Bachelorette Bash

Well, the wedding is officially ON! We gals survived the bachelorette party on Saturday night, and the snow early Sunday morning before heading back to civilization. Leah's parents' lake house in Winchester served as the perfect getaway spot for 12 ladies to eat, drink, and be merry. Laura got showered with some naughty and nice lingerie, and we played some awesome games.

For the first game everyone grabbed their purses and got points for all the items called out that we had in our bags. I thought sure I'd win this one (well, truthfully, I think I'm going to win every game I play), especially with my mom items in tow, but alas, I possessed no risque items, and those were worth the most points. The next game was an ongoing Bingo game that we played all night till someone got a bingo. Each card was different, but filled with wedding and bachelorette-related words that the bride could conceivably say (except for Wangs... who actually says that?).

Finally, the game that I DID win was a questionnaire of how well we know the bride. Considering it's my sister getting married, I hope I'd win this one. So did Leah. As the party planner she arranged for the prize of this game to be a cute pink frame, knowing how much I love the color!

Later in the evening, and several drinks later, we played "Pin the Macho on the Man!" We had more fun laughing at the rapist expression on the man's face than anything else. Yes, he looked shady Leah said, but the only other alternative was a big black man! I'll take the Rapist. (That's therapist, Mr. Connery)

Laura grilled at her own party, not able to relinquish control in the kitchen, but the burgers, dogs, and sides were fantastic. And of course, what female bash would be complete without a Dance Party USA happening once it got a little later, the music got a little louder, and inhibitions were a little more gone? As matron of honor and big sis, I was supposed to take care of Laura and make sure she was okay throughout the night, but it ended up the other way around. I even ended up with a "bachelorette bruise" on my knee that I have no idea where it came from. I guess going a year and a half without drinking hardly at all will drop one's tolerance to alcohol considerably.

I still can't believe in just 9 short days my little sis will be Mrs. George Murdoch, but I'm sure excited for the big day to be here.

NRA Publicity photos

Disclaimer (And I don't even know 'er): I hate guns, and see no reason why Joe Schmo should have one in the house.

That said, Grandpa B pulled out one of his hunting rifles the other day to show Bradley as a joke, and I grabbed my camera as fast as I could because this opportunity was too funny to pass up!

Cock Blocked

I've been silent on here about the Kentucky Wildcats this season, but after what can only be described as a humiliating loss against South Carolina, I have to rant and rave!  My beloved Cats cannot figure out how to handle the ball.  Tonight they turned it over 20 times.  It took Patrick Patterson until the end of the game to finally figure out how to muscle his way into the paint to get shots to fall without being blocked (SC had 20 blocks in this game... totally unheard of!) and Jodie Meeks, our star player couldn't make anything happen.  The rest of the team was practically silent... unless they were turning the ball over again, that is.

This was a must-win game to put us on top of the SEC east, and we've sucked it up so much again this year that there's widespread talk of Kentucky not even making it into the NCAA tournament.  What a frustrating time to be a Wildcat!

And the Oscar goes to

... I have no clue! Because I went to bed early last night. 2008 was a bust for me as far as seeing movies is concerned, so I had little vested interest in the awards last night. True, I do love watching the Academy awards for the fashion parade, but these days my Oscar knowledge is limited to the family dog, and the grouch from Sesame Street!

I read the recap in the paper this morning, and I'm sorry to have missed seeing Kate Winslet finally win her best actress award, but other than that, it doesn't look like I missed much.

I did get to catch some of the awards in between rocking a sleepy baby who for some unknown reason would Not stay asleep last night. I saw my favorite-Tilda Swinton- and the bevy of other actresses hand out the best supporting actress award, and I wanted to topple off my couch and into the tv and attack Tilda with some eyeliner. (Yes, I know, I need to give it up.) And I also saw a host of men handing out the oscar for best supporting actor. What, I texted Conley, is up with Christopher Walken's hair??!! I saw one shot of Marisa Tomei and she looked gorgeous. On the flip side, SJP & Goldie Hawn both looked haggard. But that's about all the first hand knowledge this DIVA has about movies' biggest night, but oh, that hour of uninterrupted sleep I got before Bradley woke up again was bliss!

