Am I a Grinch about certain Christmas traditions? Maybe a bit. Let’s just say I’m over Elf on the Shelf and it’s only day one for him in our house. I decorated yesterday, and out he came to watch over the kids so he could report their behavior to Santa. Cute idea, I guess, but the elf is super creepy looking. And I have to move him every night so there is proof that he flew back to the North Pole. Our elf was a bit lazy last night and didn’t go anywhere. Oops. And of course, the kids noticed. Like I said, this is a cute idea to keep kids in line about behaving, but honestly, it doesn’t change any behavior.

The threat of not getting anything from Santa doesn’t do a thing for my kids either. Maybe that is because I don’t go overboard about Santa. It’s not the whole lying to my kids thing, it’s just that I don’t really put much thought into Santa. We barely get pictures taken with him, we don’t write letters to him, and most of their gifts come from us. So Santa isn’t a huge deal around here. Personally, I can’t wait until Goose finds out there isn’t a Santa. There is no way he doesn’t crush the Baby Hulk’s world in seconds with that information. He’s just that mean.

Then there is the tree. Every year the boys pick out the tree with Lance. I’m not allowed to go shopping with them, which is great for all parties. The problem: Lance and I are so itching for a fake tree. My best friend said I was being a Grinch, but what about all the other people with beautiful trees that don’t make a huge mess? Are they losing the spirit of the season too? I don’t think so. I just don’t think I can deal with the mess of a real tree, plus the money saved, not wasting a real tree and on and on. Then tonight at dinner, Squirt asked why we didn’t get the tree tonight. What to do about this? Tradition over beautiful convenience…

For Today…December 12, 2010

Outside my window…It’s cold again. Really cold. So cold that Lance had to put the plants in the garage. At one point, I swear, he said, “get out here and help.” I totally pulled the pregnancy card on that one. Plus, he didn’t want to hear, again, how I had been on my hands and knees cleaning all week.

I am wearing…a pink shirt and blue sweats. And Snoopy slippers.

I am listening to…the Connells.

17 hours…is how long it took before Lance gave me my Christmas gift. He was sleeping for 7 of those hours.

Around the house…we’ve had quite the week. Travertine in foyer replaced, looks so awesome. Major cleaning due to all the dust from the initial travertine being ripped out. Shelves up and mostly filled!!! So happy about that. And decorations done except the tree. In my opinion, the house looks nearly perfect. Now for the blinds and dustboards…

For the baby…bassinet up, Thanks Emily! Car seat here, bought a new cover, baby clothes stored in third drawer and bag packed for hospital. Now I just need to find a diaper bag! And maybe buy a package of newborn diapers!

The Baby Hulk…is SO. EMOTIONAL. Everything is either great or terrible. And he fusses like no other. But he is so sweet. Today he saw the bassinet in my room and wanted to know why it wasn’t in their room. Goose just said, “what if she wakes us up”. I can always count on Goose to see the whole picture. I love how sweet BH is and pray he always stays this way and that some of it rubs off on Goose.

No David…is really turning out pretty cute. Maybe he senses there is competition coming. He is talking so much lately, and we seem to think he’s so funny. Tonight, I caught him twirling one of my nativity ornaments. When I told him to stop, he screamed NO.

Goose…blew me a kiss after I dropped him off at school on Friday morning. At times, he is slightly cold, (a nice way of putting it) and I loved this gesture from him.

Squirt…remembered being the first to walk in the room after Goose was born. He and the boys will be the first to see this baby too.

Christmas prep…Didn’t get very far this week. I still have the same two gifts to purchase. The goal is to wrap everything I have by Thursday and store Santa gifts in the attic. I need to finish baking and make sure Lance orders my tenderloin for Christmas day. I have a simple and delicious menu planned.

From the kitchen…menu planned, simple all week long. I’m more interested in the sweets anyway.

On living the liturgy…we had a great week. Technically we’re not doing a Jesse Tree (b/c quite honestly, I didn’t really know much about it), but we are completing a coloring sheet each day and reading the relevant scripture. Next year, I have big plans for the Jesse Tree. We celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe as well as the Immaculate Conception this week. We even met for Super Saints which made me and the boys so happy. All of our Advent books and Christmas books are out right now, so my guess is that our days will be filled sitting on the couch reading books.

To be fit and happy…last Friday I actually left spin early. I just couldn’t get comfortable, and I just decided it didn’t matter if I left early. I am hoping to make it to two classes this week only b/c I will miss class for six weeks after the birth and I really love this class.

One of my favorite things…nativity scenes. I have so many beautiful nativity scenes, but this year I didn’t unpack much. I know I won’t be in the mood to pack them all away, and the reality is that I don’t trust anyone else to pack them for me. Since I don’t really have room for big nativity sets any longer, I also have a tree devoted to nativity ornaments. Here are my new purchases this year!

