Happy HoHoHolidays!

Frank taking over the updates for tonight. We'll see how that goes. My lab gave me a box of beer for a Christmas gift and I have been partaking but Janet is in a Christmas cookie induced coma, so here it goes........

First of all: it's been a fun day. It's also been really really really long. Mason and Maddie both woke up kind of early and wanted to get into the Christmas festivities i.e. "was Santa really here last night?" Alas he was and they soon both enjoyed unwrapping their presents.

Here's Maddie with one of her stocking stuffers: a cupcake tree ornament which is pretty appropriate for our little sugar addict.

Mason for a change gnawing on something other than Mommy's or Daddy's fingers.....a new teether Santa though he might enjoy in the months to come.

Blessed brother- and sisterhood in front of the tree....getting them both to smile is just a futile as trying to herd a bag of fleas. Here's the best attempt out of ten or so:

The aftermath:

Mason getting his first taste of mutton (a sheep blankie that hopefully will live up to its advertised hype and make him sleep better):

Mason really enjoys sitting up but still needs a bit of help so Oma and Opa gifted him a Bumbo which he enjoys very much. I should also add that Maddie has been sitting in it the whole afternoon watching christmas movies..........

One of Janet's presents contained a lollipop that Maddie immediately claimed for herself but there was still a big present left. We gave her the choice between the lollipop and the present and she had to think hard for a minute but finally opted for the present.....needless to say she eventually got the lollipop as well. Here the victory pose:

Still enjoying the new tricycle. Too bad it was a nasty , gloomy day today so she could not try it out outside.

The other big hit was an easel that Oma and Opa sent. Maddie went back three or four separate times to paint or draw and had a great time doing it. The artiste in action:

Posing in front of the completed masterpiece:

As Amy pointed out the other day, our daughter is an aggressive painter. Janet got a great action shot:

Maddie has been inventing new languages for the last few weeks. Here she drew a "Boobak" (whatever that might be). We were also introduced to "Billbeeks" which apparently are a bunch of quasi-parallel lines that extend all the way to the top of the easel.

And here some of the completed pieces. Now I don't know a durn thing about art but I'll put them up against anything at MOMA. Intellectuals cast yer stones!

Pre-Christmas Post

These last few weeks have been hurried ones for us. And since I just typed this post and lost it, I'm blaming Frank's new Mac and retyping a very abbreviated version. It's 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve and we've been trying to get Mason to settle and sleep since 7:20 p.m. Santa has not yet begun to put out the toys for the little ones and "he" is very, very tired. 'Nuf said.

A few weeks ago, Maddie and Mason's daycare held its annual Christmas play. "Polar Express" was the theme and all the kiddos wore their pajamas. It was quite the sight. My camera was not working properly and Maddie was hidden behind the crowd for the entire time, so my photos are not even worth sharing. Thanks to Amy for creating and sharing a video of Maddie, Stella Dot and Noah at dinner and during the play. Maddie is standing to the left of her teacher, who is shushing her. Too funny. Check it out here.



Mason has been practicing tummy time and rolling over. He rolled over twice onto his back last week. We were cheering and clapping for him. The next day, Frank found out from Mason's teachers that he has been doing this for weeks. OK. I guess we get the out-of-touch parents award.


He has begun to gnaw on everything in sight -- this includes things that are actually designed for babies -- yay! Here he enjoys the flavor of Herr Bear II from Oma and Opa.

Last weekend, we went to see the Meadow Lights and eat at the Meadow Village restaurant. This is now a tradition for us -- every year since Maddie was born. Buffet-style southern cooking with homemade desserts. Yummy! Also like last year, Stella Dot and parents joined us.

I think Stella Dot has green-bean envy.

Yay for dessert! The girls selected their own desserts. Maddie went for the chocolate pie. I did not. Later, I found out the chocolate pie has won numerous awards. She is clearly surpassing me with "sweet smarts."


After dinner, the Meadow Lights tram took us through the lights.


Eating peppermint sticks outside the country store after the tram ride.





Mason stayed awake for the entire tram ride and walk through the country store. I was saving these mittens for Christmas but it was freezing. He had two to three layers on!


Maddie is in a dress phase. By this I mean she has asked to wear a dress and tights every day this week. We are officially out of clean dresses.


Tub time! Earlier this week, I coaxed Maddie into taking a bath by promising that she could take one with Mason. They squeezed into Mason's little infant/toddler tub. They both had a blast. Mason kept splashing Maddie and she kept laughing.


Cheeks!


Maddie in today's dress. She is now obsessed with the Grinch after seeing the movie for the first time last night. I think she has now seen the movie six times.......that's five times too many. She asks questions about "Cindy Lou Poo" and why she is feeding the Grinch's dog at the end of the movie. She wants to know why the Grinch isn't feeding his dog himself. The wheels in her noggin' are turnin'.


The results of a playdough session on Xmas Eve. Maddie actually did everything herself (with instructions from Daddy). Notice the crazy hair, legs and freakishly large left hand with humongous fingers. Anyhoo.....not bad for not quite three years old.


