Here I Am Again..

Here I am again...behind in my blogging! Tonight I have a few hours to myself to catch up on things while Daniel is at an Equitas board meeting and sweet M is sleeping and I have nothing pressing to do (ok, there is laundry to switch over and a weekend trip to pack for...oh well.)
I thought first I would tell you that last night I was in Target making a quick run in for baby oatmeal, milk, coffee creamer and a few minutes to myself to wander the aisles and get lost in the new Missoni for Target line. While I was standing there daydreaming and studying the various kinds of coffee creamer (hello, my new fav Coffemate Natural!) this dude walked behind me and said in a low voice, "hello beautiful". He didn't stop, he just kept walking...and I didn't acknowledge it but just continued to stare at the creamer container in my hand. At first I was stunned, like, "did he just say that to me or someone else?". Then I was appalled, like, "how dare he say that to me...who does he think he is to say something under his breath like that and in that way...disgusting!". Then I was totally laughing to myself, like, "This guy OBVIOUSLY is just learning English and probably is practicing it on women in Target." He OBVIOUSLY doesn't know the meaning of beautiful...I mean, BEAUTIFUL?? Beautiful would NOT be the word to describe this MOM on a rainy day like yesterday. I am sure I had baby snot smeared across my shirt SOMEWHERE as my baby is on her fiftieth cold in 5 weeks! And I am pretty sure my hair was on day #2 and pulled back in a short little ponytail...as is my normal, rainy day, no-plans-to-leave-the-house look. It was pretty funny!

In other news: We have just been busy here wrapping up the summer and heading into the Fall. I'm preparing for my Bradley Method training at the beginning of November. Yep, I'm getting certified to be a Bradley Method teacher! I hope to officially start teaching classes here in Charlotte in January. Teaching the Bradley Method and all things having to do with natural childbirth has become my new-found passion. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some new-age birthing hero...I just really have a deep desire to empower women, teach them about their bodies and how God created their bodies not only for pregnancy but this the beautiful and memorable event of childbirth! I'm so excited about it all.
Daniel has been so busy in launching NPower's spin-off business called "Volunteer Connect". The board finally approved the launch and approved Daniel as the sole leader for the business. It is exciting stuff and he had his first big sale to a regional Habitat for Humanity. To explain a little, Daniel is a senior IT consultant for NPower Charlotte region and Volunteer Connect, his new baby, is a volunteer management system directed towards non-profits. It is all pretty cool stuff.
AND our sweet M is doing awesome these days. She has ALWAYS been so sweet...but it seems that lately she has matured and has gotten even sweeter! She still has NO teeth and will probably be crawling any day now. She continues to learn new things and loves her mommy and daddy more than anything. Here is a recent pic of her practicing her belly moves!

On a Lighter Note...

Ok...let's just admit that the baby-kissing actually takes up about 90% of my time...this scale is not exact! :)

A Loss

Maryn in her Ivy's diaper!

I can't even express to you how the loss of Garrett and Rosie has impacted my heart and mind over the last 2 weeks. Just incredibly sad...and I didn't even know Garrett but for the one time she was in my living room and the hand-full of times I chatted briefly with her either standing out on my driveway or via email. I feel like I have been in one of those "praying-without-ceasing" times for her husband, Mike, and 3-year old daughter, Ivy.

See last year when still pregnant I expressed to my mom that I wanted to do cloth diapers for environmental and money-saving reasons. My mom decided to gift me initially with 8 weeks of a local cloth diaper service just as her mom did for her back in the day. The 8 weeks has now turned into...5 months and counting! Ivy's Diaper Service is the ONLY cloth diaper service in Charlotte...you would think there would be more. Garrett started this awesome, green biz a few years back. She visits each new customer and walks them through all the ins and outs of her cloth diapers, even providing dolls to practice on. Actually, Garrett was not only the owner of the company, but the sole worker...washing and delivering all her diapers each week to the hundred or so customers that she had.

It was a Thursday morning, I put out my bag of dirty diapers that morning knowing that Garrett (aka the diaper fairy) would be by to exchange my dirties for cleans any minute. She did. Later that day I saw on Ivy's Facebook page that Garrett (9 months pregnant) was in a terrible accident and whoever posted the status asked for prayers. I prayed. Saturday I checked back into the Ivy's Diaper facebook page and read that Garrett and Rosie (their daughter) had passed.

