Friday, January 10, 2014

A Lump Of Coal, Please?

He doesn't really get the whole "Elf on the Shelf" concept.  Or maybe he does and he's just pretending he doesn't.  And he really does not like taking pictures with the bearded old man.  I have the photos to prove it.  I can't tell you how many times I've explained that being a bad boy means Santa won't bring any presents.  Like NONE.  Does he care?  Did he refrain from his many tantrums?  Did it help to hide most of the presents until the morning of?  Did it help that I actually called Santa and put him on speaker so he could hear for himself that only good children will get goodies?  No, not really.  W would just argue back that YES, he was getting presents and that, YES, he is a good boy, even in the midst of a fit.  Sigh.  I guess we'll try again next year.  

Having set the tone for what it was like the days leading up to Christmas, I will say that it was a great morning of opening presents and being lazy.  I wish I could say that I made some epic bread pudding and we all drank hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows.  To be honest, I'm not THAT mom.  Not yet.  We tried to make it really Norman Rockwell and put a ring of tracks around the tree so that W could come downstairs to find a train going around the gifts.  What a disaster!  First, P assembled this Disney train set we got and hid in the closet.  It's a piece of crap, made of plastic and totally ugly.  But W really wanted it in the store, so P secretly went back that night and bought it.  The last one.  What does this tell you?  That he's an awesome papa and that there were other suckers out there who bought this POS train set.  Not only was it so small that we had to place the present OUTSIDE of the tracks, the thing was so loud I wanted to kick it off the tracks and stomp all over it.  Back in the box it went.  Then P set up this other train set he got from work and tried to set that sucker up.  Not enough tracks BUT quieter than the Disney set.  One problem though.  IT WOULDN'T RUN ON THE DAMN TRACKS!  It was a nightmare.  I mean, c'mon!  We just wanted to make Christmas morning magical for our kids.  Is that so much to ask?!  We ended up just leaving the trains with no battery on the floor and putting the tracks away.   So sad.  

Moving on.  What did the boys get?  Well, little N got some baby toys and a few books and outfits.  What was his favorite?  Anything W got.  Hahaha!  Right?  And, of course, W got a bunch of trains and train oriented items.  He got a bunch of other things like pjs, books, other toys, clothes and his first stocking full of goodies.  Other than the trains, he was really fascinated with one of N's toys.  Seriously, it's like they do this on purpose.  The morning went by quickly, but I'm glad they didn't get more presents because W is getting spoiled!


W, playing with the Train That Couldn't. Ugh.

Of course, he opened the Thomas wrapped present first.

N's favorite!  Paper!!!

N's first boom box and camera.

Our tree rotates and it's a good thing because N would've brought it down with one slow grab.


He's happy.  Enough said.

Late morning sunlight.  Wonderful.

Kinetic sand.  This stuff is so cool.  Couldn't stop touching it.

Trying on my Christmas gift.

Awwww.  Those teeth.

He gets the urge to tackle and hug his baby brother all the time.

Sorry N.  Your big brother learned it from us.

Merry Christmas!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

My Lazy Birthday


I saw a commercial once…. can't remember it at all, actually.  Can't remember what they were selling to save my life.  All I remember was the song that was playing.  When I grow up I wanna be an old woman.  That's the verse I remember.  It's a great line.  It's exactly what I want to be.  Every year I get a little older.  Can't stop that.  I get a little wider here and there. And I can definitely tell my body is now on the downslope of good health.  The thing is, I'm not sure I've had those "good ol' days" that everyone is always pining over as they age.  If anything, I feel like the best is yet to come.  And I wish more than anything to be able to see my boys happy and old themselves.  So I welcome each birthday with open arms and I hope God blesses me with many more.

P and I are a lazy couple.  We really are.  Don't get me wrong.  We're a far cry from those folks in that space community in Wall-E.  Not quite there yet.  But we love to just …. do nothing all day.  We used to wake up late on weekends…and then just snooze the day away.  It. Was. Awesome.  But with two little ones…well, snoozing would be sleeping in until 7am.  So when asked what I wanted to do for my birthday, I kept thinking about those lazy Saturdays I spent with my P.  How wonderful it would be to do that with my babies as well!!  Obviously they didn't let us sleep in or anything absurd like that.  But we did take turns napping and spent a good amount of time cuddling in bed.  It was the best.  I'm 36 years old and I have more than I could ever have dreamed of.  Truly.  Life is good.  God is very good.   Happy birthday to me!!!!

Awesome hair in bed.

In our house, expect your feet to get sniffed.

Daddy's turn!

Some motor skill practice while we're at it.


He just can't sit still anymore.


No more pictures.  More tickling!!!

  

Love these guys to death.

Daddy is King Tickler, for sure.

So handsome.

 Hi baby.

  

  

No instruction needed.  W is all kisses.

  

  

 Quick!  Take the picture before they move!

My version of heaven.

  

I copy you.