Christmas Morning

Look at the crazy white tree...and yes, I have been trying to get that stupid star on top to stick up straight FOREVER. It's just not happening.


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In other, more exciting news, Hope woke up at 8am on Christmas Morning, Momma was cheering for joy for her extra 45 minutes of sleep....

I was cheering in my head people....I am just NOT a morning person.


Ask my employer.



Or my Husband.



Or my Doggies.



Just don't ask Hope, because I am pretty sure the girl is clueless that her Momma is not a morning person. Because she thinks it is HILARIOUS when she wakes me up by shreiking at the tops of her lungs every morning...she also thinks it's comical that I come into her room EVERY morning and stumble over the booby traps she has set for me during the night. I'm telling you people, she is just CRUEL :)


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Here comes the good part....


(We are back on the topic on Christmas again, by the way)

Hope recieved lots of fun gifts this year...Jayson was, of course, thrilled about them all, but he was especially excited about the Dora book. Just look at his face.

She also got WAAAAY to many toys, clothes, books, you name it the list continues from her Auntie and Uncle. They definetly spoil her.

I also have been trying to perfect the art of clean up with my little lady lately. So here she is, doing her duty and cleaning up all the Christmas presents.

Such a good little helper!

My Favorite Date

Okay, I think I need to preface this post by stating, for the record, the following:

I love with all my stinking heart and soul my hubby, Jayson.

I mean, how couldn't I? When on a daily basis he cleans the house, washes the dishes, and scrounges up dinner for the three of us? He is also the only one who feeds the dogs. I forget little details like that so it really is beneficial that he is around :)

Okay, now you are not only wondering if I am a fit pet owner but also if I am a fit parent, aren't you?

But the REAL reason I am bringing this up is because, lately, my ultimate date that just gets my heart a beatin' and my palms a sweatin' has nothing to do with my Baby Daddy....

Or how much it melts my heart to see him with our lovely toddler.

But instead, the tinnie-winnie little corner of my pathetic, teenage heart is somewhat attatched to watching this guy....

Specifically, this guy, in this movie, as that character. Still with me? The "this and thats" are confusing me, too.

And to go a little further, and get a little bit more "out there"...

I am OBSESSED with going on my crazy date nights with this pretty blonde to my left seen above. Yes, that's my SIL Angie. Yes, we are wearing Twilight shirts. Yes, we sneak away on a weekly basis to see NEW MOON. Is there anything wrong with that?

If there is...

...I don't want to be right.

Just KIDDING....In all seriousness I am about as RIGHT as you can get. Anyone still with me? Maybe I should have used the analogy of good and evil. Okay, so if loving twilight and seeing it with my sister-in-law, and eating bags and bags of buttery popcorn, chocolate, and coke in a sitting AND leaving my baby with her Daddy every time I need a fix is EVIL....then I guess I'm just doomed.

HOPE HEREAFTER
My husband asked me the other day "What does that mean?"

here·af·ter
adv.
1. Immediately following this in time, order, or place; after this.
2. In a future time or state: hope to win salvation hereafter.
noun
The afterlife: belief in a hereafter.

I wanted the title to represent that for the most part, I will post in relation to my adorable toddler Miss Hope. I made the blog to journal about her life. Now, I realize for this title to be completely accurate I would have had to start the blog over a year ago when Hope was born, but I didn't have much interest at all in Blogging at that point of my life...I was too busy changing diapers, doing laundry, and trying to remember which side I last nursed on.

The second reason I chose the title is because I believe in an afterlife, and more specifically I hold HOPE in the afterlife. I believe that God gave his one and only son, Jesus, who died on a cross to save us all from our sins, so that we may have everlasting life with him in a heavenly place he has set aside for us. A place free from fears and doubts, a place where we will be reunited with our fellow believers, our family, those we have lost. A place we can praise our Savior for eternity.

I hold HOPE in the HEREAFTER and as I am typing this I am quite literally holding Hope for what seems like a HEREAFTER as she naps...my arm has fallen asleep and her elbow is wedged right between my fourth and fifth intercostals. That's okay though, because it is rare that I get to hold her for very long anymore. She's a toddler now. She is a bundle of crazy energy...running around and shrieking at the top of her lungs. Where did all that time go? Wasn't I just talking about laundry, diapers, & breastfeeding? Okay -- truth be told, I still have my fair share of the first two, but my point is IT GOES BY FAST. So this is my conscious reminder to enjoy it...to soak it all in...EVEN THE DIAPERS.



Hope everyone reading (all three of you) have a wonderful Christmas, we are sending out our love to you all! Merry Christmas!

Best Friends

Hopers,

We listen to this song "The Best Day" every morning when we wake up and I cry every morning over my coffee and your bananas! Ha! No matter what happens, or how confusing life becomes, remember I love you more that anything and you can always come to me with anything!

Love, Momma

This weekend we had SNOW..... so I thought Hopers and I better say our farewell to Minnesota's very short season of decent, livable weather and acknowledge the coming season....

