Well, I got nothing for you.  Nada. Nil. Zilch.With all the sickness that has taken over our house I am lucky to be coherent enough to type this.

See, MM spoiled me when she was little.  I *never* had to deal with a fussy baby and colic?  I barely even know what it means!  But today?  Oh today, I got my payback because the baby is still sick.  We even went back to the doctor yesterday (yes, twice in 48 hours) because her throat developed lesions and her single ear infection turned into a double.  And all that together has created an angry baby that is in horrible pain.  Pain that Baby Tylenol and Motrin don’t even touch.  The only time she will not scream like you are killing her is when you walk her around the house and then it is a constant whimper.

And I walked around for FOUR hours tonight after working a full day on my feet.  And, oh yeah, my throat is now hurting and my glands are swollen and sore.  So I really wasn’t feeling the best to begin with.  And C. can’t help ’cause he has come down with what we think is the flu or at the very least some sort of “funk”.  And we all know men are complete and total babies when they’re sick.

I am exhausted and it is only 7 o’clock.

So those collection pictures will just have to wait another day.  I really will try to get to them, I promise….but I couldn’t leave you without at least one picture, could I?  Here is Miss Crazy Hair sitting on the stove (that is turned off, I promise!), bread bag in hand, and crazy bed hair at 6:34 in the morning.  Talk about a candid picture!

3.5″ so far and it’s still coming down.  They said it should continue snowing ’til around 10pm.

My front-wheel drive car wouldn’t make it out of my parents’ driveway this afternoon when I left MM there.  So Daddy had to drive me home.  A ten minute drive took over an hour with a u-turn in the middle.  Once I got home C. and I called our restaurant.  Turns out, they were open.  I put on my rain boats and we walked there in the snow.  What would have been an 1.5+ hour wait turned into having a large booth and being there with just three other couples.  The food was divine…like I knew it would be…as well as the company.

As we walked home in the quietness that comes with a fresh snow I thought about how blessed I am.  A great husband, a fabulous-in-every-way daughter, a caring family, the perfect home, and a quaint hometown.  Yes, yes, life is so good.  Happy Valentine’s Day to me.

In Mama’s scarf

I am so excited about the Winter Olympics.  C. is too.  He’s a fan of snowboarding (such a manly event!) and I’m a fan of pairs ice skating (such a girly event!).  We’re celebrating our Valentine’s Day dinner on Friday night by walking to our favorite restaurant, but I can assure the opening ceremonies will be Tivo’d and we’ll be watching and fast forwarding when we get home.

Have I told y’all about my go-to recipe?  You know, a dish you can make in no time flat and take anywhere?  Well, in the summer it’s peach cobbler–which I told y’all about here.  But in the fall and winter it’s quiche.  I don’t even know where I found the recipe.   I think I told C. to Google one for me once and he called out from the living room how to make it as I worked in the kitchen.  For some reason the “recipe”–or my interpretation of the recipe–stuck in my mind.

It’s easy: thawed frozen pie crust, 4 eggs, 1.5 cups milk (whole is best honestly),  2 c. shredded cheese, a pinch of spice (I use oregano) and pepper.  Mix it all up and pour into pie crust.  Bake for 40 minutes at 375.  You can add any extras you want: 8 strips cooked bacon, 1/2 c. chopped fresh spinach, and 1/2 c. sauteed mushrooms is our favorite.

Eating Goldfish with Dad.

I’m really excited about this weekend.  C. and I are having a date night Friday and then on Saturday MM and I are going to make Valentine’s Day cookies.  I’m not sure how they’re going to turn out (in fact, I even bought ready-made dough just in case), but I’ll definitely be taking pictures.  I’m also still trying to figure out what I want to make her for Valentine’s Day.  If you’ll remember, last Easter I made her a bunny and I really like doing the homemade thing for holidays.  So, any ideas for what a 13-month old would enjoy?  I have an adorable ‘Bee Mine’ applique, but I’m not sure what I could put it on.  Decisions, decisions.

I have spring fever something fierce.  I keep thinking that summer break is almost here, which is completely silly.  We still have 13 or 14 school weeks left.  I am so tired of this cold, rainy weather.  MM has not been in her wagon or tot rod in months.  And she has never ridden her three-wheeler or played on her slide outside since she got them at Christmas.  I need spring and I need it NOW.  I’m about go crazy in this cold house of ours.

Now it’s nine o’clock and I’m going to go upstairs and put up laundry. After that I’ll be in bed. C. and I are both big sleepers and are in bed by 9:30. If I don’t get 8.5+ hours of sleep a night I’m a force to be reckoned with the next day. And that is not fun for anyone. Good night!

That child is too tall for her own good!  I think she was reaching for the ground mustard, who knows.  Anyway, I started looking through my mom’s camera and realized she & I had taken some cute pictures of MM the past couple of weeks.  As I looked through them I thought it was so neat to be able to see what they do during the day while I’m at work.  All I have to say is, MM has a fantastic time and is doted on by many!

 This one was taken last Monday…what day was that?  January 25th?  She’s sitting in her “Barney Chair” waiting for a favorite dinosaur to come on the TV.  This little rocker was actually my dad’s, circa 1947.    All you have to say is, ‘Barney’s coming on!’, and she runs crawls and gets in her little rocker.  I actually took a video of her doing it last weekend…I’ll have to post it.

