Christmas Cantata

We finally had our Christmas Cantata at church last night. We were supposed to do it the Sunday night before, but the snow changed our plans. We had a pretty good crowd for a Wednesday night, plus some new faces. That's always nice to see when you're putting on something different from a normal church service. I had my choir members wear white and red, and they looked really nice up there. And I might as well mention that they did a wonderful job! They sounded awesome and filled the whole auditorium with their voices. We had several soloists for some songs, and they did a good job as well. My two hosts (aka narrators) did excellent. My sis-in-law was supposed to be one of them, but oral surgery kept her from it, so I made Josh do it on the last minute. He did good for having only gone over it a couple times, but we both wished Hannah would have been able to do it, since she'd been working on it for a couple months. We were going to have a small drama accompany the music, but when it came right down to it, they just weren't ready. I hadn't prepared them enough, and I didn't want to put on a bad quality performance, so I took it out. We were all bummed about it, but I think it was for the best. Since I gave music a try this year, maybe next year I'll stretch my wings in the drama department. It's been a while since college and all those speech classes, but they were so much fun! Of course being a mother might complicate some stuff, so we'll see when that time of year rolls around.





The church was so nice. Pastor presented me with this adorable tree (which was quite heavy) that had these two Disney ornaments hanging from it. They also gave me a card with a Golden Corral gift card in it to thank me for the work I did. I wasn't expecting it at all. In fact, I even saw the youth pastor off to the side holding this tree and I thought, Oh, that's nice, they have a tree with bows on it for the front of the church. Yeah, with this pregnancy brain it didn't register right away that they brought it out for me :) We all had a great night, but it was nice to go home and cuddle up with my hubby for a couple minutes before bed.

Craving!

This is a Dark Peppermint Pleasure Signature cake from Coldstone Creamery that we spontaneously picked up last night. It was supposed to have red velvet cake in it, but it had chocolate instead. Don't worry, it still tastes good. It also has peppermint ice cream in it, so it tastes like eating a candy cane. Very yummy! And you're probably thinking, Oh boy, here's the pregnant lady with her sweet cravings, but it was not me who wanted this, which leaves only one other culprit. Yup, it was Josh. He doesn't normally have a sweet tooth, but last night he saw the picture online and was like, Wow, that looks so good. So with very little persuasion from me, we went out and bought it. Hey, I am supposed to be submissive with this whole wife thing, so I went along with it all! Then we each sampled a piece while we watched The Polar Express. We thought we had bought a petite cake for two, but it actually has six slices, so I think we got the next size up. Oh well!

Our baby boy is doing just fine these days. He's been growing a lot lately, which means his mommy is growing too :). I've been on the hunt for another pair of slide-on shoes, but I've had no luck. I already own a brown pair, so I've been wanting a black pair, but the shoes I find are either too expensive, uncomfortable, or they don't have my size. Very frustrating. But that's fine, I'll find them when I find them. And if I don't, I think I'll survive. You know how some pregnant ladies' feet go up a size? Well, I haven't figured out if that's me or not, cause the stores don't have the two sizes I would want to try out. And I supposed it depends on the style of shoe too. I don't like shoe shopping, isn't that weird for a girl to be saying? I did buy a pair of knit/sweat pants today from Kohl's. I needed another pair to sleep in or lounge around the house in. And I had a coupon too, so that was nice :)

While our baby's been growing, he's been moving a lot too. I'd say he's a pretty active baby, though I have nothing to compare it to. But he has his days. Sometimes he'll kick a lot or move constantly it seems like, but other days I barely feel him at all. Sometimes it tickles when he moves, did I tell you guys that already? It's a really weird feeling.

Christmas is coming! Merry Christmas!!

Snow, snow, snow, snow, Snow!

Ok, I repeated the word snow not cause I'm dumb or cause we got huge amounts of it, but it's a song from "White Christmas." Each of the four people singing it say the word snow on a different note so they all harmonize, and then they say "snow" all together for the last one. One of the singers is the fabulous Bing Crosby. If you've never seen the movie, it's a good Christmas one, so go see it sometime!



