Nathan's now an Officer!

At CAP, Nathan was promoted to an officer. :-D Way to go, Nathan!

Another Joy Anna post... :-D

Joy Anna plays Hockey!

Yup, here's a video to prove it. Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

The night before Christmas, God sent a beautiful sunset, in honor of His Son. I was able to take some pics. Like I said, it was beautiful.

On Christmas, we didn't wake up until 8am... Ha! Gone are the days were everyone was up by 6am! Part of it is because Nathan and I are older and appreciate sleep, and part of it is because the kids stay up until midnight (due to excitement), then crash...

This year, everyone got a big present, except Joy Anna. She got books. (Mom's comment was "Joy Anna needs to start her own library!")

Joshua got a plasma car. It's small and holds up to 250lb. The rider's supposed to sit on it and put their feet in stirrup-type things. Everyone absolutely loves it and rides it as much as Joshua (yes, I've probably ridden it more than he has...) Anyway, his car is cool. The other present he really liked was his harmonica. (Brilliant idea, Mom. Do you hear the sarcasm?)

Joshua on his plasma car

Promise got lots of doll accessories. She got a doll highchair (it's so cute!), a canopy bed (over 2ft tall! It's gorgeous!), and a doll armoire. She was very happy and I believe all her accessories are "occupied" at the moment.

Isaac got the drum set he's been pining over. Ever since it's been set-up, he's stayed in his bedroom, experimenting and playing. He's in drummer heaven!

Grace got the American Girl doll she's been saving up for. She was excited to find it wrapped and under the tree and still get to keep her money! It's the new Marie Grace, the doll from Louisiana's French Quarter. It's a pretty doll. She loves it.

Nathan got an upgrade to our slow video-editing software. He's very happy. (Sorry, I don't have a pic for that!)

And I got *drum roll* the DSLR I've been wanting for ever!!!!!!!! I'm not good at showing emotion, so when I opened it, I said very composedly, "Oh, wow! Thank you!" Inside, I was dancing, jumping up and down, and screaming for joy. The camera's a Canon EOS Rebel T3 and it came with an 18-55mm lens. I am so happy and absolutely love it! I've already taken over 200 pics with it... *sheepish grin*. Needless to say, I'm in photographer heaven! Most of the pics I'm posting on Picasa (link coming) and this post have been taken with my camera. It's a big upgrade to my Canon Powershot SX20 IS. ;-D I've figured out Manual Focus and absolutely love it. Alright, I should probably stop talking about my camera and move on...

Pardon the mustache. It was a gift from Nathan. :-D

Mom got the brewing bottles she's been wanting. No, she doesn't brew beer, she makes kombucha and water kefir, both of which are very healthy drinks that have to ferment and fizz. She's very happy. I'm happy too since they're a beautiful crystal blue.

Dad got a bunch of chocolate from Mom. I think there were some ulterior motives going on... She bought him two boxes of truffles in case he were to take one to work. Yah, definitely some ulterior motives... :-D

Anyway, that's a quick recap of Christmas morning here! If you want to see more pics, I've put them on a Picasa album: https://picasaweb.google.com/113112312516189518414/Christmas2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOf3pci5wOmC6gE&feat=directlink Let me know what you think! :-D

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Wilson Productions

Wilson Productions has been busy, lately. Over Thanksgiving, we made a movie called "Wilson's Got Talent" after "America's Got Talent." I'm the master of ceremonies and introduce everyone and their acts. It's absolutely hilarious (at least in my opinion!)

Then, we made a movie for my aunt to wish her a happy birthday. She loves hockey (the Sharks, to be exact) so we kinda made fun of that. Anyway, I just wanted to share them with anyone reading this blog! Enjoy!

If you want to see them bigger, here's the links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9l7kKgwkcI (Wilson's Got Talent) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i20vHZLm8E&feature=related (Happy Birthday, Aunt Tara)

Hurricane's Game

Friday night we went to a Carolina Hurricane's game. It's kinda become a tradition (this is our 3rd year), but one of Dad's clients invites our whole family to get box seats at the Hurricane's Christmas game. It's so much fun! This year, the whole family went. We were supposed to go as a family last year also, but Promise threw up 30 minutes before we were supposed to leave...

This year, right before we left, Mom and Dad called us all to sit around the table. Then, they admitted that we all had an early Christmas present we needed to open before the game. Inside the packages were Hurricanes' jerseys and shirts. I like my shirt. ;-D

It was a lot of fun this year, especially since the Hurricanes won in overtime! (Woohoo!)

Anyway, here's some pics from the event:

Joy Anna LOVED the game! She danced and laughed to the music and chewed on water bottles.

Catering Pics from the Wedding Yesterday

I mentioned earlier that we helped cater at a wedding yesterday. I took several food-related pics and uploaded them on Picasa. I thought I'd share the link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/113112312516189518414/ManessWeddingDecember172011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Let me know what you think of them!

