Some notable nuggets

Well, I guess my post-pace is about once a month. You've got to ease into these things, ya know?

I've found (and I'm chalking this up to being an amateur blogger, though I recognize that may be a total cop-out) that I often talk myself out of posting because I don't think a story is blog-worthy. I've also vowed not to turn this into a blog solely about my pregnancy, but that costs me a post or two as well. Thankfully, while thinking back on all of the things that have happened since I last posted, I realized that I had a few honorable mentions to hand out. So here's a list of them, with some snarky commentary peppered in (naturally).

1. We celebrated Christmas! Keeping up with our "pack-in-way-too-many-activities-in-a-five-day-period" tradition, we drove to every Christmas celebration associated with our family (I think the total is somewhere around eight). Besides the joy of spending time with family and close friends (I'm not even being sarcastic, it really was nice), I also received some wonderful presents: tickets to the Dancing With the Stars tour, a "softie" (this delicious invention is a blanket that converts to a robe), a Snoogle (think body pillow slash enormous noodle), and a vacuum (mom, what are you trying to tell me?).

2. We stayed up until midnight to ring in the new year! This year Andrew's family got together on the 31st for my two favorite things: good food and fun times. For me, the highlight of this day was a family-wide vote to name our baby. Nominees included Albertina, Feather, and Dewdrop-on-a-winter's-morn, though the top vote-getters were Sophie, Becky Jr., Elizabeth, and Rose. We'll have to see if any of those crop up again come May.

3. Andrew installed a new pedestal sink in our one and only bathroom. Unbelievably, the project was done on time and under budget. That never happens! We both love our more spacious and really-clean-for-the-first-time-in-ages bathroom, and I really love my husband for embarking on (and finishing) this project.

4. I started "the registry". For those of you who haven't figured this out yet, a baby registry is just one of many ways to demonstrate to new parents how much they really don't know about having a baby. [Still with me? That sentence was a bit wordy.] The demonstration was a success; I feel quite clueless at the moment. And thanks to online product reviews, I'm also considering things I never would have thought twice about, like "how strong do I want the Velcro to be on the bibs?"

5. Operation Declutter (Andrew's more manly term for nesting) has begun. We have been purging clutter from our house at an alarming rate. Is anyone out there interested in the book "Prego! An Invitation to Italian"? Speak quickly (ahem, presto), because it's the next to go.