Rosie was delivered via C-section after the accident and survived a day later, but died in her daddy's arms. She wasn't able to survive due to the lack of oxygen she had at the time of the accident. Garrett only survived 10 hours after the accident...never waking up but stayed long enough for her family to reach her and say goodbye. A dump truck had crossed the yellow line and hit Garrett head on...a tragic and terrible moment.

What a tragedy...a loss...an emptiness for Mike and Ivy (their 3 year old). My heart continues to break for them both. Garrett was a mom to the many babies she diapered each week! Thank you, Garrett, for your amazing business and love for all things baby!

Another Before & After

Today's debute....the desk nook!

When we were planning our small, urban house redo last summer I started to wonder where I could fit a desk and a little space for myself. I had an idea to turn our coat closet into a desk nook. First, let me say that it was my idea, but it was my husband's complete DIY project (as was our kitchen---totally Daniel's doing!)

Here is the before pic---ICK, that paint job was by our renters! That half-wall was ripped out too...and the carpet and the paint was redone...wow, do I love before pics!

During construction. The closet was opened up all the way...width and height.


After! My desk nook. Daniel made the shelves and desk himself.

I love the fact that he drilled a circle in the back of my desk to run cords through...makes it a lot cleaner!

Family tradition. Years ago when my parents were having their babies, my grandmother would have these blue and white tiles made for each birth. Now my stepmom has them made. They are delft tiles from Holland, MI. Google if you are interested. They make great gifts. Sidenote: Yes, Maryn was born in Ft. Mill, SC (20 mins away) as she was delivered by midwife at a birth center...which is illegal in NC. (more on that later-another post for another time!)
Favorite verse. Daniel gave this to me for Christmas...ordered from www.redletterwords.com
Thanks for looking at my desk nook. I love it---I love displaying my cookbooks, my collection of things, having a place to sit and work on the computer and, most of all, I love having this as something that is seen when people walk in the front door rather than a plain ole' coat closet.

In the kitchen...

I'm not sure how many of you out there are actually reading this blog, but if you are and if you have been reading it for sometime you may remember that Daniel and I moved back from a year in Malawi, Africa this past summer (2010). When we moved back we moved into a house that we had owned for a number of years but always rented out. It is basically in Uptown Charlotte area..with an awesome view of the Bank of America skyscraper and other buildings and close to NC Music Factory (awesome in the summertime, free concerts on our front porch). Anyway, we love our urban life here in Charlotte. Maybe someday we will trade it in for a bigger house and more land, but for now we feel very much a calling from God to live out a missional life in our neighborhood and city...loving the poor and the disenfranchised around us. (another post for another day...promise).

So with urban living comes small spaces. As mentioned, Daniel and I rented out this small, 3 bedroom house as it was when we bought it...so when we came home last summer we knew we had our work cut out for us. Hardwood floors, new ceiling, painting, knocking down walls, putting up walls, new bathrooms, and re-doing our kitchen. WARNING: the following pictures could be harmful to your healthy...beware of shock! :)

Before pictures. Our renters painted the kitchen a BRIGHT yellow....and those cabinets, ICK. and the old floor. Oh MY!

DEMOLISHING and construction of Ikea cabinets.



AFTER: All cabinets from Ikea (put together by my awesome husband and our friend, Zach. Oven and overhead microwave from Lowes, dishwasher and fridge from local Habitat ReStore, countertops are from a local wholesaler (they are actually laminate but have a beveled edge and a marble design--we didn't want to put marble in such a small kitchen that we may not be in forever and maybe one day knock a wall out and redo again for more space). Curtains I made myself...a faux roman shade!



I LOVE Ikea cabinets for all their space-saver designs! We totally needed it for this blocked-in kitchen. I took down most of the above cabinets because I didn't want to feel so closed in. I really love the open shelving that is so popular now days, so maybe we will do that at some point. But I am loving all the organization and space-saving ideas that Ikea has for kitchens. My favorite is the lazy-Susan type cabinet that we have in both corners--it turns and pulls out to use ALL the space in the corner cabinets...oh, Ikea, you never cease to amaze me. Thankfully, our local Ikea is only 10 minutes away. YAY!


