Top 9 in 2010!

We were so blessed this year with many additions to our family and friends' families:

Andre Adam (nephew) - January 25
Gracie Nichole February - 15
Kadynce Grace - May 13
Jace Wade (nephew) - May 21
MYLIN HADASSAH - June 25
Bailey Michelle - June 29
Vince Allen - August 3
Avery Sue - August 7
Ivy Elena - November 7

PLUS we've been blessed with 3 of our very closest couple friends expecting in 2011!
God is SO good!

Christmas break goals

1. recover from my root canal
2. complete our rearranging of every room in our house...(minus the bathrooms and kitchen)
3. finish our address database
4. read A Mother's Hope by Francine Rivers
5. get Mylin on a nap schedule

I have 3 weeks and 5 goals, can I do it?!

What are your Christmas break expectations?

root canal analysis

Friday evening I had a root canal :(
This is my story.

So, the procedure took well over an hour
As the procedure was explained to Joel and I my palms started to sweat and tears were stinging my eyes as my heart rate picked up
They began to numb me (cut to me tightly closing my eyes so I don't accidentely see the giant long needle in my mouth...)
And then they came back and injected my mouth again with more numbing juice, or so I thought...NOPE! this time it was epinephrin - "so don't think you're so anxious your heart is racing, the drug is actually making it race!!!" nice.
I sat in a chair with my mouth wide open...trying to swallow naturally and not choke or cough and be pierced by the tiny metal dental tools
And then they started to drill, apparently to China.
This was followed by teensy little capillary tubes sucking the infection out of my mouth through the crater in my molar.
Next, as my 'yoga instructor' (as the dentist referred to himself) was helping me concentrate on breathing, I noticed that 'dradle dradle dradle' came on the radio, a Draper family Christmas/Hanukkah joke, and I could hardly keep myself from laughing!
I couldn't make eye contact with my Sports Illustrated reading husband in the super comfortable plastic dental(torture) chair(device) not meant for sitting at all...much less for a near 2 hour dental procedure...so I was able to contain my laughter - thankfully to find out later Joel also heard the song and was chuckling to himself.
After it's all said and done, we are sent to the pharmacy with lots of prescriptions and questions about what a nursing mother can take.
Getting stocked up from them and getting a much needed shake to fill my belly while the left side of my mouth was still not working, we headed to pick up our sweet baby
We make it home and relax on the couch watching Home Alone 2 and I let the painkillers sink in
My lovely baby slept 9 hours straight that night - which meant mommy got some good sleep too!
So, a day and a half later - I am feeling pretty fine and ready for my follow-up appointment in a week and a half to have all this tooth pain behind me!
Whew. Glad I survived

Anyone else out there have a lovely tooth surgery story?!

white house black shutters giveaway!

do you have a sweet baby girl?
or a sweet baby girl in your life that you want to shower with an adorable gift?!
visit my friend ann marie's blog
and also visit the baby g's tutu shop on etsy to find out about great tutu's, petti-tutu's, and headbands that might transform my hair and face....

enter their giveaway!

good luck!!!

breakfast + Christmastime = dessert...

So, its Christmastime aka cookies/desserts/candies galore...
And this morning I had a banana and a glass of milk for breakfast...next to my scotcheroo...

Then at lunch this morning Joel told me that he wanted to eat either our cold leftover pizza or the Oreo dessert leftover from our Youth for Christ Steering meeting yesterday, for his breakfast this morning

What is happening to us?!

Does anyone out there relate?!

Christmas Adventure Box

In my Mom's group on Thursday we were privileged to hear from 3 different mothers who have excelled in specific areas of parenting
One mother discussed their Christmas Adventure Box that they did as a family each holiday season
This box centers around the message of Jesus and incorporates all sorts of Christmas and holiday traditions
I am so excited to start implementing this with our family and preparing to do it with Mylin next Christmas!
Maybe we'll even incorporate some of the ideas this year - such as the family prayer photo album...

Check out the above link and let me know what you think!

Also, what are some great Christmas traditions you grew up with or implement in your family now?!

1st Christmas!

Mylin's first Christmas season is here!
We began celebrating by helping Bushie and Jodgie (Polish names for grandma and grandpa - the drapers) decorate their tree this past weekend
This first picture looks like she is actually helping Joel hang an ornament
What really is happening is that he let her get close enough to the tree that she's grasping for a grip and is probably trying to yank off the ornament he is placing...

