Kept falling more in love with my baby. Went to California for Thanksgiving. I worked a couple days at Wood Co to help out with the busy season. We decided it's time to move to California. And no, there was no trying to get pregnant in November. It's crazy that we really kind of planned to start that process in November. Little did I know, we'd have a 2 month old by then.

December: Spent just about every waking moment with the Elberts, Riddle (and soon to be Riddle), and the Mchenrys. Celebrated Christmas, didn't feel much like Christmas because the move was consuming me. Hired movers, they packed, loaded and are driving our stuff to California as we speak...or as I type.

And here is what I'm predicting for 2011:

January: Paul heads to California. Mara and Aron get married and become The Riddles!!! Garrett and I join Paul in California.

February: I feel settled into our new place. Garrett and I spend a lot of time exploring our new town. The Elberts visit us.

March: We buy a new bedroom set, king size. We visit Utah to see family, friends, and meet the new Baby Mchenry!!!

April: We have some newlyweds from Tahoe visit us. Please??? My mom and aunts come visit.

May: Paul and I have a "Budget Summit" so we can stay on track to get out of debt fast, but still have a fun summer.

June: We celebrate 2 years of marriage. We'll say we should go somewhere, but we won't because we'll be saving and planning for July and August.

July: We take Garrett and go visit Uncle Taylor in Alaska.

August: We have the first annual vacation with our "usual" group of friends in Tahoe. We plan annual trip #2.

September: Garrett turns 1!!! I go overboard and throw a fantastic party. Paul and I talk about plans to add a sibling for Garrett. Who knows what life will really be like with a 1 year old and probably still adjusting to California. But I'm guessing I'll be ready to have that conversation when Garrett is 1.

October: We buy some furniture. Living room set, dining room set maybe. Either Paul's sister or one of my 2 single brothers get married. None of them are dating anyone right now, I just have a feeling.

November: We visit Utah for Thanksgiving. We get rid of the Jetta and buy a truck. I have a huge birthday party for Paul on 11/11/11. It will start at 7:11 and end at 11:11. And we'll serve slurpees.

December: We have a much calmer December. We start new traditions and make memories as Garrett begins to understand the excitement and magic of the season.

**I'm anticipating many more visits to Utah and visitors to California than I predicted. Please feel free to become one of my "What actually happened in 2011's" that I'll write about in 2012.

Happy New Year! May your days be merry and bright, and may all your resolutions be easy and stress free.

Christmas

Christmas was good this year. Different, but good.

We spent Christmas eve with my family and Grandparents in Bountiful. Paul's parents and sister also came to town and it was good to have everyone together. We had dinner, talked about Christmas memories, and my Grandpa read the story of Christ's birth from the bible. Garrett leading us all in 'Joy To The World.'

On my mom's side it's always been a tradition to act out the nativity during the reading. Our family is so big that there always seemed to be a baby boy to play the part of Jesus, and plenty of others who wanted to be Mary, Joseph, the angel, etc. The past few years the tradition has faded, mostly because the family just got too big, and now a lot of the aunts and uncles do their own thing each year. This year my mom wanted to do it again. It was simple. Just Paul, Garrett and I while my Grandpa read. I thought a lot more about Mary as I looked at my own son while listening to my Grandpa read. Paul and I were kinda laughing as we got dressed and ready for this, but it ended up being a sweet little time for our family. I love being together with family and celebrating the birth of Christ. Hanging out in the manger.
Super Baby!!
Garrett got Air Jordans from Uncle Dave, among many other things from everyone else.
He's so spoiled.

Christmas morning we opened gifts together. We had to wake little G to come out and join us. He'd slept for 9 hours, and I figured that was enough. He woke up with a smile and he sat in his bouncer smiling and watching as we opened gifts and showed him what he got.Paul's family and two of my brothers came over for breakfast, and then we all headed to my Auntie and Uncle Jon's for lunch. Then that night we met up with our usual group of friends for dinner at Denny's and a movie. Paul and I started a new tradition last year, and we did it again this year. We've decided that a late night "second dinner" at Denny's will happen every Christmas for us, and we'll surprise our server with a nice tip. If you're working on Christmas you deserve it! Last year Paul sold a sound system to the funeral home he works for and we gave all that money to our server. This year I got an unexpected cash bonus from my old boss and we gave that to our server this year. We don't plan on receiving unexpected money every year, but we do plan on carrying on this tradition. We hope we'll be in a financial situation to do this, and we hope we can be more generous as the years go on.

It was a good day. Different this year, because the thought of moving out of this cute festive house in 3 days has been on my mind, but good. Having Garrett with us changed it too. In a very fun way. Even though he had no idea what was going on, he did a good job at humoring me.
A few days before Christmas we went and saw Santa at the Sugar Shack in Sugar House. I was secretly hoping Garrett would cry because babies crying with Santa is so cute, but he loved it. Maybe next year!Garrett got his very own chair from Grandpa and Grandma Greenhalgh. So cute!

