(all) that. just. happened.

okay. so christmas and new year's, huh guys?

the first phase of our break was entitled "parties" that was followed by "sickness" and the final act has been "cabin fever."

here's a rundown of the past fortnight in the duchy (as in, territory ruled by dukes...blammo first comedic home run of 2013).

went to a NICE dinner out for my office party. so much food a spirits. one time i was a leetle bored with the conversation and jesse had gone to the car to get something and i started pretended i was texting the babysitting when in fact i was taking some hot selfies with my cocktail like an airhead. 

it got super cold and judah was forced to wear pants. he chose to wear less of them that we had hoped.

3 days before christmas just woke us up with the splish splash down the hall of THE STOMACH BUG. jesse got baptized taking him back to his room and then i got baptized 3 hours later at the doctor's office. luckily we had RX anti-puke meds and the dr. said it wasnt contagious (no fever) and should be gone in 24 hours)

on the way home, still smelling of blue gatorade and flecked with chocolate speckles (really jesse? you give the sick kid candy?) i started to feel that awful stomach sloopy flutter that precedes nausea. and just like that 2 hours later i was down for the count. followed soon after by jesse.

layla, impervious to the bug, ran utterly amok this day. we were powerless to stop her. 

that night after my 9th barf of the day i had dozed off. i woke up and was weirdly out of breath. i went to get some water and then started a bath for myself. i kept noticing that i couldnt seem to catch my breath. as i sat down in the tub it got intense. i felt like i was suffocating. like i couldnt get enough air in my lungs. i started thinking i was allergic to something and asphyxiating. it was like i had just been on a super hard run but was getting worse instead of better.

i screamed for jesse to call 911, thinking i would pass out at any moment and drown in my tub. he came in, verified what i was saying (screaming/panting) and ran to call. while he was gone things got worse. i kept telling myself to slow down and be calm but all i could think was that i was suffocating. 

then i barfed. then i was fine.

911 sent people anyway (its free) and feeling a little stupid, "sorry guys, i know i am perfectly normal now, but SWEARSIES! i was gonna die 10 minutes ago" i described what had happened. 

turns out i had had a panic attack. despite being high-strung, type-A all my life AND already on antidepressants/anti-anxiety meds, i had never had one of these in my entire life. and it was extra weird because i wasnt stressed (i was asleep!) at the time. 

it was so much scarier than childbirth yall, because A: i didnt understand why the pain was happening, and B: rather than getting a baby at the end i just got a tub full of puke.

the next day was sunday and poor jesse had to lead worship at church. i couldnt move and felt like i had been hit by a train the next morning so some of our friends and family looked after the kids (judah was all better layla impervious). this SAVED my life. i slept until 2 pm and besides a little weakness from no food, was good to go.

so yes, panic attacks: AWFUL. such a new appreciation for people who deal with these monsters.

christmas eve service at church. pretending this is what our family looks like all the time

this is really what it looks like: blurry kids and adults beckoning

this little elf was not a happy christmas eve shopper. she wanted a cruddy old bakery cookie instead of the delicious fresh santa cookies that we were to make at home.

 

i just happened to have my camera out when this amazing scene took place before the nativity. we are working with layla on sharing. (follow the numbers).

i feel like this wont work on layla next year. 

presents wrapped, stockings hung, watching the bumpuses ransack the turkey. and of course, the hallway barricaded because at 3 1/2 judah totally gets christmas.

sadly, jesse parents caught the AWFUL bug in the line of being awesome grandparents and helping us out so we couldnt go over there for christmas day. so our little family stayed in ALLLLLLLL day long (this would become a theme with school on vacation). 

we were getting desperate for activities on christmas evening (it was raining and cold all day) so we had a hot chocolate tea party bath tub (like you do).

after the kids went to bed we desperately called a sitter to come literally sit at our house while we escaped to see "Les Mis." it was AWESOME. i saw the play as a kid and the old version of the movie and wasnt a ga-ga fan, but might be becoming one. i immediately bought the book and am 800 pages in. seeing play then movie then book is fun because i just keep getting more and more of these characters rather than less and less. (ps was anyone else utterly distracted by eponine's CGI waist!?!?!?! she's a warlock)

snuggled up with two of his gifts on christmas night: thats kind of magical. one is his pirate spyglass and the other is his dreamlight. despite being pretty vigilant about watching commercials (we always fast forward) somehow judah had seen an infomercial for dreamlights a few months ago. 

