Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I just received one of the best Christmas presents today.  A full day of uninterrupted sleep!  A gal doesn't need much after working all night, sleep is always a sweet treat.  Marcus took the boys over to his dad's to spend the day with his family.  I'm soaking in the quite time before heading back to work tonight.

I feel I never have enough time to sit and post, so here are a few special things....

One of my favorite things this year was setting out my Papa and Nana's nativity set.  It sparks many loving memories.  I miss them.

 New Horizon's Academy had their holiday program and Jaymeson did well singing some holiday favorites.

Do you think he's a little tall compared to his classmates?

Showing us our Christmas present he made. 

A few days ago, Jaymeson wanted to make chocolate covered pretzels so we spent some Mommy/Son time in the kitchen.

Getting messy.

Always better with sprinkles.

Job well done!

Of course, Layla was a big help too, licking up anything that happened to drop.

We had such a fun day yesterday opening gifts with the boys.  It's an amazing time of magic and wonder as Santa made his stop at our house.  Jaymeson didn't waste any time waking up at 4am to see if the cookies were eaten!!  He was so excited and couldn't go back to sleep so impatiently had to wait until the rest of the family finally rolled out of bed.  

Santa left some goodies!

He got the CRANE!

Everyone has a gift pile.

Who needs toys when there's a bag full of wrapping paper?

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and hoping that your day is filled with family and friends!

9-1-1

Braxton had his first trial of peanut butter today.

I dialed 9-1-1 for the first time!

Then Braxton had his first ride in an ambulance!

Braxton tried a piece of toast with peanut butter, put it in his mouth, took it out and dropped it on the floor, and started wiping his tongue with his fingers.  He started to fuss so I took him out of the highchair and brought him up to the tub.  Didn't look at his face until I was putting him in the water.  Holy Sh**!!  His eyes were almost swollen shut, red and had hives on his face!  Took him out, called the pediatrician while yelling at Jaymeson to get dressed, hung up and called 9-1-1.  Before I know it, Braxton is in the ambulance, alone.  Marcus was down in Chaska and since there wasn't anyone to be with Jaymeson, we had to drive behind the ambulance.  To make a long story short, Braxton ended up getting a shot of Benadryl in the ambulance and then epinephrine once we were in the ER.  Marcus arrived and took Jaymeson home (since he has been sick all day vomiting) and I stayed another two hours making sure Braxton's symptoms were improving.  Marcus is now making a run to Walgreen's to get Benadryl which Braxton will take every 6 hours for the next 2 days.  He is now okay but, wow, that was scary!!

Splish-splash

 Splish-splash, splish-splash! (giggle)  Splish-splash (giggle) 

A wonderful sound when the baby is playing in the bath.  Not such a great sound when you realize it's little fingers inside the toilet!  So gross.  And, yes, it's happened more then once.  Chubba makes a mad dash crawl into the bathroom when the door has been left open.  Apparently, there are so many fun things to play with in there!  I heard him yesterday laughing, in the bathroom, and thought, "Oh, no!"  Ran in there and found him playing....

Hi, Mom!  This is SO fun!

Oh, I shouldn't be doing this?

Not so bad.  The toilet seat is covered.

The stockings are hung.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care....

 Well, almost all of them.

I ordered new stockings on the internet for the whole family this year.  Got the package yesterday and was beyond disappointed when Jaymeson's stocking was not included.  I immediately called customer service, only to be told that they normally would expedite the missing item out but all of the stockings in the style I purchased were sold out!  And, I couldn't return the others because they had been personalized with our names on them.  I was left with the option of ordering one that is the most like the others, which I reluctantly did, but it's not the same.  They're rushing the delivery of the substitute stocking  to get here on Friday, still holding a glimmer of hope that it may come a day early.  Santa is coming on Friday morning at our house since I am working all of this holiday weekend.  May not be a big deal, Santa will fill whatever stocking is available, but I will notice, and it will bother me. 

On the bright side, Jaymeson has his program tonight at New Horizon's and I am excited to hear all the beautiful and sweet voices of tots and pre-schoolers.  Maybe a few loud and yelling ones too.

Our first "real" tree!