Aw Ricky, I wanna be on the show!

Upon pursuing the Facebook status updates last night, I saw where my friend Kathleen had posted an update encouraging everyone to vote for Ricky Braddy on American Idol. Wait- THE Ricky Braddy??!! The one from Nashville who went to Belmont that I did a musical with? Was the gist of my comment to Kathleen. The very same, was her approximate answer. If you don't believe me, you can follow the thread on our Facebook pages. But I digress.

Ricky sang the male lead opposite of me in Pull-Tight Theater's production of Pirates in My Pants (or Penzance, take your pick) a few years ago. He's also the reason my 65+ year old director had to step in at the last minute and sing the part of the 21 year-old love interest with me, completely grossing me out with his lewd gestures. Stupid Ricky. Stupid strep-throat. But of course I am kidding... only about the part about Ricky being stupid.

He is a fantastic singer, and went to Belmont earning his commercial voice degree. I have no idea what he's been up to since, but now he's earned a spot on reality-mega-hit American Idol. I feel like Will Ferrell in Elf at the prospect of actually knowing someone on the show! Ricky!!! Ricky!!! I KNOW him!

I don't normally watch American Idol, but this has piqued my interest. Assuming he makes it past the next round (AI-avid-follower Heather gave me the inside scoop today and told me Ricky didn't get much air time, so that may hurt his chances) tune in to your tvs and vote for Ricky if that's your thing. Yep. That's about the extent of my excitement today.

We did... one year later

Today Brian and I celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary. It's so hard to believe an entire year has gone by since we said "I do." A lot has happened. We've had our share of ups and downs, moreso than most couples I'd venture, but we're learning daily what it means to stay committed and work through our issues to become better spouses and better parents.

Fortunately, we were able to celebrate Valentine's Day together and our anniversary up in Tennessee. For Valentine's, we shared a pizza and ate on festive heart shaped plates and used heart-print napkins to sop up the grease! Then last night we had our anniversary date night. Grandma and Grandpa B watched Bradley for us so we could take in a movie and dinner.

We opted for the lighthearted RomCom He's Just Not That Into You. (Emily- in typical romantic comedy fashion, it was just like heroine!) The film was nothing like the book, and I'd venture a guess that if the HJNTIY authors didn't need or want the money so bad for the movie rights, that they would have hated the script of this movie and the message it sends because it completely goes against the advice that the book preaches. I won't give anything away in case you decide to splurge and see this one (honestly though, it's more of a rental), but it was still a cute movie- just nothing like the book, which I loved.

After the movie, Brian and I headed over to Shogun for a little hibachi grill action for dinner. We celebrated our Valentine's Day dinner last year at this restaurant, so it had sentimental value. Our real place is Olive Garden, but for some reason that escapes me, we don't have one of those in Cool Springs. Nevertheless, dinner was yummy, but I sure missed Bradley, and was glad to see him afterwards. Both me and Brian were too excited to wait any longer to give each other our anniversary gifts so we did that at 3am since Bradley had gotten us up anyways, so that was fun exchanging gifts by nightlight! All in all, it was a great and reaffirming weekend, and I am thankful we were able to spend it together.

Here comes the Bridal Shower

If you ever have a chance to plan a bridal shower that coincides with Valentine's Day, do it! With all of the available decorations and obvious tie-ins with the day devoted to love, it makes for a great shower theme for your bride-to-be. We four bridesmaids had so much fun planning and decorating for Laura's shower yesterday, and I also loved that it was a classy brunch to boot!

For the first half hour or so we let everyone mingle and enjoy the delicious spread of food. For the brunch we served hashbrown casserole (good job, Leah!), pumpkin muffins, sausage balls, fruit & dip, mini ham & swiss sandwiches, baby quiche, cheese & crackers, and chocolate covered strawberries. The beverage centerpiece was a mimosa fountain, though guests had the option of sipping raspberry-flavored seltzer water (but who would choose seltzer water over mimosas anyways?).

