Books in Review 2008

I'm sure you've noticed that I kept a running tally of the books I read this year on the blog. I don't care if you liked it or not, I'm doing it again in 2009! I can't say any of them really knocked my socks off (like Water for Elephants in 2007), but looking back, I think my favorite was the The Other Boleyn Girl. So how much money did I blow in 2008 on my books? Not a cent. Of the list below, 33 were loaners, four were gifts, and two I seriously bought secondhand in 2000 and finally got around to reading. All I've passed along to the other readers in my life. Thanks for bearing with me, I just wanted to keep track for my own sake.

2008 Book List
All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
The Marriage Game by Fern Michaels
Dreamboat by Judith Gould
Blue Skies by Catherine Anderson
See Jane Die by Erica Spindler
Just Desserts by Barbara Bretton
Turning Angel by Greg Iles
Naughty Neighbor by Janet Evanovich
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
Cloud Nine by Luanne Rice
The Girl Next Door by Patricia MacDonald
A Week From Sunday by Dorothy Garlock
Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwarz
Bikini Season by Sheila Roberts
The Sixth Target by Patterson/Paetro
Southern Belle by Fiona Hood-Stewart
Pieces of My Sister's Life by Elizabeth Joy Arnold
gods behaving badly by Marie Phillips
True Betrayals by Nora Roberts
A Good Enough Daughter by Alix Kates Shulman
Summer's Child by Luanne Rice
Sleep No More by Greg Iles
Crown Jewel by Fern Michaels
The Old Wine Shades by Martha Grimes
A Woman Betrayed by Barbara Delinsky
24 Hours by Greg Iles
Annie's Rainbow by Fern Michaels
The Night Awakens (a mystery anthology)
Blue Bayou by Joann Ross
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Snowfall at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
Hey, Good Looking by Fern Michaels
Twice Blessed
The Cunning Man by Roberston Davies
Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
See Jane Run by Joy Fielding
Kentucky Sunrise by Fern Michaels
Dr. Zhivago

Sad news from Cary

My parents had to have Ellie put to sleep yesterday. Her health had rapidly deteriorated since my parents returned from Minnesota in October. Grandpa and Grandma Meek brought her to us from Colorado when I was in eighth grade, so she had lived a long life, but she will be missed by all of us. I know Seth will be looking for "white dog" the next time he goes to Cary for a visit. This picture is a couple years old, but Ellie looked like this for most of her adult life, she aged fabulously!

Christmas Karma-gram

Christmas 1980. Shirley is sick, so she stays home while Jim takes little Sara to the IBM Christmas party and stops by the mall on the way home to buy Shirley's Christmas present, a (amethyst probably?) ring. When little Sara walks into the house, she says, "Mommy! We went to the ring store!" And little Sara has never ever ever lived it down.

Flash forward to Christmas 2008. Seth starts saying that my necklace is "too small for me" and that he is going to "buy a big one for Christmas". Nathan takes Seth shopping the Thursday before Christmas. Seth walks up the stairs, and says, "Mommy! I buy you a present!" I say, "Is it a surprise?" His reply? "It's earrings!" Ha! Although for the next week, he kept switching between earrings and a necklace, so I didn't REALLY know what it was. And now I'll catch him staring at me, and he'll say, "Mom, I LOVE your earrings." I love them too, buddy, and the story that came with them.

Christmas 2008

Our holidays began in Kings Mountain on the 23rd. We got there fairly early and the kids played the day away with Grandma Sarah. Nathan's parents gave us tickets to the Bobcats game AND watched the kids so we had a date night. Yea! Seth and Grandma Sarah made some cookies for Santa...(yes, he is wearing an apron...)When we got home from the game, the rest of the family had arrived. Nathan's mom's birthday is Christmas Eve, so it was really nice that we were all together for that, too.

"Millie & Willie" have started to become friends. They shared toys, snacks, and laps, and Will even tried to help Amelia with her sippy cup (and she was more than happy to let him, she is so lazy about holding a cup!).
Amelia met Great Grandmommy and Great Granddaddy (Mayse) for the first time on Christmas Eve. She got plenty of good snuggles in.

Nathan, Evan, Ryan, Chad, Seth, and Elise tracking Santa on NORAD. We (the adults) continued to watch Santa's progress after the kids went to bed, and hurried to our beds when we saw that he was in Charlotte. At one point, Nathan's dad said, "I think Santa is drunk!" because Santa had crossed the Atlantic for the second or third time...the sleigh's GPS definitely wasn't working that night.

Surprisingly, the kids didn't get up TOO early wanting to open presents. But once we started opening presents, it was wild. Amelia didn't quite get the whole opening presents thing at first...

We came home that afternoon and opened presents at our house, and got one good night's sleep in before we headed to Cary (have I ever mentioned that Amelia doesn't sleep well on trips?)

Five Little Monkeys puppets from the Unruhs and a REALLY cool shirt from Chad and Elise... Santa surprised me with a new camera...here is the first picture taken on it (whew, we didn't break it).