Marcus finally agreed to getting a "real" tree this year! Yay!  So glad that the fake one is staying in the box this year.
We decided to start a new tradition and go to a tree farm to cut down our own.  We gathered up the boys and ventured out to find the perfect tree. 

Jaymeson picked out the tree.  A bit small but perfect. 

I think there's a little boy somewhere in that orange and blue snow suit!?!  :)

We have the tree.
Later to be named "Pickle-Pickle" by Jaymeson.

A sweet moment. 

Big brother pulling little brother back to the truck.

The next step this year was figuring out where we were going to put the tree.

We decided to have it on the main level, where we could still see it from the family room upstairs but it would be away from little fingers grabbing at the ornaments.

Not sure that idea worked so well....still no fingers but that big black spoon can do some damage!

My Baby

Today, while cuddling with my baby, I have been reflecting on this past year.  Tomorrow my baby turns one!  Wow, how did that go by so fast?!  I remember telling myself through out this past year to just pause, take in the moment, and remember the small things.  I was so determined to put those small, delicate moments into my memory bank to stay forever.  And now, as I look back, I barely remember those first days home with him and all the details of this past year.  Sleep deprivation may be a big part of that, or maybe it's trying to balance the attention needed from the baby, his big brother, the dog and the hubby!  If my head could literally spin around and around on my neck, I think I would be propelling myself off the floor most days!  And through it all, I would still love to have a pause button to make things last a little longer.  There have been so many "perfect" days, just at home, spending it in the chaos within these rooms.  Life has been so much greater with my second son here.

Just some things about my baby:
My baby, named Braxton Richard, also is called Chubba Bubba, Budha, Bubbs, Brother.
My baby has been so mild-mannered and is now finding his voice by screaming at his brother.
My baby had refused the bottle for WAY too long, and kept me limited for time away from him, is now drinking from a sippy cup.
My baby at birth weighed 8lbs 7oz  and is now 24lbs+.
My baby is crawling all over but not quite confident in taking those first steps on his own.
My baby loves bath time and splashing and bubbles.
My baby now has 4 teeth and has 2 more just under the gums.
My baby has a head full of loose curls.
My baby has big brown eyes and long "snuffleupagus" eye lashes.
My baby pats my back with his chubby hands while he gives me a hug.
My baby is now saying, "mama" after "dada" and "dah" (dog) and learning simple words through sign language.

My sweet baby boy,
The first time I saw your precious face I cried with joy.  There are days when I watch you sleep and still get tears in my eyes because I am so blessed to be your Mommy.  You are an amazing little boy and it has been so fun watching you learn and grow.  On your 1st birthday, it looks like we will be snuggling and trying to get rid of the sick bug.  I will cherish this day, like all others, just because you're my beautiful son and I'm your very lucky Mommy.  Love you to the moon and back.

Potato Turkeys

Potato Turkeys!!

Made on Thanksgiving.

 A fun family tradition.

Shared by my sister-in-law, Whitney.

 And there are prizes!

 

Wherever my brother and his wife are during Thanksgiving you can bet there are Potato Turkeys.  For years, I've heard about and seen pictures of them but this is the first year that we all got to share in the fun!  

Directions:

Take a potato.

Use the craft materials supplied.

Use your imagination.

And make a turkey.

The only rule is that it has to have a feather, to show that it is a turkey.

 Katy Perry, Harry Potter, Slash

 Mickey Mouse, Sumo wrestler

 Dog the bounty hunter

 Christmas tree

Rambo

A dog, flute player, Jessica Rabbit, a pole dancer ( yep, a "dancer" made by my cousin, Tracy, an elementary teacher. ), and the Christmas tree.

 This is the grand prize winner, "Slash".  Made by my cousin, Tara. :)

 Red Hat Society, a turkey and the dog.

And I had to put a picture of my grandma making her Red Hat Society Turkey.  She's so darn cute.

Whew!

This is Sareese.  She's 19.  She's Marcus' cousin.  Doesn't she look sweet? She almost killed me.  And her friend, Lorraine.

This is me.  Notice the helmet. 

