For Chad and Tara

OK, yeah, the "post a picture every day thing"? That's not gonna happen. Sorry, Diane. :) I'll keep you very informed, though. Before I tell you about our last 2 countdown days, I need to make a shout-out.

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To my wonderful husband, Trent. As I have mentioned before on this blog...numerous times...I love my sleep. I mean I LOVE sleep. I need it. I do not function well without it. And our precious birdy girl (who, seriously? is the sweetest thing EVER! all day long I kiss her about 300 times) slept like a champ for 4 months, and now is waking up 2-3 times a night and we're trying everything to fix it. But meanwhile, I'm exhausted. The third time she wakes up is usually around 5am, but then Carson usually wakes up around 6:30am. Although Trent really likes leaving around 6:30 to work out before he goes to the hospital, most days lately Trent has been waking up and spending his time with Carson so I can get an extra hour of sleep. This generous gesture was doubled this weekend, when both mornings he was up with BOTH kids and let me sleep. Today, he even gave Sydney a bottle and took the kids to McDonalds (we went to church last night people, we aren't heathens), and I slept until 9am. Heaven! THANK YOU, BABE!

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So, Friday on the countdown was "Have a Pizza Picnic in front of the Christmas tree." I adore pizza, so this one was great for me too. We finally did something early enough for Sydney to participate, and then when I set up the self-timer, somehow I let Carson's head block her from the picture. Oh well.

Then yesterday we went to WalMart & Target to buy toys and clothes for a boy whose family is being "blessed" at our church. We hooked up with my parents' community group to help a family in need. I decided not to post pictures of the gifts, so as to keep things as anonymous as possible, since the family does attend our church. We talked with Carson about how this boy (we made up a name, even though we knew his real name) didn't have many toys because his daddy doesn't have a job. Then, to really drive the point home, we gave him a dollar to put in the red S.A. bucket on the way out. "Oh, he is REALLY getting this!" I thought to myself. I said, "That bucket is for people who don't have a place to sleep or things to eat, Carson." His response, as he looked lovingly at what he had just been given by the bell-ringer: "Yeah but I got a CANDY CANE!" Good. OK. Message received, then? Excellent.

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And lastly, to the title of this post, after his bath last night I decided to try for the umpteenth time to interview Caron on video. He always freaks out in some way, either by grabbing the camera, becoming uncharacteristically shy, outrageously silly or just walking away. This is as close as I got to his normal self. Just a few notes for those who don't know: Tara and Chad are Trent's brother and sister. Riley is Tara's dog. And yesterday he told me that a dinasour toy would cost "forty-eleven dollars."