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check ins!
what is everyone up to as we gear up for the holidays? it's been baby overload lately so let's hear it all!
I have no concrete plans (other than standard holiday stuff) until I return to work in January and I like it that way. Scratch that, the hubs and I have tix to see Norm MacDonald at Temple next Friday which we will be using to celebrate our 2 year anni, which is this Sunday.
I have to start planning my sister's baby shower, which will be in January, amongst all of the holiday madness.
I have a girls only holiday party that has a Jersey Shore costume theme this year. I am debating on just wearing brown sweats and going as a "meatball" haha.
I am drooling at the thought of the Beer and Chowder fest at the Independence Seaport Museum next weekend. Please tell me someone out there is going!
Re: check ins!
Nothing crazy here. I'm in the process of battening down the hatches because FIL and his girlfriend (vom) are staying with us for Thanksgiving and the week before.
I can't believe it's November already and Christmas is next month. Years seem to go by like months anymore.
DH's aunt just sprung an idea last night for us to go to Cayman with them for New Years so today I'm in the process of trying to figure out if I can get a passport for the baby in time as well as figuring out everything that revolves around Christmas. At this point I feel like it's kind of rushed so we may just stick with our original plan of going in March/April and then doing Disney in June. Since I was KU last year, we didn't take a vacation so we're really itching to go somewhere now. I like having vacations to look forward to because it helps me get through the awful winter months.
Yeah I don't think there is a huge delay with passport processing anymore. I had to renew mine I think last year and without being expedited, I swear it only took 2.5 - 3 weeks. I think it's kind of weird that an infant can get their picture taken at 5 months and then the picture be good up to 5 years. Babies look different each month. I'm not really complaining though... it's not like I want to be renewing a passport every year for the first 5 years. Thanks Er!
Only plans I have going on are for my 30th bday... DH will be out of state for a wedding the weekend before my birthday so I'm going to do a Lehigh Valley wine tour with my sister and some friends while my momma watches my baby and my niece. DH doesn't like wine so I figure it's perfect timing and he and I can go out to dinner or something when he gets back.
I am 34 weeks this week. Trying to get the nursery finished, prepping post-baby meals for the freezer and other nesting.
Holidays - we are planning to visit my dad/family in Allentown on Thanksgiving because it's easier to travel pre-baby than post-baby. We have no concrete plans for Christmas since we don't know when the baby will come, nor how I will be feeling.
As for other plans, we have Beagle's wedding in a couple weeks but that's all the excitement for the month.
#1 12.11.11
#2 10.23.13 EDD
Not much going on with us lately. Just celebrated 3 years yesterday so that was nice. DH brought home beautiful flowers and we had a nice dinner.
I might be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for 25 since my mom recently fell down the steps and broke her wrist and elbow on her dominant arm. I've never cooked a whole turkey before, so this whole idea makes me a little nervous. But I figure it will take the pressure off my mom, who won't be able to do much anyway. Now it's only a matter of getting her to concede!
Other than that, I have started brainstorming Christmas gift ideas for myself
and others. DH and I host Christmas Eve every year, and I cook for both of our families, which ends up being about 35 people...so I like to get my shopping done pretty early in order to have time to prep my house for the festivities. Plus the weekends leading up to Christmas are always full of activity. I really look forward to this time of year, so I like to be able to actually enjoy it!!
I love the holiday season, but it always is so so busy for us, no matter how hard I try to simplify. In addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have birthday celebrations for my sister, my brother, DH's mom, and DH's mom's boyfriend. Already, I have a MIL who isn't speaking to me (no big loss there though) because the date she wants to do her boyfriend's bday I already committed to my sister's birthday dinner. Apparently, I always choose my own family and hate her and her family. Oh well. We also have to make a huge extravaganza about her 60th in December. Currently, the plan is some big expensive gift that we really can't afford, especially with the tons of home repairs and car repairs going on right now...plus a really fancy dinner. I already told DH I want to get my parents to watch Ais for the dinner- who wants to take a 1 year old to a fancy restaurant on a Saturday night at 8pm?- but he thinks doing that will add to MIL's conviction that I hate her. I can't win.
Anyway, I want to get started on shopping, but really am not sure where to start. I know I will buy for my parents and siblings, but other than that things are up in the air. We do pollyanna with my mom's side, so I have to wait on that to choose names, and we are trying to organize with DH's siblings to just all get together one night for dinner or something rather than buy a bunch of silly gifts. We'll see how that goes. Additionally, I have to see what's up with my dad's side (sometimes we do gifts, sometimes not) and DH's aunts and uncles (complicated story).
For fun, though, I do have some things I want to try to do with Aisling. I'm considering Dutch Wonderland's Christmas thing, and I think the zoo has something? I am determined to make the holiday season a good one, regardless of the BS I listed above. I've had a ton of crap going on the past month or so- part of why I've been so MIA- and I just want to have a good season and enjoy it with my kiddo.
Kimbatron -- let me know if you stop at Amore Vineyards. I just had my friend's bridal shower there and it was great! It's super cute. They have a ton of fruity wines if you like them.
The next month is weddings and new job, which you've all heard about 23094832489n times. Wedding in Annapolis this weekend - I get to chill with all my college ladies and I love love love when we all get to bring our spouses/significant others around to bond since we mostly gtg for bi-annual girls reunions and the boys stay home. We leave Annapolis Sunday and get on a plane to T&C on Monday at 7am for wedding two. Cannot.freaking.wait. I am drinking my face off and sitting by the pool for 3 days before most of the other guests arrive, so I am stoked. There will be nothing better than decompressing before starting the new gig. We come back on a Sunday afternoon and then Monday afternoon I fly to Orlando for my new job. I'm getting a headache thinking about all of the traveling coming up, but my last day at my current job is Thursday so the next two weeks are going to be pretty kick @ss.
Then we have T-day and will be going to my 'rents... then the following weekend an at-home reception for my DW bride. Then the holidays and we're doing the weekend before with my family because that's when my extended fam does a big gtg. And my sis is coming home from Singapore and I haven't seen her since July, so I'm psyched about that. Xmas is with my in-laws and my BIL is coming home from Cali and I think the last time we saw him was over a year and a half ago. I just wish my MIL would stop asking me what I want to xmas...it's too early for that shizz.
Perhaps we'll add it to the list! My BIL is the winery-picker since they live in that area. Thanks for the rec!
Right now I'm so happy to live in a major city and not in CT. Most of my friends and family have been without power since Saturday and are being told they do not know how long it will take to get power back. My mother, who somehow managed to not lose power, had her luck run out yesterday when she lost it around 4:00PM.
Other than that, it's officially our wedding anniversary month! Of course, we've yet to make plans on what to do to celebrate. Work is going good. I received a raise and then, about a week later, they asked to to handle marketing matters for the company which included a bump in salary!