It was a nice day with family.

Some thoughts on Christmas

Paul and I talked a lot this Christmas about wanting to find a good balance for our Christmas celebrations in our family. The bottom line, we feel, is that Christmas is about celebrating Christ. This time of year is happy and wonderful. It makes us think about things we don't always think about during other times of the year.

And we don't believe Christmas trees, stockings, and santa clause is idol worship.

I guess what I'm really getting at, is that for the first time in my life, I've learned that there are "Christians" who don't believe in celebrating Christmas. Their reasoning is because its considered idol worship. I think its crazy. I've read a lot about the origin of Christmas, pagan traditions, symbolism, and a lot of other stuff that wouldn't be considered "Christian."

I've talked to Paul, a couple co-workers and some friends this month about this, which I won't get into because it will take way too long. But I found a blog from a pastor about Christmas, Christ, Santa, the bible, Christmas trees, Magi's arrival to Bethlehem, mistletoe, etc. I agree with almost all of what he says, and because he says it better than me, I'll just share his thoughts with you.

My favorite part was this argument:

"The argument is that since we are not clearly authorized by the Bible to celebrate the birth of Christ during such a season, we should have no celebrations or even special services to commemorate the birth of Christ. On the other hand, Scripture does tell us to remember His death in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, and we celebrate His resurrection by assembling on the first day of the week, but there is no precedent for celebrating His birth."

And his response to it:

"This is what we could legitimately call hyperliteralism in the use of Scripture. Such an approach completely misses the spirit and intent of the Bible. Hyperliteralism (or letterism) is an intense devotion to the details of the Bible in such a way that one misses the spirit and essential thrust of a passage. Mountains are made out of mole hills and the truth is missed. One is busy counting the number of letters in a sentence rather than listening to its instruction.

If we applied this argument consistently, we would need to discontinue the use of overheads, musical instruments, hymnals, chorus books, the church building, pews, Sunday school, Christian schools, and many other things. Further, there could be no special services or seasons to commemorate things God has done as with Thanksgiving or a dedication service for a new building. Why? Because the only illustrations of such things are found in the Old Testament and not the New Testament. If the New Testament had clearly spoken on this matter, this argument would be correct because the New Testament does take priority over the Old Testament. However, since it has not, the argument from silence is not sufficient reason."

I've met a Christian or two who suffer from hyperliteralism. People like this don't talk, they tell. They try so hard to not be a bad Christian that they miss the mark of what it means to be a true Christian... that is "Christ in and through us." As Christians we are called to be the voice of compassion, a friend in the midst of a crisis, AS WELL AS the voice of reason, never just the latter. These hyperliteralists tend to take such a 'heady' or cerebral approach to understanding God and/or theology that they miss the main point, which is living a life in Christ, not just telling people about it.

In conclusion, regarding Christmas traditions, I think this pastor says it best: "As with all of these doubtful things, each family needs to make up their own minds. In my opinion parents can explain the traditions and have fun with them, but make sure your children understand the historical roots and use these things to teach the truth behind the traditions."

We had a wonderful Christmas with our little family, as well as extended family and friends. And we look forward to many more to come as Garrett gets older and our family grows. (Details and pictures from Christmas coming soon.) We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

If you're interested in all of the pastors thoughts, you can find it HERE.

in no particular order...

Yesterday, after living in this house for almost a year, I suddenly forgot there were 2 steps down into the living room. I was carrying a bowl of soup and a glass of diet coke and I almost face planted.

Speaking of forgetting, friday on my way to the wood co, I made it to 106th south before I remembered I worked of off 72nd south.

We went to dinner with friends. Garrett was wide awake until we decided to take a picture of him and baby David wearing matching shoes. We tried to wake him, but he wanted nothing to do with it.
We went to Paul's work party. It was pretty fun...well, as fun as an evening spent with funeral directors can be. Hah! I forgot to take pictures.

We went to the wood co Christmas party Saturday night at Edison St. Live music, (from the boss and band) food, dancing, and old hip people in their holiday attire, bustin' a move. It was a lot of fun.Some of my favorite ladies.Dancing the night away with my favorite little man...

We took Garrett on his first trip to see the lights at Temple Square. He seemed to love it, even though it was SO COLD! We heard a group of people say when they first saw Paul they thought he was holding a teddy bear. Garrett looked pretty adorable in his winter suit.We had a Christmas dinner party with our small group. So fun... I'm gonna miss these people so much, I hate to even think about it! I made snow globe cupcakes, and other Christmasy ones...Garrett spent the evening getting plenty of attention from the ladies...Garrett rolled over for the first time on his own today. He's done it before with a little assistance, (positioning his arms, holding his head) But today I was on the floor wrapping presents and he was playing on the floor by me. He kicked his legs up and rolled to his side, grunted and moved his arms a bit, and then rolled all the way over. It was so cute! I laid down right by him after he did it and as soon as he saw my face he lifted his head up and gave me a huge smile! "Look what I did mama!!"

