Happy Birthday, To Our Little Guy...

It only took 42 week, 1 day of gestation and 57 hours of labor to get you here, but we are so glad you joined our family and blessed us with more happiness than words can express.

You're turning into a little kid, no longer the toddler. You are a handsome young man and just the best big brother. And in general, just a wonderful kid.

Yes, you've had your toddler moments, but all kids do. It keeps us on our to toes. And the asthma, peanut allergy, and stabismus just keeps us really on our toes but also grateful for modern medicine and grateful that you are as patient and adaptive as you are.

We were impressed when at 10 months, 2 days you started walking, then just shy of age 2 you knew all your numbers and letters. And then, just shy of age 3 you started to read on your own and speak Spanish better than all of us. (It must be all that fish oil Mom took while she was pregnant and all that breast milk you had, or the extra 2 weeks you baked!). Parents have to brag a little!

Now, if you could just expand your variety of foods, we'd be so happy but we're not asking for perfection and we're just glad that you are you!

So today we say, thank you for blessing our lives. Thank you for being you...

Love,

Mom & Dad

Thanksgiving and Birthday Celebrations...

We emphasize celebrations because although they were held on the same day at the same place, they were definitely separated. We went over to my sister's house. Before we left, T Rex helped me make the pumpkin pies. We used the pumpkins we picked at the pumpkin patch back in October. Made two perfect pumpkin pies and a TON of cream cheese pumpkin bars.


Here was our menu:


- Organic free range turkey - best turkey we've ever had!
- Sweet potatoes/yams with melted marshmallows
- Traditional stuffing with and without pine nuts
- Pomegranate salad
- J-E-L-L-O layer salad
-Potato rolls
- Beef tamales
- Cranberry sauce with pomegranates
- Gravy


This will be the year that we will always remember that we forgot the mashed potatoes. Oh well, less carbs and we actually felt better for it. But T Rex thought it was hysterical and kept saying, "We forgot the mashed 'tatoes..."


This was our place setting...

 

All the food was so delicious, T Rex Princess kept clapping throughout the meal - especially for more sweet potatoes/yams with melted marshmallows! Actually, the clapping is her way of saying "more". 

After a sufficient time for food settling, we moved onto T Rex's birthday celebration. This was the birthday table set up for celebrating...

This was the "cake with eyes" requested by T Rex - thank you Auntie JAZ for making this for him and for all your hard work on his birthday preparations.

Happy Birthday Song...

Present opening...

Even Bebe Sister enjoyed present opening...

Later we played some other games like TURKEY Bingo and various word scrambles as well as a turkey toss and a turkey hunt. All very fun. The kids had so much fun. In fact, they slept until almost 8:00 this morning!

We hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Four Questions...

Thanks, Septembermom, for this fun tag. Answer the four questions you were given and then ask four new questions before you pass it along. Seems simple enough.

Actually, this is just me stalling the inevitable - I should be studying for my big upcoming health assessment final or alternatively compiling my final rural health nursing project, but instead, I need a little pick me up. So, here goes...

1. What is your favorite toy from childhood? My collection of "My Little Ponies" - I was obsessed with them for the longest time and I actually still have a large group of them displayed on a high shelf in our daughter's bedroom. Someday, she will get to play with them. But not just yet - she needs to get past the everything in your mouth or banging it on the floor stage. I used to get down right giddy waking up on a Saturday morning and knowing I had the entire day to hold horse shows and dance parties. I never got that "Pony Paradise" but I still had the best time.


2. Do you have one of those embarrassing candid camera moments as a child? I feel like my entire childhood was one embarrassing candid camera moment. Come to think of it, I think I have those on a daily basis. I have horrible foot in mouth disease. I struggle with speaking with my "outside of the brain" voice when really it is supposed to be my "inside the brain" voice speaking.


3. Do you like dancing those silly songs (Chicken Dance, etc.) at weddings? I did this on a regular basis as a cheerleader in high school. I have to say, it was pretty darn fun at the time. And in the privacy of my home with only T Rex Dad and the kids around, I can be pretty silly. I will pretty much dance any kind of jig if it makes my kids laugh. But I'm a pretty reserved person so I struggle with me doing these kinds of things.


4. What is your favorite food to cook? Spaghetti. It's also my favorite meal to eat! When it comes to good spaghetti, I have two hollow legs!


Tag: Caitlin, JKMommy, JedWheeler Family, and Nina


I'm picking four mom-related questions since I know all of you are parents to a small child or small children. Here are your questions...


1. What is one of your most embarrassing mom-moments? For me, I once went to work with spit-up on my shoulder and that liquid breastmilk poop on my shirt and I had no clue until I came home to change into more comfortable clothing and looked in the mirror. These were the days when I used to wear a suit to work and meet with customers all day. The sad thing, no one said anything to me. I can only imagine how many people saw this and said nothing. I cringe every time I think of this.


