My precious one-year old

I remember the early morning that you were born. Your daddy and I had gone to the hospital the night before and I was ready. I was ready to meet you. We didn't find out if you were a boy or a girl at our 20 week ultrasound, but I felt that you were a girl from day one. We relaxed in the delivery room, listening to music, laughing with the nurses (your dad always likes to poke fun with the hospital staff). We wanted to have you on the 29th of December so that you could share birthdays with your Nana, who turned 80 the day you were born. Everyone was excited.

My labor was easy with you and when Dr. Mahoney said, "Hi, Katelyn!" I cried. I knew it. My heart was filled with joy. Not only had God blessed me with a beautiful little baby girl, but He trusted me to be your mommy.
We were love-struck. Luke even loved you. When he saw you, he said, "Hi, Katelyn. My name is Luke. I'm your big brother and I'm going to teach you everything I know."
I can't believe that you are one, Katelyn. You and your brother are the joys of our lives. You fit into this family so perfectly. I can't imagine what my life would be like without you. It's hard to not smile when you smile at me with your beautifully blue eyes.
Happy birthday, baby.

Update

As promised, here is my update. Nothing too exciting, but enough info. to keep all three of my blog stalkers satisfied.

I didn't get Christmas cards sent this year. I thought and thought and thought about when/what I should do about it. I figure that some may enjoy getting something after the new year, right? As most of you know, I'm not a procrastinator, but this year I have been dreading my Christmas letter and I can't pin point exactly why. My first excuse was that I lost all of the addresses that were saved in my laptop (a true statement). It has been nice to gather addresses again as I've received others' cards.

Katelyn has been doing so many fun things lately. It's amazing how in just a day's time she grows and does new things. I can hardly believe that she's going to be one next week. So, when do I stop calling her a baby and start calling her a toddler? She's walking all over the place and she talks, talks, talks. We hear a lot of "Dada, Mama, Papa, Bye, Hi, Uh-oh, entle (gentle-where do you think she's heard that?), and tonight, she did say grandma (which my mom was very pleased about beings that Luke took forever to muster out "grandma". He often called her "Shishem". We think he was trying to say Williamson. Who knows. And, I can gleefully say, all she got for Christmas was her 2 front teeth".... along with a few other things, of course.

Luke and I have been having fun with our advent calendar. We've made snow globes, a gingerbread house, peppermint playdough, have taken a ham to the city mission, delivered cookies to our neighbors and sipped hot cocoa while driving around looking at Christmas lights. It will be weird to get back into preschool in January. I have to start thinking about my lesson planning so we can make an easy transition.

We've joined the Columbus Y and love it. They have Y care for the kids, which allows me to workout. I only go 2 days a week and sometimes on Saturday to open swim. I wish it could be more, but it's hard when we have to go to Columbus to use the facility. I try to work out 2 hours while I'm there. I still need to lose about 15-20 more pounds until I feel satisfied. Ugh.

Bill is busy which equals him being gone... a lot. The school is in need of a morning bus driver and until they find one, Bill is the go-to man. He leaves the house at 6:30 a.m. and doesn't get home until 6:30p.m. (he coaches basketball after school). You just have to love living in a small community...he's a one man band most times.

Maybe I haven't felt up to writing my Christmas letter because I usually say all that I want to say through blogging. It's way more convenient and way cheaper. Oh, lahdee dah...maybe it will end up being a Valentine's Day letter. That would be a new one, wouldn't it? Wouldn't you be excited to get a family letter after the holidays? Why does it all have to stop after Christmas (can you tell I'm trying to justify my laziness? Nice.)

Have a Merry Christmas, all. Remember why we celebrate Christmas. I often think of the Herdmens in the book "The Best Chris-tmas Pageant Ever"; Christ has never been about beauty and elegance. He was ordinary, common and yet, a wonderful Savior.

Man That Works? Monday

Now introducing...
Da da da da da da daaaa!!! (Trumpets)
The CLEAN SWEEP! Have you ever been able to catch the show on TLC? I love this show. Something about it gives me warm fuzzies. Maybe it's the idea that it forces people to ditch things (usually odd things like the first tooth they ever lost...ewww).
I am by no means a pack rat. I'm quite opposite, actually, so organizing and sorting makes me feel complete. "It completes me" (Thank you for that oh-so-wonderful line Jerry McGui.re). So, PK (pre-kids) when we were DINKS (double income no kids), Bill and I started having a clean sweep of our own. We'd always do it over Christmas break, beings that we were both off of school, and we still do it to this day. We start in one room and take everything in that room and put it in the middle of the floor. Then, piece by piece we sort it all into piles of keep, donate or ditch. You would not believe the number of things we have gotten rid of over the years. And, every year, I feel like I can breathe once again and officially am decluttered. L-O-V-E it.
Now, of course, we don't go into as much detail because obviously with kids, we have more things. But, we still do the general concept. Even if it's just one closet, do it. Take it all out and dump it into a pile on the floor. Force yourself to go through it. You will be greatly rewarded (unless, of course, you're just not as weird as I am).

FYI-I fully intend to get you a full update on the happenings around here tomorrow (without pictures...we are in need of a new camera battery). I'm sure you all won't be able to sleep tonight because of the anticipation, right?

Man That Works? Monday...only it's Tuesday

Now introducing to you the Curry family 10-MINUTE TICKER! I absolutely cannot have a peaceful good-night's sleep unless my house is free of toys on the ground, dishes in the sink and piles on the counter. Just the idea of going to sleep with a messy house gives me the creeps (maybe I do need therapy). So, when we were first married, Bill introduced me to the 10-minute ticker. I loved the idea so much that we use it nearly every night so that this momma can get the rest that is so desperately needed.
After the kids are fast asleep, Bill and I set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes. During that 10 minutes, we get as much picking up done as we possibly can during that time. I mean, we seriously bust it out (I wore a pedometer once during our 10 minute ticker and I burned 100 calories...now that's what I'm talking about). The 10 minute ticker is not intended for deep cleaning such as vacuuming and scrubbing toilets (unless it's minor vacuuming like sweeping the kitchen floor). It's strictly for picking up. We both work hard for 10 minutes and whatever is not done by the time the buzzer goes off just doesn't get done until the next day. Let me tell you, it is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. You'd be surprised what you can get done in just 10 minutes! Let me know how the beauty of the ticker works for you!

Our Daily Advent

I love the idea of creating traditions that my family will grow to love. Ones that they will look forward to each year. This Christmas time is no different. I'm constantly thinking of what I can do to make Christmas special and unique for our family. So, when I went to Fam.ily Christ.ian in search of an advent calendar, I was thrilled when I found this...

As you open up the calendar, there is a mini book for each day of December.

The books can be pulled out by an attached string and can be used as an ornament on your tree. I'm too picky about what goes on my tree, however, so the mini books stay in the calendar.

This following picture is a bit fuzzy, but each book contains a short story. December 1st starts with the creation of the world and December 24th is the birth of Jesus. So far, we have covered creation, the fall of Adam and Eve, Noah's ark and yesterday, the book included the words to "Oh Come All Ye Faithful".

And, as a true blogger and mom, I have copied a fantastic idea from a friend. I use the advent calendar not only for the story, but I also slip a piece of paper behind the book. Written on that piece of paper is a Christmas project for Luke and me to complete on that particular day.

Luke gets so excited to see what our project for the day is. So far we've: Watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", made gingerbread cookies, decorated the gingerbread cookies and made a Santa door hanger.

I LOVE making memories.