Here she is last Friday, the 29th.  She’s looking out over the back deck at Vivi running around (and barking) in my parents’ backyard.  She’s wearing her official Valentine’s Day outfit, but unfortunately, you can’t see her heart tights or red shoes…but trust me, she’s precious.  hehe

 These next two are from this past Monday (the 1st).  Here she is “driving” her green car with the door open.  No matter how many times we close the door, she always opens it back up.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that she mastered holding her bottle the day before we took it away.  Well, she’s definitely mastered her sippy cups too.  This is how she drinks out of them–she just leaves them in her mouth and when she’s ready to drink, she does–it’s like a paci and a sippy cup, all in one.  She is too funny.   This is her with one of her very favorite visitors, Mamaw.  (Oh, and I made that little Valentine’s Day shirt)

And last, but not least, here she is yesterday in her Barney Chair with her cow.  After this picture was made, she and my parents had a big day–they went and ate at the food court at the mall (she loves a Chick-Fil-A kids meal and can now eat 3 of her nuggets!), rode on the carousel (she’s not a fan), and got a new dog–which she and my dad named “Spooky”–and a small black dog side kick at Build-A-Bear.  She loves going to the mall to people watch (getting new stuffed animals and outfits doesn’t hurt either).

It makes me so happy knowing that her days are spent with some of the people who love her the very most.  It’s the next best thing to me being there with her.  I’m so excited that I get the whole summer off with her and that starting in August I’ll have every other week with her.  It makes my heart happy.

Every single person said me.And I have to say that completely made my day.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my C. and I would love if our child looked like him, but it is SO amazing to have a child that looks just like you.  I love my little Mini-Me!  (I will say she has a lot of C.’s personality though–a dare devil who’s very persistent, for example)

Here she is at 11 months.  Yep, she’s the spittin’ image of her mama, if I don’t say so myself!

And if you’re interested, here is MM’s six month portraits.  My, she has grown.

Well, MM’s first Christmas has come and gone.  All I can say is that it was wonderful and better than I ever imagined.  I remember last Christmas so well–all day long I would think, ‘I wonder how it’s going to be next year?’

Christmas Eve we went to my grandmother’s house for our annual steak dinner and presents exchange.  MM, of course, received more than her fair share of presents including a play kitchen, a Mini Cooper Powerwheel, a car you push with your feet, a lamb that baas and tail that wiggles, books, clothes, and a bear that sneezes, etc.  And all of this before Christmas!

And then Christmas morning arrived!  From C. and I Santa she got a four-wheeler, books, a My Pal Scout, a plastic picnic table, and some plastic food for her play kitchen.

C. got me an antique roll-top tambour and an antique child’s rocking chair.   That C. knows me too well–he always gives me the perfect gifts.  Here MM is modeling for me in said chair.  Too cute!

Then my parents came over and more presents were given.  Too many presents to list (they even gave her a TV for her playroom!).  They were the ones that gave her the coveted “Most Favorite Present of Christmas”…a stuffed lion pillow we named Lucy.  After all the present opening and playing this is where MM landed.

After a nap, C.’s parents came over and MM got a slide and a lawn mower and other things.  She wasn’t sure how to climb the slide, but she sure did love sliding down!

And the rest of the day was spent napping and playing.  At dinner, everyone came back over to house (all 13 of us) for turkey sandwiches, chili, and brunswick stew.  Unfortunately, my camera batteries died right when everyone got here so there are no pictures.  Boo!

This Christmas was such a magical time for us and I cherished getting to see it through MM’s little eyes.  I feel so very blessed.

]]> http://oldgeorgiahouse.com/2009/12/mms-first-christmas/feed/ 1 http://oldgeorgiahouse.com/2009/12/last-minute-preparations/ http://oldgeorgiahouse.com/2009/12/last-minute-preparations/#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:35:36 +0000 Natalie http://oldgeorgiahouse.com/?p=1485 Brogdon House is abuzz with Christmas preparations.  I finally finished wrapping presents this morning (though THREE are still floating around a post office somewhere and I’m hoping they make it here today).

MM helping her daddy wrap Mommy’s present.

 MM and I went to the grocery store this morning to get the turkey and fixings for the family dinner at our house tomorrow night.  All of my family and C.’s will come here for turkey sandwiches and chili and cards.

In case I don’t check in in the next couple of days, have a very Merry Christmas.

Here she is sitting under the tree watching us wrap presents.

The only place I draw the lines is vintage Christmas lights.  I have a strand my mother-in-law gave me from the 50s, and while I treasure them and never will throw them away, I am afraid to plug them in.  Maybe one day I can figure out how to use them in a cute way without plugging them in.  But I digress.

Anyway, this year I did my typical Shiny Brite tree with over 300 ornaments.  Shiny Brite ornaments were made in the 40s and 50s and I have been collecting them for years.  I could go on and on about the different types of Shiny Brites (the ones made during WWII, for instance, had cardboard toppers because there was a metal shortage), but I will save y’all the details so I won’t bore you to death.

Here’s some of the boxes…I gotta admit, I like the boxes almost as much as the ornaments.

I’ll never forget the day we moved into Brogdon House and Miss Eleanor gave us a candy box from the 50s.  I looked inside and wrapped up in tissue were 10 or so different Shiny Brite ornaments.  Every year when I put those special ornaments on the tree I think about how they’ve been part of Brogdon House’s Christmas for almost sixty years.  Wow.

 Every year my grandmother gives you fun money for your birthday.  This year I took part of my money and bought a vintage 1950s green felt 12 days of Christmas tree skirt off ebay.  I love the sequins and the gold trim (so do MM and Coco who can’t keep their paws off of it).

Nine ladies dancing.

 Three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Another thing I bought (off ebay, of course) was a 1950s tree topper.  I think it’s totally tacky and gaudy…but isn’t that part of a 1950s Christmas?  Here’s C. after he “installed” it last week on our gigantic tree.

And in case I haven’t told you yet, Merry Christmas.