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Five Years Married
Category: Jimmy
Bennett is Six Months
Bennett is Six Months!
I am really loving this stage. Bennett is starting to get more of a personality every day. He’s so fun!
This month’s highlights include: Bennett getting baptized, me spending my first weekend away from him, and finally, he started solid foods.
Bennett’s baptism was beautiful and so special. Family and friends came out to St. James Catholic church and then to our house for a celebration. I didn’t take nearly enough pictures (especially of the decorations – I put gold cross confetti on every table). B wore a family heirloom gown and bonnet my Oma got in Ireland that three of my cousins wore for their baptisms. It was so special!
We started solids! We started with rice cereal, then introduced a new food every three days: sweet potatoes, followed by applesauce, then pears, then oatmeal, then bananas, then carrots finally avocado. He loved (in order of preference): 1) carrots, 2) pears, 3) applesauce, 4) oatmeal. He did not like the bananas or avocado. I think it’s a texture thing – he’s just not ready for non-puree yet.
Finally, my weekend away. I went on my annual girls lake weekend with my best friends to Smith Mountain Lake. It was so much fun! But, you guessed it, I missed B a lot. Jimmy did a great job solo Dad-ing. He even worked on Benny holding his own bottle while I was gone.
Typical Day:
7 am wake up & bottle
9 am nap for Ingrid & Bennett in their own rooms
10 am – 5 pm bottles on demand, naps every 1.5 – two hours; in this time, errands/I try to squeeze in a workout/lots of playing
5:30 pm bath
7 pm put Bennett down
7 pm dinner & Ingrid & Jimmy hang out time
B wakes up once a night for a bottle – Ingrid gives him and then sleeps until 7 am
Monthly Questionnaire
Age: 6 months
Weight: 20 lbs
Length: 28.25″
Size: 12 months
Eyes: blue
Hair: light brown
Sleeping: he typically sleeps from 7 pm to 5:30 am. Wakes to chug a bottle. Then back to sleep until 7 am.
Eating: formula bottles: 6 oz each feeding; some solid foods (see above)
Milestones: “discovered” his feet; started solids; spent his first solo weekend with Daddy; got baptized
Memorable outings: his first vineyard trip
Likes: holding his feet, eating puréed carrots, rolling onto his tummy, getting his face cleaned, moving all the time
Dislikes: staying still, getting strapped in the car seat, not being able to crawl yet
Words/sounds: “a” “ahh” “ohhh” “mmhm”
Nicknames: “Little Man,” “Benny,” “B”
Interesting Facts: B loves him some vegetables
Funny moments: Every time he takes a bite of a food, he makes a face, then remembers he likes it and gobbles it down
Looking forward to: introducing more solid foods – it’s so fun!
Photos This Month:
Bennett is Five Months
Bennett is Five Months!
This is our first month with a video baby monitor. I have NO idea what I was thinking when I thought I just wanted an audio one. Seriously, get a video monitor. It is the best thing ever!
On a more baby focused note, our little man is getting more personality every day. He’s working on sitting up (supported), he loves moving CONSTANTLY, he also loves to roll over onto his belly but then he gets stuck and starts crying.
I’m not quite sure why we’re still calling him “little man.” This baby is not that little. In fact, he outgrew his infant car seat for height this month. (Full disclosure, he had a tiny bit of room to go but I didn’t want him to outgrew it while we were at the beach).
This month we took him to the beach for the first time! My parents met me off I-95 so my mom could drive my car and I could be in the back with B. I was so thankful for the help on the 9 hour (usually 8 hour) drive. B did great, although he did not sleep much. My parents also brought their folding crib so that made sleeping at the beach a much easier transition.
B loved the sand! He loved kicking it and playing. He was brave about the ocean, especially when Jimmy held him in the water. We only went down to the beach for about an hour in the evenings – the sun/crowds were intense and he naps so often. But, we did get plenty of balcony sitting. B sat in his new “Frog Chair” Gigi got. We called it his “throne.” We sat him on the table and he just looked out over the ocean and the beach. B, my parents, and I stayed a week. Jimmy flew in for four days so he didn’t have to miss as much work.
Bennett also got to meet more people. He got to meet my good friend Sherry and her twins. I found out that B loves watching kids, so I will definitely be taking him to the playground more. Finally, B was able to meet his great aunt Shelia and two of his first cousins once removed, Jackson & Jeremy. We’re slowly getting him to meet his whole family.
