Ginger-vitis.

They say that in the next 100 years, redheads will be extinct. (See the assumption here. I love how the article says that we were created by a mutation. So, that technically makes me an X-men, right?)

Rather than "going green" or "recycling", I decided to save our beloved planet earth by populating it with redheads, and therefore keeping the redhead gene alive. (If I was one of Captain Planet's Planeteer's, my element power ring would be "Ginger". GO PLANET!)

So basically, my plan is to have a red-headed daughter.

Fortunately, I have red hair:

Unfortunately, no one in my family has red hair:

Fortunately, I married into a family that has plenty of redheads:

Unfortunately, my own husband does not have red hair:

(Actually, I really should give William some credit. Technically, he does have red hair but only in his beard. As much as I want our daughter to have red hair, that red-beard gene would be VERY unfortunate.)

I think the odds are FOR the redhead gene...right? We'll just have to see on March 12th.

In other unrelated news, here's a true story: Chubbs ran away, was gone for 6+ hours, and was found in Ahwatukee. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I'll just let you fill in the holes of that story by leaving this photo:

It's the Final Countdown.

Some of you have been inquiring for a picture of me and my pregnant self.

Well here you go:

It's a shot of me looking down at my feet. I know...I look amazing at 32 weeks.

One of William's Christmas presents from baby was a Fisher Price record player (the classic one that I had when I was a tiny tot). It's his favorite thing... Now he and baby can sit and listen to records all day. You can see the anticipation written all over his face:

William and I are s l o w l y getting ready for baby. We finally have our crib and changing table (Thanks mom!!). Baby's nursery currently looks like this:

I display these pictures to motivate me to start making a decent living space for baby. I know she would not be pleased with the current conditions, so I really should get crackin' on decorating and beautifying. Hopefully my "after" pictures will be posted soon.

My days are filled with backaches, swollen ankles, and sleepless nights. One thing for sure has eased my pains: William's cooking.

Behold this beauty:

Thank you loves.

Bradwords

I love when families have a language of their own.

Take the Dana's, for instance, my mom's side of the family. If you've ever heard anyone say "guy", "seahag", "died our heads", "blast", "neeeer", or "netla", you're probably talking to a Dana.

I especially love when that language gets used so much that it becomes second nature, and you accidently use the language in conversation with people outside your family. Then, the people you're conversing with get confused.

That's basically what happened when I first met the Bradfords... but I like to think I have their language down by now.

When William and I went on our Utah trip last week to visit his family, I noticed many of the photos we took amazingly portray some of the many Bradford words (Bradwords) that exist.

Here are just a few of those words:

And there you have it.

Christmas at Gampy's and Gammy's

My mom has a knack for throwing great Christmas Parties...especially for the grandkids.

You can see the excitement written all over London's face:

The tables were elegantly decorated :

The kids' table was adorned with Charlie Brown Christmas:

They were stoked to eat:

We like to mix cultures in our holiday dinners: ham + potatoes + mini chimis + chips + salsa = The best.

After the delicious dinner, the adults did a white elephant exchange. William and I scored an over-sized Abbey Road t-shirt (Christmas miracle?)

While the kids were waiting for the adults to finish, they decorated their gift bags. These would be later used when Santa leaves his gift sack on our doorstep filled with their gifts.

Then came the talent show. This consisted of waiting around for about 15 minutes until one of the grandkids was brave enough to volunteer.

Finally, Grant stepped up to the plate. As you may recall, Grant's idol is Michael Jackson (See his costume here). He did yet another tribute to the late King of Pop by dancing to "Beat it":

I love his concentration in this picture.

Suddenly, without planning, all the other grandkids had to jump in to pay their tribute to Mr. Jackson. Here's just a taste of their amazing dance moves:

Grandma looks so proud in the above picture.

The dance party was followed by a few musical numbers, including the 3 Coombs boys singing "Steady As She Goes" by the Raconteurs.

Again, I love their concentration.

After the talent show, Santa brought his gift sack to the doorstep. Santa must have learned about the legalization of fireworks in Arizona, because he left a package full of them.

Nothing says Christmas like fireworks.

And of course, we Coombs like to end the night with a bang. I'm not just talking about the fireworks...We had a head injury and a child choked on a chip.

Happy Christmas 2010!

Thanks mom! You're the best.