Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas all! Yes, I'm late...but we had 5 Christmas celebrations in 3 days...so I'm a little beat!


Let me rewind, and I'll start on Christmas Eve morning...Matt got off of work and headed home, and when we were ready to have our Christmas, I had him go and play with Kellen in Kellen's room while I set out all of the presents for he and Tatum. Then Matt came out to video Kellen's reaction to the gifts, and we called him out into the living room...it was GREAT! He was so surprised, because we hadn't told him that we were going to be opening any presents. Tatum just played and played with her LeapFrog table, and Kellen was a big helper to her, opening all of her presents for her. :) She just hasn't and didn't figure out the opening presents thing, so I guess it was good that she had some help, huh? Kellen played all morning with his LeapFrog reading writing system and his Sit N Spin, and begged and begged to watch Shrek the Third. Then we got ready to leave for Matt's aunt and uncle's house in Houston for our Christmas Eve celebration there, and were delayed slightly in our departure due to a lovely garbage disposal issue. Despite being told I can, my mantra is now, "I will not put potato skins down the disposal. I will not put potato skins down the disposal."

We got there for our annual venison chili and cold-cuts dinner (yes, it seemed strange to me, too...but I married into it and now it just seems normal), and Kellen played with his cousin's rugby wheelchair...he had a BLAST running into the curbs and flying down the driveway into the street. Wait, that sounds bad...it's a cul-de-sac and there were adults present, so it was supervised fun, really! The kids were really well behaved, save for Kellen's continual attempt to get the dog to let him pet her...we tried to tell Kellen that when she went into her crate, that was her telling him to LEAVE HER ALONE...and that the growling was her way of telling him that. I think he got it, but he continued to try to pet her (outside of the crate) all night long. I don't think it ever worked. Lots of fun was had by all there, then we loaded up and went to Maw Maw and Paw Paw's. We opened just a couple of gifts there from family friends, and the adults PJ's (Matt, Brenna and I all got new PJ's to wear for Christmas Eve...the kids had already worn theirs the night before because we had already started their celebrations), then called it a night.

Christmas morning was just lots of fun. Luckily for us, both of the kids slept in because it had been such a long day on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, they're BOTH doing the "catching up" sleep thing that they've NEVER done before. Let me just say that it's really nice...We opened up the presents, and Kellen's favorite - by far - was the pirate ship from the VeggieTales Pirates who Don't do Anything. Ohmygosh...He was so excited - thrilled - about that present it's almost indescribable. I got a new digital camera...that is SO nice! Now I just have to figure out how to use all of the various functions...It even has a manual fuction, which is something that I've really been wanting so that I can experiment more with pictures of the kids. Yay!! I get to play around with it now...Matt's big present he had already gotten - tires for his Trailblazer. He's thrilled about it - I guess it's a guy thing? LOL We then had a big lunch there, which was just wonderful, and then the kids went down for their naps.

Afterwards, we loaded everything up and went down into Houston for the other side of Matt's family...more family, more presents, both kids are STILL behaving remarkably well for having two full days of this intense action. Tatum just charmed everyone...and is walking better and better by the day (why am I encouraging this again? I forget...) We stayed down at Gary and Glenda's for quite a while, and didn't leave there until 10PM...got back home shortly before midnight, then got the kids down in bed, finished unpacking from that trip and getting things ready for the next and final Christmas celebration....for my side of the family on Wednesday.

I made two pot roasts in the crock pot (two crock pots, actually), with potatos, carrots, and mushrooms, and let that cook all night long. Wednesday morning we slept in until a little after 8AM (yay again for the kids sleeping in!) and Grandma and Grandpa got here shortly after 9. Most everything was ready for this group, so I finished up the last of the gifts, got lunch ready, and Michael, Jonathan, Tammy, Joey and Allyssa got here shortly after noon. Dad and Matt had run to finish up a couple of the gifts and get some things from the store (darn that missing sugar!) and made it here shortly after the rest of the gang arrived..It was almost perfect timing...I think they had to wait about 15 minutes on the green beans, corn and noodles to finish up before we were able to eat. We ate lunch...lots of lunch, and then opened presents. Kellen and Allyssa (and Joey - although he was more like a babysitter) played a LOT in their room. It eventually looked like a tornado had gone through there, but man...they were having fun!

