January Fun

Eating out is quite different these days....we now have a child (not a baby) who quietly colors at the table instead of fidgets/cries, sits in a booster (not a high chair), get his own kids' meal...and actually spends the majority of the time eating it all! Just when we thought eating out would always be a miserable experience...we are actually enjoying it.




Here is Noah getting ready to go to school on "Pajama Day" (not without first saying Good-bye to his precious farm animals) Pajama Day was coincidentally I think the coldest day in Georgia history---it couldn't have been more than 15 degrees that day. Luckily the kids stayed inside in their nice cozy pj's and made pancakes.



Yes...this is a picture of our child...hugging....a pig. He got these 5 plastic farm animals for Christmas from his Grandpa Lee and Grandma Terry...and out of all the tons of xmas gifts this kid got, these are by far his favorite. He plays with these animals ALL day long, carries them from room to room, loads them in and out of his dump truck, tucks them into bed...it is quite comical.



If we come near the animals he gathers them all up in his arms in this protective pose and shouts very loudly "NO! MINE!" When I saw this picture I was thinking it was a really cute picture of Noah's face and maybe I could crop it and blow it up...but there's just nothing I can do about the fact that he would still technically be practically kissing a horse's behind.



We got a Harry & David Fruit of the month subscription from David's brother Mike and sister-in-law Bea and Noah has been in heaven enjoying the delicious pears. If he spots one on the counter he climbs up in his high chair and says "MY PEAR! MY PEAR!" and proceeds to eat the entire enormous pear...he occasionally shares a bite with Mommy if I ask nicely.



The fun of playgrounds in the winter. Check out the static hair!!



The hair is so funny!



Noah also got for xmas an electronic cookie monster and one of those latest craze "Elmo Live" dolls. I think he believes the real characters from Sesame Street have come to live with us. He has no idea they aren't real. They sure do seem real. Elmo laughs, tells jokes, tells stories, raps, sings, dances and interacts with Noah. We've caught Noah trying to feed him on several occasions (when Elmo asks for a snack), tucking him in, giving him kisses and forcing him to kiss Cookie Monster...which I'm pretty sure he hasn't seen on the show yet!



More fun with Elmo



Walking in mommy's boots...easier said than done. I had no idea he found them but he had them on (the correct feet) and was walking around the house before I even noticed.

And here is the answer

I had to share this on my blog. I stumbled across this newspaper clipping (on facebook of all places)and when I read the article I had to find it online so I could copy and paste it here to share. It is a "Dear Carolyn" article from The Washington Post about what it is we stay-at-home moms do all day...


TELL ME ABOUT IT ®

By Carolyn Hax
Wednesday, May 23, 2007;

Dear Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Tacoma, Wash.

And here is the SO TRUE answer!
Relax and enjoy. You're funny.

Or you're lying about having friends with kids.

Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches?

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.


Well I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking this "Carolyn" person must be a mom!

The last of the Christmas pictures!

OK, after this post I am officially done blogging/posting pictures from the holidays! But I had to include some pictures from our trip to Denver since that is where we actually spent Christmas this year. This was my first Christmas not in the South. I've only spent December 25th in Florida or Georgia so I've never really had a "white" Christmas and before moving to Georgia, it was just a treat to not have to use the air conditioning during Christmas dinner.

As with all of our trips and vacations, this one was not without a few trips to the local ER and pediatrician. Just before leaving for the Atlanta airport to travel to Denver, my mom fell down OUR basement stairs (how do you spell G-U-I-L-T?) and banged herself up pretty badly. She ended up fracturing both arms and busting up her face, requiring some stitches. So the first few days in Denver were spent getting her into the orthoped, stitches removed, etc. She was so excited about Christmas with all 4 grandkids and then couldn't even pick them up. :( In addition to that, naturally Noah was sick and shared his bug with David and I. We took him to the pediatrician in Denver (the same one we saw this past summer when he was sick again on vacation). When leaving their office they half-jokingly said "So will we be seeing you at Spring Break?" I can't believe we have our own pediatrician 2000 miles away and they even have a fairly thick file on our child! Anyway, we all managed to have a fun time despite illnesses and injuries! It was very cold; there was snow on the ground but no new snow while we were there; Uncle David and Aaron took the girls snow skiing for one day; the kids thoroughly enjoyed playing with each other; Santa found us all the way out there in Denver; Noah LOVED his new toys; Stacy cooked a fabulous Christmas dinner; We had lots of good family time and even spent most nights playing games or watching movies. It was a great holiday for us!