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A Day of Receiving

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“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.”
~Anonymous

Today was yet another day of receiving for me, I felt the Christmas spirit all over me. The mailman brought gifts as did the stork!

“If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.”
~Vincent van Gogh

Today I was made a proud uncle, again. Prior to today I had two wonderful nieces and three wonderful nephews. And this afternoon Madelyn Grace came along to even up the odds.

My sister Abby and her husband Mike gave birth to this darling little bundle of life today. Congratulations to you both, you did well. I was able to watch them put on her first diaper, give her her first bath (of sorts), and get dressed for the first time. It was a joy to behold. My sister is doing well and her and Mike are hopefully getting some much needed rest as I type this…but lets be honest, they have a kid now, so rest is a thing of the past!

“Babies don’t need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I’ll go over to them and say, ‘What are you doing here, you’ve never worked a day in your life!’.”
~Stephen Wright

And there is the proud father! I had enough sense NOT to post pictures of my sister post delivery as I imagine she would be none too pleased to see them! 🙂

I am so thrilled with the newest addition to our family. She is precious beyond words. I am also very proud of my baby sister! Although it makes me feel old to think that my hamlegs, my sweet baboo, is now a mother! Wow, that just blows me away. You are so special to me sis and I am so very happy for you.

“My friend has a baby. I’m recording all the noises he makes so later I can ask him what he meant.”
~Stephen Wright

Welcome to our world, Madelyn.
_________________________

After a very enjoyable false alarm, I am thrilled to say that my TRUE secret Santa was revealed today, and she is (drumroll…….):

Cory W.!!!

Cory has been reading the blog for awhile and did a marvelous job stepping in for Santa and getting stuff that was just right for me!

First the card, as is proper! I love quotes, quotes are fantastic. As you can see in this very post, I use them alot. In fact I think many of us “collect” quotes like we do actual tangible items. I love the quote on this card. I was just thinking about something similar today as I was reflecting on dressing up for work and the fact that I keep myself grounded in who I am by doing little things (that certainly can be classified as “strange”) like wearing my One Ring. Breaking monotony is always a great idea!

Cory was obviously paying attention during past posts and discussions to the fact that, other than the co-authored novel Good Omens with Neil Gaiman, I have not read any of Terry Pratchett’s work. The cover on this one caught my eye when it first came out as I really like that style of inking in illustration. Though you cannot see it, the letters on the club are cut in to the club. It is a really fun effect and just the kind of special touch I like to see on book covers. I am really excited about diving in to a Pratchett novel and discovering what so many of you rave about. This is great!!!

I look at these quotable magnets all the time at the bookstore and usually don’t pick them up just because they seem to be an extravagance that I cannot afford. But now I have one, and it is such perfect advice following the last 2 months of….well, hell…that I certainly will be taking this to work! I will be heeding your advice, Mr. Churchill, to be sure.

Thank you so much Cory!!! These are such great gifts and I feel especially touched that you took the time to think about what might be meaningful to me. I could not be happier. 🙂 Thanks again Nymeth, this was such a great idea and I feel so blessed to be getting such great gifts from someone from the blog world.

A new niece and fantastic gifts from my Secret Santa. This was a GREAT Monday!!!

And because I love quotes, here are a few more of Stephen Wright’s silly ones to entertain you with:

“I have an existential map; it has ‘you are here’ written all over it.”
~Stephen Wright

“If you shoot at mimes, should you use a silencer?”
~Stephen Wright

and, to close:

“I installed a skylight in my apartment… The people who live above me are furious!”
~Stephen Wright

30 thoughts on “A Day of Receiving”

  2. Yours should be joining our world soon, Ella! Probably not soon enough for you though! 🙂

  3. Congratulations to your sister and brother in law! Madelyn came just in time for Christmas! 😀

    And yay for getting presents! I know some disagree (Jean Pierre, I’m looking at you :P) but for me “Thud!” is one of the very best Discworld books. It is complex, it is subtle, it is dark, and it is still funny. I can’t wait to see what you think of it!

    I love those quotable magnets!

  6. Congratulations! Madelyn Grace…a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl! Glad to hear all are doing well!