So today has been a rest day...we ALL lounged in our PJ's until about noon...Tatum was the first to get changed out of hers just because she was getting frustrated while trying to crawl and/or walk in PJ's that were too long (18 month PJ's fit her really well except for being too long...12 month PJ's are getting too tight in her legs - my big girl...), Kellen stayed in his all the way through naptime, and I showered while they were both napping after lunch. It was a GREAT day today...both kids were well behaved, Kellen colored and played with his sticker books, played with his toys and Tatum, plus HER toys (they must be more fun for him now that he's older...dunno...). After we all woke up from naps (unfortunately, mine was just a short cat-nap on the chair), we ran errands in town. A trip to Once Upon a Child to sell some outgrown clothes and toys landed up just enough money to buy the large Shrek and Donkey stuffed toys and a Shrek 2 puzzle they had there for Kellen...I think I made 50 cents or something...but since Kellen is currently sleeping with the Shrek and Donkey and put the puzzle together all by himself almost as soon as we got home, I think it was well worth it.

Maybe tomorrow we'll get more done around the house, but it was really fun just to play with the kids today. Tatum decided that she wanted to walk - really walk. I think I lost count of the number of steps she took...if I had been counting, I guess. I was in shock that I couldn't really get my brain to count steps! Our highest outside of today had been 4 steps...I think this was at least 8...

Blur...

That's what life feels like right now!

Friday I had the day off, and Matt and I got some MAJOR errands run...then he took a short nap while I picked up the kids from school, and it was off to Houston by way of Conroe to drop the kids off with his folks for our date-night...The Nutcracker, performed by The Houston Ballet! Tickets to the show were my anniversary present, and WOW! Well, it's us...so is anyone surprised that we were running behind schedule? Quick dinner of Sonic on the way to Conroe, get them dropped off - when we realized there was a complete 24-hour miscommunication about which day the ballet was anyway...luckily MawMaw and PawPaw were actually at their house - WHEW! So they were all set to watch the kids, quick changes for Matt and I and we're off to Houston. In bound traffic was a little heavier than Matt had expected, so we knew that we were cutting it close on the start time...Get there, park, and walk (luckily, I DO know how to power and race walk) to the show, get inside, one guy tells us they're still seating people and the next lady...well, you can see where I'm going with this, right? The next lady stops us and tells us that they have stopped seating. According to my watch, it was 7:37, but we missed the door by less than 2 minutes...and were the first ones turned away...surprised? I didn't think so.

So we got to watch the first act on the monitor - a VERY nice TV hooked up to a not-so-nice feed. Ahh..There were others that joined us, and Matt and I saw a glimpse of our future in some of the families...adorably dressed little girls and oh-so-handsome little boys...doing combat rolls towards the glass and bear-crawling so as to not get in the way of people. It was hilarious!

After intermission, we found our seats and really enjoyed the show quite a bit. But what would a night out be without some drama, at least where we're concerned?

Saturday morning we get up and rush to get ready so that we can make it back to town in time for Kellen's Little Dragon class that starts at 10 AM. At about 5 minutes till we pull into the parking lot...the EMPTY parking lot. Apparently neither Matt nor I had realized that the holiday schedule began on Saturday, so we high-tailed it back to town for a non-existent lesson. Poor Kellen. He was so excited about going to his class, too. Anyway, we were able to get a lot more stuff done around the house on Saturday, and Matt really went through all of our Christmas decorations, finished decorating, and reorganized the decoration storage boxes. The house looks really nice!

