a december daily, of sorts...

2010 has been an extraordinary year in my life, filled with incredible joys and challenges. I've documented a lot of what has happened here, in part because I wanted a record that I could look back on and share with G one day. There are stories and letters that will eventually find a way into scrapbooks and photo books. Some memories will be held close to my heart and a few anecdotes will live on to be told at family functions for years to come.

December has always held special meaning for me because of my own birthday and those of several friends and family members and, of course, the celebration of Christmas. I love December, not the weather so much, but for the season of giving, sharing and family.

Over the past few years, I have seen fellow bloggers and scrapbookers take on the December Daily project, a journal to document the spirit of this month in a unique and personal form. While I love the idea behind the project, I have failed often enough at paper journaling to know that it wasn't for me. This year is no different. But, today I followed a link on Ali's blog to a different type of December daily and one that, hopefully, will be much more manageable for me while still keeping the meaning.

I've signed my commitment and joined #REVERB10 - "an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we'll do both. This December we invite you to share your story and join us in reflection."

I can't think of a better, more eventful year to reflect on than 2010.

Will you #REVERB10? If so, leave me a comment and let me know you are sharing in this process. Merry December!!!

11 months of you...

My sweet George,

My letter to you this month is few days late. I could blame it on the busy events of last week, preparing for your first Thanksgiving and going out of town but, to be honest, I think it is more because I cannot believe that my next letter to you will be on your first birthday. The past eleven months have been filled with countless joys and my heart and life are fuller than I could have ever imagined because of you.

At 11 months you...

• stand on your own for brief moments, until you remember you are supposed to be holding on and grasp for the closest surface.
• walk around the house behind your push toy. You are so fast, quickly learned to maneuver around corners and away from walls and say "voom, voom, vooooom..." as you go. Pretty much the cutest. thing. ever.
• initiate peek-a-boo several times a day, whether it is from behind a chair or around a corner. You'll start the game and let out big, long belly laughs when you make eye contact with whoever plays with you.
• are headstrong. You want what you want, exactly when you want it and will stop at nothing to get it. This includes scaling the couch, using your toys, pillows or whatever else can serve as a step stool - unassisted. Oh boy!
• eat, eat and eat some more. You still have a terrific appetite and continue willing to try anything. You are still eating purees in addition to whole foods, mainly to help give you enough to eat because chewing with only two teeth is tiring work.
• have slept though the night several times in the past month. Then, you hit a growth spurt and your sleep took a dive again. Then DST started and complicated things further. One day you'll figure it out.
• are wearing 12 month clothes (though some pants are already too short!) and size 3 diapers (size 4 at night).
• are saying: Mama, Dada, Yia Yia (grandma), voom (vroom), this, and got.
• love books. You flip through the pages of your favorite books several times a day and hold them out to us to read to you. When we read the Mr. Brown book one page says, "He can sound like a hand on a door. Knock, Knock, Knock." Mama will knock on the floor and you'll crawl over and knock, too.
• have some separation anxiety. You want to know where your Daddy and I are every moment when we are at home. If one of us goes in another room, you will crawl over and knock at the door, yelling for us.
• will pick up the tiniest piece of nothing from the floor and put it in your mouth. When I attempt to retrieve whatever it is you will either 1) smirk and crawl as fast as you can in the other direction or 2) fish it out of your mouth and proudly hand it over. Let's work on developing #2 a bit more, shall we?
• play well with others. We have had a few playdates this month and you have played so well with the other babies around your age. You will share toys and are very gentle when you touch other kids.
• enjoy music. You fall fast asleep to your music in the car and bounce/dance to the Toddler Tunes music channel on cable or the songs on your toys.

You have grown so much in the past month and, every once in awhile, I catch a glimpse of you as the big boy you are becoming. It both thrills me to see you thriving and saddens me (just a bit) that you are a baby for just a few more weeks. I plan to enjoy every minute of time with you in this last month of babyhood.

I love you with all that I am, to the moon and back,

Mama

you better watch out, you better not cry...

He was the best Santa I'd ever seen and such a nice man. We were standing right there. The event was at a private little shop near my parents house, very low-key and no crowds. You'd think it would be the perfect setting for a first introduction. Notsomuch. Poor little boy was just not impressed with the jolly man in the red suit.

G is normally very easy going and will allow himself to be held by anyone, once he gets the nod that his Daddy or I approve.

So, what is it about Santa Claus?

PS - My friend Sara commented about the cell phone in his hand. No, even the shake the dice game on his Daddy's cell phone, which normally brings on fits of giggles, would not quell the Santa terror.
I assure everyone that G was not actually traumatized and that he sat calmly for a photo with a mall Santa another day.

wordless wednesday: aspiring to be spidey...

At the library this morning - can't beat the view or the entertainment value!

yes, you've come to the right place...

In search of a cleaner look for the blog for awhile, I've played around with different templates and have finally landed here. The yellow makes me happy and the little bits in the header art sum up much of my day to day life. I'm still working out a few hiccups and trying to figure out the order of content in the sidebars but, what you see here is essentially the new look for Messily Ever After...

Feel free to poke around and leave a comment letting me know what you think about my facelift.
xoxo,
Jen

the gift of christmas, from afar...

I live a charmed life, blessed with a warm home, a wonderful husband, a healthy child and the love of family and friends. While the normal day to day annoyances crop up and there are inevitable bumps in the road, I am grateful for every one of my many blessings and count them often.

For years now, I have donated gifts at Christmas time. Sometimes they have gone to Toys for Tots, other times they have gone to my own workplace and children in the foster care system. But each year, when I am carefully choosing gifts for my own loved ones, I make a decision to also give to a child in need. This year, I'm filling shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

If you are looking for a place to donate a gift this year, you may want to consider this amazing project and fill a shoebox for a child in need.

it's good to be back...

The last I sat down to scrapbook was in July of 2009 at the last full-day crop I attended. That day feels like a lifetime ago, with so many changes since. But, I've missed the creativity and longed to find a way to get back to the hobby that I love. Determined, I dragged papers, letter stickers, punches and my trimmer out of the dust on Thursday night. I started organizing a bit and pulling together boy-friendly patterns and colors (who would I be kidding otherwise, there is only one scrapbooking subject right now) with the intention of making page kits. It just wasn't happening. I couldn't get inspired and everything continued to sit, littering the kitchen table.

Last night, I figured I'd try another approach. Dive in. Pick out one single photo and just do something with it. And, you know what? It worked! Once I set my mind to it everything started to come back to me and in minutes, the layout came together, my trimmer was slicing and my dusty tape gun was functioning once more.

There wasn't a thought in my mind about creating for a magazine or feedback from fellow crafters online. This was purely for the love of the hobby and for G. Getting a start on documenting his story is important. As is doing something that I love and believe in.

I'm back, baby!!! And, it feels wonderful.