Things that Go Bump in the Night

MaryBeth, her husband Rob, and I were talking today about the weird things that people do in the middle of the night. They had some funny stories but I haven't gotten their permission so I won't share them.

If you have ever slept in the same room as my husband, you have a funny story about him in the night. He is a very active sleeper. He regularly talks and moves around. When he used to work for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, he used to rent me cars in his sleep. It's about once a month that I have to turn the lights on in the bedroom at some awful hour of the night to prove to him that there are no spiders in the bed. The funniest part about that is that he's not afraid of spiders during the day. Ryan's dad even has told me that his camp counselors used to complain about his excessive talking.

During our first couple months of marriage, this was something that I had to get accustomed to. If you know me, I like things very quiet and very dark when I sleep. My sisters often refer to my sleep patterns as cave like. I was always trying to remember what it was that he said to me in the middle of the night but usually forgot.

There was one night that I will never forget. It was somewhere in the middle of the night when it began. I started to feel my head being lifted off the pillow. I opened my eyes just in time to see Ryan above me. He was getting ready to head butt me. No joke. He picked my head off my pillow and head butted me, a full on head butt. He then proceeded to roll over and fall back asleep. Since I was still mostly asleep myself, I just rolled over and went back to sleep, although I was a tad angry. In the morning, he nicely pronounced to me that his head hurt. No kidding. Mine did too. This is exactly what a girl dreams of when they start sharing a bed with their husband.

What is the weirdest thing you have experienced in the middle of the night?

A Great Time Was Had By All

Last night was our annual Christmas Dessert. It was a great time. We ended up having about 65 people show up. There are always a few that cancel at the last minute. We had a great time and want to thank any of you who came. I took some pictures before people got here. For some reason I didn't think to take a picture of Ainsley in her cute Reindeer PJs. Sorry.

Here is the drinks table. There was coffee, punch, sangria, and beer (that red bucket was full shortly after I took this picture - Thanks Bob).


One of the hits of the party was the Hershey Bar Cake. It looked pretty if I do say so myself. Also notice the labels for each of the desserts.

This Chipsy Turtle Cheesecake is amazing. It's one of my favorite desserts of all times.

This is the other cheesecake. It's a Chocolate Cheesecake that I got the recipe from Emerill. Can't go wrong with him!

I had to have a few desserts that weren't chocolate so I made this Strawberry Cake. It tasted great even if it was leaning a little.

Of course we had to have cookies. I made Spritz Cookies and Double Chocolate Chip Cookies (which really should have been called butter chocolate cookies with how much butter went into them). I also made some mint covered pretzels.

In the past I have always made candies. This year it was too much but I decided to make fudge instead. I made chocolate fudge and peanut butter fudge. Yummy!

Not pictured are the things that other people brought. I would like to thank...

Jody for the Better than Sex Cake

Krystal for the Millionaire's Cake

Lori for the Chocolate Pie

Mary for the Pumpkin Roll

Ashley for the Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Treats

Jessica for the Pound Cake

Debbie for the Chocolate Chip Cookies
Beth for Peanut Butter Toffee Bars

Anne for the Honey Bun Cake

I sure hope I didn't miss anyone but if I did, Thanks! Until next year...

My Christmas Present

Everyday Unwrapped

My friend Emily is doing a special with her blog. She is asking everyone to notice the everyday.

The Christmas season is a hard time to do that. We all have our commitments, our gifts to buy, our love ones to visit. It's why it's often referred to as the "hustle and bustle". I am no different than anyone else. In just the past week, I have gone to 2 parties, decorated my house, shopped online for my family, researched what to buy for Ryan's family, and of course baked for my party with the 75 person guest list coming up in 2 weeks.

Last night Ryan got home from work and I declared to him that I was in a bad mood. I was feeling down and I couldn't figure out why. It was classic hormone issues. I didn't want to do anything. I had baking I could have been doing. I had dinner to make. I had packages to put together for our health business. I had laundry to fold. I had bottles to prepare for the next day.

But then there was this moment. We had given Ainsley her bath. I had put her in her red reindeer pajamas. It was time to feed her. This is when I absolutely love breastfeeding. It provides me with the 15 minutes to sit down every couple hours. We sat down on the couch and I began to feed her. She was really sleepy so she was super cuddly in her fuzzy pajamas. She nuzzled right in and went about eating. She was just about done, when she slowly drifted off to sleep, which is something she never does. She lay in my lap, still, quietly loving me. As I gazed on her, I was overcome with my everyday. As Ryan carried her to bed, still asleep, I was overcome with love for my family. My everyday is good.

Away in a Manger

My favorite part of Christmas is my collection of nativities. About 7 years ago, I decided I wanted a nativity as part of my Christmas decorations. I started looking for one and couldn't find one. I couldn't believe how hard they were to find. It started to bug me that Santa decorations were much more prevalent that Jesus decorations. Isn't this holiday completely about Jesus? What happened to remembering that baby in a manger? I made it my mission to make Christmas about Christ in our house. I started to collect nativities.

To date I have 17 of them. They are all different. I have them from all over the world. No two are anything alike. Each year I pick up another 1 or 2. My parents bought me a really nice traditional one. My mother in law buys me them from different countries. Each year, I am most excited to get these boxes out. I enjoy my tree as well, but nothing compares to bringing out these nativities. It's like my own Advent. I look forward to it with great expectation.

Here are a few of my favorites.

This one is Greek.


This is my traditional one that sits on the mantel

This is my Advent calendar. Each day is a member of the scene

This one is wicker

This one may be sacrilegious but its cute and goes in Ainsley's room. Is snowman Jesus wrong?

What are your favorite decorations and traditions of Christmas?

Randomness

I haven't posted since Thursday. I have been really tired but that's not really an excuse. Here are some highlights from the past week:

Hanging Rock
Ryan and I love Hanging Rock, a local mountain we hike with a great view. We had one of our first dates there, we got engaged there, and we take just about everyone important in our lives there. My scrapbooks are full of pictures of people we have taken including Majid and Andrea, Tim and Lindsay, a group from college, my parents, Jason and Leah, and Omar. It only felt right to bring Ainsley up there early. Here are some pictures.

Lost Brain
I have lost my brain again. I went to work this morning without one of the most important parts to my pump. I had to have MaryBeth come to my office with Ainsley so that I could feed her. I felt pretty retarded.

Omar
Omar has been out of work since his assault. His bills are piling up like crazy and are all due right now. He was about to be evicted and lose his car. We put out a call to our friends and family and a good friend of my mother in law's is stepping in to pay all of his December bills. What a blessing.

Christmas Party
Our Christmas party is only a few weeks away. I am starting to freak out. We have 66 confirmed guess with a bunch of maybes and over 40 that haven't responded yet. I started my grocery list and I am going there tomorrow. I will start baking on Friday and probably not stop until the party.

So that is all that is going on with me. I will try to be better about posting but can't promise anything between now and the party.