And, I am loving my new faux roman shades! I just finished this the other day. I've been dying to use this fabric somewhere...I love it! Since we live in the city we couldn't get away with just a valance or a cafe curtain, we still needed full window coverage from the street. So I hemmed my curtains and used a backing fabric and actually adhered the fabric to the already-there blinds, taking out the blinds that I didn't want to create the roman shade folds. I still need to tweak a few things--let's face it, I'm no seamstress, but I am pretty impressed that I actually made curtains that are functional! Never did that before.

nice--you can see our garbage cans on the sidewalk outside...ha, just keeping it real here, guys!
Thanks fo going down memory lane with me and viewing our before/after small, urban kitchen! We still have to do a few more things...aka light fixture, but we love it so far!

Chalk it up to Pinterest

Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with Pinterest.com? Maybe I haven't mentioned it on my blog but I have on facebook. Seriously...I was laughing how M has been sleeping through the night the last couple of months and you would think that I would head to bed early myself, but Pinterest it's been my new late night hobby! ha ha.

Anyway...I blame Pinterest on my latest attack of projects around here. I seriously have had 4-5 different projects going on at one time.

SO...here is Project #1. Mirror turned chalkboard. I have this small little wall that is a load-bearing wall (a la can't-be-torn-down-wall) and had an old phone jack sticking out of it (hello 1990's) that I wanted to cover up. I could have put a photo or another decor of some type but I decided to make this chalkboard for something a little different.

M and I visited one of our fav places around here..the Habitat for Humanity ReStore (we're lucky enough to have 2 in Charlotte). We found this old oak mirror for $10. I snatched it up, took it home, cleaned it up and spray painted the trim white. I should have taken the mirror out but it was kinda of a pain as had an old-school encasing around the back that I didn't feel like messing with. After a day to let it dry I painted the mirror with chalkboard paint. Not going to lie I did need to touch up the white where i bumped it with black but it wasn't a problem.

Before:

After: Our first message was for my mom and stepdad who were visiting us this past weekend.

Baby Blues

M has a little boy friend arriving in November! Three of our good friends are expecting...yay for more baby friends. One of our friends had a "gender reveal" party the other night. They had a few people over to their house on the day of their ultrasound. She made blue cupcakes. On her and her husband's cue we dove in for a cupcake, peeling back the wrapper and rejoiced with them on the little BOY on the way! YAY!

Speaking of babies, my little baby is now 6 months. 6 MONTHS! That is half a year. I took her to her 6 month checkup yesterday...M is 90% in height, so maybe she will be a tall one? I hate going these wellness checkups all for the reason that I know the shots are coming. She doesn't know...but I do. I just want to cry each and everytime. Thankfully she only did two shots yesterday (Hib and DTap round 2).
Here are a few this week.

To sew, or not to sew

I just got my kitchen fabric delivered this morning. Yes, I am one of those that ordered fabric online...I know, living on the edge right? There is a HUGE fabric store near Charlotte that I like too (Mary Jo's for the seriously interested) but with a baby who still naps every 2-2.5 hours it is difficult to make it there during the week. So online ordering it is!

Anyway, I already knew that I loved Amy Butler fabric and was dying to have an excuse to buy this pattern that I have fallen in love with since I was fabric shopping for the nursery curtains last fall. So I ripped open the package today eager to see my fabric and was a little taken back by how lime colored it was. I had to leave it in the kitchen, walk away and walk back in several times to get used to the idea. I toyed with sending it back (love Fabric.com's return policy!) but I decided I am going to keep it! What do you all think?

So I am going to attempt to make some Roman Shades out of it. The only thing is that we have old windows and nothing can be nailed/screwed into the inside window frame itself (BOO!!!) so I am afraid the roman shade might look a little funny on the outside of the actual window...so stay tuned. If I do the roman shade I think I found a tutorial online that I won't have to use a sewing machine for (double yay!).
Stay tuned...

Picture of the Week

I can't believe that I am posting AGAIN this week. I think I'm making a new personal blogging record here.

BUT you all have to see this picture. It is the "picture of the week" around our house.

I mean, seriously! Daniel and M were inside watching me spray-paint my little project this week. M loved watching me and was laughing hysterically and then D put her a little too close to the sliding glass door and this is what she did. We all then burst into laughter...she is becoming our little ham!

Seeing Red

My blog has been so consumed with all things baby the last 6 months, that I am just now feeling like I am able to catch up on it and post about other things that are, well, not so baby-ish. Where I do feel like my days do revolve around naps (3 still a day) and feedings...it seems that we have eased into life a bit more. I probably said the same thing when M was 3 months old, but each month it seems easier and easier.

