Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Part One

Merry Christmas! 

Liam is having quite a few Christmases this year, and I will be posting my thank you's and so on here in the blog. Along with pictures!

We will not be able to get to all the gifts in one day. Liam gets overwhelmed easily and can not handle it all at once. Plus this way it means more days of fun for him!

Thank you to everyone!!!!!  Also a thank you to Grandma Wanda and Aunt Saskia and Uncle Bob who sent some money for us to spend. Liam's share will go into his savings until he knows what money is and can decide what to use it on.

We love you all so much!

Thank you Grandpa Dave and Grandma Kathy, for the finger paints and paper!

And for the books!

These tags were awful cool!

And then Breakfast with some of the coolest people out there!

And two of my favorite photographers!



Using Great Aunt Judy as a way to stare out the window

Opening some gifts from the Mess family and Perry and Suzy!

Little wooden pots and pegs....

...Have rapidly become a favorite thing already!

Checking out his felt board

and all the pieces to go with it!

Now I can't wait to go to the store and get more felt to make him more shapes! This was a great idea!

And from Perry and Suzi...

Some popcicle molds!

Which Liam thought were really nifty and fun to play with. In the summer we will make popcicles for him!

Christmas Morning Wagon!

Serious baby and mama, checking out some wheels!

Very Serious about his toys!

Opening the gifts from Aunt Mel and Uncle Kurt

Pretty wooden cars and trucks and planes!

He really loves his wheels

And from Grandma Julie, a new book!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Here comes Santa Claus!

The stockings are hung...
Home made stockings by me, so far only Liam's is stuffed full!

The tree is up and looking lovely...

Nym was enjoying a nice evening nap in front of the tree.
Gifts are wrapped and I am just making a few extra trinkets for those I love...




Little Star Ornament, crocheted. I was totally thrilled when I figured out how to make these!


Gifts to distant family have been shipped, cards are mailed out...

Liam is loving the tree!

 Christmas baking shall begin soon, I want to give away some yummy food treats to my neighbors and family and friends.

I love this time of year! SO MUCH TO DO!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Two Years

Two years ago today I married the man I love.

A few things stand out about that day... I cried when saying our vows because I loved him so much that I couldn't even get the words out. I freaked out about a Christmas tree because I didn't want it in my wedding pictures. And I remember all the love from the family and friends who came to watch us make that promise to each other.

We have been tested and tried this year, as the year before and as I am sure will happen in the years to come. Choices to make, disagreements to have, worries and troubles to face down and some of the saddest moments anyone could have in their life. It just proves to me that we made the right choice in each other, I know that we are going to do it all together whatever life may bring.

In good time he is there for me to laugh with me. In bad times we are there for each other to be the hand to hold and the shoulder to cry on. We made a promise to be the best person we could be for each other, and we may not always get it right, but we keep trying.

To me, having to work at it makes it all the more worth it when things go right.

I love you Dan. I never knew life would put us where we are now, but I wouldn't change a single moment of it. I'm glad I met you, I'm glad I love you, I'm glad I married you and I am beyond glad that I have this baby with you.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

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Monday, November 28, 2011

It's begining to look a lot like.....

Winter!

What, did you think I was going to say Christmas?  Well, ok, that too.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! It is chilly now!
I am planning to put up lights soon, and I want to get a tree on December 13th. See, I married my dear husband on the 12th of December, and at my wedding I had a minor freak out over a Christmas tree being in the room. I want my wedding to be different than Christmas.

It seems odd to only have a tree for about two weeks, but I don't want to think about Xmas until after I think about being married for two years. Two whole years. Half of my time in college, The entirety of my time in middle school.... It feels bigger than it is, and at the same time smaller. It's only two years. But there has been a lot in those two years. Happy days, sad days, angry days, joyful days, sleepy days, sick days... but the big thing is that we have been there for each other the whole time.

Liam is doing his best to be a typical toddler now. Into everything, getting in trouble, being a pest sometimes and being the cutest little thing all the time, even when he is being a pest. He is learning some new things, like to put his arm out for the coat to go on, and to lift up his legs so I can get his pants on. He is learning how to bounce and jump with his own power and he is learning to make connections. Like the toy leopard and the leopard in the book are the same thing, they are both leopard.

He also gives kisses pretty regularly now, which is a no fail warm and fuzzy moment in any day. No matter how rotten you feel a little baby giving you sloppy kisses on your cheek or the side of your mouth just makes you feel like the world is made of rainbows and sunshine.

He and Nym get into all kinds of trouble! 

Climbing on the couch to bother the cat. What a team!
The gym thing is going along. I am at a sort of hold right now. I can only do so much and I can't seem to push past it to do more. Some days I even do less because it simply feels like my body just can not physically do that anymore. I think I might need to change my routine or change what time I go to the gym and see if that helps. The oldest of the three ladies in the day care is my favorite. I like the other two, but I like her best. Of course I can not remember her name and that makes me sad. But I brought her cookies the other day because we were talking about cookies and I had made a bunch at home and needed to get rid of them before I ate them all. She was happy about that!