Then we moved onto the games. We played two; the first was a word scramble of "Famous Pairs" with answers like "oreos and milk," "Sonny & Cher," and of course "George & Laura!" The second game was a wee bit more difficult- okay- a lot more difficult. There were 15 movie quotes about Love and you had to name the movie. I considered making this a matching game but I thought it would be too easy that way. I guess I thought wrong. The winner only got 7 out of the 15 movie quotes!

Next we moved on to embarrassing the bride-to-be. Ahead of time I asked George 10 randomly-difficult questions about himself that Laura had to answer to prove just how well she knows her future husband. For every wrong answer she gave, she had to chew a piece of bubble gum. Amazingly enough, she got 5 out of 10 correct so this display was not as uncomfortable for her as it could have been! I gotta hand it to her- the girl knows her man! She was even able to correctly guess how many first cousins he has!

Finally we let Laura unwrap her mountain of gifts. I worked on her bouquet of ribbons, while the other bridesmaids snapped pictures, kept a running total of what she got from whom, and kept the presents coming and the trash out of the way. Laura only broke one ribbon, which the old wives' tradition would tell you means she & George will have one child. Diane, George's mom was vying for her to break a few more ribbons!

Here is the bride-to-be opening her "QVC special" from Mom: collapsable bakeware! You can tell by the chef's expression that she's not too sure about this stuff! Apparently it's the "new thing" in baking these days. We'll wait for the future Mrs. Murdoch to report on this stuff.

I love this picture of Laura opening this gift, because with the heart decoration hanging in the background, it looks like a heart-shaped thought bubble coming out of her head! What's the blushing bride thinking of here? Probably her fiancee, this picture seems to say!

Here's Laura with Mama B & her future mother-in-law, Diane

These are the fabulous Bridesmaids/hostesses with Laura. From L to R: Leah, the DIVA, the Bride, Erin, & Rachel.

All in the family: the MOH, the B, and the MOB

The wedding is coming soon, and details are coming together quickly. My job this week is to finish the slideshow I've been working on for FOREVER it seems! Next up: the bachelorette/lingerie shower in 2 weeks!

the Skinny

I'm blogging to report there's nothing to report! I took Bradley to the doctor today because he's still only pooping about once a week. Considering his eating habits (still refusing to eat solids, and nursing 6 times a day) the doctor assured me this is still considered normal. Okey doke.

I am also bragging about the fact that I recently purchased a pair of "skinny jeans" in a size I can't remember the last time I saw (college? high school?) so to celebrate tonight, I wore my skinny jeans and ate 2 scoops of ice cream!

Finally, we are within the month mark to Laura and George's wedding. I have been playing wedding planner extraordinaire and staying busy as the MOH! This Saturday is Laura's bridal shower which we've turned into a Valentine's themed brunch. Once that's over I can relax a little bit. I am so excited for my sister and her fiancee. They really are perfect for each other. Tonight Laura told George she had got him a treat at the store. His surprise? Cottage cheese. And what's funnier is that George got a treat for Laura at the store today too. Her surprise? Fiber. Yes folks, they are a match made in heaven!

8 months today

Bradley is 8 months old today, though it's hard to believe!  Something about 8 months sounds old to me- older than I feel Bradley should be- and I guess it's because he's entered into the last quarter of his first year.  Some things he is now doing:

• Sitting up very well now
• Finally starting to babble recognizable consonants like "va va va" and "ba ba ba" (no mamas or dadas just yet though!)
• He cut his 2 front bottom teeth
• Standing with support from other people or furniture
• Sleeping through the night (ha ha, just kidding about that one!!)

Don't I wish he were sleeping through the night!  Sadly no, Bradley still likes to have his midnight and 4am meals, and I don't have the heart to make him cry it out and learn to do without those extra dinners, so I guess it's my own fault at this point for my lack of sleep.  But I'm also okay with that for now.  Nursing has been a very positive experience for me, and shoving more solid foods at Bradley in order to get him to sleep longer at night just doesn't appeal to me.  I've sort of accepted that my son is a grazer, and doesn't like to eat a lot at a time during the day, so he needs those extra meals at night to make up for it.

Anyways, off of that soapbox!

