Christmas Cheer

10 days left....feeling stressed....must laugh.

hilarious hunks singing

Mom's letter to Santa

Enjoy!

Play that funky music white boy

Well Grant has started to dance. And it's clear he's a white boy with classic white boy moves. He shakes his arms, he bounces off beat, he has a silly smile. Dancing With the Stars competitor he is not.


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We have this little chalkboard hung on the wall that says "________ Days 'til Christmas" and every morning Emma erases the number and we write in the new number. She loves it. Frankly, it stresses me out how few days we have until Christmas. 12 days people. 12 days. Stressed now?

Take my poll!

I just figured out how to post a poll so take it! One rule, if you check other you MUST leave a comment explaining. Now go vote. It's to the left, upper column.

Phase one is complete

We got our tree yesterday and got it decorated. It was by far the most fun we've had picking out trees since the excitement of picking out our first Christmas tree as a married couple. Emma was running up and down the aisles, picking the ugliest trees on the lot and announcing "THIS is the one daddy! Pull it out so mama can see how beautiful it is". Grant, also with an eye for the ugly, was pointing at various trees with vigor, mostly the trees that were still wrapped up. We got cute pictures of them holding hands in front of a bunch of trees, we waved at cars driving by, Emma chatted up a few other tree hunters. Anyway, we found an awesome tree and got it home and decorated before dinner. It's HUGE for our standards, I had to stand on a stool to get the tree topper on (no short jokes please). It's also quite barren since we have zero breakable ornaments on it. Grant is great about not bothering the tree unless the lights are on but I have no doubts that will change when he starts walking.

Speaking of lights, hanging the lights outside was a comedic debacle. We ran out of lights like a foot short of the end of the house. Ghe-tto. And of course, the store was out of the kind we needed. So three stores later, we settled on some that sort of looked the same. I'll say it again, Ghe-tto. See, this is why I don't like hanging lights outside! Emma was in love with the whole process, and helped hubs by handing him the plastic things the lights hang on. We made no less than three trips outside to look at the lights once it got dark. And our neighbors got to enjoy our lights alllll night long because we forgot to turn them off before we went to bed. I know we can use a timer, but it's plugged into the tree lights.

Isn't it interesting how life events can really have an influence on the Christmas season. I was thinking about our various past Christmas seasons and how what we had going on in our lives really influenced the season. Our first married Christmas can be summed up with the word giddiness. We were dirt poor, but so excited to be getting our first tree together, and buying a few ornaments for it. It was a total Charlie Brown tree, but it was OUR tree! We even took pictures next to it. The next year I have no memory of at all, then we were in Italy so no decorations came out at all and it almost seemed like Christmas didn't happen. That's the year I realized family plays a huge part in my Christmas experience. It was so hard for me to be away from my parents that year. The next few years are a blur as we lived separately while I finished school and we moved to our current residence. Then we had Miss Emma and the life change of having a baby left me so drained we got a tree a week before Christmas, threw a few ornaments on it, and sent out New Years cards. Last year things started to get interesting as Emma asked endless questions about the tree and stockings and presents. This year has been magic and I truly feel like I'm seeing the wonder of Christmas all over again. Emma is so awed by everything, and so excited about every aspect of decorating and visiting Santa and getting her stocking out and reading Christmas books. She asks me every single morning if today is Christmas Eve. She's excited to tell me about Baby Jesus and how he was "born in a barn because one two three four hotels were all full". I'm really looking forward to the next several years as the kids are young enough to be enveloped by the wonder and awesomeness of Christmas.

Conversations with Emma

In the car on the way to preschool today

Emma: I'm chewing gum. Do you want some Mama?
Me: Sure.
Emma: Here (reaches forward) It's purple gum.
a few seconds of blessed silence pass by.....

Emma: Are you still chewing your gum?
Me: Yep.
Emma: I threw mine away, it was yucky.
Me: Why was it yucky?
Emma: From dirt.
Me: How did it get yucky from dirt?
Emma: I got dirt in my gum from Big Bird throwing it.

Christmas House Lights

I don't get it. I drive around town, and I see Christmas lights everywhere and I just don't understand why people spend hours hanging lights all around the outside of their house. I don't understand the blow up inflatable penguins and snowmen and Santas. I don't understand the people who half hang them up so the lights looks shoddy and just thrown up on the house. Don't get me wrong, we are hanging lights up this year simply because it will stop Emma from asking hourly when we are going to hang our Christmas lights. But I still don't get it. Lights on the Christmas tree inside? Totally get that. But outside? Not so much.


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Emma: (as we drive by a random Starbucks) Mom, do you need a grande nonfat latte today?
Me: (biting my tongue off trying not to laugh) Not right now, thanks.

Hmmm.....me thinks I drink too many grande nonfat lattes if my 3 year old can order for me! Maybe I should look into getting some Starbucks stock.

Like a first date

I had my first playdate today with friends from preschool. It was two moms I've had my eye on since the first week of school, and Emma adores their girls. The moms and I chat when we drop the kids off, but it's just idle chitchat. At the family picnic they shared a blanket, and we tried to sidle up next to them, but Grant took off crawling in the other direction. I wave and smile when I can.

Then on Thursday, one of the moms mentions her daughter talks about Emma all the time, and she wondered if we wanted to get together this Saturday and go to the outdoor mall in town and check out the Christmas lights. I try not to look too excited as I write down her phone number and tell her we'd love too. I think about what I'm going to wear, and if I should pack snacks. I wonder how the morning is going to play out, I mean I'm no stranger to playdates, but it's been while since I've playdated with new people.

All in all, it was fun. They are way more fly by the seat of their pants than I am so we ended up taking public transportation at the last minute, and they forgot to write down the details of where we were going, and no one had a watch, but I went with the flow, enjoyed the company, and Emma had a blast. She even talked with Santa, from a slight distance, which is HUGE considering when she was 1 we couldn't even push the stroller past Santa without her screaming bloody murder. I didn't pay the $750 for one picture of her and Santa though cause if I'm paying that much for a stinkin picture you better believe Grant is going to be in it too. We got home 3 hours after I told hubs I'd be home, which lead to a grumpy Hubs, but he got over it. I'm looking forward to my next playdate with them, maybe at the zoo. And I'll leave the whole afternoon open, since who knows where we'll end up. I'm driving my car next time though, that's for sure.


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Ever since Grant weaned, it's been a fight to get enough milk into him. The boy takes max 4 sips of milk during a meal, and we don't ever get anywhere near the recommended 12 ozs. of dairy in a day. I mean a person can only eat so much cheese. Today, Grant sucked down his milk in no time flat. The key? Let him hold the cup all by himself. Done.