merry christmas.

I think my 'Christmas hangover' is almost over. I love, love, love the Christmas season. I love decorating the house, all of the seasonal concerts and events, the big family dinners, choosing gifts for my family, and finally the big reveal on Christmas day. Our Christmas was jam packed this year - I think we ended up having four gift exchanges with family, not counting exchanges with friends and co-workers. So much fun but utterly exhausting. I feel like I need a recuperation period from this holiday every year. Whew!

Chris's parents came up on a surprise visit and got to spend the week of Christmas with us. It's safe to say that Nate was royally spoiled that week! Lots of time with grandparents makes for one happy boy. Chris's dad walked Nate through his first batch of no-bake cookies. I think Nate ate his weight's worth of sugar...

On Christmas Eve, Nathan set out some cookies for Santa and ended up 'borrowing' some from Santa's plate. Thank goodness he wanted Santa to come this year. Last year, this process ended in tears with Nathan hiding in his room because he was terrified of Santa.

We also ended up taking a trip to the local emergency room that night where Nathan was diagnosed with a hernia -- more on that in another post. Back to stealing grub from Santa...

Christmas morning was absolutely precious. This is the first year that Nathan has understood what will happen on Christmas morning and asked Santa for specific gifts. When he came down and saw the stuffed bear and monkey, he was absolutely thrilled  that Santa remembered :)

We also got a pretty cute family photo in that morning...

Chris does an amazing job cooking Christmas lunch every year. I play clean-up detail but he is the one who pulls off cooking for a group of twenty or so people. One of Chris's gifts was a metal brand this year (yes, I can't believe I gave him that!), which he used on his enormous rib roast. If you're looking for a unique gift that can be personalized for your guy, check out this company -- Chris loves it!

Let's see - after having our little family Christmas, Christmas with Chris's parents, and our Christmas lunch, we were able to get a really cute picture of Nate with all of his grandparents. This little kiddo is so well loved!

After Christmas with my grandparents, it was time for Christmas with my parents and brothers. We were smart and got a group shot before any of the real action started :)

One funny thing that we always do with my family to kick off the gift giving is to have some sort of exchange with dollar store products. One person does all of the shopping and wrapping - in past years we've done a raffle, but this year we spiced things up with a white elephant exchange. Some of this year's 'gifts' included pink house slippers, yellow hair extensions, toilet paper, a rooster statue, and oversized sunglasses. So funny!

We also got a really cute picture of Nathan in front of the Christmas tree - I mean at this point, he had this shot down to a science. Can you see the absolute joy on his face?

What a great holiday season! I've had so much fun experiencing Christmas through Nate's eyes, as well as through my own experiences in being a parent during this season. The splurge shopping, present hiding, Santa endorsing, Elf on the Shelf adventuring, and event attending escapades of this holiday season have been a true joy. Christmas has always been a magical time of year and experiencing it through my child's eyes certainly tops the list!

christmas concert.

Nate's preschool puts on an annual Christmas concert where each class is able to sing a few songs for all of the parents and families. I cannot get over how cute these little concerts or how much they make me cry. Granted, I tear up at about anything that is celebratory or sentimental, but I love watching all of the little kid antics that pop up during these performances.

This year Nate's class dressed up like reindeer and all of the kids had a red Rudolph nose. I might be biased, but my kid is pretty stinkin' cute.

Also, posing for pictures is an ultimate act of cheesiness right now and we get the biggest hugs!

When we got home, I think Chris felt a little left out that Nate had a red nose and he didn't. Cute make-up took a whole new direction once my husband got involved and we ended up with what, in my opinion, looks like hobos:

elf on the shelf, week 1.

I jumped on the bandwagon for Elf on the Shelf this year and it's surprisingly addictive. I found someone selling the whole elf ensemble on a yard sale site and jumped on the deal because this little guy retails for over $30 in the store! While we weren't able to get in a full month of elf antics, two full weeks will be a good trial run. I hope to do this again next year!

