not ready

I feel like this month I've just been working really hard to keep people fed and my head above the water. As usual we've really not over-committed ourselves, but I feel pressed for time to do more. Baby is needing more attention, more help going to sleep (this last set of molars are killing me), and more opportunities to grow into a sweet little person. That's just taken priority lately, which makes me feel behind on other things that need to be done but really don't matter.

If I had more time to the day I would get more sleep. I would exercise every day. I would blog of our exciting adventures. I would do fun educational games with Baby every day, find somewhere she could run every day. There's lots of things I would quickly commit to doing with more time.

But as it is the days are getting shorter and I do well to get in bed by a decent hour. Someday I won't be as needed and I'll be able to exercise every day again. Someday I'll be able to get a good night's sleep most every night. Someday I'll be super-Mommy and rival Mary Poppins.

Some day I'll be able to sit down and dedicate an hour to blogging of exciting adventures again. But that day isn't today.

Today I quickly wish you a very merry Christmas. I hope your holiday is surrounded by those you love and wrapped tightly in God's loving grace. I hope you're able to ignore the hustle-bustle long enough appreciate the things that really matter. And I hope you have far too many complex carbohydrates.

lucky thirteen

This past weekend The Hater and I decided to throw together another batch of Nana's best cornbread dressing. It ended up being great - we love it every time. And The Hater especially likes it when we don't invite people over to share it with us because it's just about his most favorite thing that I make for him.

Cornbread will always be a very special thing for me to make because my Nana taught me how to make it. That along make it an epitome of my comfort foods.

We had a great need for comfort foods because next week we travel to see family. It's going to be another crazy whirlwind, most likely sans cornbread, but with all kinds of other good things that we don't usually eat. Country ham, home-fried chicken tenders, biscuits and gravy, Rick's BBQ -- it's going to be crazy, but we'll be well fed.

Baby is having a terrible time going to sleep at night. When we get back from the trip we're going to re-train her. There's no point in doing it now because we'll just flip-turn-upside-down everything when we're all sleeping in the same room for a while. But she'll need your prayers when we get back because she's going to think the world is ending. Maybe we should first butter her up with some of Nana's Kleeman's Chicken on Eggbread?

PS: This is my thirteenth post that mentions cornbread. For a good time (and blast from the past) search my blog for cornbread, and you, too, may be whisked back into sweet buttermilk time.

PPS: Two points for you if you caught The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reference.

dainty, yet thuggish

They say that attention to detail

separates the champions from the near chamions.

Baby is consistently pointing out letters in signs, on labels, and pretty much anywhere she takes the time to look for them. So the next plan is talking about what sounds they make. That's the only update I have on the literacy front.

We've gotten through house guests and gotten back into our routine, which means more projects! We started a special new top-secret project today, but the details of that are classified.

I've had my Christmas shopping finished and wrapped since before Halloween. Once I finish knitting a late-requested hat then I'll get them in the mail. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to not have to go to the mall and deal with the chaos.

More salt dough adventures...

teddy bears and Christmas trees are only the beginning.