So, this post is two-fold. First to show that I actually do have other things going on in life than just baby feedings and baby naps. And, secondly, to update you on our house projects. Don't worry, I don't have any intentions on turning this into a DIY blog...though I do love some DIY projects and reading DIY/design blogs! (rabbit trail: have you ever played on www.pinterest.com ? OH MY GOSH, I could waste some time on that site searching for things...LOVE IT!)

I think I have mentioned in the past that we live in Uptown Charlotte...very urban. We love it. We bought this house right before we were married and up until last summer had it rented out. We had quite the project to come home to when we arrived Stateside last summer from Malawi. (wood floors, whole new kitchen, tile in the bathrooms, paint, ceiling re-do, addition built). It was fun and stressful at the same time. Since we have been able to sleep a little more these days, we have updated our project list and are having fun dreaming, planning and attacking the list together.

Here's just a small project that I finished last week before we left for vaca. The previous owners left these old-school benches on the front porch. We were going to toss them (like we would, they weigh a ton each) and get new porch furniture but decided to keep them and save our pennies for new furniture for our side-porch add on (further down our project list). So I decided to update the benches and spray them red. Sidenote: make sure you remove running shoes when spray-painting otherwise you end up with pink socks! I love how they turned out...and plan to make a few outside pillows to add to it. We spend lots of time out on the porch with Maryn...watching people and checking out our view. I think even a small table with a lantern on it would be nice too!

Summertime

July 2, 2011 - Here I am, sitting in our dark living room, uploading pictures from our first "family" vacation (that being our first 3-of-us vacation). We just returned this afternoon from our beach week on Edisto Island, SC. If you haven't heard of Edisto, it is a small beach vacation spot just 45 minutes south of Charleston..only about 4.5 hour drive for us from Charlotte. Just vacation rental homes, one grocery store (Piggly Wiggly--you know you're in the south) and a handful of restaurants. We love vacation spots that frees us of commercialism and consumerism. Daniel and his family vacationed there each year growing up, so it was extra special for him to take us to their spot, hear his stories about their beach explorations, golf outings and other family memories.



Maryn was a trooper and did great considering it was her 3rd time (last trip was to VA for Easter) being in a pack and play crib and being in a totally new setting. We had a first rough couple of days adjusting, but that was to be expected. I think Daniel and I had to really learn that vacations, as we knew them to be, have changed. And as for now, our days even on vacation revolve a little around nap times and feedings...it's just a season, right? On top of the change of environment, Maryn was battling her first cold and terrible diaper rash (I think from starting to eat solid foods). All in all, we had a great time...some fun in the sun (we alternated staying back during nap times), lots of seafood consumed, some books read, memories made and even our friends joined us for a few days (one couple at the beginning of our week and one couple at the end of our week).


Not only does July 2nd mark our return to our sweet, little life in the "Queen City", but it also marks Maryn's "half birthday". Yes, our sweets is now 6 months old. At the risk of sounding so cliche, I will say that she is changing each and everyday. She has really proven to be a Daddy's girl this week (I think being on vacation and so much quality time helped.) She is always looking for him and cracking up at him, it is quite endearing. She is rolling a bit, making efforts on her belly to doing "crawling-like" movements, saying "ba-ba-ba-ba" all the time, just starting to eat solids (oatmeal, sweet potatoes and peas), teething and drooling like crazy (no teeth yet), and mimicking some of our silly movements to her. She is also really starting to show her sense of humor with initiating "silly" times, and copying Daniel and I when we are laughing at something together. It is just so fun right now with her. I'm really trying to stop and take it all in. I see so much of Daniel in her. She (unless very hungry and very tired...again a daddy trait, ha) is happy, smiley and easy to make laugh. I'd really like to say that she takes after her mama, but I think she is like her daddy through and through. In fact, when Daniel was younger he smiled so much that his nickname at school and church was "Smiley Dan". Ha. I love it...he probably wouldn't want me to post that, oh well.

So that is our latest and greatest from our home. We continue to ask God for wisdom and guidance in this area of parenting. Though I rejoice in little achievements and am a bit more confident in the areas that I have seen accomplished, I'm still adjusting to this mommy role of "trial and error" and questioning what to do next. All the questioning at the beginning of what to do drove me a little batty...I'm so thankful for friends and family that have given me advice and helped me to know what to expect next. :) This parenting thing is not for the faint of heart that is for sure!

needing to update

I know, I know...I need to update my blog. Not sure how many of you actually read this stuff but it has been annoying me to click on my own blog to get to some of your links and to find it so outdated. Obviously our lives have changed so much in the last 5 months...but it really has been in the last 2 months that we have seen our new "normal" surface. People always said "just wait until month 5/6...something will click and life will seem back together". So true. Being that this is our first go around with being parents, it was hard to see the light at the end of the first three month tunnel. Now I know why so many called it the 4th trimester. Motherhood is not for the faint of heart, that is for sure. :) But I am loving it..I'm loving our days together and our weekends and evenings just the three of us.

