Wow, last week flew by! I worked last Tuesday all day, Wednesday afternoon, and all day again on Thursday and Friday, so by the weekend I was exhausted. Sometimes I wonder how I made it through those years of working 5-day weeks, and then I remember, Oh yeah, I didn’t have this other full time job called Motherhood back then. Now I wish for more energy, more sleep, more hours in the day. I can’t seem to catch up on everything or give 100% to anything at all.

Yesterday we spent a VERY STRESSFUL hour trying to take a family photo for our Christmas cards. I didn’t want to torture Oliver by going to a studio (he is shy around strangers), so we just let him play at home and tried to take a few shots here and there. We ended up with about 50 shots of Oliver squirming and whining, George and I looking frustrated as Oliver runs by in a blur, etc. Thankfully, there were two good shots where we’re all smiling—one we’re using because it fit in the card layout, and the one below. I just love his happy expression and his beautiful eyelashes.

I’m saving the other family photo so it will be a surprise for all of you who are getting a card from us. The main photo is a random head shot of Oliver that I took earlier last week and cut-and-pasted onto a free stock photo as a Christmas tree background. My editing skills are not the best, but the cards turned out pretty cute, and I hope everyone will enjoy them.

Speaking of Christmas, I haven’t started shopping yet. Truth be told, this is the third year in a row (i.e. since Oliver was born) that we’re not buying presents for anyone except Oliver and something small for my parents (which they definitely deserve, since they babysit him so much). George’s law school loan payments begin next month, and we have so many other necessities to pay for—booster car seats, Oliver STILL needs a new crib, and we just got a bill from my September d&c for over $1000 (and believe it or not, insurance had already covered most of it!)—that we honestly can’t spare an extra penny right now. It’s a bit depressing, but at the same time, it doesn’t matter. We have SO MUCH to be thankful for. We have each other, we have our son, we have good health, we have jobs, we have a roof over our heads, we have food on the table, and we have the most wonderful family and friends. Those are the things that count.

And this week, the week of Thanksgiving, I want to say a special thank-you to all my internet friends. Whether you left a comment here, shared stories and photos on your own blog, made me laugh or said a prayer when I needed one or the other… I sincerely thank you.

I also have to say two special thank-yous to Pris for the sweet congratulations card she sent us when George found out he passed the bar exam, and to Jen for last month’s awesome missed-concert/30th-birthday gift below:

woohoo!

You guys, ALL OF YOU, are the best. I’m hoping that (if it turns out I can go) some of us might get to hang out at BlogHer next summer. I may not be able to buy you all drinks, but I will be happy to hit the dance floor and make the rest of you look good. Trust me, it would be priceless.