"It's beginning to look a lot like..."

Christmas has been on my mind lately (you know how I LOVE holidays, esp. Christmas!!) When I saw this, I just had to share with you my wish list and my own MEME. I want to hear your wishlists too!! So, if you want to copy this MEME and do the same, please, please, do so, and let me know in a comment!
Ironically, and not surprising to me at all, I share some of the same wishes and memes as my sister-in-law!!:) You'll also see my husband and I's photo (that my sis-in-law took) along with this same post!!:)

I went to my sister-in-law's blog today: http://schiranotriplets.blogspot.com/ and saw this:

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme todaysmama and Provo Craft http://www.cricut.com/holidaywishlist/?utm_source=todaysmama&utm_medium=meme&utm_campaign=HolidayWishList_Today%27sMama

are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.


1. What 5 items are on your holiday wish list this year?

1. The most obvious is the health and happiness of my family and friends, the safe arrival of my baby niece and for our Black Lab, Diez, to get better:)
2. Second obvious, Moola!! (we need to pay off our kitchen re-model before the interest accumulates)!!
3. This wish is kind of Moot(but because of it's significance, I have to place it in a category) after the Moola wish bc enough Moola and I wouldn't need to wish for this: To Stay Home with our daughter and extend our family
4. All things Photography: Classes, Books, Lenses: a wide angle lens and a prime lens (I am currently borrowing my sister-in-laws).
5. A Make-over (This includes a really good hair color, cut, eyebrow wax, make-up, new outfit, shoes, jewelry, handbag, if it could also include a few pounds lost, that would be stellar!).


2. What is your favorite handmade gift you have received?

A "welcome" sign that my 5 yr old niece gave me when my daughter (now 7 months) was first born.

3. What handmade gift have you always wanted to tackle?

I have always wanted to get into scrap booking but there are so many choices, and it's such a committed, involved process, I'd have to buy EVERYTHING!! and would probably never stop and end up Bankrupt!! Ha!! I even bought a scrapbook and some supplies when I was pregnant to make a scrapbook of our pregnancy for our daughter, and it is all still packaged in the basement, untouched.:)

I have also always wanted to learn how to sew and knit too!

4. What was the best Christmas gift you received as a child?

A copy of Roald Dahl's book, "James and the Giant Peach." I still remember how utterly excited and surprised I was when I unwrapped that gift. I was 7 and I remember it as if it just happened. I remember every detail of that moment. **My 2nd Grade teacher, Mrs. Lamers had read the book to our class in snippets over the course of the school year, and I was enthralled with the story. She was also my all time favorite teacher, who left after 2nd Grade, and I was heartbroken and cried. I wrote letters to her for years afterwards. I still remember looking to my mom and asking her how she's managed to a get a copy of the book like it was some ancient scroll masterpiece lost to the world for ages (or maybe it was because I asked Santa Claus for it:)

5. What items are on your kid’s wish list this year?

Nik is only 7 months old, but I sat down and spoke with her regrading this matter, and she stated that she would be happy with anything Minuit and unnoticeable to the untrained human eye such as; little pieces of fuzz, dirt, crumbs, little pieces of plastic, coins, pieces of string, tiny pieces of paper, straw, particles of feathers, and tiny tiny sticks. These items are of huge interest her. She would also be happy with anything that she could put in her mouth; TV remotes, cell phones, coins, said items above, hair, body parts, articles of clothing, sweat shirt pant strings, broaches, earrings, bracelet's, watches, rings, receipts, plastic bags, beer bottles, glasses of water, packages, wrappers, flatware, china, pens, pencils, golf tees, golf markers, hot rollers, purses, hats, keyboards, laptops, cameras, lens caps, books, notepads, X-Box Controllers. She also is happy with anything that someone else currently happens to be holding or eating, this includes said items above, remotes, cell phones, X-Box Controllers, glasses of water, beer bottles, cans of soda, any kind of food, etc.

6. What is your favorite holiday food?

Umm...? Do you have to ask that. Christmas Cookies of course.