All the say, a more detailed update with pictures is coming soon.

Getting Settled

So, almost 12 weeks into this mommy gig and I am just starting to feel settled into a routine. Finally. And I'm ready to admit to the blog world that I really was a mess a few weeks ago...so stressed about getting Maryn to sleep well in her room, making her sleep longer, finding a balance between it all, etc. And, well, we are still trying to find a balance in our new roles as mommy and daddy on top of our other roles in life, but we are loving our little girl and all that she is at this stage in her little life.

Her latest tricks: She has been smiling for a few weeks now and has started to give us her daily belly-laughs...mostly laughing at daddy and when she is naked in the bath. She is also cooing a lot more these days. She HATES getting out of the bath (I mean, who does?). I'm just thankful that she LOVES being in the bath at this point. She is also scooting with her feet, pushing herself backwards, batting at the objects above her on her play-mat, and occasionally when there is a song playing on Pandora or when I sing to her, she will coo and talk so loudly that it seems like she is trying to sing along. It is cute!

Oh and my favorite "trick" of her's that started this past week is the fact that she now knows how to sleep through the night. Yay, Maryn! I feed her last at 11:30pm and she usually wakes up between 5:30-6:30..one day she didn't wake until 7:15am. I will say that I have actually liked getting up these past couple of weeks once a night (3am) for her middle of the night feeding. I love the house being quiet, sitting in the dark...just me and her. But I also love my sleep..so I am thankful for this new milestone. And, I should add, that she is also sleeping way longer naps. If you have been following me on facebook you will know that I was stressed for the longest time about her 30-45 min naps that she was taking. This girl is now sleeping 1.5-2 hour naps...yay for self-soothing.

Her first laugh was actually a few weeks ago when we had her in the bath...Daniel and I were standing there over the bath (aka the sink in our hall bath), I had my hand on her but looking at Daniel as we were talking about something and she laughed. We both stared at each other and I think I said, "what the heck was that?" ha. Daniel ran to get the video camera (first time parents) and we caught the end of her laughing spell on video. I'll never forget that moment.

new post

Ahhh...I just logged in because I realized that I hadn't posted anything in quite a while...and, well, I was going to post a picture of Maryn. Imagine that! And I have a CUTE one of her watching NCAA basketball with me..but to my dismay I realized that I took that picture with my phone and I'm not on my own computer. My poor Mac needed to be shipped off to Apple for some TLC...I guess a year in the Malawian heat did a little number to it. Good thing my husband was wise enough to buy extra warranty for me (what a good hubby he is). AND my sweet, wonderful husband brought home an extra laptop from work to let me "work" off of (ok...to facebook, twitter and blog) for the next couple of days...now that is true love. :)

The next post will be well worth it as I will also have pictures from this weekend...girls weekend with 2 of my sweetest college buddies!

Happy March Madness!

happy valentine's day

How could I not post a picture of my girl? Here she is yesterday at 6 weeks. We are adjusting more and more to our new roles as mommy and daddy around here. This past week Maryn started smiling more, laughing a little in her sleep (which is cute and freaky at the same time), and staying more and more awake. :) She is also into quite the routine of waking every 3 hours to eat during the day and allowing her mommy more sleep at nights by going 3-5 hours in between feedings. Thankfully I am slowly coming out of my zombie-like state. :) Though I have accepted the fact that there are still sleepless nights ahead.

That is what is going on here in the Queen City (aka Charlotte).

Happy Valentine's Day to all.

4 weeks

Maryn is now 4 weeks old...we can't believe it. Mostly we can't believe it because we didn't think we would ever make it out of that 2 week time-frame! I really and truly believe that it is WAY more PAINFUL to go without sleep for days/weeks at a time than the pain of the actual birth itself! I'm not one that usual can operate on less than 8 hrs of sleep pre-baby...but thankfully God has given me strength exactly when I've needed it the most...and He gave me an amazing husband who has take great care of both Maryn and I especially in those first 2 weeks.