Mason practices standing with a little help from Frank.

Our Christmas Eve cheese fondue tradition continues. Maddie declared she doesn't like cheese, but ate her weight in apples.

Later tonight, the kids opened one present each and we danced to Elvis singing Christmas carols. After searching through a pile of holiday CDs for one that contains songs she actually knows, I found an old favorite.

Me: Oh, I finally found "Here Comes Santa Claus." You can always count on Elvis.
Maddie: I don't like Elvis.
Me: Oh, but you will.

Merry Christmas!

Santa, cookies and a smelly tree

We had a very Christmas-y weekend. The pouring rain on Saturday didn't deter us from our church's annual Breakfast with Santa event. Santa pancakes, crafts and a visit with a very real-looking Santa was too good to pass up.

Maddie was excited to see Stella Dot and her friends Finley and Elliot. Our table was hopping with babies and toddlers!

Santa pancakes start the morning off right.

Maddie and Stella Dot took a number, literally, and waited for their turn with Santa.

She got a little closer to him than she did last year. She took the candy cane he offered and spoke to him. She was really interested in his belt buckle!

Maddie and Finley mix it up at the crafts table.

Mason has been working on a new skill, holding the rings. He's very interested in them, but can't figure out how to put them comfortably in his mouth.

No ponytail holder? No problem, Frank says. He used a paper towel! Later, when I asked Maddie where her ponytail holder was, she said, "Just use a paper towel."

Sunny catches some ZZZs in the sun.

Later Saturday, I decided to break out the flour and cookie cutters. I really wanted to make Christmas cookies with Maddie this year. It's something I don't get the chance to do every year, but now that she's older it may become one of our traditions. It was a lot of fun and of course, there was cutting and rolling and icing and gingerbread man-shaped sprinkles!! She is obsessed with sprinkles. We have even put sprinkles on a banana to get her to eat it.

Drinking glass, a.k.a. rolling pin.

She wanted to wear her apron and asked me to wear mine. There was flour everywhere but the end results were worth it. She loves cookies as much as I do. I'm so proud of my little cookie-making helper.

On to Sunday. It was pretty freaking cold. I headed back to church for nursery duty and Frank kept the kids entertained. Wait, looking at the pics he took, I think it was the other way around.

"Geez, kid. I'm too old for this!"

Super tickles!

Later, we headed out to the Jordan Lake Tree Farm, a neat place my friend Joni told me about just that morning. We had no idea how cooooold it really was. Mason had three layers on but his little fingers were cold. We have no photos of picking the tree, or of Maddie jumping in the bounce house for ONE hour. It was her first time in a bounce house and she loved it. Didn't I tell you the tree farm was cool?

Our first live tree since the Christmas after we were married -- in 1999!! It smells wonderful.

November Catch Up -- Last One

OK, so I missed my three posts in three days goal. But today was Mason's first day at daycare. I had an outpatient procedure this morning also, so it was chaos at our house last night and this morning trying to prepare for everything.

After my procedure, I picked up Mason around Noon to spend a few hours with him on "our" last day together. I think a consistent sleeping and eating schedule will do wonders for him. According to the teachers in the Infant One class, he did really well, except he had to be rocked to sleep. Still, they were really encouraging and positive.

When I walked to the front door of daycare, there was the baby buggy with a crying Mason in the front row. What a way to pick him up from his first day! The director and teachers assured me that that was the first time all morning he had cried. My little sweetie. I also was told that Maddie checked on him today while walking to her Tap and Tumble class. I know she will enjoy having him close by during the day.

Tomorrow I start work again and my maternity leave ends. I will miss spending so much time with him. It has been so much more relaxed than the leave time I had with Maddie. But now the real challenge begins and I have to figure out how to get us all out of the house by 7 a.m. each day. Evia, suggestions are welcome!!

Time to post some fun Thanksgiving photos. Maybe I can also benefit from a schedule, and improve my time management skills so I don't post news and photos a month late anymore!

Maddie needed a treat before we even began eating Thanksgiving lunch.

I think she really enjoyed the white chocolate covered pretzel. Maybe a little too much.


For those of you who don't yet admit any resemblance between Mason and his Daddy, more proof.
Funny story about the photo below....They both started the day with different shirts on...see the plaid-clad guys above. Mason spit up all over Frank. Frank didn't bring a change of clothes for himself (who thinks of that??), so he had to borrow one of my Dad's old ones. Then Mason ruined his own shirt and had to be changed. So funny that the shirts they changed into were identical colors. I didn't notice it until I took this photo of them "resting" from all the Thanksgiving eating.


And just a funny photo of Mason enjoying whatever is around his mouth, mostly just fingers these days.
And Maddie has some quiet time with her new Dora coloring book (thanks Aunt Angie). She wanted to color along with the movie it accompanies. Dora and the Crystal Kingdom has been watched an insane number of times in our house. As sad as it seems, I'm looking forward to the new Dora Christmas movie coming on this Sunday on Nick Jr. If I ever see another crystal again, it will be too soon...