Oh, and thanksgiving was nice. We drove down to Grants Pass to spend the day with my dad and step mom and Liam had a blast playing with the dogs!
Less than thrilled about the car ride. He is not a binky addict, but he does chew on them sometimes and it keeps him amused.

He ate some turkey and one sweet potato and then he discovered the raspberry jello and also the cranberry sauce. I figured one meal of mostly sugar couldn't hurt and let him go to town.

This was just at the start, by the end the cranberry sauce was even into his HAIR!

He also learned how to feed the dogs off of his highchair tray and that it was great fun to give them turkey. Amber and Crystal, the Labs, really liked having a munchkin around. Liam really liked having a bigger dog to climb all over. Nym had fun playing with the American Eskimo doggy that my step mom got, her name is Angel. She and Nym had a fun filled morning walk where they just about levitated over all the ground outside as they ran after each other filled with the boundless energy of puppies.

Loving on the Crystal
Giving the best hugs!
Just hanging out together!
And now that it is cold outside we are having to find more and more things to do indoors, including making home made play dough and playing in cardboard boxes! And I got out the trampoline for Liam, but Nym likes it as well.

Trampoline Buddies!
Learning to Bounce
Play Dough!
We are putting together gifts to send out this year, and a nice Christmas card as well. I am grateful to be able to afford gifts this year, it makes me feel happy to be able to do that. I know that a gift is not necessary and no one will hate us for not giving any if we really can't, but I know how much fun it is to open things up!

I wish I had more time to update this blog more frequently. The odd thing is, I do have the time, but I forget how much time has passed since I last wrote things down!

I am sure I will write something else before Christmas, but JUST IN CASE.... 

Have a Merry Happy Holiday Season to everyone, Christmas, Solstice, Hanukkah and all the other fun celebrations of winter! Remember to spread the love and make some cookies, if not for Santa, than to give to a neighbor just because its FUN!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Only Child Problems

Tonight my resolve to give Liam at least ONE sibling was strengthened even more than it has been. More than the desire to have another child to snuggle and love on, more than wanting to do the baby thing again and see them grow into amazing people... tonight it was about sharing and how an only child sees things.

You see... I have Only Child Problems. I don't like to share my space. My ideas are the best ones. I am the leader. I am the boss. And tonight, I got weirdly possessive about space in the bedroom. Dan's dresser has been sitting in the garage for a few months now. Many months. Since we moved in!

First it was about treating it for the mold on it from the old apartment. Then it was him wanting to wait for the back board to be shipped from Indiana, then it was about him saying he was going to refinish it, and then it was about MY stuff taking up too much space. (he changed his mind on refinishing...) and then tonight I finally got my stuff cleaned up and in theory we could move his dresser in tomorrow.

But it has to go on my side of the bedroom.

Wait... MY side? but really... it is a dresser. I am just as likely as him to heave a laundry basket on top of it and not put away the clothes for a week until I need the basket again for the next load of laundry.

I have a dresser now. He deserves to have one too, if for no other reason than to get his stuff out of the tupperware bins in the closet and give us more space for hanging things up.

BUT ITS MY SIDE OF THE BEDROOM!

Its MY kitchen and if I don't like where something is, I will move it. Forget that HE is the chef. (granted, I do most of the cooking at home....) It is MY back yard and if he wants to put in a plant I BETTER DAMN WELL LIKE THAT PLANT and I get the final say in where it goes. You get the idea....

I say how the living room looks, I say how Liam's room looks... I do not share my SPACE well. I can share food, I can share items (as long as they end up back where they started)...

Thankfully he usually has no major opinion one way or the other on most of this stuff and when he does we will battle it out and we sometimes find a way to agree, but more often than not I win because I can come up with a logical reason why it should be my way and he usually can not come up with that kind of logic on the fly. Or I win because I can see the Danger sign flashing in my head of Liam getting into something if he does it his way.

I told him once that even if we disagree on something if he can present to me a LOGICAL and well thought out reason why something should be a certain way I would be more likely to consider it. But he normally can't. So I end up winning.

I don't even know why there has to BE a winner. I don't know why we can not meet in the middle on more things. He can get just as stubborn as I can, but its not about his SPACE or where things are really.

But I think part of why he can be so easy going about things its that he had two younger brothers. And what do you wanna bet that a big part of his childhood was giving them things. Space, time, the seat on the couch where his feet were before they launched themselves onto that space... He is use to sharing his space because he never knew it any other way. 

I want Liam to be as selfless and sharing as Dan is, as children with siblings are. I am not selfless, I am not as generous as some others. I know this, I am working on it... but I think that some of it comes from being an only child and never having to share. It was all mine! There was no one else I needed to save the last cookie for, no one else I needed to share my room with or my toys. I could share well enough with friends because I knew they would be leaving at some point and then it was ALL MINE again.

Hopefully life will be kind and grant Liam a sibling so that 30 years down the road when he is married and his spouse wants to put their dresser in the bedroom he will not sit there on the bed and be peeved about it being on HIS half of the room and taking up wall space and have to mentally process that it really is no big deal and finally come to terms with it by writing a blog post about why being an only child made him into a semi-posessive little twerp.