39 Hours

Friday and Saturday, I was awake for 39 hours. No kidding. I woke up around 6:30am Friday and didn't go to bed until 9:30 Saturday night. I was at a birth all Friday night and when I got home, around 7:30am, I had to eat breakfast, shower, and go help serve food at a wedding. I lasted until 4:00, when I was positive I was going to pass out (I hadn't really eaten a meal in 24 hours, and hadn't slept in 30 hours), I took a break and sat in the car, waiting for Nathan to finish up. When he was done, I still felt dizzy, so he drove me home *scary* and I had to babysit... It felt like the day (ok, two days) would never end!

However, when I got ready for bed, I looked in the mirror for the first time in two days and thought, "Wow! I look great for being awake for 39 hours! I'm going to take a picture of myself and see if anyone can guess by looking how long I've been awake.

I don't know what I was thinking. I looked at the pictures today and I look tired... :-D Anyway, I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing them.

Yah, I'm totally dead in this one... :-D

Pressure...

...When your two doula clients, whose due dates are several weeks apart, are possibly in early labor at the same time...

Mommy and Daddy's 20th Engagement Anniversary

On December 7, 2011, Pearl Harbor Day, Mom and Dad celebrated their 20th Engagement Anniversary. On that day, 20 years before, he never asked and she never said yes, and yet they were engaged. Curious as to what happened? Well, here's the story from my perspective:

Heather and Andy were Coast Guard Academy seniors who had been dating for a little while (I'm not sure exactly how long). One night, Andy took Heather out to dinner and to a movie. It was a wonderful evening. Then, on their way home, he told her he wanted to go see his football buddies (Andy was a CGA football player). Heather did not like that idea. She got mad. He persisted. She got even madder.

Finally, she snapped, "I'll drop you off and drive myself home!"

They stopped at wherever Andy's buddies were and she told him to get out of the car.

"Ok, but open the glove compartment first."

"You have your wallet, now get out so I can go home!" Heather was not in a good mood. Her boyfriend had just ruined the romantic evening for her.

"No, seriously, open the glove compartment."

Finally, Heather opened the glove compartment. Inside, there was a box. Somehow uncomprehending, she stared at it. Pulling it out, she discovered a little gold ring with a single diamond sparkling in the center.

"Well?" Andy demanded.

Suddenly, it dawned on her. This was an engagement ring. Sliding the ring on her finger, Heather glanced at him, "Does that mean we don't have to go see your football buddies?"

"No, way! They're all expecting us to come on in and celebrate!"

Andy and Heather were married six months later.

So there you have it. He never asked, she never answered. To make up for it, for their 20th engagement anniversary, he sent her an obnoxious Hoops and Yoyo (my favorite!) e-card where they whisper, giggle, then shout, "Will you Marry me?"

I just love my parents. :-D

And they lived happily ever after! *sigh*

O Christmas Tree!

So tonight I found out that Aunt Pam checks our blog frequently. Hi, Aunt Pam! We're looking forward to see you in May when I graduate! :-D

Last weekend, in honor of Promise's birthday, we bought a Christmas tree. The tradition started three years ago, after we moved. She thought it would be fun to get a Christmas tree, so we got one. Then she decided to make it a tradition - getting a tree on her birthday. However, since her birthday was on the crazy Sunday of the month, we decided to get it Saturday.

Here's some pictures from the event:

This one was too weird for me to pass up :-D

I heard that someone complained that there's nothing about Mommy and Daddy. In honor of their engagement anniversary (12/7/91) I'll do a post about them. Stay tuned!

He was full of himself and took every opportunity to get my attention and smile. 

Dad trying to lift a 10ft tree. It's the first one we looked at, the only one we looked at, and the one we took home.

See what I mean?

There was a playground

...and the kids had a lot of fun on it

And Grace needed help flipping upside down

But she figured it out.

An Odd Ceremony

This is to confirm all your suspicions and beliefs that we're weird. After Joy Anna was born, we put her placenta in the freezer and the midwife told us we needed to keep it for a month, in case Joy Anna had any problems (doctors can diagnose all sorts of diseases/complications just from examining a placenta). Then we could do whatever we wanted to with it.

Today, we had over 100lb of beef delivered and Mom needed room in the freezer so we decided to do something about the placenta to make extra room. We decided to bury it. So tonight, Grace, Promise, Joshua and I thawed the placenta. Then I put on my disposable gloves which I use during births, and examined it (boy, that was cool - I totally grossed them out!). I rinsed it and showed them the two sides - the tree of life with the umbilical cord for Joy Anna, and the bumpy, odd looking side for Mommy. I also rinsed the end of the umbilical cord to show the kids the three vessels. Promise thought it was fascinating, but Grace just held her nose and said, "Ew! It stinks." Finally, we took it outside, and buried it in Mom's garden where she told us. It was a rather odd ceremony. :-D

Smores and other Fall Stuff