It's Christmas Time at the Blackwell's!

I love, love Christmas!  I love buying gifts.  I love decorating the house.  I love all the pretty lights.  And I love reflecting on Jesus - and this year I've enjoyed thinking about things from Mary's point of view!

In reference to the gift-buying - Adelle has been an excellent shopping buddy.  She rides around in her little stroller looking at all the pretty Christmas colors.  People comment about how beautiful she is and she smiles at them as if to say, "Thank you!  You can look at me as long as you want to."  She really has been such a trooper as I've drug her around doing all my shopping!

In reference to the house - we don't really have a lot of space to decorate, but I took pictures of our few little decorations.  I just realized, though, that I haven't gotten the sleigh out that Josh made a few years ago.  I'll take care of that today, rest assured!  Here's our little Christmas home:

Our coffee table.  Notice the fallen Santa in the background.  Adelle LOVES him!  Video of her laughing at him coming soon.

The china buffet - that I generally use as a makeshift mantle when it comes to decorating.  And Adelle's high chair - where she has, so far, eaten English peas, sweet potatoes, and green beans!

This is my tribute to a Louisiana Christmas, located on the bar.

Our tiny little tree that's been with us from the start...and our tired little elf!

My friend, Lyn, gave me the Santa hat and elf boots last year when I found out I was pregnant.  Aunt Jodi and Mimi picked out the onesie, which reads, "Mommy's little deer."  The Santa hat says, "Baby's First Christmas."

In reference to the lights, we went to see the Singing Christmas Trees at our church again this year.  Adelle lasted through the first 15 minutes. Then she got hungry. And after she was full she got very tired. It was, after all, past her bed time. It was such a fun little family night:

And here we have Adelle with her favorite man in the whole world...understandably so!  This the only picture I got before the battery went dead - go figure. 

In reference to thinking about things from Mary's perspective - a baby changes everything.  And I fall more in love with Adelle every day.  And struggle constantly with letting go and acknowledging that she was given to me by God, and is therefore His before she is mine.  And I think that everything Adelle does is spectacular - even if it's what she should be doing at this stage of development.  Watching her grow every day is like watching one small miracle after another!  Mary must have felt all of those things about Jesus, too, and maybe even more so because His arrival on this earth was the greatest miracle in history next to his death and ressurrection! 

I'm looking forward to meeting Mary - because she wasn't perfect, and God chose her to raise His son anyway. 

Thanksgiving a little late...

We started with some Meals on Wheels deliveries.  Adelle was very cooperative!

Then Josh wore Adelle and helped clean up around the house.  He is a very sweet husband.

And I cooked my very first Thanksgiving meal!  Here I believe I'm preparing the Banana Spice Cake with Peanut Butter icing...THANK YOU Paula Dean!

We did take a break during Adelle's nap to watch Star Trek, which we really liked. Basting of the ham was all that was required of me during that time.

  This was our pretty table.  I love a good reason to use my china and crystal!

And our pretty baby, who Josh dressed...obviously.

Josh's brother, Jonathan, and his girlfriend, Laura, came to eat with us!

The menu consisted of a traditional Cola-Glazed Ham [we don't really like Turkey that much unless it's fried], roasted asparagus, stuffed sweet potatoes, and fancy rice [regular white rice with dried cranberries, toasted pecans, and green onions topped with a little soy sauce].  And the Banana Spice Cake for dessert.

This is on Black Friday around 8 a.m.  Josh chose to go to the outlet mall at midnight on Thanksgiving.  He got home at 3.  He didn't know Adelle was next to him.  Or that I took these pictures.

Adelle is rolling over now from tummy to back.  Not from back to tummy.  So when she starts stirring around 5 or 6, she usually rolls herself over.  She's generally content to lay there for a while.  Evidently she had been up for a long while before she started fussing because she conked out almost as soon as I finished feeding her.  So, I put her down and headed off to do some bargain hunting while she and her Daddy slept the morning away!

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

Oh to be 15-ish again.

So, I'm a little early this week.  Maybe it will make up for all the times I'm a little late.  Mostly this Southern Belle just needs a good blab session, and all my thoughts will pass if I don't get them out now.  So, here goes...

I went to see New Moon this afternoon.  By myself.  After rewatching the first one, Josh decided that he definitely did not need to see the second one in theatres.  So off I went by myself [he, being the grand husband and daddy that he is, hung out with Adelle while I took some time off] for two hours of pure enjoyment.  Really and truly - I enjoyed every minute of it.  And I knew what was coming!  I must say that in the realm of books becoming movies, this was an excellent depiction of the real spirit of the book.  Go movie people! 

