It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas....

Tree up and trimmed? Check.

Watching Gizmo admire the tree and try to feed the ornaments milk? Check.

Rest of holiday decorations up? Check.

Some of the Christmas shopping done? Check.

Baking all sorts of yummy and savory goodies? Check.

Eating copious amounts of food, spending the days grazing over yummy and savory goodies? Check.

Two radio stations playing holiday music? Check. (Side note - one has been playing it since Veteran's Day. I am ashamed to admit I've been listening to it since then.)

Enjoying a wonderful four-day weekend with your husband and daughter? Check.

I love the holidays!

So Many Things to Be Thankful For

A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers lost her stepson and three grandsons in a tragic single-engine plane crash as they were returning home from a weekend in Colorado. It was a highly publicized accident here on our news, as the stepson was a successful businessman in the Twin Cities, and the plane was missing for over a week before they found the wreckage.

I can't even begin to imagine how devastating this is for my coworker and her family, and it makes me realize how fortunate I am to have so many wonderful people and things in my life.

I am blessed to have Mitch, Gizmo, and little Helmette. I am lucky that we have such a wonderful, supportive family. We have great friends. I am thankful for our jobs and our health. I can only hope that our lives continue to be blessed with good fortune and good people surrounding us.

May you have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Her Sense of Fashion Leaves a Lot to Be Desired

Grama Poke sent Gizmo a cute knit hat and headband with matching flower for Halloween. She's taken quite a liking to this headband, as the following pictures show. She loves to put it on right after her bath, ensuring a terrible hair day for the next two days. In fact, she loves to put on clothes, shoes, and random accessories.

Here's exhibit #1:

Gizmo is ready to mop up any sweat she breaks while reading her first words book. Take a sip of water, Gi!

Exhibit #2:This fashionable ensemble, complete with coordinating fake Kate Spade purse, says "fierce"!

And finally, Exhibit #3:
Just the other day her new snow boots came in the mail, and she immediately wanted to put them out. Strike a pose, girlfriend! (Actually, she was holding herself up, because she had a really hard time learning to walk in those monster boots!)

Two Thoughts on a Cold Monday Night

1. This will be my third Minnesota winter. Two weekends ago, we had over seven inches of snow. This past weekend, we had an ice storm that caused Mitch to take a pretty nasty fall in the driveway. Tonight on my way home from piano lessons, it was bitterly cold and windy. I am NOT ready for the cold weather, even though I love the look of the snow. Yuck. I don't think I'll ever get used to the cold.

2. Tonight at my piano lessons I had a last-minute cancellation, which annoyed the hell out of me. When I have open slots from cancellations, I try to move my later lessons into them so I can get home earlier. So there I am, stuck for a half hour with nothing to do. I grabbed a Christmas book from the shelves and started to play, and I was disappointed when my next lesson showed up. It has been a long time since I just sat down to play for the fun of it. Yes, I play every day, and yes, my days are filled with music and piano lessons, but I never get to just play what I want, when I want, for the sheer enjoyment of it. It felt really nice. So nice, in fact, I started to wonder how I could do more of it, especially at this time of year when holiday music is so prevalent. It took me back to my piano lesson days as a kid, when we would prepare for months for the big holiday program with Mrs. Rigby, and how we would go to perform at the nursing home before the actual program. Maybe I need to find a local nursing home that I can go play at. In my spare time, of course.

Helmette Update

I'm starting my 22nd week today, and I'm really starting to feel (and look!) pregnant. For the most part, I've been feeling really good, but of course am tired by the end of the night. It's starting to get a little hard to pick Gizmo up because she's just so heavy, and unfortunately she's going through a clingy mom stage. But, Helmette is thriving and has started to kick and move around.

Here is my 20-week picture, which is NOT what I look like now- it's amazing how fast this little kid is growing.


Will she really be here in only 18 short weeks?

Halloween Lasts All Year 'Round

Gizmo was Nemo for Halloween, was was quite possibly the cutest fish there ever was. She could even make a fishy face when we walked up to the houses on our block. She has played with it ever since - we can't put it away!

The Girl Loves Her Macys

Gizmo and I went to the mall today to pick up her Christmas dress (with a 40% off coupon at the Gap - awesome!). We walked through the second floor of Macys, went into the mall, and walked back through Macys to go home.

As we walked back into Macys, Gizmo slowly became more animated and excited, saying, "Yum, yum, yummy, yum, yum!!" and sitting up in her stroller. The farther we got into the store, the louder she got. She was shouting with excitement by the time we got to the center of the store.

This isn't the first time she''s done this. In fact, she's done this every time we go to Macys. What makes her do this? When she and Grama Jersey Girl go to the mall, they stop in and get frozen yogurt at the Macys marketplace.

The girl gets excited about ice cream? Yep, she's my kid.

Gizmo's Growing Vocabulary

Gizmo is the smartest fourteen-month I know. (I'm not prejudiced at all, of course.) She learns new words every day, and has been practicing her counting skills - "one, too, free, ten!" - as she happily exclaims.

One of her latest words? Boobs. When I pick her up, she loves to point to my lady lumps and say "boobs". Sometimes she just points, other times she tries to stick her hand down my shirt, and still other times she pulls my shirt out so she can look down my blouse.

Here is tonight''s exchange after changing into her jammies and standing her up on her changing table:

Gizmo: "Boobs!"

Me: "Yep, those are mommy's boobs."

Gizmo: "Ooh!" (Pulls shirt away from my body and checks them out.)

Mitch: "Do you see anything good down there?"

Gizmo: (shaking her head) "No...."

Mitch: "How long do you think it will be before she does that out in public?"

Me: "Not long...."

End scene.

Update: Helmut

Helmut is now Helmette - she's a girl!

Our twenty-week ultrasound was today, and Mitch and I opted to find out the gender this time around in order to better prepare. I again was convinced that Helmut would be a boy, but it turns out that Mitch knows how to pick them when it comes to babies. His comment as we came out of the ultrasound room? "We need to start saving for their weddings today...."

My due date is now March 26. Only twenty more weeks until little Helmutte makes her debut!