Feeling like a beached whale....

Daddy giving Nathan some attention on Christmas

Mommy and Daddy are so in love and so excited to meet Nathan!

Years and years ago, my sister and I got lucky some how and we adopted two more sisters. I've outlined the relationship previously on this blog. Rachel and Alyse could not be more my sisters than if we came from the same sperm and egg cells. For about a decade we've had a tradition we call Sister Christmas. 

On Sister Christmas (Christmas Eve) we always get together play board games until the weee hours and end up at Denny's for a late night snack. This year we did Sister Christmas at The Moses residence (my place). Adam put out a spread of cheese and crackers and chips and guacamole, Alyse brought delicious no bake chocolate chip cookie dough that I could eat because it was made with no eggs (OMG! She is seriously my hero! I've so pissed cookie dough and pickles this pregnancy.)

We usually play Monopoly. But since Adam came into the picture I can't seem to win Monopoly and I'm a bad loser so I picked up Cards Against Humanity for us to play. 

Oh my goodness- when you're eight months pregnant and you play this game make sure you're wearing a panty liner!! We laughed and laughed so hard. It was really cleansing in so many ways. 

One of these days we may have to change the name of Sister Christmas. Adam had joined us every year since we met, and now Jessica is engaged to Nik and he came this year. Maybe next year my other soon to be brother-in-law Kurt will join us, and hopefully Alyse will meet someone as great as the rest of the brother-in-laws. But for now- it's still Sister Christmas. The guys should feel blessed we let them join us.

I hope that with Nathan being an infant next Christmas we will keep this tradition going. I love my sisters so much and since getting married I see them so much less often than I would like. We've all grown up and got jobs and school and responsibilities. I don't feel that the lack of seeing each other is anything other than growing pains... But I miss them. 

In other news De Moses.... Adam's foot surgery has been a success- but not as much of a success as we hoped for. His range of motion is improved- but not as much as desired. He isn't in as much pain, but he is still in pain. I think he feels a little guilty that he's been out of work for almost two months and that the surgery didn't help as much as he wanted it to.

I'm so grateful for any improvement. I'd go a year without him working if we had to just to get the improvement he has. When you love someone and they hurt physically the emotional pain you feel for them is no joke. 

He starts a new job tomorrow. I've so enjoyed having Adam home with me. I don't know how I'm going to handle lonely nights and weekends without him while caring for a newborn. But I'm excited for his new job. He was unhappy for so long at the old one and they really jerked him around with empty promises. He submitted his resume online to this new place and they called him later on that day or the next day that basically said "You're hired as soon as your doctor says you can go back to work. Let me know when you can start!" I'm so proud of him that his reputation is so great that he could get hired off of reputation alone. 

I am finally a college graduate. I have an associates degree in applied sciences- and still have a GPA of 3.6 after a semester that earned me two B's and one C. Oh well. I passed. I will have a degree (even if it is only an associates) to hang on the wall next to Adam's before our son is born.

Speaking of him being born- I can't wait. I'm miserable. I get up at night three times to pee, I'm huge, nothing fits, and my feet constantly throb from the swelling. I start my maternity leave from work February 13th and I just don't know how I'm going to survive until that time..... But hopefully things will work out and I won't have to go back to work until the end of May or beginning of June. That's my hope anyway. 

Well- that's enough of an update for now. 

Happy New Year!