We were in Cary from Friday to Sunday, so we did Christmas there after Lisa and Michael flew in from Ohio. We played a lot of Wii and Seth talked my dad, Lisa, and Michael into a trip to Monkey Joe's.

Santa came to Cary, too...he left Seth an art table. I had to run out to Target to get dry erase markers.

Amelia's play table from Uncle Bryan. Sometimes I think Seth likes the baby toys as much as his own!

In Cary, Santa left Amelia a ladybug tent. At our house, the "train room" has turned into the "tent room" and the train has moved down to the basement. It really looks like a playroom now!

We came home around lunchtime Sunday and both kids took decent naps AND slept well last night. Nathan has this whole week off, and I don't go back to work until Thursday, so hopefully we can catch up on some sleep and some cleaning around here!

Where's Amelia Stuck--Holiday Edition

More on the holidays later...as I was editing the pictures, I found I had several of Amelia's antics. In Grandma Sarah's pantry cabinets... Trying to figure out the stairs in Kings Mountain (I'm sure because she'd just seen her cousins or brother go up them)...she's getting close. She made it to the third one here yesterday.

Cruising around the dining room table in Cary.

get out the tissues

As I've said before, the NICU census has been historically low this fall. Now that I am prn, I am only guaranteed one eight hour shift in my unit every two weeks. I have been floating to many other units when they need help to get some time in. My paychecks aren't great, but at the same time, it's not like I want to wish for sick babies to be born! Friday night the only unit that needed help was Hem/Onc (pediatric cancer/blood disorders). I wasn't very comfortable going up there, but they told me I didn't have to take an assignment, I could just be an extra set of hands. The sixteen bed unit was full. It was a humbling experience. Some of those kids hadn't seemed to have gotten the memo that they were sick. I mistook boys for girls and girls for boys with their bald/wispy-haired heads. It made me so sad to think that most of those kids won't be at home on Christmas morning, and so thankful for my two healthy kids. I wanted to write about it that night but couldn't really find the words. This morning my friend Jessica told me to read this story on a blog she follows. Please read. I hope angels watch over every child that has to spend this Christmas in my or any other childrens' hospital.

Nathan's latest shopping spree

Every once in awhile, Nathan just has to shop. Two Saturdays ago he was "bored". So he went to get a new string of lights for the inside bannister, and came home with...an inflatable snowman. I sort of rolled my eyes at first, but I've seen kids riding in wagons stopping by and pointing at it. Nathan says if it makes one kid happy, it's worth it. And I can think of one kid off the top of my head:

Where's Amelia stuck now?

You know how a kid gets so proud of the fact that they can pull up on something, only to realize they have no clue how to get back down? Amelia has been in that phase the past two weeks, but I think she figured out how to lower herself down to safety this weekend. She wasn't technically stuck, I just thought it was a funny place to play...Playing "tent" in Amelia's crib (although today Seth said they were in college).

Hiding from Daddy while Mommy was at work Friday night...

Seth 3.5

Yesterday Seth turned three and a half. I guess when you're in preschool the "half" starts to become important; he started asking us about it about two weeks ago. We had a very good day. Seth and I gave Colette a bath...she usually hates it, but did much better with Seth standing in the tub with her. After Seth's shower, I cut his hair, which isn't pleasant, but every time it gets a little bit easier. Nathan nailed a piece of molding to a stud in the unfinished portion of the basement and we started a growth chart that we can take with us if we ever move. Seth was 39 1/8", and we think most of the growth has happened recently...he completely skipped 2T pants and went straight to 3T this fall (of course, he needs the ones with waist-cinchers to keep them up).

We Love George!

One Week 'Til Christmas!

This month is flying by, in part because there are just so many fun things to take the kids to. Last Wednesday the museum hosted a Polar Express reading. The kids wore their pjs and got a ticket, chocolate milk, cookies, and a sleigh bell.Monday, Santa came to visit the hospital. He arrived on the helicopter, because you know those reindeer are resting up for next week!

We decived we'd try to put presents under the tree. Seth hasn't snooped at all. Amelia for the most part will just play with the train, but has her moments of sneakiness.

I mailed our Christmas cards the other day...here are a couple outtakes from when I tried to take some pictures for the card at home.

I had planned to bake some ginger snaps last night, but it just didn't work out. Maybe I can make some today...tomorrow is Nathan's last day of work for 2008, I can send some in with him. Seth and I made peanut butter blossoms over the weekend, but I feel like I haven't done enough baking, especially since I've been home so much.

Prisoner!

While she was sick last weekend, Amelia figured out how to pull up in her crib. We've moved the crib down to the lowest setting. Since then, she has learned how to cruise along furniture. Now that she's feeling better, she's a wild one! She is trying to say Hi and Bu-Bye when waving and Ah-De (All Done) after meals. She's started clapping her hands and "dancing" to music.

We've seen Santa!

Monday the kids and I went to Concord Mills to do some heavy-duty Christmas shopping. And of course to see Santa. Now Santa looks kind of sketchy in this picture, but he was actually a great guy. He and Seth had quite the conversation (see below)...Amelia was a little less impressed, but shaking a jingle bell distracted her from screaming her head off long enough to get a picture. Their conversation started like this:

"So, what have you been up to this year?"
"I a big boy now. I poop in a potty and you bring me toys!"
(Santa blinks twice.) "Well come here and tell me all about it!"

