Girls Day Out (sort of)



Terre and Cara with the list



My sister Terre (at Becoming Human) is moving to Rock Hill! Tim, her husband, has been here for about a month now, but Terre and Ethan came about 2 weeks ago. They have been staying with my parents, but the week before Christmas I went apartment hunting with her, and Cara came along. It was fun to look at the places and we saw about 6 in all. At the end of the day we had to debrief and try to remember each place, consider the pros and cons, and make a decision on which was best for her family.

Terre and Tim finally decided on a place and when Terre called, they had a first floor apartment that had just come available. (Did I mention that having a first floor was very important). So, we headed down to Fort Mill once again, but when we got there, the office was closed. So, we took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat. It was not quite time for Cara to have lunch, so she snacked on a lemon. Ha.

Does this girl get any more crazy?

Christmas Post

I worked over Christmas, so am just now getting my Christmas post up. Even though I was gone almost all day, we still managed to make it to the Christmas Eve Service at church.

 Cara and Ethan in the pew at church

Agbeke Family (not the best picture of me, I was beginning to come down with a cold)

I woke up Christmas morning and my voice was gone. But I didn't let that stop my from joining in on the Christmas activities. We went to my parents house and spent the day there. I had to leave around 5:00pm to go out on a call. The weather was starting to get bad and by the time I got back to my parents house, it was snowing. We ended up staying the night there, since the weather was bad.

Since I was under the weather, I didn't take many pictures, but here is Cara in her Christmas sleeper I bought at consignment when she was just a few months old. A few years ago my mom got the whole family  (my mom, dad, my sister, her husband, Cephas and me) matching pajamas. A few years later, she found another pair of the same pants, and as children are added to the family, she makes a pair for them too. The ones Cara is wearing used to be Ethan's. They are getting a little worn and Terre and I think that next year it is time for new ones all around.

The day after Christmas we woke up and it was snowing outside. It was nice to be at my parent's house, but bad because we didn't have any of our snow gear. Cara only got outside in her daddy's arms. Maybe next time, we will let her actually play in it.

My parents backyard, a winter wonderland.

We hope that all of you were able to spend the holidays with loved ones. I am looking more forward to New Years, since I will be off. I plan to get some more pictures too, since I will hopefully be feeling better then.



Getting in the holiday spirit

(Please note, this post was started on December 9th. I never got around to posting it because I wanted to have pictures to go with the post and I just took the last ones this morning. That is how dedicated I am.)

Since this is Cara's first Christmas, I decided to go all out and get a real Christmas tree. So, I drove to the Christmas tree lot and told the guy I wanted one, not too big, but maybe 4 or 5 feet. He showed me the smallest one they had, which was 6 feet, and it was.... Fifty-Five dollars! I never knew how expensive trees were. So, I told him I thought it would be too big and didnt buy it. But, that was not until after I said, "Really, fifty-five dollars, are they always that expensive." I have a little, 3 foot tree already, but was wanting something bigger. He told me it takes seven years to grow a Christmas tree, and I got to thinking about the impact on the environment... so I decided to go to Target and buy a fake Christmas tree.

I arrive, with Cara, and we stroll down the aisles, and you guessed it... One hundred and fifty dollars for a fake tree. I called Cephas, and he, of course, said I shouldn't buy it. I remembered a friend telling me she bought a tree one year during the after Christmas sale for really cheap, so I thought to myself, "I can wait."

So, we came home... treeless. I got my measly 3 foot tree out of the attic and put it up. I continued my holiday decorating and began to get into the holiday spirit.

 

I put up our little tree

My "humble" Christmas decoration and pine scented candle, since I don't have a real tree

I did some baking (I make pumpkin pie, peanut butter balls, snickerdoodles, and rice krispy treats-however, there are no pictures of the rick krispy treats, they did not last long enough)

Here she is by the tree... she is sitting still less and less for me!

And here she is with Rudolph!

We send our warm wishes to each of you as you get into the holiday spirit and spend time with your loved ones. 

The 12 Agbeke Days of Christmas

I must give credit where it is due. This was not my original idea. I stole it from my friend Carina at Long Winded in the Windy City I may not be as creative as her, but at least I give her credit.

ONE baby born this year: 2/28/2010

TWO days a week doing an internship (and then two days in class).

THREE cars we now have. We bought a used CRV about a month ago. I never thought I would have a car this nice. The best part about it... I now have FOUR DOORS!

FOUR years at DSS: This is my work friend a Kathy. She keeps me up to date on things since I am not in the office everyday anymore. This was taken on my last day of work before maternity leave, and the day before I went into labor.

FIVE K training: No, really. I want to train for a 5K. I started out good and sort of slacked off on my training. I am hoping to be in shape to do one by the time Cara turns one year. That means about 2 months. I think I can do it. Here is my running buddy (Confession: I took this picture today, when I didn't even run. Why did I dress my baby in a snowsuit when she didn't go outside? To get a picure for the blog, of course!)

SIX months of nursing: I won't post a picture of this, for modesty sake. I will probably write a longer post at some point on this, but suffice it to say that I was very disappointed I was only able to nurse Cara for 6 months.

SEVEN seconds it takes for Cara to get a leaf and put it in her mouth. She even gets the leaves off the floor in the living room. She also likes paper, strings, lint, pretty much anything that is not supposed to be eaten.

EIGHT months old is when Cara finally stopped crying everytime she was with Cephas

NINE papers written during Fall semester.

TEN times a month working past 2 am: This makes for one tired Mama.

ELEVEN loads of laundry each week: my laundry helper!

TWELVE pounds Cara has gained since birth: What a big girl!

Just a little light in your life

Cara adds light to my life. Everytime I see her, I can't help but smile. She is always learning and growing and has become such a joy in our home. I wanted to just share a few pictures I took this afternoon. I was doing some cleaning around the house and I came into the living room to find her getting into a few things herself. I just laughed, and grabbed the camera, thinking these would make some good pictures to post on the blog.

Do you think she knows she was caught?

And before you ask... Yes, those are Baby Legs (cute legwarmers for babies. I am a little obsessed and have about 10 pairs). Yes, that is ashy skin on her thigh. Yes, that is the tiny corner of her cloth diaper cover. And yes, that is the $60 diaper bag I splurged on, only after using the free "Gaston County DSS" bag I received as a door prize for 7 months.