7. What will you be hand-crafting for the holidays?

I would like to say scrapbook. Not sure if Photos Christmas Cards, and Printing pictures and Framing for family members counts? I do that every year. I love to give framed pictures as presents. It's a gift that I think you enjoy every day for years to come, and I love photography.

8. What is your favorite holiday movie?

I LOVE Christmas Movies. I watch the same ones every year, over and over all Season long:)
Favorite Classic: It's a Wonderful Life (of course). Without fail, I get goosebumps and cry every year.
(Runner Up:The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant and Loretta Young)
Favorite Fun Movie: National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation ( Elf: Runner Up)

9. Favorite holiday song?

I LOVE Christmas Music, I listen to it all Season long, in the car, in the house, while decorating and wrapping Christmas presents:)

Favorite Classic: The Christmas Song ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire...")
Favorite Fun Song: I also like "Baby It's Cold Outside" (Runner Up: Eartha Kitt's "Santa Baby")

10. Favorite holiday pastime?

Mine is also, Baking dozens and dozens of cookies (for hours and hours) with my mother. She has the BEST recipe for Iced Sugar Cookies (from scratch) and Peanut Butter Balls. I remember every detail: the powder, the baking cloth, the wooden roller, the metal cookie cutters, the wax paper, cookie sheets. I remember the smell, picking each desired cookie shape, tasting the icing, putting colored sprinkles specifically for "tree ornaments," "Rudolph's nose," etc, the sound of the Christmas cookie tins, drizzling the chocolate, licking the chocolate off fingers, the chill of the peanut butter balls fresh from the fridge.
I can't wait to continue this tradition with my own children!

Runner Up: Every Christmas my mom would take us up to Chicago on the train to look at the Christmas Windows at Marshall Fields, then we would eat lunch around the Huge tree at Marshall Fields, and Christmas Shop. I remember the sounds of the train station and train car, the blistering chill in the air, the bustle of the streets, the lights everywhere, the intricate window designs, the sheer awe of the large tree at Marshall Fields(waiting in line to eat around the tree at Marshall Fields-even with a reservation!), and the talking tree at FAO Swartz.
Although Marshall Fields is no longer in Chicago, I still hope to continue a similar tradition with my own children.

Prayers.

Please pray for my sister-in-law, my brother, and niece. My sister-in-law, is in the hospital currently. She started bleeding pretty badly this morning. She has had a delicate pregnancy (they have Placenta Previa: https://health.google.com/health/ref/Placenta+previa), and they have had some difficulty conceiving (they lost a set of boy+girl twins at 16 weeks). We are keeping positive, if she and the baby remain stable, she will be put on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. She is 19 weeks. If you know of any prayer chains, if you pray, if you just send out good thoughts, please, please do so fo them. They need your thoughts and prayers now more than ever. I have been praying, saying Hail Mary's, Our Fathers, and sending out good thoughts all morning. I am adding them to a prayer chain http://www.prayergates.com/prayercircles/baby_berner/default.aspx. You can add a prayer, here, if you wish:) It's just a short decription, my orig prayer timed out, and I updated a shorter version. I also added them to a Prayer Wall. My mother talked to my brother this morning, an she stated that he "sounded heartbroken." They will just be devastated if anything happens, my niece has been on Cloud 9 since she found out she was having a little sister; taking care of my sister-in-law and directing my brother to do everything for Tammie. I know that she asked about the baby in mommy's tummy and her sister 100 times a minute, and she has been waiting and wanting this for a long time, as have my brother and sis. We'd appreciate any love you could send our way.
Love, the Berners, Garretts, Rizzo's and Moehle's.

Update: My sister-in-law was released from the Hospital this afternoon. She and the baby are doing well.
She is on bedrest (home) until their 26th week. Please continue to pray for them if you can, as her condition is still ongoing, and puts her and the baby at risk for further complication. They still has some time to go to meet the 26th week, as they are on 19. God bless all!