Welcome, December!

We are putting our best foot forward this December!

I am thankful because: December is off to an exciting start!  Baby Johnson made an impressive appearance by ultrasound this morning in front of T, me and two very excited older siblings.  So sorry, but we didn't find out Baby Johnson's gender.  Daddy T just can't bear to spoil a good surprise.   He promised to help me pack away gender inappropriate clothes next spring before our move if I agreed to pass up the chance to find out boy or girl today :)  We can report, however, that everything with Baby Johnson is looking good and healthy so far.  For that, we are infinitely grateful.  We couldn't ask for a better Christmas present.

I am thinking about: All the things that have already made our beginning Advent season special.  For us, the Christmas season seems to start appropriately with Thanksgiving.  Ours was truly special this year, with my cousins home from Seattle and a Thanksgiving weekend in small town northern Minnesota with Momo and Papa.  I promise pictures from that trip later this week.

Nothing better than a bowl of whipped cream for Thanksgiving dessert!

I have created: a fun plan for our Advent season.  A little bit of advanced planning is going a long way.  Thanks to T, we have our Christmas cards ordered and ready for pick-up.  Because of my last week of work finishing up this week, we don't really get started until this weekend, but I will be sure to share my ideas for the month before then.  

We am going: to Alabama next week to spend a week with T's family!  What a treat to get to AL before the year is out, because I feel like we have been away for a long time.  The kids can't wait to see their cousins and Nana.  The only people more excited than the kids are T and me.

I am reading: the daily Advent Calendar that we got in our church bulletin last weekend.  The calendar is taped to my kitchen wall--a perfect place for me to see it daily and consider it's daily verse and thought.   I am hoping that if I infuse the small, hidden moments of my days with Advent reminders (after all, this is where I live so much of my life), I will be more prepared to live out an Advent witness in the craze of more public moments, whether with my family or neighbors.  Lord, help me treasure the quiet moments with you this month.

I am hoping: that I don't explode from delicious popcorn this month!  Thanks to Nana, who fulfilled the Johnson traditional gift of a giant popcorn tin again this year in honor of Grandmother Johnson.  For the kids, it was love at first sight.  They already devoured two bowls for their bedtime treat tonight.  

The unveiling after bathtime. 

Thank you, Nana!

I am hearing: T's Annual Amazing Christmas Music Collection, on shuffle, playing in the background.  T has an incredible collection of Christmas music.  It is the most dominant genre in his monstrous music collection.  I think we are upwards of 600 songs.  But, every year we have our favorites, both old and new.  I will be sure to share ours sometime soon.

Around the house: the Thanksgiving decor is disappearing to make space for Christmas decorations this weekend.  I can't wait to get out the boxes.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  it is time for me to finish up my last clinical rotation of the year.  This week has already been a big one for us with our ultrasound, hosting a local speaker for dinner and T submitting a research paper he'll present this winter.  We are ready to wind down for a weekend together as a family.

May your December be a blessed one!