Day 1: 

After receiving the elf through the aforementioned yard sale site, I promptly started our new elf activity with Nathan. First, we read the book that comes in the box set that outlines the 'rules' of the Elf on the Shelf. Basically the elf appears on December 1 and serves as a scout for Santa. He appears daily and then magically flies back to the North Pole to report back to Santa as to whether or not the child is on the 'naughty' or 'nice' list. To spice things up, and to make this less of a tattle-tale activity, a lot of parents now have their elves get into mischief (read: my motivation for starting this!). While reading the book, the child is asked to give the elf a name, which gives the elf his magical powers. Nathan named ours Rhino. At least it's unique!

After reading the book, I told Nate that Rhino may be in our house. I sent him to wander the house in search of this little guy, who got into the cookie jar.

Nathan's reaction to this was "Mom, that's just a toy". Total disinterest.

Daily Cost: Free! (cookies, canister already in the house!)

Day 2:

I am on a mission. I've already invested in this little elf, I've combed through Pinterest for cute ideas, and I will make him believe. I broke down and bought the movie called 'An Elf's Story'. If he sees it on the t.v. then he'll believe, right? Absolutely. This little trick worked like a charm! After the movie, I told him to look for Rhino again. We found Rhino under the Christmas tree taking an elf bath.

"Oh my gosh! Look at that silly Rhino, he's taking a bath!" said Nathan. SUCCESS!  After this night, I decide to switch to morning reveals. Much easier to set up the scene after Nathan goes to bed.

Daily Cost: Free! (used cotton balls and a bread basket)

Day 3: 

Maybe I've been listening too much of Miley's 'Wrecking Ball', but the next morning Nate found Rhino swinging from the chandelier in the dining room.

Daily Cost: Free!

Day 4:

We had a bit of snow this week, so I wanted to make some use of it before it all melted away. Who goes outside to make their child a tiny snowman at one in the morning? This girl! The next morning when Nathan went to let the dogs outside, he found this waiting for him:

I have to say that, even though I was frozen and the stupid raisins kept falling off, this is one of my favorites so far. Nathan LOVED this because it was a.) outside b.) involved snow and c.) incorporated Woody's hat.

 Daily Cost: Free! (used snow -obviously-, raisins, a hat from Nate's Woody doll, and a wooden skewer since I was not about to go dig under the snow for sticks at one in the morning)

Day 5: 

To mix things up a bit, Rhino brought Nathan a felt Christmas tree (on sale at Target for 50% off!). I thought this would be fun to have a different type of tree for Nate. We've lost a few ornaments on our big Christmas tree due to Nate's curiosity. He also has his own little tree in his room, but I've noticed that he doesn't take all the ornaments off after he finished decorating it. Perfect in his eyes, I guess.

This cute little felt tree came with 90+ pieces. See the individual red squares on the candy canes and the decorations on the ornaments? All separate pieces, which my son then happily shook all over our living room. I worked some hot glue gun magic so that there are only about 20 pieces overall. Much better!

Daily Cost: $5

Day 6: 

Uh oh! Rhino got caught!

Nathan came running down the stairs that morning to look for Rhino and said "Oh no! He's been captured by the soldiers!" :)

Daily Cost: Free! (used electrical tape and army soldiers/trucks that we already had)

Day 7: 

I'll be honest and admit that photographically, this was my least favorite day so far. One of my brothers gave us the great idea to put Rhino in the aquarium. I'm not so sure that this little guy is washable, so I didn't want him to get wet. We ended up putting him into a sandwich bag inside of a gallon sized bag and used knives to weigh him down. I wish you couldn't tell that he's so obviously inside of a plastic bag, but Nathan giggled like crazy when he saw. Worth it!

Daily Cost: Free! (used plastic bags for waterproofing and knives for weights)

The first week of doing Elf on the Shelf has been a lot of fun but it sure requires some commitment! I'll be sure to post Rhino's second week of adventures next week. According to elf scout rules, he goes back to the North Pole (a.k.a. storage) after Christmas day.

ice ice, maybe.

We tend to exaggerate the weather here in Northern Virginia. We can't drive in it, we raid the grocery stores like there is a coming apocalypse, and we cancel school at the prospect of a single snowflake. There is some beauty in being able to have everyone at home (even though I don't get snow days because I work from home). Our snow/ice storm was supposed to result in three to six inches of snow. We got two, maybe.