At the time, I was joking that I was scared.  You see, I am in the passenger seat.  Sareese is in the driver's.  Lorraine, Sareese's friend, was in the back. I didn't get a picture of her but her facial expression didn't show someone who was comfortable with the seat assignment.  (This should have been my warning to get out of the car.)  However, Sareese needs practice driving before her test in December.  Lucky me,  I volunteered to take her driving to hone up on her skills before the big day.  Let's just say, my left hand turned into a wheel grabber (multiple times) during this adventure and my right foot had a lot of practice pumping that non-existent brake!  I took the chance of having her drive in the dark with fewer cars versus in the daylight with more people sharing the road, in hopes that I would go home in one piece.  That was almost a deadly decision when she decided to take a left onto a road and stay in the lane of on-coming traffic, while insisting she was in the correct lane, until a car came barreling head on towards us!  If we hadn't gotten out of the way in time, I don't think that helmet would have saved me.  Just a guess. 
Whew!  Thanks Sareese for making me grateful to see another day! :)

Twizzlers

Chip clips and bag clips, I love them.  I have a whole drawer full of them.  So handy.  Lots of things to use them for: chips, snack mixes, puff corns, frozen vegetable bags, hash brown bags, bags of rice...pretty much anything you want sealed to stay nice and fresh.  I even used them on a bag of Twizzlers recently.  I hate hard Twizzlers.  So the other day I go into the cupboard to get a little snack.  And I found the Twizzlers bag.

Yep, just the bag.  And the bag clip.  Sealed for freshness.  No Twizzlers.

This leads to one of my biggest pet peeves and a reminder to those who are guilty of this.  When you take the last item out of the container, throw it away, please!  I hate going to the cupboard, reaching inside a box of treats, and finding my fingers dancing along the walls of the box to find nothing!  It happens too frequently in my house.  But I had to laugh when I saw this Twizzlers bag, obviously empty, and there was enough energy to put the seal back on but not to actually throw it in the garbage!  This time the culprit was Jaymeson, according to his dad. :)

Simple Things

I've heard multiple times this past week, from parents of older kids, to cherish the time the kids are small because the time flies by too fast.  I don't doubt this is true and have seen how quickly my own boys continue to grow each day.  It makes me sad actually.  I love the endless hugs and snuggles and need for Mommy, even the days when I feel like my body is not mine because in some way or form I have a child clinging to me.
I love that this past week Jaymeson was so excited for me to come read to his class on Friday...I'm still "cool" in his eyes and am hoping I have many more years of that before that changes.

Friday morning I rushed home from work to take the boys to school and read to the pre-schoolers.  I love that Jaymeson was full of smiles and proud to have me in his classroom.  I read two books about Miss Spider.  Jaymeson had a perma-grin through both stories and couldn't quit giggling.  The class thanked me for reading the stories and Jaymeson made sure the kids thanked him too for bringing the book. :)
Mommy time well spent before rushing home to get some zzzz's and pick them back up after lunch. 

And talking about cherishing moments, gotta love the excitement of seeing fresh snow for the first time this year!  Jaymeson rushed to the window and quickly exclaimed, "Mommy!  It's snowing!  Can we go see Uncle Jeramiah now? Can we go sledding?  This is a SUPER SURPRISE!"  It's the simple things...

The simple things:  My boy's excitement for snow. That he is excited to go see his uncle in Colorado for New Year's (because he's been told we have to wait for the snow to fall first).  That he's been dancing and singing to the songs on his daddy's I-Pod this morning.  And most importantly, that he does it all in his underoos!

Basketball

This morning we drove down and watched Marcus' cousin, Ross, sign on with Penn State on a scholarship to play basketball.  Way to go Ross!  This is a great accomplishment and I am hoping that Jaymeson will remember a bit of this day, although I think he might remember the two cookies he ate more. :)  At least there's pictures, right?

Seeing that hard work and dedication to the sport of basketball can pave the way to college (Marcus also played hoops in college), why not start our son early and get him into the game?  So we did.  Jaymeson had his first basketball practice this evening.  Much to his father's delight, he loves the game and had a great practice.  So fun to watch!

A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to have our family photos taken. Here's a few of them.

Photography by Mycah Schrader