Christmas Comes This Time Each Year

This blog title is dedicated to my sweet husband who gets a kick out of that line in one of the Beach Boys' Christmas songs. The small things in life make us happy and this Christmas seemed to be all about the small things, especially the small one growing inside me. We had a great, peaceful Christmas day this year, filled with lots of food and family fun. Luke got to play his little heart out on Guitar Hero and I competed with the other ladies in the family in an American Idol sing off. I have to let you all know that I won, and this sweet victory made my week! (I can hear my sisters demanding a re-match already!) This year seemed like one of our busiest Christmases...there was always something to bake, buy or wrap but I genuinely enjoyed every minute of it. I think we figured out that I baked about 30 dozen cookies for the family gatherings and even did a pretty good job of making my Grandma's traditional paska bread this year. Holiday traditions are so important to me and I think being with child this year, made that desire even stronger to continue the traditions and think of a few new ones that we can start with our baby next year. Mom and I are already planning all of the recipes from my Great Grandmother that we are going to make next year. The greatest blessing this Christmas, like always, is the gift of baby Jesus who came to die for our sins. It is a powerful reality to reflect on especially when I am only weeks away from bringing a baby into this world myself. Here is to a blessed New Year!

He-He-Hoo

Yesterday Luke and I spent our whole Saturday at West Penn Hospital, not delivering the baby, but at Lamaze Class. Now I was pretty skeptical about this whole class, but figured that I know nothing about birthing a baby so it would pretty irresponsible of us to skip it. We were pleasantly surprised. It was a great class (although Luke and I are kinda dorks in the fact that we like learning and organized fun) and well presented. There is so much about my body and what happens to it in labor that I could never have learned from a book. Most of all the instructor gave us some great tips on being prepared for labor, what to bring, what the hospital experience is like and most importantly some "comfort techniques" for dealing with all of the pain! Now I don't expect to remember most of it when the time comes, but have told Luke that it is his job to remind me of certain breathing and birthing techniques. I was most surprised to learn that the best way to give birth isn't flat on your back, but kinda upright so gravity can help you out. Goes to show that most of what you see in the movies is not a good representation of things in the real world. My favorite part of the class was the hospital tour because the hospital has these BIG (I mean like much bigger than my bedroom) and very nice delivery rooms. They even have a pull-out couch for the Dads to sleep on and are furnished with a full bathroom (some have jacuzzi tubs) and an armoire with a tv, vcr and cd player. What more can you want?! Of course when I told my Mom all of this, she told me that when the time comes I could care less if I was delivering there or on the hall floor. Ah Mom, always there to bring me back to reality! Anyway, I think Luke and I are as ready for labor as we will ever be...and yes we did have to watch a scary birthing video. Thankfully Luke only looked squeamish when the placenta was delivered and I was pretty grossed out at that point too. Only 9 more weeks to go at this point!

Showering Baby Good

On the first Saturday in December my mom and sisters threw me a Christmas themed baby shower. Let me tell you, those ladies know how to throw a party. See those plates and glasses on the table? My mom searched for those old "patio snack plates" and hit the jackpot when she found (and bought) about 11 sets of them. No paper plates and cups for us! It was great to see friends and family that we don't get to visit with very often and we received lots of great baby gifts. I was just overwhelmed by people's generosity to us. It is just amazing how much stuff a little baby needs. After a lot of trips up our huge set of stairs at home (thanks Luke!) we finally got it all into the nursery. Mom, Dad and Amanda came by on Sunday to help us sort through it all and get things put away and ready to be washed. Luke and I are just so thankful for all of our family and friends who are so good to us, especially my mom and sisters who worked so hard to give me such a beautiful shower. 11 more weeks until Baby Good is due to appear, we can hardly wait! (Check out Flickr for more shower pictures.)