Typical Day:
6:30 am wake up & bottle
9 am nap for Ingrid & Bennett in their own rooms
10 am – 6 pm bottles on demand, naps every 1.5 – two hours
5:30 pm bath
7 pm put Bennett down
7 pm dinner & Ingrid & Jimmy hang out time
B wakes up once a night for a bottle – Ingrid gives him and then sleeps until 6:30 am
Monthly Questionnaire
Age: 5 months
Weight: 17.2 lbs
Length: 27″
Size: 9 months
Eyes: blue
Hair: light brown
Sleeping: he slept the first half of the month in his crib in his “spacesuit” (Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleep Suit) in his room solo and then we “swaddle weaned” and he now sleeps in footie PJs
Eating: formula bottles: 6 oz each feeding
Milestones: first beach trip, rolled over for the first time, outgrew his infant car seat
Memorable outings: first beach trip
Likes: sand, eating, sleeping, MOVING
Dislikes: baths, staying still
Words/sounds: “a” “ahh” “ohhh” “mmhm”
Nicknames: “Little Man,” “Benny,” “B”
Interesting Facts: B moves constantly all the time, even when sleeping. He also likes talking all the time.
Funny moments: when B first saw the ocean, he made a face like “this is the biggest bath I’ve ever seen”
Looking forward to: next year’s beach trip when he can swim and play more
Photos from Bennett’s Fifth Month:
Sleep, Eat, or Shower: Choose One – The First Month with a Newborn
I knew the first few months having a baby would be life-changing. I just didn’t realize how much; aka: you can shower, sleep, or eat, but you only have time for one, choose wisely. Needless to say, we didn’t have the easiest start to our little family, but we’re powering through.
Bennett was born with sever jaundice. He was born early (37 weeks). We (Bennett and I) have different blood types so his slightly underdeveloped liver had an extra difficult time processing my red blood cells. This led to him being “under the lights” for the first few days of his life. We also had to stay in the hospital longer.
The combination of the jaundice treatment (being away from me), a not great terrible nurse who advised me to “wait a long while” before trying to breastfeed for the first time, and his being born early, resulted in nursing challenges. I ended up seeing many lactation specialists, five to be exact. Who, all determined, I was producing hardly any colostrum and then later, I didn’t produce enough milk. Weight tests before and after feedings determined I was only making about half of what Bennett needed. So, all the lactation specialists and pediatricians advised us to supplement with formula. We needed to get the calories in so he could process the red blood cells and get the bilirubin levels down.
The next couple weeks were spent with daily trips to the doctors to get blood work done for his bilirubin tests and weight checks to see if he was gaining. Bad news for both, for a solid week. Bennett ended up losing almost a pound and his levels did not go down like we hoped. Not being able to produce the food my baby needed made me feel like such a failure. Breastfeeding was something I was passionate about. Eventually (after a lot of formula), we got his bilirubin numbers down (at about 2.5 weeks) and then finally at three weeks old, he passed his birth weight.
Despite everything, I haven’t given up on breastfeeding. It’s a long, hard, and tiring road, but I’m trying. I have modified my six month goal, to a one month goal. Then, I’ll continue to set manageable goals to keep my sanity. The feeding plan is as follows:
- Breastfeed on demand (usually every 1.5 hours but can be up to three hours) this of course includes waking him up throughout the night. I was not prepared for that. At the beginning, he was nursing for 45 minutes to an hour. Around week three, we cut that time to an average of 36 minutes per session.
- After breastfeeding, supplement with formula if he is still showing hunger cues and doesn’t seem satisfied. He never is satisfied after nursing. The supplementation started at one ounce, but has increased as he is getting older and growing.
- After breastfeeding, I pump. Pumping started with 30 minutes after every nursing session. Then we cut it to 20 minutes after every daytime nursing. [I was dying with the previous schedule]. Then, after my body still wasn’t improving, the lactation specialists reduced the pumping to 10 minutes. I know they thought I would give up completely if I kept up with the previous schedules.
So, yes, that is a lot. The whole process takes about 1.5 hours. Yep, by the time I finish the feeding, it is time to get going on another feeding. All day, every day.
2016 Year in Review
2016 was clearly all about the baby bump.
Jimmy
Jimmy continued his health and fitness commitment: playing lacrosse at least twice a week, going to the gym almost daily, and using the 5×5 weight lifting program. He went hunting a few times and got one deer. He continued growing the National Harbor branch of his company as the Geotechnical Department Manager.