Life with an 8 month old is not all that different from life with a 7 month old.  Tickle games are still exciting to him, as is Peek-a-boo.  The exersaucer is my lifesaver, and the only time I can ever count on getting a shower or anything else done is when Bradley is sleeping.  Thankfully his schedule is predictable so that's helpful.  One other interesting thing to me is that I can usually tell what kind of day Bradley is going to have by how vocal he is in the morning!  If he's laughing and cooing, it's going to be a good day.  The other alternative is lots of spitting up and impatient squeals to get attention!  I'll leave it up to your imaginations to determine what kind of days we have more often than not!

We visited with Rhonda Lu this week and she grabbed my camera and took a few pictures of Bradley, so here are those for your viewing pleasure!

Wristy Business

After 9 long months of pregnancy, and the whole childbirth process, and who knew that having a baby could cause you physical pain long after the birth??

I've been battling wrist pain since mid December. It began in my right hand, so then I began to favor my left hand to try and give the rightie a rest, and you guessed it, the pain began in my left wrist also, with my right hand continuing to get worse. For weeks my family has been bugging me to go to the doctor, and for weeks I shrugged it off. Finally however the sharp shooting pain kept getting worse and Brian did a little research online and came upon this diagnosis: DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis- a specific form of wrist tendonitis, common in skiers and yep, new mothers!

Apparently the repetitive motion of picking up Bradley has inflamed the tendons in both of my wrists just below my thumbs, making it excruciatingly painful to do simple activities like brush my teeth, pick up my purse, and especially to lift my child. Up till now I have gritted my teeth and pressed on, but after reading about the condition online and (correctly) diagnosing myself, I realized that this was not something that would go away on its own, and could ultimately wind up needing surgery to correct if I didn't take care of it now. So I finally sucked it up and went to the doctor.

After seeing an orthopaedic specialist today and getting double Lidocaine shots, and 2 new wrist splints I should be good to go in a day or two. For now, the pain is worse (and yes, I can still type, as long as I don't use my thumbs!), but it will all be worth it soon. PTL for modern medicine! Oh yeah... and they want me to go to Physical Therapy 1-3 times a week but that ain't happenin. I think prescribing PT for something this minor is a tad overboard. So I'm right back to denying medicine and doctor visits for a while!

PS- a funny story about today... when getting a series of x-rays done I asked the x-ray technician if she could re-take that last one because I wasn't smiling in it! She cracked up!

Super(Puppy)Bowl Sunday

It's Superbowl Sunday and I couldn't be more apathetic about today's game. It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since my live blogging debate about the cuter QB- Tom Brady or Eli Manning (of course it's Tom), 12 months since those weird Vitamin water commercials with the dancing lizards arrived on the scene, and 365 days (approximately) since the last Puppy Bowl!

I have Bradley all decked out in his Superbowl outfit- an adorable brown and blue ensemble with a football logo and stitching that reads "Future Quarterback" on it. Look out Peyton, you're going down, and I don't mean to the 4th floor!

I also laugh every year on Superbowl Sunday and dig up this video for the occasion, about who Jesus is not. (Jesus does not condemn you for watching football.) If you've never seen these clips they are pretty amusing.

Here's my lackluster cheer for the day- Go Cards- only because Kurt Warner is the comeback kid, and I don't want the Steelers having the most Superbowl titles of any team. Okay, I gotta go- the starting line up for the Puppy Bowl V is being announced right now as I type this!

Bloggy-McBloggersons

Hooray for new years and new Blogs!  Katie, of Beth & Katie (hey- you guys sound like a famous rock duo!) has a new home in cyberspace, to go along with her new home in real-life.  Congrats, Katie! (And congrats Beth too, since I never gave you a formal DIVA shout-out)

Also my cousin Eric has finally started a movie blog.  Check it out at www.middleofnowheremoviereviews.blogspot.com He has mostly great taste in films (I say mostly because he hates the Harry Potter series, and how can anyone hate Harry Potter?  It's just wrong!) and can give great lengthy insight to the movies he sees.  Eric's a filmmaker moonlighting as a high school English teacher, and could be called the Zach Braff of Cannelton, IN.  You should check out his reviews and add your own witty banter in the comments section to encourage his blogs.  I hear bloggers like to get feedback in the form of comments just so they know their words are being read and appreciated... not that we don't love you too, Silent Lurkers everywhere, but the acknowledgement of a comment every now and then is a more tangible and quantifiable form of appreciation.  I'm JUST sayin!

