Oh Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah!

What involves a lot of spinning, jelly donuts, a substantial fire hazard and some really neat presents and lasts for 8 nights?

No, not Memorial Day.

It's Hanukkah! And you just wrapped up your first one ever!



This year your Mom and I decided that each night would have a theme for gifts, this made it really extra special. Themes ranged from 'homemade' to 'something for the whole family' to 'something read', 'something entertaining' and something surprising!'



Well, to be honest, the whole thing was pretty surprising for you, since you probably had no clue why we were lighting candles and singing...especially since you've probably never even seen fire before!


We celebrated some nights with just the three of us, some nights with Mimi and Pops, some with Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Michelle and Brady,
... some with Uncle BJ and Aunt Kari (and your Godmother Aunt Kari took some amazing pictures!),




...one with Aunt Sham and Scott and even one pre-night with Rebekka and Ross before they left town.

Rebekka even made our family new Chrismukkah stockings! They are awesome!
Guess which one is yours!
For a lot of your first Hanukah, I'm not quite sure you knew what was going on, but we were at least there to document your utter confusion. And..sometimes we got confused too.

Hey! It's hard to remember the Hebrew lyrics when the camera is rolling! I swear, we nail it every night...but when the camera's rolling, goodbye memory.

Here's your first night ever, gathered around our menorah and our Hanukkah bush!!







The first night of Hanukkah also marked the first time that you unwrapped a present. As it turns out, even that takes some getting used to.

And, if you're wondering, "pants" is NOT a lame present! You needed pants! But, whether or not you liked the pants, you seemed to like the wrapping paper!

As Hanukkah rolled on you got books, toys, clothes, and some other cool things too.

You really like books now! You can sit and stare and pound on a good book for a long time, just squawking and talking. You'll even go to great lengths to get a good book now! Check out you pulling to standing...and we didn't even have to bait you with a remote control!

This was really one of the best Hanukkahs I've ever celebrated. I think I finally got why it's 8 days long, and it has nothing to do with magic oil lasting for 8 nights: its about 8 nights of togetherness with family and friends; that's a way better message than "presents" too (although, who can turn down a good present?)

And being with you and your Mother, Preston and Toby, your real and adopted Aunts and Uncles, and Mimi and Pops over the course of this Hanukkah was really something to celebrate!

And by the end of your first Hanukkah, your Mom's and Dad's camera-induced-flubbing-of-Hebrew got no better, but you seemed to have learned a tune or two about Hanukkah! You even started singing along!

Ringing in the Holly-Days

Well, actually your Mom won't be ringing in any holidays, or New Years for that matter.

Pregnancy has a strange effect of making women gain weight in almost every area of their body...including their ring fingers. Every book we've read, and most people we know have suggested to your Mom and her swollen hands that she take off her wedding and engagment ring before her fingers get too big. Because if her fingers get too big, and the rings won't budge, then the doctors will literally SAW them off of her finger when she's admitted to the hospital for your birth.

Her wedding ring wasn't budging for a long while now; growing tighter and tighter. Finally your mother lotioned up her hands, pulled and twisted and was just barely able to get the rings off her finger. It was a close call.

But don't worry, people won't think she's an unwed mother-to-be. Before we went on our Honeymoon, we were paranoid about being held up and our new-found bling being pinched in the process. So, while in Paris, your Mom wore a gaudy decoy ring that she bought at Target for 10 dollars.

The decoy ring - probably due to its gaudiness - has its fans though. Some of your Mom's teenage students, who never commented on her actual ring, complimented your Mom's wedding ring-- as if they'd never seen the real platinum one!

Guess we could have saved a lot of cash by just shopping at Target.

So, even though your Mom may be ringing in the holiday season with a fake ring on, we still will be celebrating because sitting under our tree - actually sitting on the couch near the tree- is the best Christmas/Hannukah present anyone could ask for!

And, because we're super clever, we wrapped that present up in a bow, took a picture of it and sent it off to all our family and friends as an electronic holiday card:

That's right- the best present under our tree is YOU! And everybody in the family wanted to get in on the action of having their pictures taken with you!

Well... maybe "want" isn't the operative word here, but as you can see, they still were IN the pictures with you!

28, part I : Sand Dollar

Today is your Mother's 28th birthday! What does that mean to you? Well, it's pretty cool because

a) that's the age she'll be when you're born!

b) she will be eating lots of cake!

It turns out that both you and I got your Mother birthday presents!

I gave your Mother a silver Sand Dollar on a necklace for her birthday. Back in the summer (early June, actually), we went on a trip to the beach down in Padre Island, Texas (don't worry, you'll get to go there too). On our very last day, your mother found a WHOLE Sand Dollar! She'd never found a sand dollar before in her life!

Here's the sand dollar in question:On the drive home, we put the sand dollar in a very safe place in the car. Or, at least, we thought it was a very safe place. Turns out NOWHERE is safe from me! It seems that the weight of a simple I-pod is more than enough to split a sand dollar in half.

When we found out the sand dollar was broken, we were both upset. Your Mother was more upset than I was. In fact, she looked like she was going to cry and didn't talk to me for a long while after that, no matter how many times I apologized. I promised her that I would get her another sand dollar.

Later on the drive, she started talking to me again, and when we got home, she successfully glued the sand dollar back together.

But I kept my word: I got her another sand dollar. And I gave it to her today! She loved the necklace, but loves it even more than I could have guessed.

Your mom told me this story today:

You see, back in the summer, we had been trying to make you for such a long time. Your mom was trying everything: temperature taking, special medicine, special diets, etc. And just before that trip, your Mom thought she was pregnant, but the EPT said that we weren't. So, we were both dejected. Your Mother more so than me (which is odd, because in this duo, I'm normally the pessimist, and she's normally the optimist).

So, at the end of that vacation, when your Mom found that sand dollar washed up on the shore- her first WHOLE sand dollar- she subconsciously took it as a sign, took it to mean that you would arrive one day! And I think she even made a wish on that sand dollar that you would come sooner than later.

So no wonder she was pissed at me when I broke it!

But, as it turns out, the EPT test was wrong, and the sand dollar was right: we were pregnant with you already (very very very early). (That explains the extra "emotions"!) So, the power of the sand dollar works; and the present that you have given your mother for her birthday is you, yourself! She wished on a sand dollar back in June that you would be here, and here- on her birthday- you are! And your mother's now wearing a silver sand dollar around her neck!

How cool is that? I wish "sand dollar" was acceptable as a baby name...but it's not. Totally not. Don't worry!

She felt you kicking today during her Birthday Burrito Lunch (weird cravings, man) and just couldn't stop smiling. How many ladies get exactly what they want for their birthdays: a growing baby kicking her tummy like mad AND a burrito!

Oh, and you're giving her another cool birthday present too: a rapidly growing belly! Check it out!

Week 18

Subject seems to have developed a growth on her back.