We discussed yesterday that we still needed to get Santa pictures, so we looked on the mall website and saw that the mall was opening up at 7 AM today. So this morning, I got up, got ready, got the kids all decked out in their gear, and was determined to be one of the first in line for the Santa pictures. How true, how true. When we arrived at the mall and went to the castle, there was a sign on it indicating that on Sunday, the pictures were from 12 - 6 PM. And this was at 9:30 AM, mind you. So, I decided to try and finish some of the Christmas shopping that I needed to do at the mall, and just get that done before the pictures opened up...we shopped for a while - let me just interject here that Kellen inherits his non-love of shopping from me - he was not the happiest of campers at the mall - then at about 10:45, went to the food court and got an early lunch. I decided to let them eat, then go wait by the castle for Santa...smart plan, right?

We finish eating about ten minutes after 11, then walk over to the castle, only to see hustle and bustle there....Apparently, they started taking pictures at 11 AM today, not noon as the sign on their stand indicated. So instead of being EARLY, people are already there and getting their pictures made. Oh good gracious! However, the line wasn't bad, and I had been prepping Kellen quite a bit about showing Tatum that she didn't need to be scared of Santa, etc...He went first, and did just WONDERFULLY! He went right up to Santa and sat on his lap, talked to him, smiled great for his picture, everything! Then I put Tatum on Santa's other knee, and reminded Kellen to show Tatum not to be scared of Santa. I let them both sit there for just a few minutes, and Tatum was NOT happy about the big buy in the red suit. Kellen was GREAT, though! He was trying to make her laugh, and calming her down, then I got him off of Santa's lap and he and I tried to make her laugh and smile so that she could get a good picture with Santa. It turned out ok, but she isn't smiling and cheerful in the picture, which is her "normal" face and attitude. All-in-all, the pictures are ADORABLE.

Back to the house for naps, then after naps we hit Wal-Mart and then Kroger for the remainder of our items. Kellen helped me wrap a lot of gifts tonight, and he had so much fun being my helper! He was disappointed that we didn't get a chance to make any cookies or the cupcakes we had talked about, but we just ran out of time today! Maybe we'll get to that tomorrow...he's pretty insistent about making cookies for Santa.

The Shrek Song

So on the new "Shrek the Halls" show, which we have DVR'ed and watched a zillion times (I have committed it to memory, Kellen has committed it to memory, heck, I think TATUM has committed it to memory), there is a particular song with a lyric that goes,

"Bah humbug, but that's too strong...it's my favorite holiday."

Well, Matt did a search for that song - as it does have a good beat - and we found it. We've been listening to this stop nonstop, or at least it seems nonstop, since Matt found it. I can't get it out of my head! I'll say a small phrase out of it, then Kellen will finish the verse and ask to listen to the Shrek Song on the computer.

In fact, if the web site is up, he'll continually click the play button just so that he can listen to it over and over again.

Check it out...http://youtube.com/watch?v=bP_WH4heId4 - It really is cute and catchy...

Christmas Wrapping
by The Waitresses

"Bah, humbug!" No, that's too strong
'Cause it is my favorite holiday
But all this year's been a busy blur
Don't think I have the energy

To add to my already mad rush
Just 'cause it's 'tis the season.
The perfect gift for me would be
Completions and connections left from

Last year, ski shop,
Encounter, most interesting.
Had his number but never the time
Most of '81 passed along those lines.

So deck those halls, trim those trees
Raise up cups of Christmas cheer,
I just need to catch my breath,
Christmas by myself this year.

Calendar picture, frozen landscape,
Chilled this room for twenty-four days,
Evergreens, sparkling snow
Get this winter over with!

Flashback to springtime, saw him again,
Would've been good to go for lunch,
Couldn't agree when we were both free,
We tried, we said we'd keep in touch.

Didn't, of course, 'til summertime,
Out to the beach to his boat could I join him?
No, this time it was me,
Sunburn in the third degree.

Now the calendar's just one page
And, of course, I am excited
Tonight's the night, but I've set my mind
Not to do too much about it.

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
But I think I'll miss this one this year.

Hardly dashing through the snow
Cause I bundled up too tight
Last minute have-to-do's
A few cards a few calls'
Cause it's r-s-v-p
No thanks, no party lights
It's Christmas Eve, gonna relax
Turned down all of my invites.