Anyway, we got our first real snowfall overnight and this is what I woke up to yesterday :) It looked so pretty, and it wasn't an ice storm, so the roads weren't even that bad. We got probably two inches. Josh had a long time getting to work in the morning, but that's cause it was still coming down, which makes the roads slick.

In baby news, Josh felt the baby kick! Usually after dinner the baby is pretty active while we're watching TV or an episode of Smallville, and this time was no different. So, I had Josh put his hand on my belly in case the baby wanted to kick really hard. There were a couple movements and I asked if he felt that and he said no. But then there were two more forceful kicks, and he felt them at the tip of his fingers. He said it felt like a little punch, and he thought it was cool. He had the cutest smile on his face too. So, now that he's interacted with our kid, he's a little freer to poke at my belly. If he's not moving, he bugs him so he'll wake up and move around. What a pest! ;)

Ah yes, and then we got our rocking chair last night. Some assembly was required, so Josh put together the bottom of it while we watched Frosty the Snowman. It's so sturdy and comfortable... I love it! The back is high enough that I can rest my head on it. And it has this pretty design at the top too. It says it's a cherry wood, but it doesn't look very red. It's more a dark brown, but I guess it has some deep red hue in it. Anyway, I can't wait to rock my baby to sleep in it and read him stories. Actually, I was rocking in it last night before bed, and when I got in bed, the baby wasn't very active, which is when he usually is. So maybe I did rock him to sleep!







And there's the baby! Man, it looks like I have a basketball under my shirt!

Another Brownie Story

Do you remember when I told you about how my brownies got smushed on the way to a church fellowship? Well, I did it again! See, I made smore brownies and they looked awesome. They are really easy to make too. Just prepare the brownies as normal, then sprinkle on chocolate chips and mini marshmallows and put them back in the oven for a couple minutes. Then the mallows are soft and the chips are melty, the perfect time to press graham crackers on top of them. Then you let them cool completely and cut around the graham crackers. I love smores and I love brownies, so this combo is wonderful! Anyway, I arranged them nicely on this Christmas tray I have and covered them in plastic. When it came time to go out, I put them on the floor in the backseat and made sure that nothing heavy was on the seat that could fall on them. That's what happened last time with a bottle of 7UP. Well, lo and behold on our travels, Josh had to stop the car suddenly cause of a stupid driver in front of us. I didn't think about the brownies at all--I knew they were safe. We get to the house and I open the car door to get the brownies. The plastic wrap had totally come off and brownies were scattered all over the floor! I was so upset about it. I couldn't believe it happened again! Half the brownies managed to stay on the tray, so we were able to use those, but the rest had to be thrown away. I wanted to cry right then and there, but Josh distracted me from that cause we had a party to go to. I felt awful about serving only 10 brownies, so he suggested I cut them in half. He's so smart. I think I've finally learned my lesson. When I'm bringing food to a get-together, I will always keep it on my lap.

In pregnancy news, the baby has been very active lately. Sometimes I feel movement several times in a row, and I wonder what he's doing in there. One time I had my hand on my belly and I think, though I'm not positive, that I felt it from the outside. Usually it's all internal feelings, but maybe he kicked extra hard or something. I hope it happens again so Josh can feel it. Oh, and it's really hard to cut my toenails. I'm also thinking of finding some backless sneakers, just so I don't have to bother bending down to tie my laces. I even put my foot up on a chair so I don't have to bend in half, but it's still difficult.

I am 23 weeks along, which means I'm at the beginning of my sixth month. One more month and I'll be in my third trimester--yikes! This is going by too fast. Oh, I alsmot forgot! Josh and I found the perfect rocking chair at a furniture store. We went there cause they had a commercial for rockers that cost $49, so we wanted to check them out. Well, with those, you get what you pay for. They were put together poorly and probably wouldn't last long. But we did look around some more and found another one on sale that we fell in love with. This thing was sturdy and the back is high enough that I can rest my head on it. Oh, and it was comfy too--curved in all the right places. So we bought it, and we get to pick it up Wednesday. I think I want to buy chair pads for added comfort, but we'll see. I am just so thankful that we found good quality at a good price. And it's exciting, cause it's another step in preparing for this baby.