it'd beginning to look a lot like christmas

well, i've finally have gotten around to decorating. i didn't put up as much as i normally do, just bits and pieces. and we decided not to put up a tree because aidan will just pull it down and i don't want to stress about it.

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here is one of my navtivities, on the bookshelf in the entry way.

here are my multi-colored sparkley christmas trees on my mantle.

here is our sad little christmas tree next to our nativity. it's driving aidan nuts, he wants to touch it so badly. every once in a while he crawls over to it and throws a tantrum! its sad but really cute!

and since i could not put my normal ornaments on my big tree i decided to put them into vases and decorate the piano. i love the colors of these ornaments, and usually they are intermixed with all of our other random crazy ornaments, but this year they stand alone.

it's not much, but everything that i've put up i LOVE, sometimes i wish i could leave my christmas decorations up all year long. they make me so happy. i should have put them up earlier, but i had to dig them out from behind a giant fishtank in our garage (i'll explain more in another post about the aquarium that we live in!!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

merry christmas

my friend whitney did this meme on her blog, and it looked like fun, so here you go!!

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1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? i love the look or crisply wrapped presents, but i am *horrible* at it, so i do a lot of bags.
2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial, i can't stand the mess of real ones or the stress of keeping it watered
3. When do you put up the tree? we're supposed to have a set time? i'll do it whenever robby gets the stuff out like i asked him to 1 week ago
4. When do you take the tree down? last year i think it came down towards the end of january, it just made me too happy i didn't want to ever take it down
5. Do you like eggnog? yup, i could drink gallons of the stuff -- i need to put it on my shopping list
6. Favorite gift received as a child? my barbie ferrari (although it was actually a corvette) and my american girl doll
7. Do you have a nativity scene? yup, i have a couple.
8. Hardest person to buy for? all of the men in my family, brother, dad and brothers in law!
9. Easiest person to buy for? aidan - he'll like anything i'm sure
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? none, am i supposed to do that now? most likely i'll be blogging it
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? hmmmmmm ... i don't know but i'm sure it was from my grandparents
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? christmas vacation
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? when i feel like it, usually in october or november
14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? not yet
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? egg nog and english toffee
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? i light clear lights and robby likes colored
17. Favorite Christmas song? hmmm, i'm generally bah humbug about christmas music, i think they start playing it WAY too early
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? anywhere where my family is, usually close by.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? yup: dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donder and blitzen, and of course rudolf (and yes, it's DONDER, not donner, it drives me crazy when people say donner)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? giant bright red star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? christmas morning, but we open presents at every place we visit
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? way too much christmas music, i get burnt out on it
23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? no themes or colors, some matching ornaments and tons of random ones.
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? a serger

an ode to robby

my friend tricia, who blogs at swift stuff, just did this meme and i figured since i was just robby's birthday i would do it as well, so here you go!

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1. What is his name? robert (robby) allen baird
2. How long have you been married? 4.5 years
3. How long did you date? 4 months dating, 2 month engagement ... although i've known him since i was 13!!
4. Who eats more? definiately him
5. Who said 'I love you' first? i can't remember, but probably him
6. Who sings better? me (which isn't saying much -- i'm sure he has a nice voice if he ever tried to do is seriously)
7. Who is taller? him (he's 6'1" and i'm only 5'4")
8. Whose temper is worse? him, but get me riled up and you'll see mine come out too!
9. Who does the laundry? both of us, almost even actaully
10. Who does the dishes? me -- all the time. he's only done them once since we've moved into the house (yeah that was 7 months ago!!)
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me, giving him plenty of room for kicking people in the chest if need be!!
12. Who does the cooking? me ... he's only ever made me eggs and i can probably count the number of times on one hand.
13. Who is more stubborn? both of us, but i'm probably more so
14. Who proposed? him, may 5, 2003, on the mark twain at disneyland
15. Who is more likely to admit when they are wrong? him
16. Whose parents do you see the most? mine, every sunday, thank you mom for the best meals EVER!!!
17. Who pays the bills? me
18. Who wears the pants in the family? both of us
19. Why do you love your husband? because he loves me, and he loves our son. he's the best hubby i could have asked for.
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Ok, now I tag nicole and jen. (Copy and paste and reply in your own blog....) Enjoy!

the golden compass

i urge you all not to go and support this film in the box office.

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The Golden Compass - Off Course

By Kathy Rappleye

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The Golden Compass, which is opening today (December 7, 2007), has all the trappings of a major Hollywood success - big name stars (Nicole Kidman, Ian McCellan), a huge budget ($200,000,000), and a trailer that looks fantastical and inviting. A rich, sumptuous offering for the holiday season.Its creators are looking for the beginning of a blockbuster series like Lord of the Rings, with increased book sales to follow.

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But wait a minute. This movie comes with a warning from Christian groups that might make you stop before rushing to the theater with your children in hand, because it is a watered down version of the first book in Phillip Pullman's dark trilogy His Dark Materials. This author, according to one Christian group who sent out an alarm "has been very straightforward about his agenda to indoctrinate children against God and religion. He does not try to hide his disdain for Christianity nor his desire to convert as many young people as he can to atheism."

