Santa baby

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This year with Santa was way more successful than last year's attempt.  And by attempt, I do mean that I got a legitimately awesome picture... just a tearful one.  You have to have one of those, though, right?  :)

Since G is a full year older, he is able to comprehend things better and has been pointing out Santa since we saw "him" (a blow up version for your yard) pre-Thanksgiving at Wal-Mart.

I talked up Santa on the way to the mall and told G that he would just sit on his lap to take a picture, and then he would be done and get a lollipop.  Yep, I used candy as a bribe and I'm not ashamed!  By the way, Santa already had lollipops to give out, so it wasn't like I was bringing in my own stash.  ;)

Buzz made the photo opp this year, which actually describes G perfectly at this age.  He did so well and wasn't nervous at all.  I'm so proud of my big {little} boy!

And just for comparison's sake...

Love

I had many-a-post geared up and ready to be written, but the words didn't seem right amidst the tragedy and heartache of the Connecticut shootings.

When I read the news, my heart immediately dropped.  Why, why, why????  I have never been so happy to pick G up from school, hug him, and feel his arms around my neck.

For all the times he drives me crazy, there are infinitely more times that my heart bursts into a million pieces at the thought of losing him.  To think that twenty innocent angels didn't get to run into their parents' arms after their school day makes me sick.  I know all mamas are squeezing their babes extra tight this past week.

As a former first grade teacher and now as a mom, the news hit especially close to home.  The flurry immediately started on Facebook.  People on the right calling for stricter gun laws and people on the left rallying for more religion in schools (obviously these are broad generalizations and do not represent everyone).

No matter which side of the fence you fall on at the end of the day, I think that we can all agree that we need more love in this world.

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We've been focusing on the little things and on the importance of starting some holiday traditions.

Riding ponies at the neighborhood park

Newborn babies = perfection.  I love meeting friends' babies at the hospital.  Such a miracle!

Playing in rocks.  Life doesn't get much better!

Going to the Trail of Lights with good friends!  G was more interested in watching "Oso" in the stroller, but I had fun!

Getting in snuggles with my boy 

Driving around to look at lights

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Feeling extremely blessed and trying to soak it all in.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things." 

- Robert Brault

Five free toppings (!!!)

A couple of weeks ago, we made the trek to Dallas to watch the Cowboys at Jerrydome.  We being my brother, his girlfriend, my dad, my sis and her hubby, and myself.  It was a first Cowboys game experience for everyone and, I must say, NFL fans are pretty interesting.

We showed up a couple of hours early and realized we are possibly the worst tailgaters ever.  Cooler full of beer?  Check!  Chairs or a football to toss around?  Fail.  Snacks?  If you count the cute little red basket my mom threw at us before we left with candy, trail mix, and pretzels, then check!  We actually saved our appetites for the stadium where we bought overpriced food and adult beverages.  :)

My sis with the little red basket.

I made the group hold her up because I am cool like that.  

Game time!

Our seats were REALLY high up but we could still feel the heat from those things.

Cheat meal, come to mama! 

Someone was a little too enthused about the $16 margarita... hehe.  Actually, I was just being a dork and texted this to my sis.

My two cents about my first NFL game...

First of all - the jerseys.  I don't get it.  Why does everyone wear a jersey?  Unless you are an actual player or a cute little kid, why are you wearing one?  I must not be a true NFL fan.  ;)

Second (and this goes for any sports fan out there) - if you are cheering for the visiting team, don't make an ass of yourself and mock the home crowd while your team is winning.  Because your team may end up losing, and then you will look silly and everyone around you will not let you forget it.

Also, since my sis and her hubby were sitting in a different section than the rest of us, we entertained ourselves throughout the game by sending awesome self pics such as these...

I know you will all be shocked when I tell you that none of the pictures above made the cut for the Christmas card this year!  Haha!  My family will kill me if they knew I was posting these.

Also entertaining/cringe worthy were the overweight girls and one "hip" granny booty dancing to the music during time-outs.  

The Cowboys squeaked out a win, and for each touch down that they score, Papa John's gives away one free topping the following day (hence the title).  I guess free toppings are better than nothing?

Jerrydome, thanks for the good times.  We will be back again one of these days... still not wearing a jersey.

Weekend getaway

We managed to get away for the weekend without anything happening back home to our toddler or to our Christmas tree (priorities, people!).

It was an exceptional weekend.  One of those recharge the 'ole mama batteries type of weekends where you don't have much of an agenda.

We flew into Boulder late Friday afternoon and headed straight to the hotel to get ready for R's company party (conveniently held at the hotel, which gave me more time to primp).  I had a slight panic before we left when R told me he didn't know if I was going to have time to shower at the hotel.  Ummmm... hat hair was not making an appearance at the party, so a shower was a must.  Thank goodness we had plenty of time.

Party was fun ... food was good ... co-workers were nice.  Not anything exciting to report there except for the restaurant maitre d'hotel had the best.mustache.ever!  Seriously!  I didn't have my camera with me at the party, so I was your typical tourist taking a picture of the restaurant sign outside the next morning.

Saturday we woke up on the early side (8:00) to venture out for breakfast at the yummy tea house we had visited during our last Boulder trip.  It was a short five minute walk from the hotel, and during that walk I made R pose with the mountains and also made him take a picture of me with a pitiful pile of snow.  Buuuut ... SNOW!!!  I live in central Texas where it hardly ever snows.

How can you NOT love that backdrop?  Oh, and the man in front is pretty handsome too.  ;)

Yep, I have no shame.  Random pile of snow by the street = perfect photo opp!  Ha!

With our tea (mine) and coffee (his) at the Dushanbe Tea House.

