Silly lessons learned over Christmas...

Seth

If there is a promise of future excitement, no food will be consumed. Seth ate very few meals when he knew we were going somewhere fun or doing something fun immediately following. There were presents to be opened at Grammy and Grampy's so he was not interested in dinner. He didn't really complain about wanting to open the presents, just about not wanting to eat! Although he and Carson did work up an appetite dancing with Grammy's animated snowman. He did the same thing the night he and Daddy were heading to the Children's Museum for Daddy's employee night. No food was consumed for dinner that night either.

Luke
He is seemingly moving beyond the baby clock and onto "real people" time. He had been on internal baby clock time and no matter when you laid him down at night, he would pop up to awakeness about 7:30AM. But, gloriously, and actually over the last few weeks, it seems that if he gets to bed a little later, he'll sleep a little later. This was evidenced by my waking him at 9:40AM on Christmas morning so we could open gifts. However, he will still fall asleep anywhere and at anytime if he's had enough! And since naps have been a MAJOR issue lately, around 6:30 or 7PM he would decide he needed a little power nap...

Christmas Eve at Grammy & Grampy's, with his Puffs from his stocking

Christmas night at G&G's. He did this to his own feet!

David
And finally, never trust a husband who assures you he has only spent a certain, very small amount, on Christmas gifts for you. He was able to rationalize his tall tale (who's the attorney here?) and since the huge gift that I was instructed to open first was a wonderful camera I have been drooling over for quite awhile now I really couldn't be angry!! Unfortunately, I'm still not sure how to do any of the "fun stuff" yet as I've only made it to page 25 in the "for dummies" book that I bought.

Santa Claus came to town!

We are quite fortunate to have a connection with Santa Claus. As such, he is good enough to make home visits and hear all about the Christmas lists in person. And even bring a small gift in his big red bag.

These are last year's photos. Most of you know Seth is not the bravest little boy. The handshake was as close as he got in 2007. I think he only left Dave's arms to lay in my lap last year. We were so fortunate to get to experience this in the comfort of our own home, rather than plunking down the ridiculous mall price for a 10 second photo op!
So, imagine our surprise this year when he practically jumped into Santa's lap. Seth didn't know the jolly old guy was coming by. He and I had had a discussion or two during the day about being extra good in case Santa had questions about his behavior, should he drop by or anything. So, around dinnertime Grammy and Grampy stopped by to see Seth and Luke. And just a few minutes later we heard loud jingle bells at the front door. Followed by a distinct 'Ho, ho, ho." I asked Seth if he wanted to see who was there. I opened the door and Seth stood in awe for just a moment and then said, "I want a tractor!" It was very much the voice of, 'just-in-case-I-forget-later, let's-get-this-out-there-NOW!" And the next thing I knew he was on Santa's lap. I missed just a moment because I had to bury my head in the stairs and compose myself after his little request.
Seth and Santa had some discussions about what else Seth might want for Christmas, whether he was behaving, and what Lukey might want. Luke didn't seem to mind at all and just sat there like a big kid taking it all in. This, even though we found out a few hours earlier both of his little ears were infected! Aarrggghhh!!
Santa brought a gift for each of the boys and when he pulled them out, Seth told Santa it was Jesus' birthday. I was quite happy with that moment. It is so hard at 2 1/2 to balance the concept of Jesus and his birth and what is really important with wanting them to feel the wonder and awe of Santa. And Santa understands that and reiterated to Seth how important Jesus' birthday is! So, all in all, it was a great visit.

Funny two year old moment: Santa asked Seth if he could show him to the door. Seth stood up and pointed in the other room, "there it is." We suggested he walk Santa to it, and Seth was glad to do so. So sweet...

Christmas cards...