Maryn is doing great! We're on a semi-schedule where I wake her up every 3 hrs during the day to eat, leaving her sleeping through the nights in 4-5 hr stretches between night feedings. Ah, 3 hours straight of sleeping in intervals never felt so good! :)

Here are a few recent pics.

lots of polka dots going on here.

she loves to stare at the black and white pics above the couch.

at Freedom Park with Daddy

blowing bubbles at the park with Mommy

a few more pics

Here are a few more pictures of our precious Maryn. Our dear friend, Steve Cook, has his own photography business and took pics of Maryn as a gift to us. Check out his blog HERE

New Year's Baby, Almost

So if you follow me on twitter or facebook you know by now that our sweet "McBaby" entered the world on Sunday, January 2, 2011. I really had thought that we were going to have a baby boy and was quite surprised when Daniel announced to me in that birth moment that "It's a GIRL"! We were elated...and still are.

I started sensing contractions on Friday, New Year's Eve. They weren't really powerful and not following in any sort of timed pattern...but I knew what they were. We carried on with our New Year's Eve plans..though, having known how tired I was going to be, I probably would have canceled and forced myself to sleep before the ball drop. Oh well. We went to dinner with friends and then had several over to our house after for games and the midnight countdown.

The next day the contractions were gaining on me. We were on the phone throughout the day with my midwife reporting in each new feeling, timing, etc. We labored most of the day at home with a lunch break to the mall for Chick-fil-a salad and a walk around to help speed up the process (and window shop to take my mind off of things). The contractions progressed and became more and more painful.

Around 11pm my midwife told me to start heading to the birth center and she would meet us there. Shortly after arriving and settling in, Damaris (my midwife) checked me to see how far I had dilated. I had it in my head, this being my first time having a baby, that it would take me longer than most. We were quite surprised when she announced that I was "an 8, almost a 9"...I had prayed to be at least at a 6. My water still hadn't broke and around 3am I told Damaris just to break it for me...it was causing so much pressure. At 5:12am our sweet, precious daughter was born. Yes, 2 hours of pushing due to it being my first time, and the fact that Maryn had her hand up on the side of her face. The whole midwife/birth center/natural birth experience was AMAZING! I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Maryn was 8 lbs. 8 oz...way bigger than anyone had anticipated. She is the sweetest thing and we continue to be impressed by God's handiwork, His timing, His love, His gifts of blessing, His renewed strength and His peace. Thanks for all the encouraging words and prayers.

We named her Maryn Tadala.
Maryn is derived from the name Mary. Mary, the mother of Jesus, possessed a strong but humble spirit and a loving heart, which was exemplified throughout her life. It is our prayer that our Maryn would possess a similar spirit and heart, sensitive to the heart of God, so that those around her would experience the unending love of God.

Tadala is a word that we discovered while living in Malawi, Africa. Tadala means "we are blessed" in the Chichewa language. We were truly blessed by this new life that began while living in Malawi. Our daughter is a gift that God granted us while in Africa and one for which we will always be deeply grateful.

Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas 2010 is over...so sad. I'm contemplating putting away all the ornaments and decorations today, but I just don't want to. I love Christmas!

We had such a wonderful week together here in Charlotte. Of course, no baby yet, but as inpatient as I was last week to have to the baby, I'm glad that he/she held off. It was just so nice to have spent one more Christmas just the two of us. Our Christmas' will never be the same from the point on.

Anyone sentimental like I am? At every holiday I always have these moments of remembering back to where we were last year...what we were doing...who was with us...what was the biggest highlight, etc. Well..I thought I would share a few comparative pictures.

Christmas 2009--Malawi, Africa. So funny that we are sporting strappy dresses and short-sleeves. IT WAS HOT!

Christmas day walk--through the tea plantations on Mt. Mulanje in Malawi. We were lost for like 4 hours trying to find this lagoon...but the views were breath-taking.

the many waterfalls...so pretty!

then..we got caught in this massive rainstorm on our 4 hour walk...ahh, it felt nice after the heat.

my "bestie" and I--so grateful to have experienced Malawi with our dear friends, Kayla and Jonathan.
SO....FAST FORWARD to Christmas 2010...

and here we are--me and McBaby at 39.5 weeks. Ah, no pics of Daniel and I together this year..bummer.

Our day-after-Christmas walk this year was a snowy one...we were so excited to see snow yesterday! It has been 2 years for us since we've seen the white, fluffy stuff.

Here's a picture of Daniel--cleaning off the cars! I love him!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!