After breakfast we had lots of time to kill.  R inquired about getting a massage at the hotel spa and was able to get in ten minutes later, so I went back up to the room to take a hot bath, lay in bed, and watch mindless tv.  I never have those kinds of mornings anymore, so it was a rare treat.

We decided to spend the afternoon checking out some local art at a museum and then toured the Celestial Seasonings tea factory.  They did not allow pictures during the tour, but it was interesting and also free!  Plus you could sample free tea before the tour.  Apparently they make over seventy flavors of tea but only sell 10-15 in grocery stores around the country.  I picked up a box of their Sweet Harvest Pumpkin - yum!

Cool statue at the museum 

After our afternoon of (free) fun, we headed back to the hotel to relax and watch some more mindless tv ("Wild Justice" and "Shipping Wars" ... we know how to stay classy).

Then we went to dinner with his co-worker and his wife at another fabulous restaurant (Salt).  Our hotel was an easy walking distance to lots of great places to eat.  No pictures from dinner either ... sorry.

On Sunday it got really cold in Boulder and I was looking forward to getting back to the warmer weather and to a certain little boy.

I love vacations, but there is nothing quite like coming home.

Friday quickly

I'm going to make this one short and sweet because this is what's happening right now...

Yep, we are at the airport and you'll notice that I am chillaxin' because we are sans toddler.  Woot woot!  {Sorry, G... kind of.}

R's new company is generously flying their employees (and their spouses/partners/baby mamas) to Boulder for their company holiday party.  Say whaaaaaaaat, free trip to Boulder?!?  Yes, please!  Oh, and a big thank you to my awesome parents for taking care of our little G'ster.    

Why can't teachers get perks like that???  Even an extended lunch break or something every once in a while would be appreciated!  And no, while I'm no longer teaching, I am still a teacher at heart.

Anyways, to keep this one short and allow me to fully enjoy my sans-toddler-airport-gate-chillaxin, I'll leave you with some current Instagram loves.  I hope you and yours have a wonderful weekend!  

Cookie plate and mug for Santa ~ Little boy next to big tree ~ Our first family tree ~ "Soooo... Do you come here often?" ~ 
New Longhorn bling ~ Nordstrom Rack finds... SHOES!!! ~ Cheesy grin that I love so much ~ Two Sheepies sitting at the table for breakfast ~ Caught "working" at dada's desk ~ Busted!!! A certain someone got into the "beans" without permission

Prednisone fail

Remember that sappy post where I wrote about appreciating the moments (even the sick toddler moments) and relishing in the present.  Oy vey.  That post came to bite me in the butt about, ohhhh... maybe fifteen minutes after hitting "publish."

I was feeling all warm and fuzzy on the inside and feeling oh-so-thankful for all of my many blessings.  This was around midnight mind you, and then I heard the unmistakable noise of a fitfully sleeping and now upset toddler.  He had been tossing and turning since he went to bed with R several hours prior.  I had been dealing with the croupy toddler for the past two days, so R gave me the night "off." (In hindsight, that's probably why I felt all warm and fuzzy, but that's neither here nor there...)

I was happily lounging upstairs on my computer when I heard some crying coming from below, so I decided to be a good baby mama and go downstairs to see if I could soothe Mr. Grumps.  I got into bed with them (yay family bed!  not.)  and the toddler still would not sleep.  Tossing.  Turning.  Whimpering.

R decided to get up with him. (Note: I do not do this... Mama likes her sleep when she decides to turn in, and I don't care if you think it's a good time to wake up and party, go to sleep!).  The two of them got out of bed at 3:00 a.m. and were up (!?!) the rest of the morning ... you know, eating, playing, watching Toy Story.  Normal stuff that one does at 3:00 a.m.

It turns out, prednisone (prescribed for his croup) can cause sleeplessness and irritability.  Say whaaaaat?!?  It's a good thing I gave G his first dose right before bed that night (please note my dripping sarcasm here).  He was supposed to get one more dose the next day, but I quickly nixed that idea.

Ummmm yeah.

A sick toddler who really didn't sleep much + a mama who is already grumpy if roused early = recipe for disaster.  Poor, poor R.  He was a saint and let me sleep until 7:00 (God, I love that man), at which point he came in and asked me (nicely) if I could please take over.  I dragged a screaming banshee G back into bed and after several minutes of loud protests, he slept (!) for a little over an hour.

The rest of the day was spent in mismatched jammies making messes, watching more Buzz, and finding ways to occupy our time.

This is his "Moooom, stop taking pictures of me bathing in the sink with a pb&j goatee" face.  Love it.

Dumping EVERYTHING out of their baskets.  Fun times.

At least he will clean up willingly. 

A smile!  And MATCHING jammies!  It's a Christmas miracle!  ;)

Side note: I detested mismatched jammies before the age of one - Ugh, who wants to be that mom.  After he turned one, I was just glad to get jammies on my squirming child.  After the age of two, I am just happy when he keeps his pants on.  It's true, I no longer shudder at mismatched jammies.  The end.


So the moral of this blog post is simple: I am still grateful, albeit more sleep deprived and disheveled than my previous post.  Also, I am ready for my sweet, happy, sick free G to be back and I am never giving him prednisone again.  Ever.  Never ever (like ever).

Just one of those days

G woke up yesterday with a 101° temp and barking cough and was pretty much pitiful all day long.  I can't complain about the extra snuggles and the ease for which he went to sleep though!  Thankfully he woke up this morning without a fever, but we still trooped off to the doc only to have my MGF (Mommy Gut Feeling) confirmed.  Croup!  Bleh.

We have rocked the mismatched jammies look and watched waaaay more Toy Story than is healthy, but that's okay.

If anything, this has been a good reminder to not sweat the small stuff and to be present in each moment.  They will only be small once, and one of these days I will look back and miss the extra snuggles and the mismatched jammies, sick boy and all.