You know that line in the song, 'greeting cards have all been sent....'. She sings it so sweetly. She sounds so calm about the experience. Clearly she is not the mother of an almost 10 month old and a 2 1/2 year old! Over the course of 24 hours we took nearly 150 pictures for our family Christmas card and I finally 'settled' on 3 for the card where mostly the eyes are open and no one appears to be being tortured (at least I hope that's the case!). Over the course of the extremely long photo shoot we used about 8 AA batteries (calling Canon about the battery sucking camera is on my to-do list); broke a floor lamp we were using for extra lighting (I think Dave repaired it); had at least 3 of is in tears at some point; the phrase, "I don't care what it costs, I'm taking them someplace and letting the professionals do this!" was uttered, but then rescinded; and my personal favorite, Seth crying, "I just want daddy!" (this was during my second attempt while Dave was at work). Of course, I cannot reveal the photos used on the card - what fun would that be? But I did think you might enjoy a peak at the not-so-useful ones. Enjoy...

Happy 5th Anniversary...

David,
Thank you for five wonderful years, 2 great boys, a home to live in, a car to get us around, food to eat, the opportunity to be a full-time mommy, neverending love, and lots of laughter! Each year is a new adventure and I love sharing it all with you. Thank you for being a great partner to me and a super daddy to the boys.
I love you, Cara

Oh, I'm a thankful slacker...

Well, sometimes life happens faster than I can blog I guess! But here's what the rest of the week would have looked like:


Thankful Wednesday - Books...
Wednesday we took a break from pre-Thanksgiving cleaning and went to the library. Seth loves the library! Well, he loves the tractor and the little horse and the little farm. But he is getting more excited about books. We have some favorites that we check out often and then there were lots of fun little Christmas books too. My favorite part is how he likes to curl up in Mommy and Daddy's bed and look at them after we get home. He loves when we read them but he also loves just to lie there and look at them. Dave is not a huge fan of reading, but I'm hopeful the boys will be!


Thankful Thursday - Turkey, family and home
We had 17 people at our home for Thanksgiving. I think this is our 4th year of hosting Thanksgiving. We moved into this house in 2005 and I think have had it here ever since. It was a very blended group as both sides of our family were able to make it this year. We had my grandma and her boyfriend, my parents, my sister and her family, Dave's parents, and his sister and her family. Dave fries the turkeys and they are scrumptious! There was a ton of great food provided by everyone, super yummy desserts, lots of visiting, and even a little napping! Luke even had a lovely jar of Turkey Rice Dinner. I am thankful for a home with a floor plan that allows us to accomodate all of these people and especially for all of these people! I am thankful for 4 cousins who entertain each other (well, maybe with a little help from Grammy) - a 4 yr old, 3 yr old, 2 yr old, and 9 month old! But again, I am mostly thankful for all these people that make up our families. They have shaped who we are and where we came from and we wouldn't be where we are without them.


Thankful Friday - Christmas decorations and lights!
Seth adores Christmas lights. Especially Christmas trees (or kissamah trees, phonetically). He also loves trains. A train table is number one on his Christmas list. So, when you put a working train under the tree, it's all over for him! You can see the excitement on his face before the train even left the box! {Dave got up very very early last year on the Friday after Thanksgiving to get this train.} Luke got in on the action too and loved watching the train go around and around (it wasn't going around under the tree yet as the tree was not decorated yet. But the boys (all 3 of them) couldn't resist setting it up anyway!).And finally, we took Seth downtown for his first Circle of Lights festivities. Our niece, Ashley, who is 15, spent the weekend with us so she went too. I'm not sure if she had ever been before but both she and Seth seemed to have a good time. I'm sure that crowd was a bit overwhelming for a 2 year old, but, again, he loves the lights!And, final photo, a rare almost (Luke stayed home with Grammy and Grampy for some extra spoiling) family photo for the blog...It is so fun to experience all the lights and decorations and wonder of this time of the year through the eyes of a two-year old. And so fun to know that in a year or two Luke will be just as excited! I guess that makes me more thankful for my boys than for the Christmas lights, particularly knowing that the lights and decor are not what this season is all about.