it was insane. i guess because it was his first commercial ever, it imprinted on him like whoa. he remembered that junk and would not stop talking about it. the good news is, he really does love it and it is fairly cool. but now layla is obsessed and sneaks in his room to steal it, yelling as she makes her escape, "muh deem lai! muh deem lai!" naturally, they are enamored of a stuffed animal (yuck) with a plastic laser show coming out of its back.

this little thing got braids for the first time ever!

and followed that up with a lovely duckface photo.

one of our longtime friends was home for christmas and found this gem of jesse in some old photos. look at slickback lamar!!

a lady at target heard me talking to judah and asked me if i was a montessori teacher. highlight of my parenting life! i love hippie methods and crunchy parenting so hard but am so naturally bad at it. so to have someone who knows something (her kids had gone to montessori school) recognize some of their kid-empowering methods of communication felt really good.

this was cancelled out minutes later when we had to drag a melting-down layla out of the store. alas.

judah is really into "working on plans" these days. he found a nice spot to do so. this was the most exciting thing that occurred on new years eve. when you have kids that are waking up at 7 no matter what, new years looses its appeal. i was reading in bed when the ball dropped (not a euphemism, much to jesse's dismay). jesse barely remember to grab a kiss as he turned on the TV with 50 seconds to go. 

 the adorable start of ANOTHER day at home, inside with the kids. 

i'm serious, you stay at home moms, you are amazing and it must be a calling. we are losing our minds not being able to take the kids to school for stimulation and scenery and not being able to go to work. i went like 9 straight days with no makeup on. that was were the fun ended.  it didnt really feel like much of a vacation a lot of the time. but in between the chaos and cabin fever, it felt like magic. so i'll take it.

glad to have made it through 2012 unpregnant and happy! glad that christmas break isnt for another 11 months. glad that this crazy, frazzled, magical, redeemed life is mine.

toweling off

...because that's what you do after a shower, right? oh, yikes.

well i think the baby shower was a smashing success. this could because i got a hearty to-go plate trough of food and stuffed me face with pigs in a blanket and pumpkin bread all weekend long. it's also partly because everyone seemed to have had a great time and natalie got some great gifts.

will this shower be in a magazine? probably not. we were on a budget bigtime and focusing on things that would last momma and baby for a long time and not just be cute and then thrown away. but i think we managed some cute for our dollar.

did it go off without a hitch? why, no. i got locked out of the venue with natalie's mom for 30 minutes with melting goodies and faces (mine) when we first got there, my co hostess abby got lost on the way and i may have blasted her with some of my locked-out stress anger on the phone, i forgot my sammie rollups at home and had to drive like a roid-rager to retrieve them 30 minutes before start time, and one of our good friends who was bringing 1/4 of the food was 2 hours late thanks to FREAK atlanta traffic followed by a speeding ticket. oh, i hurt for her.

but the good WAY outweighed the stressy.

so let's hit up a pictoral rundown, eh? all the good pics are by abby. and we didnt get many good group shots because we hostesses were the only ones with cameras and we were lots of busy.

why we did it: for this gorgeous mom and that little nugget in there.

that little boy in there is the second son of robert and nat, who have been on the mission field in england for 4 years. they had their first, benjamin, while over there, and now that they are moving home have had to leave ALL of their accumulated baby gear/necessities behind. stop and imagine having to start over getting everything you would need for a newborn when you already have a 2 year old and are changing jobs, homes and continents. hello, challenge! but we're here to help.

cohostess abby and i had a crafting day the week prior to the shower and churned out some cutesy from our little factory. i bought that paper puncher with a joann big coupon. if i ever host a shower for you: expect scalloped circle-shaped decor because i must make the investment go the distance. colors are negotiable.

natalie's mom had access to a sweet venue that is the meeting room and library of a local orthodontist she knows. most random thing ever? yes. super nice and free? YES! the building was so nice and very ski-lodge in style, which made it hard to totally baby-fy, but whatevs since we hadnt the money to do that anyway.

