Hey What do ya know, I'm putting my degree to use . . . kind of

We had our priest over for supper the other night, he was talking about how he's starting a Spanish Mass. It came up in conversation that that was my major in college. Today he called and asked if he could come over and have me help him. He recorded me reading different parts of the Mass, the readings for this weekend, and the Gospel, so that he could listen to them and get the pronunciations right. It's been a while since I've put that to use . . .

Have you heard this song?

I love Christmas music, and I LOVE this song. When Isabella was a tiny, little newborn I would hold her and listen to this song, and of course, bawl.

Joseph's Lullaby

The Name Game

On my way home from my parents, I was daydreaming about how wonderful it would be to have another girl sometime. I was going through names in my head that I really liked, there is one name that I love, but didn't think Monte liked it. The evening I got home, Monte, out of the blue mentioned that for some reason he was thinking about what we would name another girl if we have one. When he told me his name, I about fell over! It was the same name I had picked, and we had never talked about it, AND it's not a very popular name. How crazy is that?! So I guess that's settled, we've had our boy name picked out for years, so all we need is the kid!

Christmas Card Rejects

I took Isabella's pictures for our Christmas card the other day (our tree has been up for a while, I just didn't get around to posting it until today). I think I took about 15 pictures before I got a good one. Here are three of my favorite "rejects". And yes, her dress is quite familiar.

Hmm, let me inspect this present more carefully.

And my two favorite pics, that actually made the card . . .

Decorating the Tree

Our Thanksgiving

Our quiet Thanksgiving at home was great, our first turkey turned out wonderful.

And to answer Meredith's question, here is an article on brining. I had never heard of it until I met Monte's family, it makes a huge difference!

I'm Back

Isabella and I got home last night after spending 6 days at my parents. I was so busy the entire time I was there. I painted their living room and dining room and did a lot of deep cleaning the whole time. They are doing some remodeling, so after they get their new kitchen after Christmas I'll be going back to paint that, along with two entryways, and their bedroom as well. And please tell me I am not the only one whose child has a hard time dealing with staying away from home! Isabella was really not herself the whole time we were there, I would see snippets of herself, but for the most part she was a whiny, homesick, clingy mess. When my mom wasn't at work, she was painting with me, so Isabella was kind of on her own. My niece and nephew came over one day, and she really liked that. I do have to say, though, that for the most part she played by herself really well, she would just bring a toy to wherever I was painting and play next to me. I was wishing I had one of those backpack carriers, so I could just plop her in that, because she was wanting to be held a lot. Towards the end of our time there, whenever I would tell her that I needed to start painting she would come up with some excuse like, "Annie no feel good, Annie sick, Annie SO cold" thinking I would hold her then! I can't blame her, though, she is so used to our routine here at home, and it was total chaos at my parents. The house was a mess with all the work being done, and there were a bunch of people there putting in new windows and doors. She was completely out of her comfort zone. She kept saying, "go to Annie's house, see daddy", so she was definitely missing her daddy as well. And now that we're home, she is so happy and being an angel today, and I have a lot of unpacking to do . . .