At least I know this is a problem with me and I can work on it. Sometimes. Kinda.... UGH. MINE MINE MINE! AUUUUGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Trick or Treat Stories!

I love Halloween. I love seeing the kids in costumes come running gleefully up to the door... but I do not like the greed that also comes with this holiday.
I do not like the kids who don't even put on a costume. I don't like the parents who do things to encourage greed and laziness. 
I love the parents who also dress up, or who come tagging along and prompting a thank you but the kids already know to say thank you. 
---The Bad---
13 year old trick or treater: "Do you have any Snickers?"
Me: "No, but I have BabyRuth"
13 year old: "But I don't like Baby Ruth"
Me: "Well I don't like Snickers!"
13 Year old: "But I do! You should have some for me"
Me: *thinking - Since when do I shop for some kid I don't even know?*
And the next 13 year old.... Me: *holding out candy bowl* "Take one, pick your favorite!" Him: "How many can I take?" Me: One *thinking - do you even LISTEN? what do you think this is? grab and run?*
The mom DRIVING her kids from house to house. "Hey, you guys go to that one with the light on, then we get in the car and go to the next one." The poor little girl was so big she had rolls of fat  popping out of her costume. She must have been 8, maybe 9.... Sad.... I almost cried on that one.
Little boy, after I said Take One: Can I have two? Or three?  *grabs one* Oh gosh, I wish I had gotten that other one, can I have it too?
Me: Take one! Pick your favorite!
Kid: *Grabs for a handful*
Me: ONE I said! 
Kid: How many is "take one"? 
Me: One.
Kid: oh.....  
Maybe I shouldn't let the kids pick out the candy, but I want them to get the one they want. I always was peeved as a kid when the door person handed me a snickers and I wanted the milky way that was also in the bowl. I never said anything because I was raised better than that, but I would swap it with my friend later on and I would say a more enthusiastic thank you to the ones who let you pick. Even if they said Pick One! Then I knew I would get one that I wanted!!!!! 


Secret: After 8:00 I say Take Two, because I know I will have fewer kiddos coming after that and don't need to make sure I have enough candy!

--- The Good ---
Cute girl all dressed up, her Dad taking her trick or treating, clearly he has a disability and is limping and having some mobility problems with his hands. But he is still out with his daughter. I made sure he got some candy too! That one was awesome!
Zombie Bride 7 year old!
Teenager who win's best in my book: Stay-Puff-Marshmallow Man!!!! 
 
I will always love Halloween. I will always feel happy seeing the little kids come up to the door in their costumes, the masked ones being led by unamused mothers who now see the folly in letting clumsy children wear things that limit their vision to two small pinholes. I will love the babies in fuzzy warm outfits, and yes, even the high schoolers in their make shift last minute "I want free candy" costumes. I will adore the smell of candle burnt pumpkins and the next morning pitching the saggy remains of those pumpkins into the trash. 
But I will always feel a pang of sadness watching the GOOD candy leave my bowl. My stash of treats. No matter that I am an adult and if I want to eat a Milky Way bar I can go get one and eat it. Somehow Halloween candy feels different. You HAVE to have it in your house for the little munchkins who come to the door. You don't normally sit there and have the crisis of "If I eat this, I am undoing three days worth of gym time" It is Fun Size! It is small, and seems like less. It is like the pitfall of the "fat free cookie" you can eat as many as you want, right? It's fat free! Its FUN SIZE! 
But I do really love Halloween! 


 


 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

So Much to DO!

Maybe its the start of fall and the rainy season, maybe its how busy I have been, but I have not been doing much thinking lately.

Somewhere between shopping for food, trying to keep up with the cleaning, a toddler who is taking off in about 5 directions at once and a puppy who just hit the puppy version of the terrible twos my mind is taking a vacation and I have not been doing much blogging.

But I have been doing some fun things lately. Like puppy obedience class!


Dan and I took a trip to the beach a month or so ago and we are just finishing the tumbling of the first batch of rocks. We were able to do a whole tumbler full of just agates. The result is beautiful! We have another load of rocks that will be done in a week or so, and yet another one waiting to go in, and I have one of some shop bought rough stones that are on their first round in the tumbler.



I made a fall wreath for the door from some fake flowers and grape vines from our own grapes.


I made home made spaghetti sauce and grape juice and grape jelly and canned it all. Here are some of the grapes that we got this year. They were really nice! But wow making grape juice is a lot of work!



I have been making some chain mail jewelry and wire wrapped stones to give as gifts this year.

based on a Japanese 12 in 2 design
a Persian weave chain

My completed works so far, minus a few that were too heavy to hang up

I got some pictures of Liam printed and put them in a nice frame. It makes me happy to have pictures of him that I can hold in my hands.


And Most importantly, playing with Liam a whole lot! We have gone to the zoo, OMSI, the park, the pool and had a lot of fun. And the gym, he does great at the daycare now, no crying when I leave.
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