I digress.

So back to the by myself part.  I was mildly saddened by the fact that I was going alone but only as I was buying my ticket.  There's just something sorta depressing about saying, "One for New Moon," and knowing that you are 26 and teeny-bopper movie watching girlfriend-less.  But I got over it.  Clearly.  When I walked in, there were actually zero teenage girls to be seen, which I was sort of glad about because teenage girls are not my specialty.  Funnily enough, I was at one time the epitomy of an annoying teenage girl.  Just before the movie started, though, in marched about eight 15-ish year old girls.  Still awkward, but not for long - you can see them now.  They were very giggly and clearly elated to be there.  And I surprised myself with a little smirk...because the spirit of that movie really isn't complete without the ooo's and ahhh's and giggles of 15-ish girls. 

The movie began and I slipped into the world of vampires and werewolves and supernatural boys who are borderline crazy about regular old girls [I mean, she's beautiful but exceedingly insecure and doesn't smile very much].  They fight monsters and are willing to die to be with her.  I mean, does anyone wonder why girls [and women] love these books/movies so much?  We all want to be pursued, protected, and unabashedly loved by supernaturally spectacular men who are [let's be honest] fun to look at and our best friend at the same time. 

After I left, I thought about those 15-ish girls, cheering for their respective teams - Edward or Jacob - and I couldn't help but be a little envious.  Because for a lot of them, that's the most important thing going on in their world.  And because some of them still believe that such a supernatural, awe-inspiring, monster-killing man exists.  Don't get me wrong...we "old ladies" love our men.  But they are human.  And they don't kill monsters.  And our relationship with them is hardly epicly romantic. 

It would be nice to revisit that time when all your dreams could and would come true.

But here's what's great about where I am now:  I'm dreaming with my God rather than with myself.  And I'm raising a little girl who has her whole life to dream fantastically.  And although I did not marry an Edward or a Jacob, I did marry a Joseph [as in Mary's husband, Joseph].  And he is loving and kind and also [let's be honest] fun to look at.  And real.  And there is definitely something supernatural about that!        

The Trip Home

Well, it's finally time to conclude our trip to the Promised Land...now that we'll be heading back that way in a few weeks.

The trip home was, er, challenging.  We left at 6 a.m. for Baton Rouge to see Josh's Paw Paw before we headed east.  Baton Rouge is about a 2 hour drive from Alexandria.  We had to stop twice for me to go to the bathroom.  Evidently my stomach was not ready for a fully thermos of coffe at such an early hour.  We finally reached Paw Paw's.  He had donuts for us.  I ate one to calm my stomach.  Great logic, right?  Mine had a bug in it.  Seriously.  We did, however, enjoy our time with Paw Paw.  We got back on the road around 10.

So far, so good - other than the stomach issues.

We stopped at noon to have lunch at a Wendy's and feed Adelle.  We went in, ordered, pottied, and then found a spot in the field behind Wendy's.  The only dry spot, unfortunately, was near the dumpster.  Thankfully it wasn't stinky.  All the drive-thru cars could see us.  I said they probably thought we were homeless.  Josh said they probably did - what with our car full of stuff and our fancy diaper bag.  Smarty pants.  Adelle enjoyed stretching out.  And Belle enjoyed the freedom [notice her food bowl in the background].

Then we loaded it all back up and hit the road again.  We stopped around 3 to feed Adelle and get some treats at Sonic.  It was after the Sonic stop that things got tricky.  Here she is on the front seat ar our Sonic stop during her last happy moment of the trip:

By this time we were confused about what time it actually was.  We don't wear watches and we couldn't figure out if our GPS and phones had switched time zones yet.  An hour makes a big difference when you're riding with a cranky 4 month old.  We finally got the time situation figured out, stopped for dinner [us and Adelle] and prayed that she would sleep the rest of the way.  She didn't.  She screamed for most of it.  Her little neck was all chafed because of her spit-up clothes rubbing against it for so long.  I felt like the cruddiest Mama alive.  At Gainesville we pulled over.  Adelle was crying.  I was crying.  It was not good.  But at that point, Josh reasoned with me, we only had 2.5 more hours to go.  So off we went - still crying.  We arrived home at 1 a.m.  That's right, we left at 6 a.m. on Sunday and made it home at 1 a.m. on Monday.  Not cool.  Adelle was still wide awake.  I bathed her.  Fed her a little snack.  And put her to bed.  We all slept until 10 the next morning. 