Masterpiece Teether

Yesterday was the day from Hades with Bradley. At 7 1/2 months he's finally starting to cut his first tooth- one of the bottom middle ones, and as a result, he's miserable and making me miserable right along with him! I feel so bad for the little guy, as I know his gums are hurting, plus he's congested too. I don't know whether or not being stopped up is a related problem to the teething, but it makes sleeping impossible for Bradley.

From the minute he was up yesterday at 6:30 am (an hour earlier than normal), he was fussing all day long, especially whenever I so much as thought about leaving the room. His 2 daily naps were minimal, and he didn't fall asleep last night for good until 11 o'clock!! I felt so frustrated because every time I would rock him and get him to sleep, the minute I put him down in his crib he would wake up screaming again.

Add onto this that Kentucky lost last night to Ole Miss, and you can chalk it up to a Teeth-totally fun day all around. Today has been better. Still no tooth, but while he was up with the birds at 6am, Bradley took a really long nap to make up for some of the sleep he lost out on last night. I'll be sure to post a picture once the pearly white shows up, but until then, here are some pics of Bradley gnawing his way to comfort!

44th & fashion forward

I woke up this morning giddy with optimism. It's Inauguration Day, I informed Bradley. He looked at me and smiled. I doubt it was because he understood what I was saying... I doubt it :o)

Today Barack Obama became our 44th president of the United States. I was glued to CNN this morning- scanning the crowd shots for Heather & Jacob, and for Brian's sister Sarah who were there somewhere among the throngs of people. What an exciting time for our country to have a fresh new leader taking office. I learned this morning that Barack Obama is the 5th youngest president. The others?

4. Ulysses S. Grant

3. Bill Clinton

2. JFK

1. Teddy Roosevelt

It was phenomenal to see the areal shots of the masses of people crammed into the national mall area. I don't envy the position President Obama has going into office. Times are tough in the US economy and things often get worse before they get better. Obama's speech this morning echoed this somber tone, but it was still driven and encouraging. I have no doubt this new regime will jump into things full speed ahead and guide us out of this crisis we are in.

In more DIVA-typical topics, I thought the first family looked great! Yay for the exit of the frumpy, dull Bushes, and hooray for a more fashion-forward family coming into office. Both Obama girls looked extremely well put together and cheery in their fitted j crew coats this morning, and Michelle Obama I think is just gorgeous. I loved her gold ensemble today, and am eagerly anticipating what she'll wear to the inaugural ball tonight. She is one classy-looking lady!

Engagement Pics

Mom, domestic goddess, and add one more to the list: photographer-ess extrordinaire!

Laura and George needed an engagement picture of them taken for their wedding announcement in the paper, so I volunteered to take a few of them in the back yard. Here are some of the good, the bad, and the ugly:

Yeah... getting the two of them to smile at the same time was quite a feat!


Laughing at the "wild weenie" running around the yard

This is when George made the Gopher face invoking one of our favorite you tube videos!

The future Murdochs: Laura, George, and Julius
The winning photo

Buy you a Drank

When T-pain made the phrase popular with his song, Buy you a drank, I'm sure the hip-hop community never imagined an anti-energy drink carrying this namesake. Yes, now after enjoying the wings your Red Bull gives you, you can "slow your roll" (I'm not making this up, that's their official slogan) with Drank, an anti-energy drink infused with melatonin & rose hips designed to relax you!

Oh NO they Dih-nt!!!

Oh Yes, they did! I read about this in the paper this morning, so it looks like Drank is now available nationwide at your favorite munchy-stop- er, I mean, convenience store. Or you can click here to Buy you a drank!

Bundled baby

I have finally found a reason to enjoy winter!

having a ball today- foot & basket, that is

I've been relatively quiet on here lately about my favorite sports teams, but I can be quiet no longer.  While Brian's teams had lousy endings to their seasons- the Packers fizzled and didn't make the playoffs, and Wisconsin who started the season ranked lost their minor bowl game -my Kentucky Wildcats won their bowl game, and the Titans finished the regular season number one in the NFL!

