this & that

My due date is just days away, and I have no exciting news to report. Baby seems content to stay where he is for now, and I'm fine with that. From my first two pregnancies, I have no high hopes that this one will come early, or even on time. Max was 10-16 days overdue (there was debate about my actual due date), and Marty was 7 days late. My midwife also doesn't expect him to come for a while yet, given my history. Paul's work Christmas dinner is tomorrow night, and we'd both really like to be there. Anytime after the party is fine with me. And if that's the case, anytime after I have a good night's sleep would be even better! Although everything seems to be in order, I'm not feeling ready myself just yet. Talk to me on Saturday.

Sharing an apple, and a bucket.
As we have no grandmothers living close by, we have two stand-in Grandmas at the ready to watch the big boys when "the time" comes. One is prepared to come in the night, and the other will host them at her house in the day if need be. Paul's mom will be coming on the evening of the 18th, so after that we won't have to worry about who will watch the boys and where. She'll make everything so easy, as she always does.

Max has his preschool Christmas party and program on the 19th, and I really don't want him to miss it. I really want to be there too but have prepared my heart that I may be otherwise occupied. If so, Oma will take him and capture the show on video for me. The other biggie event I don't want him to miss is the church program on the morning of the 21st. Marty's class is doing something too, so I really hope we don't have to miss it.

Trying out the Christmas tree box.
They have both become quite the entertainers when the kids are invited to participate at the front of the church. We're proud and embarrassed at the same time. This last time, as Max was up at the top of the stairs, he waved his hand and called out "Wait for me!". After a few socially inappropriate antics by Marty, we now just take him straight to his Sunday School class while Max goes down with the other kids. We sit in the balcony, so Marty was starting to want to be neither up nor down. A few weeks ago, we were surprised when he showed up back at our seats after we had taken him to his class. Paul returned him, to find one of the teachers standing right in the doorway, equally as surprised to see he had escaped as he had been at the door the whole time. They figured he must have snuck out the door of the attached toy room. I think I may actually be to blame a bit for that as when I dropped him off, I had closed the other door, but don't remember it actually clicking right shut. We were thankful that he knew exactly where to find us!

My decorating helper with our $30 Charlie Brown tree.
He's allowed to play with the ornaments while Marty is having his nap.
I went to an annual Christmas party hosted by Jen & Jason last weekend. Paul stayed home with the boys this time as we're saving our baby-sitting money for tomorrow's work party. This group has been friends for many, many, many years and it's always fun to get together. (Almost all of us went to youth group together.) Last year I took a St*rbucks gift card for the gift exchange. I had two in my wallet and was pretty sure one of them had close to $20 on it. The other one, well, turns out it didn't have very much at all. The one I gave ended up having about 36 cents left. The recipient wasn't too pleased. Imagine his delight this year when I happened to end up with the last gift from the pile, the one that he brought ... a backpack beer cooler, emblazoned with the blue and white name brand, and a nice cold one inside. And he's the type of guys who just can't contain his glee. While he giggled at the outcome, I traded the cold beer for some bath potions and a shower puff.


After hearing that our 2.5 year old friend was taking care of her own "toilet hygiene", I decided that it was really time to get Max trained to do the deed. I've tried a few times but he hasn't seemed to catch on. I think he felt up to the challenge after hearing about Taeya's success. It was just the motivation he needed. I'll miss hearing his trademark, sing-songy, "I'm doooone!", but will be happy to only be wiping 2 bums for the next little while. We have made no further attempts to potty train Marty, and likely won't for a few more months.

I won a prize! Several great prizes, actually. The lovely and very talented Amy Quarry had a contest for her 101st (I wanted to write 101th:) blog post, and I was the winner! She sent me all kinds of goodies, all hand-made with her distinct creative flair. I love seeing the creations she comes up with by upcycling old garments. Included in my prize: a darling sundress, which will go to my itty-bitty niece for her birthday in February (sshhh, don't tell!), a hairband (on my head), a Christmas garland decoration (in my window), a zippered pouch, a small wallet, and a cozy toque for baby (already packed in the hospital bag).

Thanks so much, Amy!
And so until you hear from me again, I'll be waiting, likely tidying and organizing as well. I hope we don't have to miss the season finales of Survivor (Sunday) and Biggest Loser (Tuesday), and we hope this baby won't have to share a birthday with Paul, Tuesday the 16th. I'll let you know when anything significant happens.

Lunching like kings, as the sun was too bright at the table.
PS: Happy 30th Birthday to Charis! And Happy 30 + a few more to my brothers Chris (today) and Colin on Saturday!