Here's the thing...just when I think I am going to go insane waiting for Seth to meet the next milestone, he up and does it, and I look back and realize I would have saved myself a lot of grief if I would just stress about it less. After Seth's big mess, I had told him it was the last straw. He started running to his room and changing his own Pull-Ups, which was a step in the right direction, but still messy. The week before Thanksgiving I told him that Santa was going to bring him diapers if he wasn't trying his best to be a big boy. We didn't want to pressure him too much, but no other incentive had worked. On Thanksgiving Day, Lisa somehow got him on the potty at just the right time, we had success, and a ton of praise, and he's been telling people how much he loves to poop on the potty ever since. I think we can officially call the boy potty-trained. Finally. Hurray! The best part of all is our sweet silly Seth is back again...he must have been frustrated about it, too.

Never thought you'd get all that from a Santa picture, huh?

Friday Fun

I have to get ready for work, but I had to post my new favorite picture. Seth and Amelia were dancing together in Amelia's room, and it was hard to tell which one of them was having more fun.

Musical Mayhem

Tuesday Seth's school put on their holiday program. Seth was very excited to sing his songs at school, and I was very excited to see it. But let me tell you how it ended up going from my perspective: it wasn't my brightest moment, but I didn't put Amelia in a stroller, so she was wiggling all over the pew. I was trying to videotape the program because Nathan couldn't get out of a meeting to join us. As I'm recording the processional, I notice I haven't seen Seth. I zoom in at the front of the church...no Seth. So I turn off my camera, grab Amelia, and hustle to the front of the church and ask Seth's teacher where he is, my heart beating a million times a minute with visions of him hiding in some cranny of the building running through my head. She points to the end of the pew, where he is huddled in one of the assistant's laps. He told them he was too cold to sing. What? So I talk him into going up front, where he proceeds to wiggle, talk, and push his way through the rest of the program. I think he even picked his nose once or twice. I was so wound up I never got to relax and enjoy the show. When Nathan watched the video, he saw Seth being carried in by the assistant, but by trying to multitask, I missed it. And Nathan says Seth wasn't acting any different than the rest of the boys. I have been assured by other preschool mommas that now that he has one show under his belt, he'll do fine the next time. I sure hope so! (The stinker sang along with the video when he was watching it with Nathan.)


He sure looked cute, though...

Seth's feet are behind the digital camera in the lower part of the picture..

these boys like to party!

This weekend Seth partied like it was his job. On Saturday we went to the Little Gym for Bennett's birthday party. The boys had an awesome time.Happy 3rd birthday, Bennett!

Sunday we headed over to the Andersons' new house to celebrate Case's 3rd birthday.

Case had a lot of help opening his gifts!

Tent from Grammy Gram & Gram

While my grandma was in town, she and Mom made Seth a "tent" for his "bunkie beds" that have velcro straps so he can do it himself. As you can see, he loves it!

Cooped up, cold, & cruddy

That's been our week in a nutshell.

Tuesday the kids got their second flu shots. By midnight, Seth had a high fever. Not unusual when he gets shots, but he lucked out after his first one. Why is a three-year-old getting two shots? Because he's never had two in a year before, an evidently you need to do that sometime before they're 8. His temp never got below 100 degrees until about 5pm on Wednesday. When it was at it's worst, he'd ask to rest on the couch.
Now also during the night on Tuesday, we started to have power issues in the house. On the upper level, only Seth's room and the hallway had power. On the main level, our bedroom and bathroom did not, and the entire basement and garage was without power. The electrician said the power was only running at 50%, so we had to wait for the power company to come dig in our flowerbed and fix whatever the problem was. Our house was 61 degrees. At one point Seth checked everyone's temps. He was 102.3, Amelia was 99.5, and I was 96.7 (maybe I should have gotten a second flu shot too!) That evening, Seth was back to normal, but Amelia's temp started climbing. She kept a low-grade temp all day yesterday and had teary eyes and a runny nose. It's the first time she's ever been miserable-sick, so I took her to the doctor this morning. She says she has herpangina, which means blisters on her throat, the oral portion of hand-foot-and-mouth. Ouchy! So I am staying home again from work today to take care of the little one. Seth has never had that before, and I have no idea where she got it from. (Probably the doctor's office on Tuesday!)

They sent home Seth's November art from preschool...these were my two favorites:
Earlier this week you could see the light bulb turn on in Amelia's head as she realized "outside" lurked beyond the glass doors...when she's in her walker, she sits and stares at the key in the door, like she's trying to will it open.

Picture time again!

We took the kiddos for pictures last Wednesday morning. It was Amelia's official 9-month pictures and I threw Seth in for the heck of it, hoping to get a halfway decent holiday shot. Amelia was still pretty darn serious, even with Daddy, Mommy, and brother trying to get her to smile, but it wasn't as bad as last time.