Joel was attempting to get a simliar picture of Mylin and me hanging an ornament and in his accidental artistic photo taking he captured this great picture! Happy Holidays!

oops...

i have a toothache so severe it required an 'emergency' dentist appt. early tuesday afternoon...oops.
i have to have some type of surgery on it (root canal or complete removal), to be determined early next week...oops
it ran so late that by the time i was able to leave to make it to my class it wasn't worth my time in driving (first class i ever missed in 2 1/2 years of grad school!)...oops
i went to the grocery instead and nursed my sore tooth with impulse dessert buying (sweet moments chocolate/caramel cake finger food things, chex mix new holiday cocoa mix, mud slide ice cream, and oreos and pudding for my most recent dessert addiction)...BIG oops.
(nevermind that i'm enjoying some of these as i write this post!
and lastly, tonight when i got home i sneezed so loud and hard that i woke my precious baby from a nap and caused a freak crying fit from her...oopsies.

how'd your day turn out?!

oatmeal cereal

Little miss started eating oatmeal cereal last weekend!
After her first bite, she looked at me and grinned from ear to ear, while all the cereal just fell out of her mouth onto the bib :)
She's got it down after about 10 days, just jabbering, yelling, grabbing the spoon and trying to spill the bowl each evening - what an adventure!

an update and review

about 7 weeks ago I posted about my quest for simplification
i thought it was about time for an update!

As of that posting I had completed one goal of the ten goals: to delete my facebook account!
This was something that I felt I needed to do for me and my family in order to be more fully present with them and less consumed in checking for updates, new pictures, and the status' that are not always G rated...

Since then I have pretty much eliminated t.v. watching aside from grey's anatomy, and the occassional intervention (from A&E) episode I can catch on Netflix online. Any other t.v. watching is Joel and I together, be it Netflix movies or a quick few minutes as we wind down in the evening
I have also begun to surround myself more with Christian women and couples. Joel and I have recently become more invested in the lives of a couple at our church and are feeling so blessed by their friendship and the Godly relationships that it provides for us. I have also been a part of a Mom's group this fall and feel enriched by the other Godly women I am meeting and learning from. I am also going to be in another women's Bible study this winter and am excited about meeting weekly again in a small group to discuess Scripture and our lives.

The three goals that I must concentrate at each day are to listen and talk to Joel each day without the distraction of Mylin, to focus on Mylin while she is awake, and to read Scripture daily. I am doing ok on these three. Each day is different and I pray for motivation, determination, and focus for these goals!

Joel and I have worked out with some friends to trade date nights once a month. So while we haven't worked it out to have a date every other week, we're getting there...

I was exercising 3 times a week when I had a 3 month membership to a local gym, but that membership is up and so is my exercise...I hope to begin running again and Joel and I want to join our city gym that is only 5 blocks away this next year so we have the convenience of walking/running there (instead of scraping our cars) and not have the constraints of strict class times (I was spinning at 5:15am twice a week...that made me sleepy...)
I am still NOT getting up at 6 a.m. each day, even though when I do my days go so much smoother and I am better equipped to meet these simplification goals!
And lastly, my fall semester is wrapping up and I am nearing my graduation date of May 14th, and requirement completion that will happen sometime this summer...I feel as though I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, but I know its there somewhere!

So, 3 completed, 3 working on daily, 1 in progress, and 3 left to go...I'm not too disappointed!
Any tips, encouragement or hints on how to continue to meet these is appreciated :)

suggestions for study

I am going to be offering a bible study for women at our church this winter
I have been a part of this group for the last year and a half and we have done several different types of studies:
A Wife After God's Own Heart - Elizabeth George
Esther - Beth Moore
Crazy Love - Francis Chan
For Women Only - Shaunti Feldman

I have really loved the different aspects of these groups and how they have grown me as a Christian woman, wife, mother, and humble servant

I am thinking about doing another Beth Moore study this winter because I love the intensity and discipline it requires!
We are probably going to do A Heart Like His, a study of David

What Bible studies have you done or books that have been the center of a study that you have enjoyed and recommend?
What did you learn from them and how did they change your life?!