Ingrid
Honestly, I don’t remember what I did pre-pregnancy. I know I continued pure barre. I chopped my hair off. I’m sure there were lots of brunches and wine nights with my friends. Then, positive pregnancy test and my whole world changed 🙂 Oh, in June I went to Smith Mountain Lake for our annual Girls Wine Weekend trip. Obviously I was drinking all the seltzers and none of the wine, but didn’t matter, I had a blast! I was spoiled at an amazing baby shower in October. I turned 30 in November.
We (Ingrid & Jimmy)
January 2016 – we had an amazing time enjoying the Blizzard of 2016 when it snowed for basically a day straight.
February – we went to the boat show in Annapolis.
March – We took a spring break to the Penthouse to use up Jimmy’s “use it or lose it” leave. We also got to go celebrate our wonderful friends’ Keli & Mike’s at their wedding. Congratulations Keli & Mike!
April – April started rougher. A HUGE tree fell on the house my grandmother owned that Kurt and Kate were currently living in. But then, we got to go celebrate another wonderful couple and see their engagement at the spring game in Blacksburg 🙂 Congratulations Meredith & Ryan!
May – We went to the Outer Banks with friends.
June – We found out we’re having a Baby!
We told my family about Baby at the Cottage. We went to Massachusetts to visit Jimmy’s family. We also told Jimmy’s parents, his sister, and his extended family about Baby this trip.
July – We went on our annual beach trip to SC.
August – We told my extended family about Baby at a house warming party Kurt & Kate threw.
September – We found out we’re having a son. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
We went to Blacksburg for Homecoming weekend.
October – we went apple picking.
Looking to 2017
Obviously 2017 is Baby year. So, we’ll mainly work on becoming first time parents this year. We also want to do the following:
- Ingrid: lose the baby weight! (I’m already obsessing just because I want to feel and look like me again, and I want to fit in my cute clothes that I miss).
- Trips: Penthouse, Blacksburg for a game (and bring Baby), Richmond for Meredith & Ryan’s wedding, Atlanta for Petey & Danielle’s wedding, lots of Cottage trips – Baby has his own crib & changing table there
- Jimmy – wants to continue lacrosse & shooting, possibly join a hunting “lease”
32 Weeks
Merry Christmas!
This week was a whirlwind of activity. Monday night I hosted the fourth anniversary of our wine club. Sarah, Jayme, and Keli all came over for a fire and a delicious spread of pomegranate goat cheese salad, a red & green fruit tray, bagel bites, cookies, baked brie, and the gooiest fudge ever (fail). We missed you Meredith! This year marks the second of no drinking for me (last year I had just gotten my wisdom teeth out). Hopefully next year I can partake in the wine part of the wine club 🙂 I stayed up until after 10 laughing and having so much fun with these girls – totally worth being tired!
Tuesday was Jimmy’s 32 birthday! He got up bright and early to head to the gym. When he got home, I had breakfast waiting for him. Cheesy eggs, breakfast sausage, an english muffin, and coffee.
Tuesday during work, I had the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce buffet luncheon. I go up, get my food, start walking back to my table, and my meatball rolls off my plate, bounces off my belly, and rolls across the floor. I started crying I was laughing so hard! The director of the chamber watched the whole thing and was dying laughing too.
Tuesday night, we were both exhausted from three parties in three nights, so we got some takeout from Anthony’s Restaurant and chilled on the couch. It was wonderful.
Wednesday our glider came! I could not choose a glider for the life of me. We went into multiple stores to test them out. Obviously I loved the Dutailier reclining model (aka all the money ($500-$700). Jimmy really liked the armchair style ($360). However, I just could not feel ok spending that much money on a chair. Especially one that would likely get spit up on. So, I started looking for a glider that 1) had removable seats/pads (making cleaning easier), 2) was reasonably priced, 3) got good reviews, 4) would fit both me and Jimmy. This led me to the Shermag Glider Rocker Combo with Ottoman ($223). I added it to my Amazon Baby Registry and used my 15% completion discount to purchase the glider (and a bunch of other things we needed) so I ended up paying a little over $200. It glides smoothly and silently, is comfortable, fits Jimmy, has removable cushions. So, met all the requirements. Naturally, I needed to fully assemble the glider the same night I got it.
