40

I guess a lot of people dread the idea of turning 40. I don't. I've been looking forward to it for several years now. I've seen so many of my friends enter their forties and looking at them and their lives, it seemed like a good place to park myself for 10 years.

The only downside to today is due to timing. It's not my mom's fault -- I was 3 weeks past my due date, mind you. But in addition to having my friends scattered and otherwise occupied during the Christmas holiday, working in global cash management at the end of the fiscal year stinks, quite frankly.

This year, my husband and co-workers made a special effort to mark the day for me, which was much appreciated. Jonathan is good about making sure that my birthday is not lost in the Christmas celebration, so he had a gift waiting for me downstairs before I left for work. I got a Lindt "intense orange" chocolate bar and a gift certificate for a massage. Later, he had a dozen roses delivered for me at the office. These are a few of my favorite things!

At the office, they arranged to get a Godiva Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory (I dropped some major hints the past month) and we took a break in the afternoon to indulge in the chocolaty goodness. This was a perfect finale to my sushi lunch where I feasted on salmon rolls of various kinds.

The wind chill factor was something like 10 below so I didn't want to go out for dinner. Instead, Jonathan picked up an Uno's deep dish pizza, something I'm only allowing myself to have once during this pregnancy. So tonight was the night...mmmm was it good.

I don't really have a lot of big goals for this decade -- at least not concrete, measurable ones. In the very near term (3 months) I want to finish bearing children. I'd like to do a triathlon. Other than that, I think my goals are more on the abstract side. Not being shackled by over consciousness; learning to pause before blurting the first thing out of my mouth; expecting God to provide instead of worrying about the worse-case scenario playing over and over in my mind. Not that I think these things can be conquered, but just to see improvement and live more at peace, would be a great thing to experience in the coming years.

I'm not convinced this is the start of middle age for me as I have 3 out of 4 grandparents still alive (ages of 88 - 92) and the 4th died at 100. With the disease-resistant genes they gave me, coupled with a healthy lifestyle, I have a good shot of living into the triple digits. That wouldn't be so bad if I'm living a life that I love. I don't remember much of my first decade of life, but I can say that each succeeding one has been better and better. Here's to keeping the momentum going and embracing the adventure that lies ahead.

I'm looking forward to it!

Shelby

christmas 2009

This year, we had a low-key family gathering in Connecticut with Jonathan's family. We went to Mom Berg's church for Christmas Eve services and came home to feast with his brother Drew and Bruce and their families.














They surprised me with a birthday cake as I'll be marking my 40th on Tuesday. I had a huge chocolate cupcake-shaped cake with whipped cream and raspberries and mmmm, it was good! Here are my nieces singing Happy Birthday with gusto:














The next day, we slept in and eventually got around to opening gifts later that morning. Mom and I were getting anxious to see Riley open his presents (he didn't give a hoot), so with J's encouragement, he went to work. He got a play vacuum from my parents that we forgot to bring batteries for so it didn't get use until we got home (see last picture):














His current favorite gift tho' was the laptop that we bought him. He has been enjoying that immensely, tho' he doesn't really understand the various games yet. He's happy to hear the letters being called out as he punches the various keys:














Here he is checking out his funny face bath toy:














Unstuffing the stocking was fun...G'ma got lots of little toys for him to play with, the favorite being his Cars stampers and 4 mini monster trucks:














It's funny how the cheap toys from the dollar store capture so much of his attention:














That afternoon, we enjoyed a lazy one of watching Julie and Julia (loved it!). Riley didn't last very long tho', he preferred Nick Jr.














We got home Friday night and today, Riley went to work with his new vacuum:














(Such a manly man, working in his undies...)

Riley's biggest gift was a train table and Thomas the Tank Engine set that we bought off of Craigslist. Once we get around to getting it set up, we'll post pics on the blog. It's getting set up in stages, as we have time. He also got several Leap Frog toys from G'ma Berg & us which will help encourage his word-building now that he knows his letters.

J and I decided to upgrade our iPod Nanos from the 1st Gen to the 5th Gen. That was our big gift to each other. Riley's now going to have his music totally digital as he'll get J's old nano as well as a docking station for his room. He's such a millennial now.

While we enjoy the gifts that we are able to give to each other and our son, we are most thankful for the extraordinary gift of Jesus coming to earth and living the perfect life we were incapable of living. His perfect record, and willingness to endure the punishment for our sin and rebellion is the Gift of all Gifts. We praise him for his mercy and love to us, knowing that He is the reason for this season. Soli Deo Gloria!

Shelby

decking the walls

I'm so excited about the beautiful new stockings I had made by a textile artist I found on Etsy:



















This picture doesn't begin to do it justice. These stockings are large, expertly crafted and coordinate beautifully together. The fabric is hand-dyed and thick. It was worth the extra money to buy something unique for each of us that we will enjoy for many Christmases to come. We also have one for Kendall that is a gingerbread pattern that's waiting to be finished until after her birth.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas 'round here!

Shelby

portrait of a modern husband

I have the great fortune of having a husband who can take care of the house as well or better than I can. With both of us working outside of the home, it's a necessity to share the duties. So, here's a slideshow of my sweetie as he helped clean the house before our Thanksgiving company arrived, made the Thanksgiving meal and and made sure we had clean clothes and dishes to boot.

I love my homemaking hubby!

Shelby