2. What is the weirdest advice anyone has ever given you regarding parenting or regarding your child? What was your response? My son has asthma and is deathly allergic to peanuts. My dad, who offers advice very freely and all too often, told me the best way to "cure" my son's ailments was to expose him to those items more frequently and thus desensitize him. While this works under very controlled conditions for allergies to dogs, cats, or pollen, it does NOT work for food allergies. I just thanked my dad for his advice and I would mention this to his pediatric allergy specialist before revisiting anaphylaxis. 


3. While you were pregnant, did you ever have the random stranger stop and tell you the most intimate details of the birth of her child? How did this make you feel and did you say anything in response? This happened to me all the time. It was like I wore a sign that said, "Please, share your birth story and don't leave out any tiniest detail." These stories would get quite unnerving when I was pregnant the first time and did not know what to expect. Round two - I just knodded and said, "As long as it's not 57 hours of labor like the last time, I'll be just fine. Thanks for sharing."


4. What do you do to maintain your sanity when you've had a long day and/or night with the kids? Ice cream goes a long way to sooth my nerves. Then a ride on the elliptical during nap time because I ate that ice cream!But also blogging with good friends and a nice chat with T Rex Dad help a lot, too. However, I do need a break away every once in a while or I really do go a little crazy. I think every mom needs some alone time.


Please join in and answer any of the above questions either the mom-related ones or the one's from September mom. I'd love to hear your experiences.

'Tis the Season...

For Birthdays...

Yes, we are starting the birthday circuit around here. T Rex will have his shortly, followed by T Rex Dad, and then myself. Luckily, Bebe Sister is not until January but it's far enough from the holidays that I think she's set.

December birthdays...when I have friends who tell me they are expecting a child during the month of December I instantly offer advice. I am not one to just give advice unless solicited. However, this is the one exception. I am an expert at having a December birthday.


So, my advice when shopping for those with December birthdays...


1. Never wrap birthday gifts in Christmas paper. Use paper bags, comic, or tin foil if you're out of birthday paper, but NEVER showmen, Christmas tree, Santas, etc.

2. Never tell them to "just pick one out from under the Christmas tree".

3. Don't combine gifts (unless specifically asked to do so) as birthday/Christmas gifts.

4. Never decline to purchase a birthday ice cream cake or hold a birthday at the park just because it's December and cold outside.

5. Don't get a Christmas decorated cake as a birthday cake. I cannot tell you how many poinsettia cakes I've had.

6. Refrain as much as possible from getting birthday gifts that can be used during the holiday season. I have a closet full of Christmas socks and Christmas turtle necks. I can pretty much wear a different Christmas themed outfit during the month of December. I wish I could wear them the rest of the year - oh what a wardrobe I'd have!

7. NEVER under any circumstances give a Christmas ornament as a gift. And a Christmas card that has "Happy Birthday" added to it - MAJOR taboo!

8. If possible, it's really nice to wait to put up the Christmas tree and all the decorations until after the birthday has passed. Unless that's what the person requests to do so. The year T Rex was born, I asked my friends and family to help us put up our tree because we were not getting any rest and we could not put him down long enough to even hang a stocking.

9. No Christmas carols at the birthday party and especially not in place of the Happy Birthday song.

10. Red and green decorations are still considered Christmas decorations even if a "Happy Birthday" banner is hanging along side them! Same goes for plates and napkins. 


With all this being said, and in jest - mostly, I am always touched when someone does remember my birthday - even if it is a pair of Christmas earrings wrapped in Santa wrapping paper pulled out from the bottom of the Christmas tree.


Hence, we've decided to decorate the house for birthday season. We'll leave the decorations up until we've celebrated our birthdays and then we can take them down and move into Christmas. And if you're one of those people that has to put up you decorations as soon as Thanksgiving is past (or sooner) then consider this. Having these decorations up does not actually impinge on Christmas because after all, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Plus, it's just a lot of fun for the kids to decorate!

When do you usually put up your Christmas decorations? Alternatively, if you have a December birthday, is there anything you can add to the list or can you share a December birthday memory?

Duet...

The other day, T Rex and I were looking for a lost toy in the playroom. We left Bebe Sister in the living room surrounded by her toys. She seemed happy enough to be playing and did not mind our absence.

About 1 minute into our search, we heard someone playing the piano. It was not melodic by any means but there was a definite rhythm to the notes being played. We both decided to inspect. This is what we saw...

Not quite 10 months old, on her tip toes, playing the piano!

Then T Rex decided to join in. So here they are debuting in their very first duet...

Next stop...Mozart's piano concerto No. 10 in E flat major for two pianos!!! (Mozart wrote this for he and his sister to play together.)

Taking a Minute to Admire My Work...

So cute...

So soft...


Warm and cuddly, too...


Homemade by me with a little help from T Rex Dad...

And the pants qualify for this description, too!

Yes, this is me taking a moment to admire my work. Proud this mama is - proud, grateful, and humbled by the blessing it is that I can say these things.

Ten Years...

To my Huckleberry Friend and Lover...

Where ever you're going, I'm going your way

Two drifters off to see the world

It's such a lot of world to see. We're after the same rainbow's end

Waiting 'round the bend...

Thank you for asking me to marry you 10 years ago on this exact weekend in this exact spot. You've given me the happiest life ever...