Wednesday night, at 10:36 pm, Kai had a COMPLETE FREAK OUT! He must have heard something in the backyard because he jumped out of bed barking. He then proceeded to bark at the top of the stairs – nope that’s not scary at all when you’re home alone (Jimmy was at lacrosse) and was just sleeping. I decided he probably needed to go out, so I bravely went downstairs and let him loose. He sprinted barking to our woodpile, jumped on top of the woodpile, and barked looking over the neighbor’s fence. This makes me think it was an animal in the backyard and not a scary home invader. I didn’t do any of the things Jimmy has me practice for when there’s a possible home threat. Actually, I didn’t even take out my earplugs to listen for a threat. Fails all around. I figured Kai sounded mean enough. Well, actually, I wasn’t thinking. I was exhausted and achy and super pregnant.
Friday, I got a half day from work in honor of Christmas Eve. So, I installed the Husky All Weather mats and cargo cover in my car.
Saturday morning (Christmas Eve), Jimmy went duck hunting with a friend. Later that day, we went to Jimmy’s parents’ for mass at All Saints in Manassas, enjoy the traditional Christmas Eve pizza dinner, and have a sleep over – Christmas jammies for the win! Christmas morning, we all opened presents and had breakfast. I know Jimmy loved waking up in his childhood home and going downstairs for Christmas morning just like he used to 🙂
After the Racine Christmas, it was time to hit the road to head to Southern, MD for the Freemyer Christmas. I am thankful every holiday that our families live so close, so we are able to either do combo holidays, or celebrate with both separately and be able to continue with our own family traditions each year.
Questionnaire:
How far along? 32 Weeks
How big is baby? 16″ & 3.8 lbs; the size of a jicama (a what?!?!? so again, no fruit this week)
Maternity clothes? Yes.
Sleep: Getting to the uncomfortable stage here. Oh and if I try to straighten and stretch out my legs while sleeping, I get a Charley Horse! I have never had one before; it is painful! I scared Kai terribly by yelling out in pain around 6 am Tuesday morning. Not fun. I’m also still getting up every hour. #LackOfSleepTrainingMama
Best moment this week: 1) Christmas, 2) wine club Christmas night (seeing Sarah!!!!), 3) Jimmy’s birthday
Movement: I’m trying to think the fact that only I can feel him (due to my anterior placenta), is special and a bond between just us, but really it’s annoying and I want my family and friends to share in the baby kick magic.
Food Cravings: spaghetti [met this craving twice on Tuesday – for lunch and dinner #NoShame]
Food Aversions: none
Gender: Baby’s a boy!
Labor Signs: none that I can feel. I inflated my labor ball to start bouncing around on the regular.
Pregnancy Symptoms: I can breathe easier this week. He’s definitely lower than he was. Hopefully this means he’s getting head down and ready. Although we still have some time for that. However, this means that when I stand up, I instantly feel like I’m going to topple over because his weight is concentrated in a low ball. Other symptoms: those night-time Charley Horses (AHHHHHHHHH), getting up every hour, crying at random things (like this video that definitely is not sad or even sentimental)
Belly Button in or out? Flat
What I miss: walking instead of waddling
What I am looking forward to: the first time I get to hold him. I seriously dream about baby cuddles every single night.
Upcoming appointments/events: 12/28 OB – we’re in the bi-weekly appointments now
Weekly Wisdom: get the nursery done in the 2nd trimester, I know this is aggressive, but by the third, you probably won’t be up for organizing, building, rearranging. I feel so settled knowing everything is ready for Baby.
Milestones: Bump’s first Christmas – I’m a purist and won’t say Baby’s first Christmas until he has one on the outside.
Bump Picture:
2015 In Review
Looking back on 2015 seems like a blur. I feel like I wrote our 2014 post two days ago. Time is crazy. Anyways, I’ll summarize 2015 as water, woods, and surgeries.
Jimmy
Jimmy took up hunting this year. He also got a compound bow to use hunting (woods). He got two deer this winter, success, so we’ll be enjoying venison chili throughout this year.
Jimmy continued his skeet shooting league. He was captain this year. He also joined two lacross leagues, which he loves.
Jimmy is still working as the Geotechnical Department Manager at the National Harbor office, which he loves.
Ingrid
In 2015, I finished my first half marathon! In well under the time I predicted. And I did not walk once – that was my main goal, well that and not just give up and lay on the side of the road.
Speaking of health, I discovered a new love affair with Pure Barre. I was a ballet dancer for oh, 10 years of my life, so this workout brings back all of the memories. It’s hard. It’s fun. It makes me so happy! And, it’s a fantastic workout. Jimmy was the best and got me classes for Christmas (it’s sadly, very expensive:( )
I took a wonderful girls trip to Smith Mountain Lake with some of my best college friends.