We only got one 'real' snow earlier this year (and that melted away by the afternoon). Last year Nate wanted nothing to do with all of the layers needed to go outside and not freeze. He did much better this year, with the exception that he still hates wearing mittens. He still plays with icicles though...

We did manage to stay outside longer than it took to get dressed, which is a success in my book! I attribute that to Nate being able to play with some kids in our neighborhood and getting to use one of their sleds.

Of course, instead of using the pretty-awesome-for-sledding-and-not-for-mowing-grass hill in our front yard, Nate wanted for us to pull him. I love the sounds of his little giggles and (happy) shrieks.

Maybe we'll actually get a decent amount of snow this winter. After all, it's only December! Here's one more of this little cute guy!

nathan-isms, vol. 3.

Some gems from this week...

-1-

 When waking up this morning...

[sits up, looks, around]

Nathan: What happened to me?!

-2-

An apology gone wrong...

Nathan: Mommy, I'm sorry. 

Me: [scanning the room nervously] What are you sorry for? 

Nathan: [with the most serious face] You. 

(I'm still not sure what this apology was supposed to be for)

-3-

Watching a commercial on Disney Jr. -- kids on a green screen and his favorite characters, making it look like they were interacting with each other...

Nathan: Jake is TRUE?!?! 

fifty dollars.

Toddlers like repetition. Is Nate still a toddler? I don't know what the dividing line is, age wise, but he's three so I'm going to claim toddlerhood as long as possible. In any case, during tonight's bath he kept acting out the same "scene" over and over again. I have no idea what this is from:

From what I can decipher:
[big gulp of water, hits a "button", look of disbelief, spews water]
"Fifty dollars?! Joe, Joe, you don't believe this! .... Hey, let's do it again!"
[repeat]

Like I said, I have no idea where he got this from but he seems to have the theatrics down pat.

He's now moved on to singing 'ring around the rosy' and doing his own mash-up with a song from 'Jake and the Never Land Pirates'. Never a dull moment!

santa.

Last year when our neighbor told us about a local place that has an excellent Santa photo set-up, we were beyond thrilled. Malls around here have either a horrible Santa OR you wait in line for hours.

2010 - Nathan's First Christmas: We went to Fair Oaks mall, spent about 2 hours in line (maybe more?), and we got his first shot with Santa. Great Santa, but holy moly what a long wait!

2011 - Nathan's Second Christmas: We thought that instead of driving to Fair Oaks Mall, fighting for a parking spot, and then spending hours in line, we would try our local mall. It was horrible! Nathan was terrified and the Santa was beyond questionable. While it made for a hilarious picture, we vowed to find something different moving forward.

2012 - Nathan's Third Christmas: Somehow this didn't make it to last year's blog (weird, right?), but we went to Merrifield Garden Center, where they had an amazing Santa who spent time to make Nathan comfortable, involved the whole family, and there was hardly a wait!

2013 - Nathan's Fourth Christmas: We headed back to the garden center again this evening and had another great experience. Unlike last year, where we had to be in the picture with Nathan in order for a picture to be possible, Nate jumped right up with Santa. They had a funny little talk that centered more around how Santa made everything v. what Nathan wants for Christmas, made funny faces together, and had some cute little moments.

We also paid to get a family photo done. The price really can't be beat - $5 for  six digital images that they emailed directly to me! I also was able to take a bunch of pictures with my own camera :)

Once we said our goodbyes to Santa, Chris and I took turns taking pictures with Nate in Santa's sleigh. I love the decorations in this place! So cute!

thirty days of thanks challenge.

The thirty days of thanks challenge is popular this month, but the challenge can actually be done in any month and ideally, year round. I chose to do this challenge through my blog rather than Facebook so that I can have all of my thoughts in one place. This has been such a great exercise! It's reminded me the larger influences in my life, as well as to pause to appreciate the seemingly smaller, fleeting moments.

