A NEW YEAR AND A NEW FAMILY ADDITION

It's officially 2010 and this is my very first blog post of the year. Yes, I have been slacking. Badly, in a serious way. But if you would find it in you to forgive me, I will forever be grateful. So since it's a new year, that only means I have to look back at last year and start thinking of all the things I want to change or accomplish for this new year. Well let be honest, the last thing I'm thinking about are my new year's resolutions. Simply because I am almost nine months pregnant and the only things that are on my mind is food, food and finding ways to induce labor naturally and well, more food. I am longing for my healthy baby girl to be in my arms at this very moment, but she apparently has other plans for the both of us.

Nine whole months is just simply far to long for a mother-to-be to have to wait. I am far more anxious than I even imagined and it's driving me crazy.

Dear Little Arianna,

I have fed you and kept you warm in my snug little belly for almost nine whole months. Please come out soon as we are dying to meet you and kiss all your adorable little features.

As excited as I am to finally meet and see our little Arianna, I am so looking forward to being a mother again. I can't wait to see Jilliann be all grown up for her little sister. I know she will be so wonderful at it.

I'm excited for 2010 as a newly expanded family!

CHRISTMAS RECAP

Today I started taking down just some of my Christmas decorations. Sadly, I wish I could keep them up all of 2010. Until the next Christmas. I've been in love with my tree for the last 30 days and I am seriously dreading not being able to look at the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations.

Here's a little recap of our Christmas holiday. Nothing makes your heart smile more than watching your child open up gifts on Christmas morning. It was truly a blessed day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Today I'm finishing up the last of my wrapping and making sure I everything I need for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. It makes me happy and grateful yet again to be spending this holiday with people I truly love and care about. I couldn't be happier.

So internet, Merry Christmas! I wish you happiness and love this holiday season!

FACEBOOK

The good ole' world of Facebook. It can either be a great thing, or a not so great thing. Almost everyday we all log in to see what everyone else is up to. But why? And what is the deal with Farmville. Seriously? Your cow is lost? And the pictures your friends tag you in. OMG! I looked horrible.

But Facebook can also be informative. Somewhat! I love being able to reconnect with lost friends. I love the update pictures of friends families.

But I think we all know there are some things we absolutely hate about Facebook. And I saw this video that can sum it up for most of us.

GIFT GIVING

'Tis the season of gift giving. I won't lie. I love receiving gifts. Especially when I pick them out myself and buy them myself. But when buying for others, I just plain suck at it. My biggest issue is actually making the decision on what particular gift to buy. I can never make up my mind.

Needless to say, Christmas shopping has officially begun and I start to dread almost every minute of it. Who would have thought that my very own 4 year old daughter would be so difficult to shop for? Seriously! Either I've spoiled her rotten for the last eleven months and bought her everything under the sun or I just think whatever I buy, she just won't like it. Period!

So to make my job much easier this year, we're cutting back. Less gift giving this year for my family. It sounds horrible when I put it that way, but seriously, we're giving less gifts to all the spoiled rotten children in my family and actually giving back to the ones who truly need it this year.

Every year Leo and I take upon a few charities during the Christmas holidays and it seriously feels so good to give back to others who are in need. And by teaching our children what's truly important makes my heart do the happy dance. It's not about how many presents Santa leaves under the tree, it's the feeling you get when you do something for someone else who is in need.

And of course a post is always better with a picture - Here's our Christmas Tree that I am seriously so so proud of.

A LOVE FOR READING

Alive? Yes, I'm alive! I've neglected my blog for quite some time. And the only good excuse I can give you is that I've been completely stuffed from our Thanksgiving holiday that I haven't been able to move. Okay, that really only lasted twenty-four hours, but it was worth a shot.

Somedays I wonder if I can even come up with something worth blogging about. If it will even excite my readers. Most of the time I have these "brain-farts" and I just think to myself how boring my life is. Days and weeks will go by and I'm not sure if anything really exciting has happened. Regardless, I feel relaxed as we anticipate our new baby and the preparing for the Christmas holidays. Maybe something exciting will come into play sooner than later. :)

With everything coming to a close on the business side, I have more time to do other things. Thinking. It's something that I seem to do more now than I ever have before. And I thought I did a lot of thinking before, but I guess I was wrong. And reading. I'm reading more which makes my heart and soul do happy dances. I wish I could have an 8 hour job that just consisted of me reading whatever my heart desired. I'll keep dreaming though.

And since I've been reading more, I thought I would share with you some of my recent book purchases:

Sarah Palin ~ Going Rouge
I love political people. I love their opinions and their outlooks in America. And I was curious as to how Sarah Palin got into politics and that's why I purchased her book. I just started reading it so I'll be sure to post my thoughts on a later post.



Mitch Albom ~ Have a Little Faith
This was recommended from a friend who convinced me within seconds of telling me about this book. I love a book that's inspiring and sends a deep message so I'm excited to start this one very soon.



If any of my fabulous Internet readers have any suggestions for a good book, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Happy Tuesday!

EMAILS, MOLD & UNSUCCESSFULL SHOPPING

Yesterday I sat down at my desk determined to accomplish my end of the year print orders. But I quickly learned that every email in my inbox was gone. Yes, gone! Disappeared. No longer visible. Words came to my mind that God would even plug his ears for. I was instantly mad at the world.

And this morning as I rummaged through the cupboards deciding what to eat for breakfast, I decided on toast and peanut butter. I couldn't wait. I even looked at my jar of peanut butter and gave him a smile, because I knew he was about to satisfy my hunger. But I soon learned that my full loaf never-been-open whole wheat bread had mold on it. Ewww. I turned and looked at my peanut butter, gave him a dirty look and I was instantly mad at the world.

This afternoon I spent two hours in the local mall searching for one thing in particular that I never found. Again, I was mad at the world.

Later today I came home, sat at my desk and read an email from a wonderful client of mine. In her email she explained that her son is having brain surgery next month. My heart literally sat in the pit of my stomach. How could I have been so selfish? How could I have let loosing my emails, having moldy bread and having no success at the mall be the burden of my day?

Yes, the simple things in life I take for granted.

Dear Schroeder Family,

Many prayers to your family. I truly hope for the best.