In the most exciting news, I got lasik! I absolutely love it! In the most painful news, I got my wisdom teeth out in December (all four and two were impacted) and that was brutal. (two surgeries there)
We (Ingrid & Jimmy)
We spent almost every Spring & Summer weekend in Southern Maryland (woods & water). We helped my parents work on the new property throughout the Spring and then enjoyed boating, fishing, bow shooting (Jimmy), swimming, and family time throughout the summer. It is Kai’s favorite place in the world so we go as often as we can. It’s all about the dog amiright?
We went to the Outer Banks for a Memorial Day trip with a bunch of friends, that was a blast. Jimmy really enjoyed surf fishing. (water)
We went to the Penthouse twice, once with Ted & Lauren, and once with Kurt & Kate. (more water). We’re so thankful to have that property in the family.
We saw Cinderella during a wonderful night out with Jimmy’s parents and sister Katie for my birthday – thank you!
We went to our 6th Vintage Virginia wine festival.
We celebrated our third anniversary.
We went to Blacksburg for a football game with some great friends. In true Bburg fashion, it was cold and rainy the whole time, but man, it was wonderful to be back!
Finally, we hosted a fun New Years Eve party for our friends to close out the year.
Looking ahead to 2016.
I am copying and pasting from my 2014 (and sadly 2015) posts because, well, we very much failed on accomplishing any of our goals. Whoops. I’ll write a little commentary on if we completed anything or not.
From 2014 & 2015 posts:
“This is also a challenge because you never really know where life is going to go, but I do see some things happening.
We have some house projects we want to complete:” (reflections on my 2014 list)
- Fixing our side steps. The concrete’s been struggling since I was around 12 so we’re going to just replace it with a pressure treated wood step/landing/storage thing – this is clearly more Jimmy & my Dad’s plan – We did this!!!!!
- Finishing painting. In 2012/2013 we painted the living room, dining room, master bedroom, kitchen, guest bedrooms (2) & Jimmy’s video game room. In
201420152016, we have the entryway, stairway, hallway, 3 bathrooms & basement and we’re done [whew] – didn’t do any of this. - Landscaping. There are plans for the backyard. I am vaguely aware of them. I have stated Sugar’s stones stay. That’s all I care about. – nope, not done. Actually not even started…
- Building a slate patio in the backyard. – didn’t even start this either
- Organization. As much as I hate to admit, I still have a couple of boxes of my things that don’t have a place in our home yet. I want to get everything organized and condensed as much as possible this year. – those boxes are still there. Things are a little better organized – our pantry and linen closet definitely – but still a ways to go on everything else.
Grade: D
New 2015 projects & goals: (let’s be ambitious and add to the list we didn’t accomplish last year, that’s totally the way to do this life planning thing, right?)
- Helping restore/renovate Hotel California (new property addition to the Freemyer family – posts to come) – we did this!
- Renovating our two bathrooms – nope, maybe not doing that and actually doing the kitchen (depending on if you talk to me or Jimmy)
- I: Run in my first half marathon – did this!
Grade: B
Since it worked so well the last time, let’s add some more goals here.
- Declutter. “Living clean in 2016.” I want to get rid of the clothes/crafts/stuff we don’t use any more and simplify and declutter our lives.
- continue as many Pure Barre classes as possible
Trips for 2015:
- Penthouse to enjoy the beach – did this twice, A for I&J
- Hotel California to enjoy boating – did this all Spring & Summer, and some Fall actually, A for I&J
- Colorado to visit Todd – nope, did not happen
- Blacksburg for a Tech game – scheduled for October – yep, did this!
Grade: B+
Trips for 2016:
- Penthouse to enjoy the beach
- Hotel California to enjoy boating
- Colorado to visit Todd
- Boston for a Lombardo family reunion of sorts
Well, considering how successful we were in 2014 2015, I’m going to leave our projects, goals, and trips at that and see how we do.
2014 In Review
Looking back on 2014 is more challenging than on 2013 (did not see that one coming). But maybe that’s a good thing. We’re settling into our life together and finding comfort in our routines. Of course, there were some highlights. We also did a pretty good job of keeping up with our goal of being my physically active/fit.
Jimmy
Most importantly: Jimmy turned 30! We celebrated in a very “Jimmy way” starting with Jimmy and the guys going shooting. Then meeting up with some friends & family for lunch (and lots of beers) at Blackfin in Merrifield. Followed by a brief break and then heading to dinner at Ray’s the Steaks with the rest of the Racines. It was great.
Jimmy also discovered a new love for skeet shooting. He joined a shooting league through work and has really enjoyed learning this new skill.