home made pom poms hanging from the central light fixture, flag bunting i sewed, pics of natalie as a baby and with bejamin on the hearth, and a MOM throne (with added comfort booster cushion). not mine: canoe painting and the after-braces glamour shots of some of the orthodontist's satisfied customers.

i am in love with these. natalie gets to keep them forever for any festivity!

thank you, martha, for your know-how

the food room. i used MADE's streamer sewing tutorial to pimpify regular crepe (not "crate" OUCH, i hate a homophone error and i committed this bad one. thanks, carrie!) paper. so easy in theory yet my sewing machine hated me and i peppered the streamers with an F bomb every few stitches due to constantly breaking threads.

with her first little man in the center of the table. she is awesome earthy hippie mother!

drink table. (their last name is braden, BTW)

yikes. the bargain drink dispenser i snagged from ross to serve ice water sprung an immediate and torrential leak. punch for everyone!

activity/keepsake/guestbook

baby will be born in october, so the completed autumn tree will be perfect. you cant tell, but there is a heart with "r+n" "carved" into the tree. after baby is born i will add his name and birthday and frame it for the family

i love an iteration. decided last minute to make these "easy" favors thanks to a pinterest spotting.

they are easy. to make. as in AFTER you've unwrap 250 individual hershey's kisses. i forfeited my portion because i decided to try one while the chocolate was still soft and warm and ended up eating about 20 and washing it down with some of judahs whole milk right out of the jug. oops.

how i packaged the favors. computer paper rubber cemented in a tube and then sewed down on the ends. i filled the top spool and the bobbin with different thread colors and flipped over after one line of zig zags to get the mutlicolored line the easy way.

abby's cupcakes were the best i have ever eaten. period. adorable little toppers never hurt.

the food placard holders were just some of judah's blocks hot glued to painted clothespins.

yuuuuuuuumz

holy cow. i have never been a believer or understander of the cucumber sammie phenomenon. well, nat's sister joj, converted me. i ate approx. 7,649 of these.

gifts! adorable hand drawn card.

because you never know when you're gonna need black tie attire!

i might be "obnoxious overly-helpful, needs-to-back-away, shower friend." dammit.

extolling the virtues of the 5 little monkeys treasury. what hijinks these primates will get into after their head injuries!

hahaha. 3 pretty ladies looking kind of pissed. dont be fooled. they talked and laughed the whole time and were very disruptive.

yes! emily and lena. probably judging me off camera.

big brother benj lost his pants during a game of chase. always a sign of a good party. he also got 3 or 4 big brother gifts...all of which he spurned for christine's iphone. typical!

hahaha i swear everyone wasnt mad the whole time. this was before we turned on the music and things got cuh-razy!

abby might have tried to steal this precious lil guest.

me and the godmothers of my kids! the wardrobe was unplanned. we are like an equation. they have been warned that they may not have babies for at least 3 years because i need time off before my next party-planning caper.

all 4 bradens. and yes, guys, you will love his little brother this much too. yes, natalie is married to justin timberlake.

seriously, we would do it all over again a hundred times for this chick

i dont shower(?)

i am SO exctied to be hosting a baby shower for one of my best friends, natalie (read about why i love her), tomorrow. natalie knows i SUCK at hostessing, and yet she is still a willing participant. i pretty much make all events that i host stress seminars (aka how TO be stressed out) for me and all of my guests. dont you want to come!?!?! luckily i have her bestie of life/ soulfriend, abby, co-hostessing with me and some awesome other friends helping us out on the food front.

i havent had gotten to host a shower for anyone since i turned crafty and moreso since i discovered pinterest. there are SO many adorable, affordable, and DOable little touches you can add to a party to make it really a memorable experience. (i havent pinned any ideas that we are using so that nat and the guests can be surprised). i may just turn into a hostessing maven after this, because, you guys...so cute and fun. but never in my house. this shower is at another location so that helps a TON. we dont even have a dining table at our house. so no. not there

hopefully by tomorrow after the party, abby and i, the guests, and most importantly, the mommy-to-be will be feeling like this:

complete with delicious food lingering on our faces. (seriously, how much do we love layla, guys?)

have a great weekend!