I am praying for…the baby and delivery. At my appointment on Friday, I had to have the serious talk with my doctor…problems that could occur and what she would do if anything happened. Then there was the lady from the swim club who talked about getting an infection during delivery. I know it’s my doctor’s job to inform me, but the other lady…Anyway, I am excited about this baby and feel confident everything will go well, but any prayers would be appreciated.

I am grateful for…my husband who finds me sexy despite being super pregnant.

A few plans for the week…besides have a baby??? Workout, day with Lance, clean, swim lessons, bake, wrap gifts, find a name(!), take it easy…

A picture thought I am sharing…

No David was so sweet this week. After Lance set up the lights, he ran inside and grabbed Snoopy. He then took him outside to show him the lights.

The newest Zierlein is arriving in less than nine days and I, I mean WE, have no name yet. Well, there is a middle name, but no first. We sort of had a first name picked out, but you had to say it with somewhat of an accent, meaning most white people would get it wrong. Since that includes half my family, and if you ask Lance me too, (since Kingwood Mexicans that DON’T speak Spanish don’t count), I would constantly be annoyed when people pronounced it wrong. I suppose I could handle some people getting it wrong, but you can imagine how annoyed I’d be when family didn’t say it properly. Lance threw that name by the side and found another okay name. It’s fine, it’s a saint, but I only “like” it. Don’t love it all. So we’re stuck. The names that I love, he hates. So here we are again…It happened this way with No David, and Lance found the perfect name as I lay on the table seconds before my section. Why is this hard???

Second hardest? Picking a Godparent. I am by no means the best Catholic, so very far from it, BUT is it too much to ask that my Godparents go to Confession, attend Mass weekly and Holy Days? Even my brother who gets annoyed with religious people agrees with me on this one. Lance is leaving the decision to me. He doesn’t care, says the whole thing feels like high school to him. I completely understand why he feels that way. We have picked wonderful people as Godparents. They are really great people, just not great or even good Godparents. They love our kids, but it’s not about being a Godparent, but rather being in their life by virtue of their relationship with us. I know in reality our Godparent isn’t going to do a lot as far as my child’s religious upbringing, but I do want someone who loves the church like we do. That cares about what the church teaches without immediately tossing it aside. Like I said, I’m no saint, but I do try and I love my church. I just want the same from my Godparents.

For Today…December 5, 2010

Outside my window…lights are on up and down the street. Despite having to run A LOT of errands today, Lance managed to finish most of the lights today. I did gently remind him that he didn’t want to be “that guy” and not have any lights. Last year we didn’t decorate the house until the middle of Advent, and I really loved it. There isn’t really a right time to decorate, but for me waiting allows us to PREPARE and ANTICIPATE Christmas for all it’s glory and wonder. And this year, we have even more to be excited about! We’ll decorate next weekend…Can’t wait until longer because we’ll have the baby. But for now, I’ll enjoy our lights and those around us that remind us of this joyful season.

I am listening to…the Old 97’s. What can I say?! Actually, I’m hoping this will be a little reminder of an easy stocking stuffer from my hubby. Concert tickets, please!

I am wearing…my pj’s.

I am almost done…with my shopping, only two more gifts to purchase. And it would seem that both my parents are pretty much done with my family too. Except me. What is wrong with that picture??? Actually, I don’t really have a list going except things like “spin shoes” or a MAC laptop.

I’m ready for this baby…WRONG. For the past two weeks, I have felt really pregnant and am so tired. BUT, I have a huge list of things to do. I need the car seat, car seat cover, new diaper bag, where are her clothes going and so on. I have a list. Not too big, but a list nonetheless. Plus, I just got a GC in the mail from a couple to purchase a new bassinet. I feel like a total heel b/c I kept saying how that was the one thing I needed. I hope I wasn’t too pushy. Esp since my mom has been saying she wants to buy it, and I have refused to allow her to do so hoping to find one to borrow instead.

Around the house…buying my shelves tomorrow. AND…major nesting: getting the tile in the foyer fixed this Wednesday (I hope). THEN…I am hiring a babysitter to come hang with the kids while I clean the house from the blinds and window sills to the dust boards and floors. Then the decorations will come down.

From the learning rooms…it’s all about Advent, then Christmas until after the New Year. We’ll throw in some math in the form of baking and such, but overall we’ll be taking it easy. It’s hard because the Baby Hulk was upset today when he realized he had missed school. We had a great week talking about Instruments which we’ll continue as we listen to some Classical Christmas music. We have to make crafts and sweets over the next 9 days because after that we’re not doing anything to mess up the house!