Last fall I had a night to myself,
Same guy called, halloween party,
Waited all night for him to show,
This time his car wouldn't go,

Forget it, it's cold, it's getting late,
Trudge on home to celebrate
In a quiet way, unwind
Doing Christmas right this time.

A&P has provided me
With the world's smallest turkey
Already in the oven, nice and hot
Oh d#$%! Guess what I forgot?

So on with the boots, back out in the snow
To the only all-night grocery,
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
In the line is that guy I've been chasing all year!

"I'm spending this one alone," he said.
"Need a break; this year's been crazy."
I said, "Me too, but why are you?
You mean you forgot cranberries too?"

Then suddenly we laughed and laughed
Caught on to what was happening
That Christmas magic's brought this tale
To a very happy ending! "

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Couldn't miss this one this year!
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Couldn't miss this one this year!

Written by Chris Butler (c)
1981 Future Fossil Music, BMI

A day of firsts...

Today was Kellen first dental appointment - ok, ok...I know what the "official" recommendation is...but it was a good visit - no cavities and he even let them clean and floss his teeth - don't judge me :) - We had been talking about the visit and I had been prepping him for it...we had a lot of time to just hang out in the dentists office (more than Mommy would have liked, actually), but it worked out ok because I was able to play with him a lot and get him really comfortable in the surroundings. He didn't like the bright light shining on his face - specifically his eyes - when he was getting his teeth examined, but can you really blame him? He did a decent job of getting the x-ray done, but moved during the second part of it, so half of them look really interesting. We opted NOT to redo them. He's 4...we didn't think it was necessary. The part that I think he dislikes the most was them rinsing his mouth out with the spray water...he just couldn't understand that and the suction...that part freaked him out a little, but ultimately, not a big deal. Then he called his Grandpa Gerren to share the good news and tell him about the "trophy toothbrush" he got as a present. At what point in time the toothbrush morphed into a trophy toothbrush I have no idea, but whatever!

As a reward for doing such a great job at the dentist, he went back to my office with me and played the part of a helper elf , handing out Christmas presents around the office, telling everyone "Merry Christmas!" along the way. It was adorable and he enjoyed it so much! Since he had helped make the cookies, I wanted him to be able to help hand them out, so it was really nice that we were able to make that work. He even helped "assemble" the gifts...a Christmas tub, chocolate no-bake cookies, hot chocolate mix, and some chocolate candies (yes, yes...we are a chocolate family). The folks at the office got a big kick out of him handing the gifts out, too.

Then we headed back to school in time for lunch and there ya' go!

When we got home today, he asked if we were going to make more cookies, apparently because , "It's my most favorite thing to do in the whole world!"

Really? Make cookies? I had no idea.

As for Tatum, 3 steps is our max. That's where we are at this point in time. She gets SO EXCITED when she thinks about walking and tries to walk that she's leaning more than her legs are moving...or she gets those 3 steps and then gets too excited to coordinate the rest of the movements. It's too cute to watch her try and figure this out, it really is. I still haven't figured out why I'm encouraging this development, other than I want to help my kids develop to their full potential - but walking at 9 months? I think she'll have it down pretty well by Christmas, or at the latest by the time she turns 10 months old.

She had a very vocal day today, and was apparently sharing her opinion with everyone...Opinions about what, we aren't all that sure, but she was sure letting everyone know that she was around! She is just too funny...

Decorating for Christmas...

Well, we're getting there! Kellen and I put up some of the Christmas decorations last night, and then we all went to pick out a tree this afternoon. The boxes you see in the background are decorations still waiting to be put up...most of them are for the tree, so we're still working on it!

Tatum was desperate to hug her brother, and was doing everything that she could to get close to him...it's still so cute how much she just adores him and how good he is with her!



Kellen actually found "our" tree, and did a much better job (in my opinion anyway) than the actual tree guy with picking out what we wanted and needed. We're trying to be practical this year, and needed a thin tree, because we're putting it in the corner, sandwiched between the couch and loveseat. It's our attempt to keep a little, ever-so-mobile someone (or two) away from the tree. We'll see how that works.