Lesson learned...we will NEVER do it all in one day again.  We'll either drive it all night or stop halfway. 

The End.

Bister Day

* A bister is a sister, for those of you who do not know.

While I was in Louisiana, my mom graciously and happily volunteered to keep Adelle for the morning so that Molly and I could have a "Bister Day".  When we lived together these weren't necessary, you see, because every day was a potential "Bister Day".  But now that neither of us live with our parents, sister time is rare.  So, off we went for a big time in happenin' Alexandria. 

We did some light shopping at several of the quaint little shops I love - the kind that seem to be extinct in Orlando - where we made fun of stuff we thought was ridiculously ugly and ran into people who scared us in high school.  Then we headed off for lunch at a little hole in the wall called Fant's.  It's located in Tioga - a "suburb" of Alexandria, if that's even possible.  Most people were wearing camo or LSU gear, or a combination of both, if that gives you any idea of the atmosphere.  I loved it!  The food was spectacular, too.  Everything was fried...true life.  For an appetizer we had fried broccoli.  It was so stinkin' delicious.  When I pulled my camera out to take the following picture, Molly cut her eyes around and whispered, "She doesn't live here."

Then we headed off to Lowe's to look at paint colors for Molly's new house!  She and her husband Stephen just bought their first house!  Yay for them!  They are currently redoing floors and painting walls.  I can't wait to see it at Christmas!  While we were looking at colors, we, once again, noticed how very opposite we are.  I would pick out this really bright, but tasteful, color and Molly would wrinkle her nose.  Then Molly would pick out a very muted, but pretty, color and I would lift my eyebrows and say, "Huh."  It got to be pretty darn funny.  Here's a shot of Molly making a typical Molly face in response to me doing something she thinks is embarassing:

Molly also cooked dinner for us that night!  It was spec-stinkin-tacular! 

Molly the chef.

Chicken, spinach, and proscuttio [sp?] wraps.  Tho, tho good!

Some of the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had!

Molly's husband, Stephen - because he iced the glasses.

And because he loves to have his picture taken.

It was a good Bister Day!

Emily the Comparer

I'm a comparer.  I compare myself, my stuff, and my life against most everyone around me.  Subconciously.  Without even realizing I'm doing it.  Then I start feeling lousy, or jealous, or inadequate.  And I realize it's because I've been comparing.  Gross.

My mom has issued our family with a Christmas challenge for the past several years.  Something to stretch us and make us think.  This is mine to myself this year:  Don't compare.  The stuff.  The house.  The body.  Just be thankful.  For Jesus.  Because He is all I need.  And with Him, comparisons are irrelevant.

Merry Christmas to all.

Love ya'll like crazy.  Keep on keepin' it down and dirty.

Adelle With...

A LOT of people wanted to see Adelle!  The only regret I have is that we didn't make it up to Ruston to see good friends and my dads side of the family.  Christmas will be here soon, though, and we'll definitely be seeing that side of the family one way or another.  I also didn't get pictures of Adelle with Josh's cousins and aunt.  I'm pretty sad about that but, once again, hopefully we'll make that happen at Christmas!  Settle in, because we took a lot of pictures with a lot of people :)

Mimi [Josh's mom],

Aunt Molly [my sister],

Uncle T [my brother],

Nana [my Mama],

Courtnie [my high school pal],

Gran [Nana's Mama],

Aunt Jodi [Josh's sister],

Mimi and Daddy Joe [Josh's parents],

Pops [My Daddy],

The Robert's [my mom's side of the family] descended to see the newest addition to the family.  They loved all over her and Adelle handled our loud craziness rather well!  Good luck keeping up with how they are all related to Adelle!

Uncle Mike [Nana's brother-in-law],

Aunt Tara [Nana's sister-in-law],

Aunt Ann [Gran's sister],

Cousin Devant [Aunt Tara's son],

Cousin Phyllis [Nana's 1st cousin],

Jacob and Sarah [Adelle had just spilled the remnants of my cold coffee all over herself.  She didn't like it.  I learned that she's officially capable of grabbing...it's time to move everything out of her reach],

Mrs. Sheila and Mrs. Terri [my pseudo moms...Nana's BFF's],

Harrison! [some of our closest friends' 18 month old...they will be pals at the very least],

Tamara [my BFF since the second grade] and Megan [another BFF and Harrison's mom],

and Paw Paw [Josh's Paw Paw]!

Phew!  What a whirlwind, but Adelle handled it like a champ.

Still to come...the return of Southern Belle Blabs, Bister Day, Thanksgiving, and decorating for Christmas!