Things I want to do and places I want to go in 2011.

I even included an illustrated dinosaur.

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2010: The Good Parts Version

January: Intoxicated adventuring with Michi. New floors. Family heirlooms. Brewing Beer. Pink Flamingos.

February: Wedding. Lizards. Michi’s birthday. Valentines. Wicked. Seussical the Musical. Breckenridge. Wormwood. Snow. Dinosaurs. Airports.

March: 22. Renaissance. Crocheted bikinis. Rum. Beach. Ybor. Wesley. Sea Monkeys. Bubbles. Chili Fest.

April: Easter. Polaroids. St Maarten. Booger O’Mally. Corn cob pipe. Pregnant.

May: Dad’s concert. Mother’s Day. Surprise. Garden.

June: Ballet recital. Roses. Pram. Ipod. Gwendolyn. New Orleans.

July: Sparklers. Bahamas. Curses. Brigsby. Tudors. Michi.

August: Camping. Deer. Growing. Caden. Cupcakes. Energy drinks. Beer Fest. Crab legs.

September: Painting. Painting. Painting.

October: Pumpkins. Treasure. Beloved’s Birthday. Dog Fest. Pizza party. Softball. Parties.

November: Lace stocking. Feathers. Thanksgiving. Nesting. Nursery. Kevin.

December: Brigsby. Christmas. All the love in the universe.

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The Christmas Eve photos in all their glory.

The twat at Walgreens didn’t develop the one of my tajazzled gingerbread men.

And then Stella ate them.

Brigsby was a champ.

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For everyone who came over and watched B sleeping. Proof that he does open his eyes.

If you have no interest in babies, this is going to be the most boring video you’ve ever watched in your life.

But B is really cute and likes making movies. So that’s what we do.

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I decided to add candle-making to my list of specialties.

You need:

• Containers…old candle containers, tin cans, little jars, whatever.
• old candles – any size/shape/color. they’re all getting melted.
• wicks – either from old candles or you can buy fancy new ones at Michael’s

……………………………………………………………………..

1. Make sure your containers are clean and empty. Also make sure they don’t leak. Or don’t and learn your lesson the hard way.

2. Throw candles wick and all into a pot…but check the bottoms for a little metal disc. Take that out. If you’re making little candles, use tea lights and pull the wick out from the bottom and reuse it.

3. Turn the heat on medium and let everything melt. Pull out the wicks to use later.

4. For big candles – hot glue the end of the wick to the middle of the bottom of the container. Then use a pencil or a stick or a skewer to tie the wick off and hold it in place. I didn’t do this the first time – trust me, you want to do it.

5. For tea-light sized candles pour the wax first, let it cool for about 5 minutes and then stick the wick in.

5. CAREFULLY pour the melted wax into containers. It’s hot.

6. Let it dry. It could take a while.

7. Spend 3 days cleaning dried wax off of everything in your kitchen.

These ones are tiny and smell like hippie incense.

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He’s already 2 weeks old. His umbilical cord has fallen off and his chin is becoming more pronounced and defined. Most of his little spots and bumps have gone away and he’s focusing on things more and more. He still sleeps through the night and hardly ever fusses. When he does cry it’s unnerving because we aren’t used to it yet. He loves his little heartbeat machine but the batteries are dead. He loves to be held. He’ll sit in my arms and just stare at my face and whenever I laugh he smiles. He’s perfectly content to pass out on my chest or in his crib or in the bassinet, bouncer, or car seat. He’s a dream baby. He’s even starting to come to terms with diaper changes…he’s even slept through a few recently. He’s got a cast-iron stomach – nothing I eat seems to bother him. The only thing he’s picky about is his pacifier – he has one that he likes and that’s it. He sneezes in threes. He loves loud music and lots and lots of noise – complete quiet unsettles him.

The first night we came home, everything seemed so strange and surreal. I didn’t feel at home in our house and couldn’t quite figure out what we were supposed to do with him…how our lives would be with a baby in a house I didn’t really recognize. Now I  couldn’t imagine our lives without him. 2 weeks and everything’s changed .

He’s spent the entire morning sleeping in my arms smiling while we watch funny shows, cuddled up on our bed with the pups around our feet and Beloved typing away on his keyboard. Baby gets what baby wants.

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On Christmas Eve we went to Madre and Padre’s and they cooked us a bad ass breakfast. Then Brigzilla got lots of presents and we watched the Star Wars marathon. We made gingerbread men and mine got tajazzled. And then we had a photo shoot. A damn good one. But I don’t have those pictures yet.

On Christmas I proposed to Beloved. He lost his ring a few months ago..so I bought him a new one and tried to propose to him the same way he proposed to me 3 years ago…but he caught on and when he did he held me for a very long time, just standing in the kitchen, his arms around me while Brigsby slept. Santa left me a sweet surprise in the Christmas tree and I pranced around in polka dots and my Christmas boots. Brigsby peed on himself 3 different times. People were in and out all day and Husband played me songs on the piano.

Caden came over and demolished the Candy Cane Forest. We watched him ride his little 4 wheeler and Brigsby and I danced in front of the Christmas Tree. Later on we bundled him up and made a surprise appearance at Aunt Julie’s and we ate lasagna while Brigsby slept on my chest. And then we went home and when we should have been sleeping, Brigsby and I had a photo shoot because he was dressed like an elf and he was smiling and how can you sleep when you have a smiling little elf baby to play with?

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If you were wondering how exactly someone goes about one-upping Santa, this is how.

You get people drunk. Beloved made the Sangria, I designed the labels, and Corona licked the spilled Sangria off the floor. I suggested everyone drink theirs in one sitting. Husband did not agree. I still think people should take my advice.

And just so people knew exactly how special this sangria was, I had to go ahead and design our logo. Jamie Stella Corona Alex Brigsby. JSCAB.

And then I made candles. I covered ugly old tin cans and made them pretty. The lids got spray painted and glittered.

You can’t drink sangria without lighting a candle. Ambiance. Ambiance is crucial.

Grandparents got a super sexy picture of Brigzilla…because to my knowledge Brigsby > Sangria.

I made my mom a butterfly shadow box thing. Santa doesn’t make cool stuff like that.

And I made a 2 foot pile of chocolate biscotti for the inevitable Sangria hang over when people took my advice and drank the whole bottle in one sitting.

And when you wrap things, use paper doilies. Santa isn’t that clever.

The best gift is still a surprise. More on that later.

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Attempted family photo.

Bueno?

No bueno.

Future attempts to follow.

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To Alex, From Jamie, With Love

Such Great Heights

I am thinking it’s a sign that the freckles
In our eyes are mirror images and when
We kiss they’re perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate that God himself
Did make us into corresponding shapes like
Puzzle pieces from the clay
True, it may seem like a stretch, but
Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled
Head when you’re away, when I am missing you to death

They will see us waving from such great
Heights, ‘come down now,’ they’ll say
But everything looks perfect from far away,
‘come down now,’ but we’ll stay…

The Postal Service

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