On living the liturgy…There are so many things I love about Catholicism, but the liturgical calendar has to be one of my favorites. There are so many days to celebrate. So many lessons to learn. So many reasons to be grateful. This year I made a big list of all the feast days during Advent and continuing through Jan 6. I carefully decided what we wanted to cover so that we wouldn’t be overwhelmed and feel like we were checking things off a list. We’ll see if my plans work this week when we have three days to celebrate as well as continue with the Jesse Tree and Advent wreath.

From the kitchen…menu planned. Now I need to make the list for the baking. I have narrowed it down to six kinds of cookies this year. Wonder if I will get it all done.

To be fit and happy…my body is really feeling this baby now. I feel the 52 extra pounds I am carrying. EVERYWHERE. I had never had round ligament pain before this pregnancy, and I can’t say I like it much. I feel it all the time and at times double over from the pain. That said, I am very happy that I can still workout. I have 5 spin classes left before baby arrives and I plan to be at all of them. Now if I can just have some healthy kids for the next month or so!!!

Please explain…why Ben Folds is a judge on Sing Off. Is anyone who is on this show going to know who he is?

I am praying for…calm during the rest of Advent and this pregnancy.

I am grateful…for my family esp. Lance, my friends. And baby gifts! I have some really generous friends. And I didn’t even have a shower for this little girl.

One of my favorite things…Christmas cards. We received our first card yesterday from one of the Boys’ friends. Baby Hulk was so excited! Now if only I had a family picture, but I suppose I can use one from the Baptism and stand in the back, right?

A few plans for the week…buy shelves, clean, organize and wash baby clothes, pack hospital bag and finish shopping.

Despite a bad start this morning in the form of a super cranky Baby Hulk, the day turned out almost perfect. Goose and the Baby Hulk went with me to the Symphony this morning. The timing couldn’t have been better because we have been studying instruments at home this past week. The concerts are perfectly timed, and the boys enjoy this sort of thing every so often. I really appreciate what Houston has to offer kids in the form of “arts”.

Afterwards, I managed to find gifts for all the boys from my dad and ordered them online for him making it even easier for him. Since my dad gets really mad at me if I don’t have gifts lined up for the boys, this is a HUGE weight off my shoulders. I think I have convinced him that he is done shopping for them.

During this whole time, Squirt cleaned out his room. We all know how I love purging and cleaning out stuff. I haven’t even gone to inspect, but by the looks of the bag leaving his room today, he has room to share his closets with someone new, if needed.

Tonight, we went to a birthday party for the Baby Hulk’s best friend. The three little ones went and had a blast. We came home in time for the Big 12 Championship game. Of course, I had no real interest in the game, but Goose was dying to watch football. He wanted to know if we would ever cheer for OU. I explained to him that “No, we would never cheer for OU, but that if them beating a team would help us, then we would be okay with them winning.” In this case, nothing can help us, so he has been screaming for Nebraska all night long. I LOVE this kid. Considering his love for football, I have to wonder how long he can stay at the nerd-fest his school is. (And I know, nerds love football too.)

Okay, if you read my blog, you know I’m somewhat of a bitch. Here goes another…please explain how changing your profile on FB is going to help stop child abuse? I almost didn’t want to write this b/c I am now basically talking about my FB friends who all changed their profiles. I kind of think donating time or money to an abuse or outreach center would make more of difference. But then again, that might just be the social liberal in me.

SPEAKING of being a social liberal….I was so proud of my boys the other day. I donated a coat to a homeless man (yes, dad, the boys were in the car) the other night. They were so upset about this man not having a home. Their solution: take him breakfast the next morning.

Tonight when Goose was taking a bath he told me that he had two bumps you know where. Being mom, I started freaking out, wondering why he had bumps. Then he started saying how they kept rolling out of his hands like balls. Yes, we’re already there. I told him that was how his body was supposed to be. Upon hearing this the Baby Hulk immediately asked “why” at least ten times. Somehow saying “that’s how God made you” didn’t work. Both wanted to know exactly why God had given them balls.

Can I say how much I hate the use of LOL? Especially from the younger generation. “I have to take a test, LOL.” Am I missing something? Why would you need to take write LOL after that statement. “Totally sucks” might work better in that situation. The use of LOL on Facebook makes me want to stop cyber-stalking even more than people’s political updates.

It’s been one of those days where I just wanted to go back to bed. And to make matters worse, nothing bad even happened. I just didn’t get enough sleep and was tired and sore from my work out yesterday. Poor Lance, he kept getting text messages during his show about why my morning was so, so bad.

I read something about having an “abundant life”. I like how that sounds and generally think like that. It is busy and there is always something on my list, but that doesn’t take away from the joy. And there is so much joy in our lives. These boys are truly a gift to us and my hope is that we treat them as such.