Kellen and Daddy trimmed the end of the tree when we got home, and we decided that we're going to start keeping the ends as a keepsake. We'll put our name and the year on them and have them to remember the Christmas and trees...


So in the midst of our holiday afternoon...we got into some singing and playing around. And we re-discovered Kellen's GREAT memory...especially when it comes to music. He was showing his skills of to me, but it took a little convincing before he would let me video him...but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity!! Enjoy the video...it's Kellen singing "Something Beautiful" by The Newsboys. He was also singing "Sing" by The Carpenters, "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2, various Toby Mack songs, and some others. Obviously, since Mommy and Daddy have varied tastes in music, he's picked up on some of that and enjoys it quite a bit!

In other news, Tatum is eating more and more off of the "big girl" menu. She ate (and LOVED) peach yogurt today, cheese squares, and bananas (a HALF of a banana - seriously). She also enjoyed some pancakes as well this weekend (from the freezer, but compliments of Grandpa Gerren). Oh my, oh my. She's just doing GREAT (if we could only figure out naps with any consistency...)

Goodness...what a week

Well, let's see where to start. This has been a pretty crazy week! To try and sum up...

Kellen went to visit Maw Maw and Paw Paw's while Daddy was at work on Tuesday, spent the night, and then he, Paw Paw and Daddy went to storytime at the library on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Tatum is getting better and better at walking, and is successfully taking one step at a time...then progresses to three whole steps on Thursday! Whoa buddy!

Despite our good intentions, we still haven't gotten our Christmas decorations up (ARG!). That's REALLY high on the priority list for tomorrow (after the Little Dragons class and a birthday party...oh, and nap).

I got my new phone (yay!) and am trying to take a crash course in it. *grin* I have just spend the last hour and a half transferring my contacts from my old phone to my new one. Sigh. It wouldn't take the update from my old phone, and because it's being synced with my work computer, it would have erased those contacts anyway. So...I now have my phone numbers (or at least I should when the server pushes the next sync tomorrow morning).

Oh, and did I mention that I spent the hour before that transferring my calendar items from my old palm (which no longer communicates or syncs with my work computer) to my work calendar? BIG sigh.

But...good news is that once the next sync push happens, I should be all set up! Whoo hoo!!

I'm so looking forward to a nice family weekend!!

Christmas talk

We've been watching all of the nightly Christmas specials...many of which I grew up on and am more than happy to share with (at least) Kellen right now.

Here are some tidbits of our conversations from tonight...

Watching Frosty the Snowman
(As the opening credits are rolling and it's in the very early stages)
Kellen: Where's the hat that makes the snowman talk?
Me: Sweetie, just watch the show, ok? (HOW DOES HE KNOW THIS? I DON'T REMEMBER EVER WATCHING THIS WITH HIM BEFORE!!)

Watching the "other" Frosty that came on afterwards (which I don't ever remember watching and is kind of freaky if you think about it from a kids point of view...the adults vaporing the snow and snowman...huh? what's THAT about?)
Kellen: MOMMY, FROSTY IS GOING TO GET DISAPPEARED! Is someone going to spray Frosty?!?
Me: I'm not sure, honey.

(later)
Kellen: MOMMY, FROSTY HAS A BIG HOLE IN HIS STOMACH AND HIS LEGS ARE WOBBLY AND HE'S GOING TO MELT INTO A BOWL!
Me: Really? (Thinking...why oh why did they make this into a KIDS show? He's going to have nightmares about snowmen with holes in their stomachs melting now!)

After both of the shows are over while he's stalling to finish getting ready for bed.
Kellen: Mommy, we don't have a chimney.
Me: You're right sweetie, we don't.
Kellen: Then how can Santa get into our house to bring us presents?
Me: Kellen, do you think Santa is real?
Kellen: Yes, he's on TV.
Me: (Arg, I wanted to go along with the Santa thing but didn't want to actually "train" either of the kids to actually buy into and believe in it). Well, we have that special Santa key that we hang on the door so only Santa can use it and get into the house. But why does Santa bring presents at Christmas, Kellen?
Kellen: Because some boys and girls don't have any toys.
Me: Ok, but why else do we give presents at Christmas? What happened a long time ago at Christmas?
Kellen: I don't know. I forgot.
Me: Because God gave Jesus to us as a gift so that we could be saved and live with God in Heaven and we remember that by giving presents to other people, right?
Kellen: Right.