I decided this is the busiest holiday season I've ever seen. And I'm not talking about the busy I've added to my life, I'm talking about stores and parking lots! Every time I've gone out since black friday its been crazy. Doesn't matter what time, what store, or what city. It's a mad house out there! I'm glad I'm done!

It's the most wonderful (busy) time of the year.

I wish December was twice as long...

Between Friday and Saturday we have 5 parties and 2 concerts that we're supposed to be going to. And I'm working both days. And I have to make soup for 60 people for Sunday afternoon. A lot of our month has been busy and over-booked, but this is the craziest weekend.

I hate missing things, but it looks like we'll be doing 1 concert, and half each of 2 parties.

And here's a few pictures I can't resisting posting.

Sometimes when Garrett is really tired and wants to be held, he face plants and falls right to sleep. I don't let him stay that way, because it looks hard to breathe in that position, but it sure looks cute.Jordon was seeing what it might be like with twins... Watching Baby D and Sweet G while the women did crafts.And then he tried to kidnap G.Getting ready for Paul's office Christmas party.The thumb sucking picture. He's trying so hard to get a good lip grip on that little thumb of his!Watching 'The Sing-off' while dad worked on his computer.And then playtime with dad, and all smiles for mom! I'm so impressed with my kiddo's neck and leg strength... I don't know how strong babies should be at 11.5 weeks, but he's been standing like this "on his own" (see dad's hand) for at least 3 weeks now. I'm a proud mama.
Garrett was laughing so much this morning, it made my whole day. The only sad part was that I left my camera charger in California and it just came in the mail today. So the super laugh time happened when my camera was dead, but here's a tiny look from this evening at the new cute noises that are coming out of my baby! (This is mostly for my mom...and it's likely that after the move, there could be at least a video a day on here...)

Also, that Christmas song? The most wonderful time of the year? I hate it now that I've listened to the words. Scary ghost stories?? At Christmas time?? And don't tell me it's not a Christmas song. It says "Christmases" in it. It's a Christmas song. And I don't like it. But it is the most wonderful time of the year.

So much goin' on...no time to blog.

I can't believe I blogged everyday for a whole month. How did I do it?!?

A lot has been happening the past week or so, so I'll try to give you the short version.

1. Garrett keeps getting cuter...A lady at church today asked me if I ever thought I'd love anything so much. No, no I didn't.2. I had a couples baby shower for Deb and Erik. Baby Conner is on his way and we're all so happy for them!3. A few days ago I was in a car with two dear friends. We all got teary eyed when we realized that in a few short weeks we'll all live in different states. Kate is staying in Utah, I'm moving to California, and Mara is getting married in a month and moving to Tahoe. I'm sure I'll make new friends eventually... but wow, I'll miss these girls.4. I've been going through everything we own so simplify (and to try and save money on the move) its amazing to me how much stuff we accumulate. I feel like a borderline hoarder.

5. December is going by so fast. I remember as a child feeling like Christmas would never come. I'd look forward to changing the advent calendar everyday. I'd be sad if I got home from school and realize that I'd already changed it before school. Now I have Christmas countdown blocks and I find myself falling 5 or 6 days behind at a time. It started at '25 days til Christmas' the next time I remembered to change it was at '17 days'. It's still at 17 and it should be 13. Slow down, time!

6. Paul gave his 2 weeks notice at work on Friday to the owners, and tomorrow everyone else at work will hear the news. It still doesn't seem real yet.

7. Garrett laughed! It's so cute. He's only done it a couple times and we can't get him to do it like we can get him to smile, but it's SO cute! I will get video of it because its the best sound in the world.

8. He has also started sucking his thumb. It takes him a long time to get his thumb stuck out and his lips around it, but he does it. Mostly though, he sucks on his whole hand...and just about everything else... I have a picture of it on my phone, but I'm too lazy to get it.

9. This little turtle is Garrett's best friend. We use it mostly on long car rides. I don't want to get in the habit of not feeding him myself, but every once in a while it's a HUGE help. The turtles mouth holds a bottle at the perfect angle so its a hands free feeder. He usually drinks a whole bottle with no slips and no spills and it almost always puts him to sleep. I ordered 2 more off amazon, just in case we lose toby the turtle.10. I hate Christmas shopping. I always come up with fun little (inexpensive) ideas early on, but the closer Christmas gets the more I second guess my plan, so then I do a lot of last minute shopping.

I'm sure there's more, but both my guys have fallen asleep on the living room floor so I need to get them to bed.