Tatum's Twenty-Second Week

You'll have to forgive us about Week 21...it was lost in wrapping paper and pajama days and snuggles.  Ten days of five adults waiting to hold Tatum and she's going through withdrawals now everyone's back at work.  Every time I put her in her exersaucer or walker she looks at me like, "Hello?! I'm supposed to be held!"

Ammah flew in the night of the 22nd and this is basically what we did for the next week:

Stared at Tatum.

Our family in Colorado got her this ADORABLE faux fur jacket that's the softest thing you've ever felt! We put her in it in just her diaper and let her enjoy the sensation!

The kid's going to be ruined for life.

I can see her at six years old ordering steamed clams at the drive through of Carl's Jr....oh wait, that was me.  Like mother like daughter?

Christmas was loads of fun for us.  We took all day opening our presents, stopping to play with Tatum, get coffee, eat a cinnamon roll, open a present, play with our present, get more coffee, stare at Tatum...you get the idea.

On Christmas morning I think Roy was the most excited one of the bunch! He ran around panting and stared at his stocking until I finally gave him a bone.  Then he just ran in between everyone until he finally burrowed under the tree in sheer happiness.

Ammah got some good snuggle time in...

Matt and Uncle Jeremiah put together Tatum's walker (we bribed them with stockings)

And at the end of the night we continued the Curran tradition of "The Riddle" leading to (usually) the 'biggest' present.  

Matt got...

A can of green beans!

Just kidding...we like to throw people off about what's in the box, too.

He got the new Batman: Arkam City Xbox game and a bonsai for his office.

I got...

A 50mm lens! With which I can take lovely, shallow field of depth pics!

Like this pic of my other favorite gift:

A mommy necklace! This is the line at the end of the children's book Guess How Much I Love You, and when I saw it on Etsy I fell in love with it.  Its by Eclectic Wendy Designs...if you're curious.

In other news the sellers did not take our offer on the Sunny Hollow house (they sort of laughed at us by countering higher than the asking price), so we're continuing the house hunt...

I'm beginning to miss my cast iron skillet.

Is that weird?

Tatum's 19th Week...after MIA for week 18

I know, I've been absent awhile.

But let me explain.

First, though, is Tatum K at 19 weeks!

I was curious so we weighed and measured her ourselves tonight.  While there may be a little wiggle room for error, it seems she's at 19 pounds and 26 inches!!! 19 pounds on the growth chart is big for a NINE month old!! I'm starting to put her in 12 month old clothes!!! What do I make, super milk?!?!

We also bundled up and went to Lowe's for her first Christmas tree...

Uncle Jeremiah wore a crazy sweater...

The men did the tree dance and spun trees around for us womenfolk to choose:

And Tatum was appropriately dressed like an elf...

And when we got home we dressed up up like a flapper...

We're loco.  Understood.

In other big news...

We're thinking about buying a house.

Like, a house house.  With a door and windows and a fireplace and yard and garage.

Which for people who lived in a basement for a year and now live with parents is a BIG DEAL.

We never would have been able to afford a home like this in San Diego or Seattle...even if we did both work.  That's the crazy thing.  Here, on Matt's salary alone, we're looking at a 1600 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom  HOME.

So we've spent the past few weeks crunching numbers and looking at houses and gathering paperwork to be pre-qualified and its been exciting and scary all at the same time.

Could we make it? Should we wait? If we wait, should we stay with my parents or rent a tiny place for the time being? A lot is up in the air at the moment but its such a different feeling of  'I don't know what's going to happen' as compared to a year ago.

That, in addition to the usual Christmas bustle and date nights and helping out at the church and wrapping packages and doing laundry and changing diapers and the occasional bit of sleep thrown in has kept me pretty busy for the past couple of weeks!

So if you think of it, say a little prayer for wisdom for us as we're trying to figure out where the Lord wants us to be right now and a month from now.

Oh, and Tatum is rolling over, almost sitting up, reaching for everything and anything, and refusing to take naps or go to sleep EVER.  I didn't know it was physically possible for a child to be awake as much as she is! Any mommies out there...do you think I should start giving her a bit of rice cereal at night to help her sleep based on her weight rather than age? We were planning to wait until 6 months before starting solids, but Mama needs to sleep longer than 2 hours without getting up to flip her back on her back or put the binkie in or nurse!

'Till next time, stay jolly my friends!

Gone Bananas

Here's the cutest little banana you've ever seen:

And the cutest chocolate-banana, too:

Oh, and Matt went to a costume party last Friday as a rocker, and I went as a 3 year old.  I guess combined you could have called us Kid Rock..

All for now! Happy November!