Boring Bulleted Updates

• Happily whittling away the time in my third trimester. Ever since I stopped feeling deathly ill about 10 weeks ago, it's gone by really fast, thank goodness! (But still, February really can't come fast enough.)
  
• Week 3 of Advent is coming up this week. Last year's "Advent Tree" and decorating according to the liturgical calendar worked out so well that we've decided to make it a family tradition. I have to tell you, it also takes a lot of stress out of trying to get all the Christmas decorating done in one day.
• Babysitting, babysitting, babysitting. I actually don't mind watching other people's kids, which is good because I've been doing it a lot lately. But I also depend a lot on other people to help me with my own brood, and thankfully I have a wonderful support system for this. So naturally it makes me happy to be part of a support system for others!
• Taking lots of pictures with my now-outgrown-to-me camera and just waiting on Christmas so I can hopefully finally get an actual lens for my new camera. It's hard to take pictures on a camera with no lens. Any rich people reading this who would like to send me an anonymous Christmas gift feel free to take a look at my #1 choice here.
  
• My kids have decided to switch bedrooms. Apparently a 6 y.o. girl and 2 y.o. boy rooming together and an 8 y.o. girl and a yet-to-be-born (and even then probably not occupying for at least another four months) baby girl rooming together work better than the older girls together and the younger two together. Can you guess who gets the sweetest deal here? Oh well, their choice!
• I've been cooking experimentally a lot lately. And feeling the urge to share some made-up recipes in which I won't ever measure anything and may or may not remember all the ingredients. That's helpful, right? Look for some of these delicious yet utterly nonhelpful recipes in the coming weeks.