The picture was taken this morning and it’s our grateful tree. Every one in the family contributed, some more than others. It took us a while to get here, my plan was for us to write something every night in November and talk about what we were thankful for during dinner. Nobody was interested. Finally, the Baby Hulk and I started our tree yesterday and had things ready for the other boys when they came home from school. I had to bribe No David with food to let me trace his hand. Lance didn’t understand why he had to trace his hand, and the Baby Hulk said “I guess I’m thankful for my family.”

Looking at what everyone wrote, we are grateful for a lot of things, but mostly each other. I am so grateful for my amazing husband and four beautiful sons. I’m grateful for the chance to hold another baby soon. We’re grateful for friends, two special girls in our lives, grandparents, cousins, football, Snoopy and my favorite from Goose and the Baby Hulk…God, Jesus, Mary and the Saints. Abundance is a good thing.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Zierlein Family

For Today…November 21, 2010

Outside my window…it’s dark and warm again. Why can’t the cold weather just stay here?

I am listening to…football. I’ve been listening to this all day long. You might think I could listen to music while driving in the car, but nope. If football is on, Goose is watching. I love this new side of him.

I am wearing…jeans and a black shirt. And my beautiful heart pendant! I love this gift from my husband.

I am grateful for…a weekend away with my husband and Goose. Lance and I hadn’t been to New Orleans since I was pregnant with Goose, seven years ago. We decided to farm out a few kids and take who we thought would be easiest. We had a wonderful time, and so did the other boys. I am grateful to my parents for not only wanting to spend time with my boys, but also taking care of them for the weekend. Tonight when my mom left, two of them were crying.

Goose…was an amazing travel companion. Lance and I love art, we love talking to artists, going to galleries and museums. Goose seems to be picking up on this as well. It’s exciting to me for him to be this interested at this age. He has his own opinions about what he likes and why. He couldn’t believe all the Saints’ paraphernalia throughout the city. When we explained how they won the Superbowl last year, his only comment was “do you think they were happy when they lost to the Cleveland Browns?” This kid is going to get his ass kicked one day because he talks so much crap. He is very aware of how his Longhorns are playing this year, but he is a trooper. Saturday, he made sure to wear his Longhorn shirt and today he wore his Texans shirt.

I am creating…lists. List of gifts for others, list of gifts for my kids, Christmas card list, birth announcement list, grocery list, menus, Christmas baking lists and lastly, my wish list! I am so upset that I have basically nothing so far. I figured we would hammer out things while driving, but got nowhere. So very frustrating. Plus, everyone wants to know what my kids want. Which is nice, but they don’t want anything this year. Not kidding! Plus, we’re trying to figure out Godparents for new baby. Who knew this could be so hard? Then I suppose I should figure out what I have left to do before baby arrives.

I am praying…for a wonderful holiday season. Things get started this week and it seems we’ll be nonstop until after Christmas. Last year, we had a wonderful Advent and Christmas. I am hoping to focus on being grateful this week and then start preparing for Christmas after that.

The highlight of our trip…The swamp tour. There are things I have to do, and a swamp tour was one of them. Goose was super excited, Lance not so much. So we dropped him off at a casino and drove out of town. The tour was fine, but let’s be real, we all wanted to see alligators. Nobody really cared about the ecological problems of the swamp, as bad as that sounds. We weren’t disappointed. Goose even held a baby alligator. I touched it, but couldn’t bring myself to hold it.

Around the house…my walls are painted!!! I love the color and am so happy that my husband forced us to look yet again before the painters arrived. The walls look great and my beautiful Mother’s Day painting looks so striking against the new color. NOW…I have to contend with my crappy fireplace again. AND…we need shelves. I thought I had found IKEA ones, but…they are white and my furniture is walnut colored. If they were built in cabinets, I wouldn’t mind white, but now I don’t want white. This week I am finding something.

From the learning rooms…We finished G week and learned a lot about “being Green” and our Guardian Angels. We have one last little project to complete before moving onto H. This week we are looking at staying Healthy and Holidays. I have a pretty good week planned out. Lance has asked that I go over the previous week so we can discuss progress and potential problems. I kind of like that. I have the next two weeks planned, then we’ll take a break and just read and prepare for Christ with all our Advent books. Prepare for Christ and have a baby!

On living the liturgy…prepping for Advent and deciding which Saints we’ll discuss this December. Since I just ordered two new books, Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucia, we’ll obviously be discussing them.

From the kitchen…healthy food. Eating out nonstop will do that to you. Plus, it’s picture time. I don’t need to add more pounds to my face. I bet my family thought they would get out of taking a family picture this year since I am a super preg, but nope.

One of my favorite things…my husband. He is just it. Period.

A few plans for the week…spin, walks with the family, Thanksgiving Day with our extended family, baking, shopping, Chelsea (be warned, despite UT’s dismal record, I am sure BAM will bring up Bama’s two losses) and nesting.

A picture thought I am sharing…

Getting ready for baby…