Christmas is coming

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat...

We are madly scrambling to get everything together for Christmas.  We shipped to Norway & Illinois.  I am still working on Christmas cards & we need to find a photo that we could send to everyone that isn't a little out of focus.  The phone is very convenient for snapping pictures, but they aren't the best quality.  I keep meaning to go to JCPenney's for portraits, but it hasn't happened yet.  Maybe today.

I made sandnotter and sirupsniper (like pepper-gingerbread cookies) for her Dad (he is rejoicing behind me for that), and Sofie actually helped cut out some of the sirupsniper with a star cookie cutter. She didn't quite get it (some funny shapes where she cut with no dough), but she had some fun doing it.

It is raining like cats and dogs here (finally) and it seems like going to the park will be out of the question for the 2nd day in a row.  We might have to visit Gymboree today too.

Sofie continues to amaze me.  Yesterday, she was a little parrot, repeating everything we said.  She is still having problems with "b's", "d's", "p's" and "t's", but she is really coming along with the vowel sounds and combining with m, n, s, th...

We might have been accepted by the Shriners to do all her cleft palate/plastic surgery work for free.  They have booked us for a hearing test next week & said they will pay everything that the insurance doesn't pay.  We are also booked to be evaluated by the team (ENT, plastic surgeon, speech pathologist, etc.) at the end of January.  It would be wonderful if the Shriners would be able to help us out with her recovery for free.

I am a little homesick at the moment but am looking forward to upcoming family visits in the next few months.  I am contemplating making a Christmas tree coffee cake (my mom's speciality) but I am not sure who would eat it... we don't have enough mouths in the house to do it justice.  I can't believe Christmas is already here.

The house is half-@$$ decorated and I think it is going to stay that way.  I just don't have the time to devote to it, and I don't want everything to break.

Ok, she up.  Have a great one!