christmas at the henrys...get ready to scroll.

we've had four christmases in four different towns -- san angelo, granbury, dallas & plano. and there's still one to go in san antonio. i only have photos from the christmas at our house (on the actual day) because after that there came traveling and sick people (mom, landon and both kids) and packing, and my brain was just not in a place to take pictures. at least i have some the official day for grayson's first and ellie's second.

christmas eve, after church (i think gray had already gone to bed...):

christmas day:

out.

i have many things to post about including christmas -- all 4 or 5 of them so far -- and my AMAZING presents, etsy greatness and cowboys heartbreak. but we are in dallas right now, and i'm super sleepy. plus, landon is waiting patiently to check his email. so.. you'll have to wait.

hope everyone is enjoying their holidays!!

"jump!"

tonight, after a long nap and pizza for dinner, i piled the babies in the car to run the last few errands on my list. though i will have to make one sure-to-be-insane stop at heb, i wanted to keep christmas eve as calm as is possible. heh.

landon had gone to work about an hour earlier so i was alone with ellie and gray. i was putting gray in the car as ellie dawdled along on her merry way. this is our typical m.o. when getting to the car. i can't carry two children at once so i move quickly to snap gray's seat into his base while ellie walks down to the steps at the far end of the porch. i get gray in the car by the time she has come down the steps and is walking toward the car. i scoop her up as she tries to sprint into the street on a mission to see the "peety wites" at the neighbor's house up close and personal.

today, however, was different.

she didn't just step carefully down the steps like she usually does. she got to the second step and noticed, though it's been there for some time, an enticing pile of leaves at the bottom.

i saw her bend her knees and contemplate it.

i said, "be careful, baby."

she said, "jump!"

i said, "be careful, baby."

she said, "jump!"

she jumped. and she fell.

it was one of those slow motion moments when you know what's going to happen -- and you know it's gonna be bad -- but you know you can't get there in time to stop it.

i rushed over to her and held her as she cried.

and then i started to cry.

the tears came on suddenly as i thought about how there will be many moments in ellie's life when i'm watching her move toward a bad decision. i'll watch her bend her knees as she gets ready to jump. i'll warn her to be careful. she'll ignore my warnings. i'll look on helplessly as she falls and begins to cry, hurt by what i told her was going to hurt. and then i'll cry too. extra hard because i knew it was gonna turn out bad.

is it too much to hope that afterward, like today, she'll let me hold her and kiss it all better?

fighting christmas stress.

my christmas cards are not finished. and, quite obviously, they are not mailed and will not be to their intended destinations until AFTER christmas. i am not finished wrapping gifts. i have not finished shopping for gifts. almost. but not quite. i have a story due today. i have lots of dirty laundry. my house is not perfectly clean, not smelling of cinnamon and pine, a roaring fire is not roaring and we are not gayly humming christmas carols. the babies are fussy, and i need to shower. i also have a couple etsy orders to fill and one to mail.

i know i need to light a candle (yes, cinnamon, please) and turn up the music despite the state of my unfinished to-do list.

who cares if everything is not perfectly finished, washed, sparkling and sure to thrill its recipient before christmas morning?

i do.

but i'm trying not to because my other option is to just be disappointed.

sigh...

rudolph thank yous.

i listed the rudolph cards i posted here yesterday. i thought they'd be perfect for christmas thank yous from the kids to grandmas and aunts and friends. you know you want some!!

dreaming of a typewriter collection.

i have become aware of the existence of a red, manual typewriter that was my great-grandfather's. he wrote his sermons on it. i want it so, so, so bad. (remember this post?) my great-aunt joyce has it currently, and i plan to ask whether she'd be generous enough to pass it down to me. i would cherish it so. what an amazing piece of my heritage.

i just love typewriters. i love how the letters look on a page that's been typewritten. i love how loud they are. i love that my writing mentor bangs so hard on his computer keyboard out of habit born from using a typewriter early in his career. i can remember playing with an automatic one my grandparents had during visits to them in north carolina as a kid. typewriters are just cool. i also want to (selectively) collect things that feature typewriters. like this little cup. it only adds to the awesomeness that it says "chicago."

lift leaders: thank you & merry christmas!

some shots of goodies for our adult leaders to be gifted at dinner tonight at olive garden. yum!

merry.

christmas songs.

this is a music box my grandmother (you know, the super talented one who just got a computer?) painted for me when i was two years old.

you can see where it says "to sarah, 1984." you can also see the carved in "piland 1984" just to the right of that if you look really close. (click the picture to make it larger.)

ellie is in love with this little beauty that features santa and mrs. clause dancing to "rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer." she loves it so much, she requested a music box all her own from the north carolina elves. lucky for ellie, those n.c. elves were happy to oblige.


though grandmother did not paint this one, it is lovely just the same. it plays "here come santa clause."

it came today, and ellie could not be happier.

thank you, north carolina elves!

songbird pie!

my shop is up and running! i am still tweaking and adding, but it's there.

click here to visit or browse the mini shop on my sidebar.

i already have my first custom order. (thanks beth!)

long live handmade!

sprinkle love, poladroid style.

quote of the day.

we are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

-charles r. swindoll

baby brown!

my friend natalie is expecting! she and her husband, damion, have been wanting a baby, and i'm so glad they are now growing what is sure to be a super cute addition to their already super cute family. she's due mid-july. i'd link you to natalie's blog (she is responsible for 3 years and 1,000 posts on ohh, remember?), but it's private. she's a high school teacher. enough said.

congratulations, natalie and damion!

now off to shop something perfect for the little one.

4 months (and 3 days).

in his fourth month, grayson reed has learned to laugh, grab things (though he can't let go yet) and roll from his back to his tummy. he smiles when he sees his sister, and still prefers to be swaddled and rocked to sleep. he weighed 16 pounds and 7 ounces and was 26 inches long at his checkup on monday. ellie was almost exactly that size at six months. my big baby boy. he likes his sassa, though not as much as ellie did or does. he mostly likes to be held. if he could be held all day, he'd be happy. he has still only had breastmilk, though i think we'll try some cereal pretty soon. he likes to hear his own voice and will often stop to chat and grin in the middle of nursing sessions. he (and i) are still battling thrush. we found out monday he has another case. he sleeps through the night randomly, and has for the past two nights -- 12 hours and 9.5 hours. his baby days seem to be going by faster than ellie's did. everything seems to be going so fast.

grayson also played in his jumpy for the first time.

cleaning out the camera.

here are all the photos (warning: there are a lot) that have just been sitting on my camera. yes, those are halloween pictures you see. happy wednesday, and happy birthday to crystal!

brother-sister love.

bath time cheese.

halloween 2008!

me & honey on a random thursday night.