One of our Christmas Photos from 2009 (FYI I'm 6 months pregnant in the picture)

Several people have brought it to my attention that I have been a bit lacking in blog posts as of late.  I can assure you it isn’t laziness that has kept me from posting, or a lack of things about which to write, but rather a complete lack of time and energy to actually sit down and start writing.  The last post I wrote talked about the deer who hit me and the big move, which was now about five weeks ago.  Since then things have settled only slightly.  While many of our previous moves only took us 3 days to completely unpack all our boxes, this one has taken considerably longer for a number of reasons.  First, the house is 3 times as big as anywhere else we’ve lived recently, and thus has at least 3 times as much furniture and “stuff” to fill it with.  I’m also 3 times as big as I used to be… well, that’s quite an exaggeration, but I certainly feel 3 times as big.  At this point, I’m about 7.5 months pregnant and quite substantial in my girth.  That means no moving heavy objects and I get pretty tired pretty quickly.  Also, those of you who know me well know that I have T-Rex arms (thanks for that, Daddy), and with this big baby belly in the way, I can barely reach things like dishes in the sink, shelves above the dryer, etc.  Andy thinks it’s pretty funny and I’m sure if it were anyone but me, I’d think it was funny, too.

Nevertheless, we are finally at a point now where I feel like we are completely settled (barring a few cosmetic things).   We have removed the last of the trash and recycling from the garage so a car could actually fit in it (though Andy’s truck still does not fit in the garage, sadly).  We have started a workout routine at our gym, which is the most consistent we have been about going to the gym since we lived in Miami.  We absolutely love our gym and anyone in Atlanta that needs a gym should consider Ravinia Club.  Riley’s room finally has some furniture in it, although it does look somewhat spartan as of now.  But at least there’s a crib and a hutch and a chair as opposed to a big empty room with a few books on the floor.  The cats seem very happy to have all this space to run around and we often hear them running up and down the stairs chasing each other and bringing us their toys.  We’ve run into a few issues that come with home ownership (though we’re renting) like clogged drains and squirrels in the attic, but we’re dealing with them as they arise.  Andy and I sat down the other day and I asked him if he thought it was worth all the extra work (all the cleaning, sweeping the front and back of the house, dealing with squirrels, etc.) to have a big place like ours instead of an apartment.  We both agreed emphatically that it was totally worth it.  It just all feels like a little much for us right now – between all the moves, the car wreck, the upcoming delivery, settling in to the house, and the holidays and house guests coming up, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.  Thankfully, my mom is coming to visit in a week and that should take a lot of responsibility off my shoulders, at least for a short while.

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful, though small.  We had a lot to be thankful for – living in America, being able to spend time with our families, good food on a beautiful table in a beautiful home, a healthy baby (so far) on the way.  I cooked a ton of food – turkey, green bean casserole, cranberries, creamed corn, glazed carrots, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy – so the four of us, Andy and me and George and Linda, enjoyed a large meal and plenty of leftovers.  After cooking two Thanksgivings in Dominica, cooking a feast like this in America was considerably easier and faster – despite being pregnant at the time.  My feet hurt at the end of the day and I fell asleep watching a movie that night, but it was a great meal and a lot of fun; also, I didn’t have any dishes, which I was TOTALLY thankful for.  Normally, I take pictures of big meals and place settings like that (mostly so my mom can see what a pretty table I set), but this year I didn’t.  Once the food was out of the oven and off the stove, all I could think about was eating it.  I was just too hungry to wait for a photo session, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that I made a beautifully browned turkey and set up pretty table decor.  I guess that’s what happens when the pregnant part of me takes over the rational part.  Naturally, no Thanksgiving is complete without Linda’s chocolate pie, which Andy and I devoured completely over the course of a few days… probably too few considering the size of the pie.

The pregnancy update this month is pretty boring.  I met my new doctor (a Vandy undergrad alum, too, so obviously he’s awesome) and everything and everyone is healthy.  I’m huge, of course, but not TOO huge.  I’m at that point where I’m starting to get a little uncomfortable in my body, but going to the gym and swimming has helped that.  We get another ultrasound in about a week and a half, so hopefully Riley will behave and we can get a few good pictures of him. We’re now having to deal with all the paperwork with the hospital and paying for the doctor and all that stuff, which is making the birth more real than ever.  Mostly, I try not to think about how Riley’s getting out of the womb and focus more on being healthy instead.  I’ll deal with the rest later.

My car ordeal is coming to a close as the repairs were finally finished today.  The wreck was just over 5 weeks ago, so clearly the damage was significant, plus my car had to make a trip to the Honda dealership to get a new brake switch on the pedal and reset the computer.  By the end of the week, Andy will be flying to Roanoke to pick it up and drive it back to Atlanta.  Thank heavens for his somewhat flexible schedule, without which, my car might be staying in Virginia for even longer!  We’re looking forward to having it back, as a Dodge Ram isn’t exactly a practical family car for driving around town.  Plus, since my mom arrives in a week, I didn’t want to have to put a step ladder in the back of the truck for her to use getting in and out of it.  She might say she’s “five foot three and a quarter,” but Andy and I both know she’s about 5’2″ and getting into that truck is pretty much an impossibility.  It’s starting to get to a point where even I dread getting in and out of the truck because of how high it is.

And now we’re in December.  We’ve had our Christmas decor up since we moved in and presents are already under the tree (most of them are for our nephew Dylan, though).  Mom will be here in a week to help me out with chores and readying the house for guests and just sort of being my mom again.  It’s kind of sad that I had to call her and ask her to help me clean my own house, but thankfully she likes cooking and cleaning and ironing, so at least for a week Andy will have creases in his shirts and homemade food on the table and I’ll get more help (ah, the joys of having a stay-at-home-mom – how I took that for granted in elementary school!).  Plus, we’re having a baby shower in Nashville and she wanted to be around for that.  Then right after she leaves, George and Linda arrive and then a day later, Chris, Allison, and Dylan arrive.  It will definitely be a packed house for us for Christmas, but this will probably be the most normal holiday we’ve had since 2006 and we’re so happy to be in a position to host family at our house.  Maybe when I make Christmas dinner, I’ll have Christopher pick up my camera and take a picture so the memory isn’t lost forever!

My next goal is to take some pictures of the now-completed house to show everyone what we’ve been doing for the last month.  But, if the next few weeks are anything like the previous few, I wouldn’t hold your breath for it!  As a side note, this picture is courtesy of Matt Britton Photography and our hair was styled by Crystal O’Riley at Studio Gaven.