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With good reason, Christian groups are claiming that this is a pro-atheist stealth campaign, disguised as a fantasy film.Pullman himself has always been open about his beliefs, or I should say non-beliefs, and his reasons for writing the children's novels. He has said in press interviews that "His Dark Materials" books are in response to C. S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" written by Lewis to teach Christian ideals to children: "I loathe the 'Narnia' books; I hate them with a deep and bitter passion..." He has called the series "one of the most ugly and poisonous things" he has ever read. (As quoted in FoxNews.com article of Oct. 29, 2007 by Catherine Donaldson-Evans)

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The film is the story of a girl named Lyra from Oxford, England, who travels to the edge of another universe and becomes caught in a battle between good and evil. But the evil organization in the book is the church, and in the movie it is the Magisterium, a term for Roman Catholic authority to teach doctrine. While director Chris Weitz said he had to cut some controversial religious material from the first film for commercial reasons, he plans to be truer to the books in upcoming films.

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In the third book of the Pullman series, the children essentially kill God. The worry that permeates parents who are concerned about The Golden Compass is that the film is insidious, that while the director cleansed the first film to lure viewers, children will want to read the books, which are overtly hostile to religion.

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Young minds are vulnerable, and Pullman seems to have an aggressive idea about how to affect the rising generation.

happy birthday robby!

happy birthday baby!!! i LOVE you! (even though you don't ever read my blog)

HUZZAH!!!!

HUZZAH!!!! my sister, who blogs over at moments & milestones just made a huge announcement over at her blog. seriously, i'm so excited. i'm going to be an aunt again. HUZZAH!!!! another shelby kid is gonna be around to call me aunt hemi. that just makes my day. so go over and wish her some congratulations, and stick around and read some of her other posts. she has the cutest kids and is the most incredibly talented "life artist" (aka scrapbooking to those of us who aren't as talented). seriously, and takes the most beautiful photos. i love this girl, and i love her kids, and i love her husband. i LOVE the shelby family, and i'm so excited to have another one join this crazy wonderful bunch! congrats sis! i love you. ... and hopefully you'll get over feeling vomitocious and go back to just being sexilicious!

recipe wednesday - gracie allen's roast beef

ingredients:
1 large roast of beef
1 small roast of beef
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directions:
take the two roasts and put them in the oven.
when the little one burns, the big one is done.

aidan loves to eat

i couldn't help but share with you what aidan ate for thanksgiving, on the saturday after thanksgiving we went to my mother-in-law's apartment to share the holiday with her and robby's sister. well while we were eating our ham and potatoes, etc., this is what aidan was eating...in case you can't read what the jar says it's vegetable turkey dinner (i thought it appropriate to eat turkey). he's never eaten so much in one sitting. 6 ounces, holy moley. i guess the kid knows what this holiday is really about: eating as much as you can stomach.

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while i was getting ready to go to my MIL's aidan was playing in the living room, when i came out, this is what i found...

aidan was crawling and playing with his rattle in his mouth. the whole thing, like it was a giant pacifier. this kid is crazy.
i know this picture is blurry, but look at how big that circle is ... and he had the whole thing in his mouth!!
he wasn't very happy when i took the rattle away, and he growled at me!

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he used to be good about eating a variety of things, fruits, veggies you name it. recently he's been spitting just about everything in my face, no matter what. tonight i decided he needed some protein so i gave him a jar of vegetable beef (6 ounces again, and he's never had it before). he ate the whole thing soooooo fast. this boy likes his meat!
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on a related note, i've been working on sewing a blessing outfit for my friend's little boy, and i thought i had put all of my sewing supplies out of reach for aidan, apparently not. yesterday i heard him playing around over there so i went to investigate and he had about 3 or 4 straight pins in each hand. after further investigation i saw that he had something in his mouth ... 5 straight pins!!! apparently he wasn't hurt because he wasn't crying or anything, but sheesh! that boy will put just about anything in his mouth!

aidan thinks it's cool to wear sunglasses inside, especially after gorging on 6 ounces of vegetable turkey.

growing growing - UPDATED

aidan had a well baby check up on november 26th, he's now 29 inches long and weighs in at 22 pounds. on november 28th he finally got his fourth tooth that he's been working on. the other fun trick he figured out on the 28th was waving. robby came home for lunch and aidan and i walked outside with him. while robby was getting into his truck aidan started waving. (neither i nor robby were waving or had waved earlier). we've tried getting him to wave previously, but he had never done it. needless to say both of us were overly excited about his trick and try to get him to do it constantly. when i get a video of it, i'll post.

supporting the grieving process

my friend jen over at lord of the manor wrote a beautiful post that i think more people should read, so i'm passing you all over to her. she's such a smart, witty, strong woman and i admire her strength. i know not many people would be willing to discuss a topic like this is such a public forum as a blog, so jen i bow down to you. i'm not worthy, and you are amazing!!
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if you've ever had questions on how you should react to someone who is grieving for any reason, please read this post. it's amazing.
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head on over and read: supporting the grieving process
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amazing right? now you know.

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and jen, i don't know what to say, other than you are amazing!