I'll Be Home For Christmas, If Only In My Dreams

So, I'm behind. I still haven't posted anything from our Thanksgiving in Vegas and Christmas is less than a week away. I'm happy to report that all of our gifts are purchased and wrapped...except for one that is still being shipped.

This really is the most wonderful time of the year but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad to be spending the Holiday away from my mommy and daddy. I'm a big baby when it comes to Christmas. I like traditions. I like my traditions. I'm 27 years old and every Christmas I can remember was spent at 96 Raypaula Drive. I'm 27 years old and every Christmas morning I wake up bright eyed (its the one day a year that happens) excited to see what surprises Santa has in store.

This year is going to be different, I'm sure it will be great, but it will be different. I'll be with Shawn's family. I 'm excired to spend Christmas with them, there's no one I love to tease more than my father-in-law but I won't be with my mom and dad. I won't be with my sister. I'll be seeing Christmas through the eyes of a mother for the first time and that will be really fun but also different.

I guess its just sad because I have to grow up a little and as the baby of eight, that can be hard to do. People always say the magic of Christmas is for children but I've always felt defensive about that. Christmas is for us all and I love the magic of it.

So Mom, Dad, Amber, have an extra special time opening presents on Christmas Eve, reading Luke 2 until you sing Glory to God all together, wake up to Santa's loot and a yummy funnel cake breakfast. Me? I'll be seeing a whole new world of traditions...and trying to keep Jack the fat cat from wondering in to sleep with me.

I hope this didn't bum anyone out, it wasn't meant to, just my thoughts. For a heart warming experience look at my sweet baby with Santa!!! Now that's a new tradition I can get behind.

Blessing Day

These are Berkley's Great Grandpa Udy's baby booties (so 95 years old).

In our Church we don't do baptisms until a child is at least 8 years old, we believe that children are born without original sin therefore they don't need to be baptised until what we call "the age of accountability." That being said, we do have one religious rite of passage I guess you could call it, that infants have, its called a Blessing, and Berk had his today.

I look absolutely disgusting in our family pictures from today (as Shawn's cousin's son put it this afternoon, and I quote, "good luck losing all that fat from being pregnant" without the conversation being even close to the topic) so all you get is a bombardment of pictures of Berkley Aaron.

Berky's forte...spit bubbles.

Seriously, is he not a doll???

Sweet smirk.

Playing with Aunt Bethany.

Nothing Says Happy Holidays Like Poisonous Decor

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree, you're tiny cute and so cheap
Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree, so cheap I bought 4 of you

With plans to sting you up with lights,
and on my porch you'd glow all night.

Oh Christmas Tree, oh Christmas Tree, please don't try to kill me.

And it is with that little introduction I bring you this:

Exhibit A:

Seemingly harmless harbinger of seasonal joy and symbol of everlasting life. Purchased just after Christmas last year for the extremely small clearance fee of $.50.

Exhibit B:

The tag I only just noticed after "handling the plastic used in this product."

WHAT THE WHAT??? Is this legal??? Is this America???

I mean, I really do just want to put them on my porch cutely adorned with shining mini lights of merriment. Is that a crime? Should I just throw these away? But what if some Christian homeless person rifles through my dumpster and finds himself a fun sized tree just the right height for his shopping cart? I don't know if I can live with that kind of guilt.

Can it really be that bad if these things even made it to store shelves? Target, oh Target what have you done?

Matchy, Matchy

I forgot to take before pictures, but my coworkers went in on an unfinished wooden high chair for me as a shower gift. I wanted something to match my kitchen and I knew I wouldn't find one...actually I looked and I didn't find one. The only wooden ones I saw were brown and my kitchen is black. I just didn't want something cartoony because everything else that has to do with baby screams baby and as a piece of furniture I thought it'd be great to scream, oh wow it matches. Yeah...I'm a dork.

So, I painted this bad boy black and whipped up some little cushions for Berk's tush out of the same fabric that I reupholstered my kitchen chairs in.

The result is super cute if you ask me...even if the back cushion turned out a little narrow.

Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas

The most wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things, their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs...
Here's Berkley's second Halloween costume. Grandma and Tessa Lindseth sent this cute little costume to us, size 0-3 months and when we got it we laughed out loud knowing that it would never fit him. Well, it mostly does now...and only 2 weeks late. The good news is, he makes an adorable Tigger.

My friend Tiffany is a crafty crochet queen and she made Berk a cute little blue brimmed hat as a shower present for me. Then she came by to visit today with this gem:

Moo I mean, Boo

Berky is a cow, we're supposed to be farmers, but you can't really tell that we're farmers. I was in a big ol' flannel night gown to look like I went out to milk the cow, but mostly people looked at me like I was crazy. At least Berk looked cute, right?!?

Photography Fun

As you may or may not know I have been interested in photography since taking a few classes in high school. I love taking stills and interesting angles of objects and have never been great with portraits or landscapes, however I did work in a portrait studio after my Freshman year of collage and I loved that.

As you may or may not know I have been the victim of theft a time or two in my life. I had an old Canon 35mm SLR that I loved and it was stolen from my car in Las Vegas. I have been a film snob for a long time. Specifically a black and white film snob...I don't know that a roll of color film ever entered my camera. I love the look of film pictures. I love the feel of film pictures. And I fantasize, even still, about having a dark room in my home someday. Developing your own film and your own photos is so so so fun and rewarding. I thought I could never have a digital SLR because that would mean giving up on my dark room dream. Alas I began to desire a digital SLR knowing that until we're rich and have a mansion in which my dark room will be located digital is a bit more practical.

With that huge introduction here you have a few of my attempts at photographing my new boy with my new camera my loving husband bestowed on me for my birthday. (And since I'm usually the one behind the camera, if you'd like to see what I look like lately visit my friend April's new photography blog, she did a mini shoot of me and my boys.)