Today the Tennessee Titans will take on the Baltimore Ravens at home, and you had better all be watching as my team continues to beat their opponents, and will probably continue to not get any love from the rest of the sports world.  But it's playoff time now, and all bets are off.  Every game is a must win, and brings us one game closer to the Superbowl.  But I get ahead of myself.

Now it's basketball season too, and the Big Blue also plays Vandy today, so it's a full day of tv watching for me, perfect for this yucky rainy Saturday.  Now the only decision that remains is what color of blue do I wear?

Lucky Number 7 months

On January 7th, Bradley turned 7 months.

• His sixth month was marked by settling into a daily routine with eating and napping (but still not unfortunately, sleeping through the night!).
• At 6 1/2 months, the chunky monkey was a little over 17 1/2 pounds and was 26 1/4 inches long.
• He's sitting up all by himself, though I usually keep a boppy pillow behind him, and an eye on him anyways, as he had an unfortunate run-in with a shelf in his room last week.
• Bradley is also a Boob Man. He hasn't taken to eating solid foods all that enthusiastically, nor have his bowells agreed with the solids either! We are slowly but surely changing that, but you can't help the guy for his preference for Ol' Bessie.
• The lifesaver toy for this month has been his new exersaucer from Grandma & Grandpa B. How did I survive without this? Bradley loves bouncing in it, and it gives me anywhere from 15-30 minutes of uninterrupted time.
• Teething has begun, but no pearly whites have appeared just yet.
• Still no discernible babbling other than laughs and squeals of delight, and impatient whining whenever the food isn't ready right this second, or no one is paying him full attention! (Is it too early to teach him there's no crying in baseball, or breastfeeding, or in restaurants??!!)

The little guy is so much fun. I never thought I would get so excited over a poopy diaper, or love someone so much when I see him smiling at me from his crib in the morning! I share fellow new-mom Rachel's sentiments that Bradley is in his golden age right now- easy as far as babies go because he still isn't mobile, but is old enough to sit up and play now. The time will come soon when he'll be scooting and crawling all over the place, but for now, I'm reveling in the fact that at least the munchkin will stay where I put him for the most part, and I'm crossing my fingers that month 7 for Bradley will be the lucky month where he finally allows mommy to get some sleep!

Congrats, Grad!

With all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holidays, my sister's big accomplishment didn't get the attention it deserved, but as of December 13th, Laura officially graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in history. It was a long and winding road to get to this place, but I am so proud of her for taking her time and committing to finishing school. It took Lulu a few different schools, and a few extra years, but she finally did it. Let the Big Girl job search commence!

College Grad with Mom & Dad

Lulu & Juju in their matching caps! The MTSU alumni engaged couple

Christmas Day 2008

So here we are for Bradley's first Christmas morning. He was up at 6:30, but I think it was closer to 7:30 before everyone was up and ready for the opening of presents to commence. First things first- Bradley's presents from Santa- we went through each present, and he had the most fun helping me tear the wrapping paper. There was so much going on, and so many toys surrounding him that it was a bit overwhelming for both of us!

Bradley helping mommy with the wrapping paper!

Bradley's reaction of his new TMX Cookie Monster

Christmas 2008- Bradley's first Christmas

Bradley had so many presents that he didn't make it through opening all of them before it was time for his morning nap, so he came back after the nap for round 2, and Christmas breakfast. He also decided that Christmas morning would be the day he decided to finally commit to eating solid foods. We brought out the high chair for the occasion too! (Up until this point I had been clinging stubbornly to feeding him in his Bumbo seat, which he has outgrown.)




Christmas night we opened our stockings, and I took the opportunity to take pictures of Bradley literally in his stocking, it is so big! The new rule in the house has been that only items that fit in the stockings may be given as stocking stuffers, so Grandma B got Bradley's stocking extra-big to get around this stipulation.