Speaking of work, Jimmy got a promotion and is now the Geotechnical Department Manager at a new National Harbor office.
Jimmy also played in a lacrosse league this year. That is until a knee injury took him out of the game.
Ingrid
In 2014, I registered for my 1st half marathon and trained my butt off for that. And then injured my ankle so I couldn’t run in the race. But, I am already signed up for another one (it’s in a few weeks) so I’m going to complete this goal. Towards the end of the year, I got a new job that I’m enjoying a lot. I took a couple trips to Blacksburg.
We (Ingrid & Jimmy)
- Went to Richmond for our first NASCAR race
- Went to Boston to visit friends and family
- Ran in our 2nd 5K together
- Took two beach trips to SC
- Attended our 5th Vintage Virginia Wine Festival
- Were in our good friends Ted & Lauren’s wedding
Looking ahead to 2015.
I am copying and pasting from my 2014 post because, well, we very much failed on accomplishing any of our goals. Whoops. I’ll write a little commentary on if we completed anything or not.
From 2014 post:
“This is also a challenge because you never really know where life is going to go, but I do see some things happening.
We have some house projects we want to complete:” (reflections on my 2014 list)
- Fixing our side steps. The concrete’s been struggling since I was around 12 so we’re going to just replace it with a pressure treated wood step/landing/storage thing – this is clearly more Jimmy & my Dad’s plan – didn’t do this. Need to complete this year.
- Finishing painting. In 2012/2013 we painted the living room, dining room, master bedroom, kitchen, guest bedrooms (2) & Jimmy’s video game room. In
20142015 we have the entryway, stairway, hallway, 3 bathrooms & basement and we’re done [whew] – again, didn’t do any of this. - Landscaping. There are plans for the backyard. I am vaguely aware of them. I have stated Sugar’s stones stay. That’s all I care about. – nope, not done. Actually not even started…
- Building a slate patio in the backyard. – didn’t even start this either
- Organization. As much as I hate to admit, I still have a couple of boxes of my things that don’t have a place in our home yet. I want to get everything organized and condensed as much as possible this year. – those boxes are still there. Things are a little better organized – our pantry and linen closet definitely – but still a ways to go on everything else.
Grade: F
New projects & goals: (let’s be ambitious and add to the list we didn’t accomplish last year, that’s totally the way to do this life planning thing, right?)
- Helping restore/renovate Hotel California (new property addition to the Freemyer family – posts to come)
- Renovating our two bathrooms
- I: Run in my first half marathon
We have some trips we want to take: (reflecting on my 2014 list)
- Boston to visit Ted & Lauren and Jimmy’s family – we did this! A for I&J
- Penthouse to enjoy the beach – we did this! twice! A+ for I&J
- Cottage – not really a trip trip but we want to go here more this summer. Kai just loves it here and so do we. – eh, not really, maybe one or two trips, so D?
- Germany or Hawaii – clearly the details aren’t worked out on this one – this one did not happen
- St. Louis to be in Ted & Lauren’s wedding – we did this! A for I&J
Grade: B-
Trips for 2015:
- Penthouse to enjoy the beach
- Hotel California to enjoy boating
- Colorado to visit Todd
- Blacksburg for a Tech game – scheduled for October
Well, considering how successful we were in 2014, I’m going to leave our projects, goals, and trips at that and see how we do.
Bringing in 2015
This year we kept it low-key and had a few close friends over to ring in the new year. It worked out for the best since it was cold out (shocker) and I really didn’t feel like going out. Yesterday my wonderful Oma passed. It was a long time coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier. So having some of my best friends, Jimmy, Kai, and a fire sounded perfect to me.
We did have a great Baked Brie and Cranberry Braid I made.
I usually write our goals for the upcoming year, but I’ll save that for another post.
It’s Christmas Time Again
I think this is our most beautiful tree ever. Mainly because I totally “hacked Christmas.” I was inspired by this post I found via Pinterest and used two different Christmas light bulbs. It made the tree so much brighter and created more shadows. I also went old school and used all brown wrapping paper. I did decorate the presents with red, gold & silver ribbons and bows, but of course, didn’t take a picture of that. Oh well.
I did take a picture of the gold tipped manicure I gave myself. Kurt calls it a “Dubai Manicure” instead of your traditional white tipped French Manicure.
And the only picture we took on Christmas is Kai enjoying his presents: a deer antler & a new super soft blanket.
I’ll end with the bumper sticker we are currently rocking on Jimmy’s car: “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Amen.
Racine Family Updates 