Goodbye Sweet Summer.....We will miss you!

No more frolicking in the grass.....No more sunbathing in our bikinis - (although, admittedly I haven't been brave enough to put one of those on for awhile!)

And no more walks to the park or warm breezes on our skin...at least for a few months.

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Until then we will have to settle for "helping" around the house....

....you know the usual stuff, like sorting laundry.... Cleaning out Momma's Kitchen drawers...And don't even get Hope started on the bathroom....

And last but not least keeping these boys in line!!

Uncle Carlton comes to visit every monday between classes!

LOOK where we went this week.......

On a adventure to the PARK!

He pushed me SOOO HIGH on that swing!!

But I'm a thrill-seeker, so I loved every second of it!

We are good buds, my Uncle & I! See you next week Uncle!





Love,


Hopers

Baby's Day Out

Today was a very busy day here at the Nixon house. I started the morning off on a great note by sleeping in until 8:30 and showering and dressing all in the privacy of my own room without interputions! (Jayson worked from home and cared for Hope while I got ready for my long, overdue dentist apointment.) In fact, I would almost go as far as calling my private prep session wonderful, except for the fact that said dentist appointment was quickly approaching.

Ughh, the dentist, is just such a downer! Luckily, besides seeming to take an abnormally long time the appointment went well and I have a clean bill of (dental) health for another six months, or however long it takes me to get back there again. While I was stuck in that nasty pleather chair, with unflattering, headache inducing flourescent lights shining down on me I came up with a short list of the things I do not enjoy about the dentist:

-I don't care who you are or what dental office you call, everytime you try and make a regular check-up you have to schedule it two months out. I have a hard enough time trying to schedule things out a week ahead of time, let alone two whole months.

-The already mentioned horrible lighting that makes my eyes water and plastic chair that probably over a thousand people sit in a year.

-The polish...that gritty stuff they use at the end. It tastes horrible and the texture is even worse. Talk about gag-inducing.

Today,I had the opportunity to have one more specific reason to detest the dentist. The first thing he said to me was "You look tired." Now what man in his right mind greets a woman like this? He is lucky I didn't grab his dental equipment and start throwing it at him!

Well, let's move on. After my dental appointment Hope and I met my Mom, my Aunt Betty, & my Uncle Leroy (Now there's a couple Scandanavian names for ya!) We ate brunch downtown and visited. Hope had a grand old time smiling, giggling, and goofing off in front of her relatives. She can really be a ham and very outgoing when she wants to!

Next, we went to the U of M Agriculture Department to drop off Uncle Leroy at his semitruck and see the cows. We walked about the barn and visited the cows, saw a couple brand new baby calves only an hour old....still covered in blood and shivering, knees wobbling and trying to walk around. How precious is that? After that my Unlce Leroy went to get a day old calf and walked her up to Hope. The calf was so cute, she strutted up to us and started licking my pants. Her tail was wagging and she was Moo-ing! She seemed so domesticated I thought for a few short seconds she would be an adorable addition to the Nixon House! But, I then regained my senses! At this point I think Hope assumes all animals are just varing sized dogs because she just smiled and kept saying "BUB!" At home, that's what she calls the dogs. I am not sure if this is her attempt at saying "dog" or "Brutus" -the name of our Boston. Which ever it was, it was pretty much the sweetest thing ever to see her happy, smiling and experiencing something special and new!! (I SO WISH I HAD TAKEN PHOTOS!)

After that we said our goodbyes to Uncle Leroy and went shopping. My Mom and I just looked around a local mall and actually left without anything, but next we stopped by Babies 'R' Us and Granny couldn't help but buy a couple toys for Hopers!

Hope and I soon headed home, took a nap and then made a quick Target run while Daddy mowed. Gramma Nixon came over this evening to babysit and Jayson and I went to dinner and grocery shopping. We also made a very exciting purchase that I will tell/show in a post later this week!

It has been a busy day and I still have a TV show to watch before bed, sooo, I'm gonna go get to it!!

Here it goes....

After a few months of following blogs of strangers, family, and friends, I have decided to take the plunge and try Blogging on for size. Somehow I feel somewhat nervous to begin, what if I never have anything interesting to say? What if no one cares? Well, my reasons are actually pretty simple. Ever since Jayson and I found out we were pregnant I have been writing letters to Hope, but since she was born almost eleven months ago I have gotten progressively worse at staying on top of these letters. So hopefully this will give us a way to account for what we have been doing day-to-day. That is to say, from this point forward!


So first thing, I better introduce you to the little Bambino:

My first question is, why on earth is Hope's nurse only have one glove on? It's still a mystery to me people. Furthermore, look at my child's wrinkly foot, my goodness, you would think she had been stuck in a warm bath for months and months...

Oh Wait, I forgot, that's called pregnancy!

My pregnancy went pretty much as planned, I had a few issues at the end but those details are for another day. So I will leave you with my favorite photo taken minutes after my daughter's birth!