Bradley and mommy on Christmas night
Bradley (aka Santa's Baby) with Grandma & Grandpa B

It was definitely a bittersweet day, with Brian and I not together on Christmas, but we attempted to each appreciate the time spent with family and I enjoyed being able to capture all the moments of Bradley's first December 25th. Thank you so much Grandma & Grandpa B for making this a great first Christmas for Bradley. He got so many toys to play with that he should never be bored, as long as someone is right there with him to play of course!

Christmas Eve Recap

Christmas was really weird for me this year. Brian was in Tallahassee with his mom, and Bradley and I were here in Tennessee. Nevertheless, it was Bradley's first Christmas, and so we made the best of a bad situation.

Christmas Eve was spent with mom and Laura in the kitchen all day, and everyone finishing up last minute gifts and wrapping. We attended the usual Christmas Eve service at Brentwood Baptist. The highlight for me came at the very beginning of the service when country music songwriter Neil Thrasher (apparently also a BBC member?) sang his Christmas song "A Baby Changes Everything" with a string quartet accompanying him. It was simple, beautiful, and powerful. These are the things I miss about not living in Music City. Church music is good wherever you go, and the potential for songwriters and country music artists popping in and performing is always in the realm of possibility.


When we got home that evening, it was time to take family pictures. All of a sudden, the dogs started to bark, and we realized that someone was at the door. Mom answered the door, and in walks this woman holding a tub of Moosetracks ice cream, and directly behind her is a man who I can only assume is her husband, carrying a suitcase. They are standing in our home, looking at us expectantly, and we are each thinking that we have no idea who they are, but each one of us assumes somebody else recognizes our Christmas Eve guests. It only takes a few seconds of the strangers panning across the room before they realize they are at the wrong house! "What number is this?" the woman asks. "1421" Mom replies. "Oh, we're looking for 1425!" The ice-cream-laden lady responds with a laugh. The couple back their way out the door, meanwhile commenting to mom that they like our Christmas decorations anyways! It is all we can do to not bust out into a raucous laughter right then, and so we wait a couple of seconds after the door shuts behind them before we allow the laughter to escape!


After our unknown and unexpected guests left, we continued with our family photo session in front of the tree.
While dinner was cooking, Laura and I carried on our Christmas Eve tradition of opening our presents from each other, and Bradley surprised me with a gift to open that night as well- a new camera- although I think he might've had some help shopping from Grandpa B!

Christmas Eve Dinner was absolutely amazing! Laura and Mom never fail to outdo themselves. We had a marinated and herb rubbed beef tenderloin, sauteed brussel sprouts, fried apples, and garlic mashed potatoes. I'm not usually much of a meat eater, but that night I had 2 helpings of the steak, along with everything else! My compliments to the chefs!

After dinner, which was later than usual, I scrambled to get Bradley to bed at a semi-normal hour, but took the time to get his Christmas Jammies on, and then pose him for pictures with cookies and milk for Santa!

However, I had a good hunch that what Santa really wanted was not cookies, but rather cookie dough, so there's that picture as well!

After the little one was asleep, we rounded out the evening by watching The Holiday that I had just received as a gift earlier that evening, and went to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads.

TGI2009

I can say with quite certainty that 2008 has been the best and the worst year of my life, so I welcome 2009 with open arms! In lieu of the expected New Year's Resolutions, here are the things I anticipate the new year will bring:

• Bradley's first birthday in June
• Going back to work- whether that be a full-time or part-time job
• Laura & George's wedding in March
• Finding out once and for all if Bradley's hair will be blonde or red
• Bradley's first words, steps, and finally sleeping through the night (please, God, let this one come soon!)
• My last birthday in my twenties (I'm depressed already!)
• A renewed, restored relationship with Jesus

Here's a few shots of Bradley in his special New Year's outfit, compliments of Old Navy. I'm ringing in the new year today by having a traditional new year's day dinner with our family friends the Reeds, in which Sandy will bring her famous corn bread, and mom will make everyone take at least a bite of cabbage and black-eyed-peas, the northern and southern traditional foods supposed to bring luck and money in the new year! I'll also probably start Harry Potter book 7 again since I just finished re-reading book 6 this morning. Nothing like a cold winter day to curl up in bed and read a good book! That's it for me. Happy New Year's, everyone.