I'm not sure how most people approach these challenges, but these people and things are by no means presented in any order of importance. As the month went by, I found inspiration in aspects of my daily life that made me feel grateful and blessed.

• Day 1: I am thankful for my family: for my little family of three and for my extended family of whom I've lost count. At the end of the day, these are "my people" and I couldn't be more blessed. This is a photo from Christmas 2012 of my little family, my parents, and siblings.
  
  
• Day 2: I am thankful for all things caffeinated, especially my Starbucks. With the amount of sleep that I run on sometimes, my coffee is what helps keep me going and a functional person :)
  
• Day 3: I am thankful for my camera. It's certainly not professional grade, but it helps me to churn out some high quality images to capture our memories. I look through my photos and go down a trip on memory lane.
  
• Day 4: I am thankful for my different circles of friends. It's funny how being an adult sometimes breaks down your friendships into various cohorts: college, work, mothers, neighbors, school. These folks help to lend both a sympathetic ear and some great advice, as well as offer up lots of fun.
• Day 5: I am thankful for our right and responsibility to provide our opinions on how this country should be run through the voting process. It's something that is taken for granted all too often and I need to remind myself of that.
  
• Day 6: I am thankful for my Nana who, on this day, celebrated her first anniversary in heaven. It's hard to think that it's been a year since we lost her...it still feels like just yesterday.
  
• Day 7: I'm thankful for our home. Being a homeowner is an enormous sense of pride and responsibility. It's hard to think that we've been in this house for about three and a half years already!
• Day 8: I am thankful that I have channeled my inner thrifter. Chris and I work hard for our money, so I try to make every dollar count. From coupons, to deals, to online yardsales, to consignment, to free kids clinics at the home improvement stores, I try to balance practicality with some fun. All of these toys were made for FREE at Build & Grow Clinics at Lowe's and Kids' Workshops at Home Depot:          
  
• Day 9: I am thankful for a son who, while energetic and stubborn, can be sweet and wants to make us proud of him. Just tonight he asked if he could read to me at bedtime.
  
  
• Day 10: I am thankful for my husband who works tirelessly during the week to get in extra hours to support our family. He's a keeper! 
  
• Day 11: I am thankful for our nation's veteran's who have and continue to serve our country. I am especially thankful for both of my grandfathers who took care of our country and our family.
• Day 12: I am thankful for the past five years (and counting) at a job that I love, which nurtures my professional goals, challenges me, and affords me with the flexibility to maintain an important life-work balance. 
  
• Day 13: I am thankful for the opportunity to continue my education. I've always been a good student and while grades are VERY important to me, it's even more important for me to be a lifelong learner and set a good example for my son. One of my educational goals has been to have conferred graduate-level credit. Well, today I applied for graduation for my Graduate Certificate in Academic Advising from Kansas State University! One day I'll get my Master's...baby steps! 
  
• Day 14: I am thankful for Nathan's desire to help and to learn new things. Once he comes home from preschool, he is my shadow if I am doing any sort of housework. Tonight, he helped me with laundry by moving all of the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Even more amazing (and a bit startling) was that once everything was in the dryer, he knew how to hit the power button, select the cycle, and push 'start'. I see a chore chart in our future! 
  
• Day 15: I am thankful for my OCD tendencies that help me to stay organized and on top of my game, for the most part. It saved me several times this week at work!
• Day 16: I am thankful for 'sleep in Saturdays'! The work week can be long and exhausting, so Chris and I developed a new system about a year ago where I get to sleep in on Saturdays and he sleeps in on Sundays (as long as we don't have any conflicting plans). It's such a nice thing to look forward to! 
• Day 17: I am thankful for the rare and fleeting moments of calmness in my house. With a three year old boy, a husband, and two 'vocal' dogs, it can get loud. Moments like these in the morning help to even out all of the craziness! 
  
• Day 18: I am thankful for the safety and security of our family and the general area where we live. Sometimes it takes a wake up call to remember to be grateful and fight for this sense of security.
• Day 19: I am thankful for my son's sense of humor. Between the inflections lent to his words and his mannerisms, I generally have a hard time stifling my laughter with this little guy (even if it's something that he wasn't supposed to do to begin with - remember these fiascos and what happened when he needed a little course correction?)  Well today we took a look at all of the things that the kids in his preschool class said that they were thankful for. A good 90% of them answered some form of mommy, daddy, or both. My kid's answer? T.V. 
  
