That's Hercules with our first Christmas Tree. It's our Snoopy/Peanuts/Tigger Christmas Tree. He'll be sharing this with our kids.
Hercules not cooperating and posing like he normally does. He got so excited with the Zucchinni bread. He jumped off the chair and I tried to catch him.
Joseph had to hold Hercules' face for the pic
Christmas kiss. That's our Big Tree we bought for this year. It's a 7 1/2 ft Cashmere tip Slim tree. It was a good surprise Hubby had for me when I got home one night.
Family Christmas Pic 2008
Baby Shower Pics
The parentals partnered with Bel and other SFC friends and put together a Baby Shower for me and Joseph!
with Jon, Bel, Stef and JB
I came to work late today due to my back. Sleeping is becoming more challenging the further I go along. Belly's heavier and I had to get up and pee more throughout the night. I think I did it every 4-5 hours last night. The baby has been moving a lot. We think we will have a bouncing baby, hyper I would say. That would be good, the baby can mesh well with Hercules and they can play together. I love it how Joseph talks to the baby a lot. There is only a handful of nights that he didn't get to talk or say goodnight to our baby, only when it's really really late and he falls asleep when he's really tired. But other than that, I always enjoy seeing him communicate with the baby. And the baby responds to him better now, specially last night. He had his face on my belly and the baby was kicking (hard!). We are excited for the baby's arrival. We'll be meeting the little one soon. Oh and crib arrived the other day so the hubby has a little project to keep him occupied for the next few days, if not a week.
I am excited for the baby shower happening this Sunday. Helen is throwing and hosting it for me. She's such a dear friend. Although we don't agree on everything, she the one I know I can literally run and turn to anytime. And I would do the same for her. She's moving to South Dakota in March and I'm sure to definitely miss her. She's almost the closest thing I have to family, and a sister while here in Montana. I'll say through the ups, downs and being bitchy at each other sometimes, she's the best I have here. She's actually the first person to know that I am pregnant. We invited a good number of people to the shower. It would be great to have them together to help us celebrate the great news! I'll try to post pics after.
2009
Our New Year's was a much-needed and preferred quiet celebration.
Joseph and I are most proud of our Kare-kare! We nailed it! I was half-day at the office on the eve of New Year's. After work, the hubby and I ran some errands and looked for Ox Tails for our Kare-kare. Earlier that week, there were no oxtails to be found anywhere, not in Wal-Mart nor Albertsons. We had a plan b to just use beef chuck but I was all for the ox tails. Kare-kare is never the same without the good ol' ox tails. So, for one last chance before the year ends and everything closes, we went to Albertsons and there -- Ox Tails!!! We were so happy and excited. When we got home, I started cooking right away! We had dinner around 10pm and watched movie(s) in between. That meat required serious boiling time. but it was worth the wait! We loved it. And it was the first time I cooked it since I moved here in the US. Lalot had cooked it before back in Jax. I would say I had to give myself a pat in the back for this one. With the bagoong and bokchoy.. mmm... it was good. And most importantly to me, the hubby loved it.
When midnight rolled in, for the first time, we did a tradition we both picked from our families. We had "money" in our pockets (or hands) and I had all the faucets (water running) and all lights on. Joseph shook our coin can for some more noise. It's supposed to bring abundance for the new year. My lola would always shake and make noise using her coin jar and throw coins all over the house. Maybe we'll throw money and coins for the next year. Hercules ran with me as I opened all the lights and water before midnight. It was fun. After midnight, after the commotion and after the delictable dinner, we watched another movie to wind down.
It was a great celebration. Life will never be the same after last year, and specially after the baby comes. But for now, the 3.5 of us (me, hubby, Hercules and the baby) were happy just how it was. So 2009.. we are here with open arms.
