Catch-Up

Merry Christmas!

Crazy to think that Christmas 2008 is already past! I feel badly that I never managed to log on here and do a Christmas post this past week, but things were so busy that I found myself neglecting both my blog and my Facebook. Weird, I know. ;) I got to the point last week where I was doing just the things that absolutely had to be done...laundry, wrapping presents, packing for our visit to Cedar Rapids, and of course working. So, my Favorites post fell by the wayside, as did my Christmas greetings, and my weekly baby update. But I'm squishing all of those things into this post since it's my catch-up post. ;)

Favorite Things

One of my favorite memories of holiday preparations at home was making sugar cookies with Mom. This project was usually stretched over the course of three days. The first day, we would mix up the cookie dough. The dough then had to sit in the fridge overnight. That step was always a little tricky since we had to hide the dough from a Certain Snitcher in the house. I won't mention his name, but his initials are JMR. ;) The second day, we rolled out the dough, cut it into shapes, and baked it. Then, we usually put the cookies into the freezer until we had time to frost them. We found that since the cookies were so nice and soft, they had a tendency to break during the frosting process; but if they were frozen, they didn't break as easily. Frosting Day was a big mess. We got out all the cookies (which would somehow take on the 'endless abundance' kind of look!), mixed up some frosting, and then gathered all of us girls around the table to get the project done. Mom and I did the frosting. Sometimes we convinced Julie to frost as well, but she usually ended up helping Jess sprinkle. Jessica absolutely denied having the necessary skills to frost cookies, so she was always the designated 'sprinkler.' ;) Somehow we made it to the last cookies. We gobbed on the frosting and ate them ourselves. :) I have yet to taste a sugar cookie as yummy as my Mom's!

Last weekend I went through the sugar cookie process by myself. I enjoyed it very much, but definitely missed Mom and my sisters throughout the entire project!

Update on Baby Horak - Ten Weeks Pregnant

Our baby is almost an inch and a half long now and has completed the most critical portion of his (or her!) development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in the baby's body rapidly grow and mature. Our baby is swallowing fluid and kicking a lot, and vital organs — including kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function. Minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair growing on tender skin are beginning to appear. Our baby's limbs can bend now -- hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart, and feet may be long enough to meet in front of the body. The outline of the spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from the spinal cord. Our baby's forehead temporarily bulges with the developing brain and sits very high on the head, which measures half the length of the body.

As for me, I've been feeling very tired these days. It's weird for me to feel so tired even though I'm not really doing anything (on the outside, at least) that should wear me out! The nausea that had become a part of everyday life during weeks 7-9 has thankfully dissapaited a little, so that I only experience it a couple times a day rather than every 2 hours! I'm starting to get a little bump, but not enough that anyone would probably notice. I'm glad my clothes still fit fine, and I'm trying not to feel self-conscious about the belly that's starting to stick out where it used to stay in!!! :P