• Day 20: I am thankful for whoever came up with the "clean up song" (and no,we don't watch Barney). This song is pure magic and Nate is conditioned to stop whatever he's doing and put everything he owns back in its designated spot. Magic, I tell you! 
• Day 21: I am thankful for my undergrad experience that helped me through a crash course in becoming self-sufficient, as well as helped me to 'check the box' with a degree to demonstrate capability of learning. Let's be honest, that's what bachelor's degrees really are in today's world. I treasure the time that I spent at JMU, the things that I learned about myself, and for the people that I met ... and the fact that I can now dress my kid up in JMU gear and it's adorable.
  
• Day 22: I am thankful for the wonder of imagination. After Nathan's bi-annual haircut (I know, it's terrible to wait that long), we walked around the mall to see the Christmas decorations. Nathan found one of the coin operated rides and had the best time sitting on the different parts of the ride. I love that he doesn't remember that they actually move - who carries cash around these days, much less change? Nate was perfectly content to pretend to drive his boat and "catch monsters" as he told me. It really is the little things.
  
• Day 23: I am thankful for the sense of balance that I attempt to keep in my life. The last year has been a huge hurtle as Chris and I have taken graduate courses simultaneously, but we've learned how to work together as a team to help fill in the gaps. This weekend is a perfect example, as I have a big paper due and he has to log some hours at work. Planning, patience, and coffee!
• Day 24: I am thankful for being able to witness the little things and milestones that Nathan hits - it seems that the older we become, the more that we take mannerisms and behaviors for granted. Just today, I walked into the restroom to check on him and found him like this. Where in the world did he pick this up? lol
  
• Day 25: I am thankful for the opportunity to use my paid time off for my staycation. Nate and I went bouncing today, had an absolute blast, and we are exhausted
  
• Day 26: I am thankful for being able to make small changes around the house from time to time to make everything feel more cozy. I decided to retire our bedding set and invest in a new one that I found on Groupon. It finally got delivered today. I love the design and color even more in person than I did online!
  
  
• Day 27: I am thankful for having a husband who takes care of me and all of the craziness that goes on at our house when I'm having an off day. Today's migraine hit me pretty hard and now that I'm able to tolerate a small amount of light and sound, I'm starting to feel like a real person again!
• Day 28: I am thankful for the chance to get together with relatives every year to celebrate Thanksgiving. Chris and I switch off years with our families - last year we went to Texas, so this year it was my turn! When we first got there, Nate started to play with the other kids immediately and five minutes later told me that he was too busy to eat because he was playing with his friends. Made me so happy! :)
  
• Day 29: I am thankful for being able to decompress after an eventful holiday! Today, I got to edit my pictures from yesterday, spend time with my brother & sister-in-law and nephew, and do a whole lot of nothing. Get ready for a three part day of thanks!
  Part I: I got to watch the video of the James Madison Marching Royal Dukes lead off this year's Macy's Day Parade! I always tear up at parades and I've always loved marching bands, even though I did orchestra. It's perfect that I ended up living with band people in college and remain good friends now. Congratulations to the MRDs!
  Part II: To continue the JMU trend, I am so happy that we were able to take a few photos at the JMU campus. We took a photo at the "life sized" statue of James Madison (poor guy!) and then upon seeing the statue of the Duke Dog, Nathan immediately stuck his head into the dog's mouth
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Part III: Spending time with Chris's brother, sister-in-law, and our nephew! I am going to miss them so much over the next few years. I mean, how cute are these two together?!
  
• Day 30: I am thankful for the holiday season! It took every bit of restraint that I had not to decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving, so we spent today putting up the tree and listening to Christmas music. I love that Nathan is old enough to help this year. He had a great time putting on a few ornaments, although we did suffer a few casualties. We now have a tailless dog and a spaceghost that is no longer a real ornament. It's starting to look a lot like Christmas!