I woke up this morning thinking of all the things I haven’t written for a while and decided that it was tame to update my blog. This has been a super bust time for us. Not that anything exceptional has happened, rather just life. This fall passed quickly and busily. Along with work there was a wedding to celebrate and my friend Elizabeth tied the knot to Jeff and became Mrs. Bray on October 4th. My friend Amy is preparing for a daughter to arrive after Christmas so we had a baby shower a few weeks ago. There were parties, dinners, things to do and people to see!

First, Jude is growing up. He was just fine, laying around for so long. Suddenly he is harkening back those ultrasound days when we likened him to a squirrel in a cage. The boy is on the move! He starts out sitting up, then in the process of reaching for something goes from being on one hip and one knee to a crawling position. He can’t crawl yet though so he ends up sort of rocking and reaching until he flops on his tummy. Then he’ll roll back and forth and ooch his way to the object of his desire where he’ll push himself back up into a sitting position until the next object of interest catches his eye. Crawling is imminent, as is walking. He is also capable of pulling himself up on the coffee table (or any other ledge for that matter) but can only get about halfway up, at which point he starts to fuss adn we run over to make sure he safely gets back to terra firma! He grew a few teeth last month, at the beginning of October. So now when he chews your fingers, it HURTS! He has learned to say Dada and uses it to wake Bradley up. Tap tap. DADA! Dadada! Tap tap! Dada! He is like a little alarm clock. Except you can’t turn him off with the tapping and talking. Then, when you actually creep your eyes open to peek at him, you are rewarded with the sweetest of baby smiles. While a bit annoying at 4:30 in the morning, you can’t stay annoyed for too long when you receive that look of adoration. When I get home after a day’s work, he is all over me, smiling and letting me know he’s glad I’m back. What a homecoming.

Gigi is the same sweet girl. We had some issues with listening of late, but I think we’ve got that back under control. For her fifth birthday (way back on October 13th) we had a swimming party. It was quite an event with a pool full of 5 year olds (and some older too). She loved it! Then she got every gift her little heart could ever desire. She had quite a good time. Preschool has been a little bit tougher this year. She never wants to go. We are being consistent though, as we know that we are building habits that will be reflected next year in kindergarten. I think she just hasn’t quite connected to this years’ teachers or something.

Last night I took Gigi on a date to see Mama Mia. We had a blast! I thought she’d like it, but she was up dancing around the whole time. I realize that some of the movie was not the most appropriate (or interesting) for her but we had such a good time. It was really nice to be on a date with just her. She watched the movie from my lap the whole time, asking lots of questions. Super fun. Now we want the soundtrack!

My birthday came and went without much fanfare. It landed smack in the middle of conference week AND on the day we have to stay until 6:30 to allow parents who work to have a later conference after work. It was fine, but I would have rather been with my own family than my student’s parents. Then we were supposed to have a date that Saturday night, but Gigi got sick and the whole house of cards came tumbling down. No date again. Then the next weekend we tried again, and the babysitter canceled. I’ve been a parent for five years now, and that was the first time I really felt like I lost out what I wanted to do to parenting. Oh well. 36 is rapidly coming and we’ll whoop it up then. I still can’t believe I am 35. That number just seems so old to me.

Everything was made better by Obama being elected though. What an exciting night on election night! The night felt like New Year’s Eve or something. Our family sat around the TV watching as each state was called, the number slowly climbing in the favor of our president elect. We cheered as he gained new states and cried when he finally was declared the winner. What an amazing night! We are so excited for this man to take office.

I got sucked into the Twilight craze this fall. I started out reading it to see if it was appropriate for my classroom library, and as of last night, finished book four, Breaking Dawn. I don’t know what it is about the books. THey’re less about vampires and more about romance, but so addictive. Now I am looking forward to seeing the movie. The feedback is that the movie is decent. We’ll see. I am one of those that almost always likes the book better.

Now the Christmas season is here. We decked the halls as soon as Halloween was over, so in our house it has been Christmas for a few weeks now. Our house just seemed so bare when we took the Halloween decorations down, so we replaced them rather than waiting. We his some pretty good sales for the kids too, so we’re all set in the gift department as well. That is a good thing too, because on December 11th we are headed back to Disneyland to celebrate Disney style. We talked my brother into coming with us this time, so there is a possibility that we will be able to ride some things together, without Jude, and have a super fantastic time with Bruce, Nancy and Shyla. So it’s good that we have Christmas all set up. When we come back, we won’t have to be all stressed out. It was funny to provide my lists of wants to my family for the kids. Gigi likes everything pink, purple, sparkly, and Barbie. Jude on the otherhand, likes mechanical items, tags, wires, strings and the like. The difference between the two is quite interesting.

So today, Thanksgiving, we are heading to the cemetery to visit Bradley’s recently deceased Grandpa, then we’ll head over to his uncle’s house to enjoy the Tofurkey. Tomorrow we’re off to Seattle to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade then to wander around the city a little. The rest of the weekend will be spent working on my National Boards and crafting.

I am thankful for my little people, Guinevere & Jude, my amazing husband, and the family we have created. I am thankful for the love I have from family, our health and our home. I always look at my life and think I am so lucky. That’s a pretty good thing and a nice way to feel about my life. I’m so blessed, there’s so much to be thankful for. I hope this Thanksgiving finds you in a similar place.

Blessings,
Tamara


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