    (Geez, what is it about newborns that always makes me cry?!!)

    And hooray for your Secret Santa!

  7. wow, you sure did have a great monday! Now you get to volunteer babysitting among everything else you do! lol

    And more pressie’s! dang carl you need to add another floor to your home for your books! hehe

  8. Awwww, what a sweet little girl! Mine was born on this day 24 years ago. Madelyn Grace is a lovely name. My neice is Madeline Faith and we call her Maddie.

    Love, love, love Stephen Wright!

  10. congrats on both gifts. What wonderful surprises on both ends. this makes me even more anxious to find out who my secret santa is….

  11. Congrats Mike and Abby from Keri and I. Madelyn looks so cute. Being a parent is the most wonderful gift you could receive this holiday season. I have found Christmas to be twice as much fun to experience as a parent than it ever was as a child.

    Carl those are wonderful Secret Santa gifts. I love quotes as well. The first one on your post today is great. I also enjoy Stephen Wright as well.

  12. Congratulations to your sister and your brother-in-law! And to you, uncle Carl! And welcome to the world Madelyn 🙂 She’s beautiful!

    I’ve been tempted by that book so many times because of the cover. I know exactly what you mean. I love the way the cover was designed. But I keep passing it up because I have this weird thing about reading books in the order they were published even though the Discworld series doesn’t have to be read that way. So needless to say I have quite a few books to read before I get to that one seeing as I’ve only read the first book in the series! And I love those quotable magnets…they’re awesome and that’s a great quote!

  14. Congratulations to all of you in your family expansion. Your folks will need a bigger house when the holidays roll around! Babies are one of the few times you get to participate in a miracle and your pictures share that message!

  16. Congratulations! A new baby is the perfect Christmas gift! I agree with Jeff, Christmas with children in the home is so much better than any Christmas I had as a child. As for rest. . . at least one of our kids still wakes at least one of us up each night! I wouldn’t have it any other way! Many wonderful moments await you!!! The story of Madelyn has just begun.

  18. Congratulations! She is beautiful! So glad to see she’s here safe and sound and that Mama and Daddy are doing well.

  19. wow, the stork and mailman showed up – a good day indeed! 🙂
    Congratulations on the new baby niece! What a beautiful baby.

  20. Oh….what a sweetie!! Congrats there Uncle Carl!! She’s a beauty!! Babies are so incredibly precious. It ALMOST makes me want another one!!

    I think your Secret Santa did a fantastic job!! Looks like Monday is turning out to be a good day for you!!

  22. Congrats on being a proud uncle!

    I LOVE quotes! One of my favorite quote books is Women’s Wicked Wisdom by Michelle Lovric.

  23. Carl, she is so beautiful and aware. I’d been wondering all day and finally decided to check your blog. Sometimes I am brilliant. The quotion from Van Gogh is so perfect. Congratulations on being an uncle again. Neat that it adds up to an even six. Love the Winston quote.

  24. Hurray! Madelyn is here! She is so perfectly wonderful (in my unbiased opinion).

  25. My mother’s name is Madeline, you know how I felt about Madeleine L’Engle, and now we have the birth of this Madelyn to celebrate. What a happy occasion! Congratulations to all in your family.

  26. wow – it truly WAS a day of receiving!

    congratulations on the new arrival! you and i are now uncles in crime (although, you were already an uncle before that).

    and i’m glad you’re finally going to get an opportunity to try a terry pratchett! i really hope you enjoy it.

    i always associate pratchett with holiday periods ’cause my mom bought me “hogfather” which is a very christmassy one and one of my favourites at a time when i was really getting into him.

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  28. Did you see the Hogfather special, JP? I am curious if it follows the book at all. I think it sounds interesting and would love to read it and see it!

    I couldn’t wait any longer and started Thud! last night. I was smiling right from the start and know I’m going to really enjoy this.

  29. She is adorable! Congrats to your family for having such a wonderful addition.

    And I’m glad you liked the gift!

  30. Madelyn is beautiful!! Congrats, Uncle Carl. She’ll be fun to spoil!!

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