While being tucked into bed:
Kellen: Is tomorrow stay at home day? (Say "stay at home" very quickly and it DOES actually sound like Saturday)
Me: Yes, it's Saturday.

(later)
Me: Kellen, how did you get to be such a good big brother?
Kellen: 'Cause that's how God made me.

Spreading the Christmas Spirit...

Matt and I talked weekend about Kellen's current attitude toward Christmas "What's on my Christmas list?" and "I want that for Christmas!" and decided that we were going to HAVE to do something about it...we are going to have to put MORE emphasis on the REAL meaning of Christmas, we are going to need to downplay the "Santa" thing, gift and gift-talking aspects of Christmas, etc.

So Kellen and I have been talking more every day about what Christmas is REALLY all about.

Also, on Saturday we "cleaned" his room, and went through about half of his toys, and talked about little boys and girls that didn't have toys and made choices about giving some of the toys he didn't play with very much or like to those little girls and boys. We had a box there in the room, and he would actually go over and put things in there (not very many, mind you, but he did actually do it). We'll have to find some other place to take it where I think it will "mean" something to him to drop off the box.

He actually put one of the Percy push trains in the box..and told me, "We can give this away to a little boy that doesn't have toys because I have a little Percy that goes on my train track at Maw Maw and Paw Paw's." (Progress, right?)

If he threw too big of a fit about a particular toy that I thought he should get rid of, then we talked about whether or not he could share the toy with Tatum. If he decided he could (and it was a toy that could actually be shared), we went and put it in her room.

But he's still in the "I want it" mode (most of the time), so it's obviously a work in progress. At least we're working on it!

Oh my...her 1st one...

I completely forgot to update you all there in internet-land that Tatum had (has) an ear infection! Aw man...She had been coughing quite a bit, and last Wednesday afternoon I took her in to the doctor, thinking it was some kind of chest cold, bronchitis, or something. Well, it was certainly something, but something I didn't expect - she has an ear infection in her left ear. We go back in tomorrow for her 9 month well-check (yes, I typed that correctly...she's officially 9 months old today) and the doctor will check her ears for a follow-up.

Poor baby!

Her nose had been alternating between running like a faucet and being altogether stopped up, but I was really getting worried when it was so stopped up that she couldn't breathe while nursing. Aww!! So we started antibiotics last Wednesday night, she seems to not mind the medicine, so that's a good thing! Now she actually gets excited when I come toward her with the syringe full of medicine for her to swallow.

Crazy girl!

Peek-a-boo

So I figured out something that Tatum apparently really likes...soft and fuzzy blankets! Saturday afternoon...I was needing to do something, and she DID NOT want to be confined. AT ALL! So I started waving this blanket over her head, and she just loved it! So then, in my infinitely creative way, I decided to see if I could manage to get just a few minutes of chore time if I created, as Kellen would call, a "house" using this blanket over her jumperoo. And it worked like a CHARM! Except that I was so busy watching how much fun she was having that I didn't actually do the chores that I was needing to do. Oh well!

She doesn't get fussy all that often, but now that she's oh-so-much-more mobile, she really gets irritated if she's confined and doesn't really want to be. I guess I can't say that I blame her, can you?

She also figured out the peek-a-boo game during this little adventure as well...she's such a hoot and learning so much every day!

Christmas Parade Fun

Considering a 2:00 PM start time and no naps (for either kid), they did a FABULOUS job of behaving prior to and during the parade. Apparently, the parades in BCS are pretty long...and by 3:30 (with the BRIGHT December sun - seriously - followed by a few scattered raindrops here and there) we were ready to go. It did actually take Kellen a little while to get into it, but he ended up enjoying himself. Tatum was just the little tropper...she hung out just watching everyone for quite a while, then played and finally took a nap shortly before we decided to leave.

What a fun family afternoon!