Almost there!

So here's the deal, I am ready for Christmas morning to come. The presents are wrapped. They are sorted, so all of the ones I need for the tree are together, all of the ones we are taking to the in-laws tomorrow are together, all of the ones that go to my mom's house are together. Stocking stuffers have been assessed, and sorted, and ready to go. We are ready. (And by "we" I of course mean "me." Jesse is out doing a little last minute shopping as I type this.)
And I've made my Christmas goodies, and delivered the gifts to those that I needed to deliver to. Christmas cards, well, they may not happen this year, I have not been motivated to do it, and I wanted a cute picture, and I just don't have one, so Merry Christmas!!!! Count this as your card.
The tree is up and almost dead, I have Christmas decorations galore up. More than I've ever bothered to find room for before. So like, I'm ready.
So why am I still so stressed? I'll tell you why, because when Christmas comes along, it's not like you just have all of these Christmas things to do, you also have regular life to keep up with! Add to that a week long vacation starting the day after Christmas, and well, all of the sudden it doesn't much matter how early you get the presents wrapped. So now I'm doing laundry every day, just so that I don't have to do 5 loads on Christmas night. And in the back of my head there is always the packing list. And how I have not started anything with that yet. And thinking about food prep that I ought to do for the week while still at home. (Which I probably should be doing right now, but instead am blog venting.) And it's nice to come home to a clean house, so that would mean I'd have to clean it sometime before I leave. So there's that.
Then there are the family get togethers, which aren't so stressful, but I do have a bit of baking and cooking to do. I can't complain, I never have to host or be in charge of the main parts of the meal, so my life is pretty easy. But today I was making a cake, and the batter bubbled over the pan, and made a huge mess in the oven. So tonight my oven is out of commission while I let the oven cleaner work it's magic. One more thing to add to the list- clean the oven. (Which I maintain I probably should not do while pregnant.)
So anyway, I've come to the conclusion that Christmas would not be so stressful if it could just be Christmas, set apart from "real life" and the chores and responsibilities that go with it. It's all of the little things that you have to do anyway, that make you crazy (and take away my nap time!)
So sorry for my little rant. It's not exactly an uplifting Christmas message. I'll try to get one of those in later. :)

The Blizzard of 09

Well, today we got the worst snow storm in Maryland in many many years. I guess some areas have gotten almost 2 feet of snow. We have maybe a foot and a half or so at our house. This is actually a massive snow storm for Maryland. The news reported it as the 7th largest snowfall on record. It's still coming down a bit out there, and flurries are expected until tomorrow morning. Mid afternoon Nate and Jesse went out to check things out. I eventually joined them. Nate thought it was pretty cool that the snow was so deep.

Jesse's primary goal of this snowfall is to make a large snow mound. This is just small compared to what he can do in the next few days. It is pretty cold here, so the snow is dry and powdery, so not so good for snowmen. Maybe in the next few days it'll get better for packing.

At this point the snow is about even with the bottom of the windows in the front of our house.

Nate's preschool program

Nate had a small program at Preschool last week. It was just the two afternoon four year old classes up there singing a bunch of songs. They didn't really know all of the words, but they were cute none the less. It lasted all of 10 minutes, and then there was punch and cookies afterwards. Grammy was able to come up to watch.

At the end of the program, Santa showed up. Graham was really excited about Santa, and kept on wanting to go and see him, but then when we went up, he ran right up to him, but then cried when he sat on his lap. Nate however was happy to see Santa again.

All is well

So sometimes we have terrible horrible no good very bad days, when everyone is grumpy, and whiny and in trouble most of the day. But then it gets to be nap time, and then I get to go and rock with Graham, and all of the sudden, all is right in the world. My kids may be crazy, and do naughty things from time to time, and I do sometimes try to sell them on the Facebook black market, and sometimes I think how sad they will be to have to spend Christmas at the orphanage, but at the end of the day, they sure sweet little things, and I'm glad I get to be their mom.

Overload

My poor kids really could use a few more Cars action figures. They are so under-privileged.

Nate the rock star

So in case you are wondering why Nate would ask for a guitar with a strap and strings that wiggle for Christmas, this is why:

He spends a good deal of his day listening to music and pretending to play on this toy guitar that we have. It is not an actual guitar, just a music playing toy that is shaped like a guitar. Graham got it for Christmas last year. Anyway, Nate gets frustrated that there is no strap, so he walks around with rubber bands or strings stretched under his arm that he can hold it in place with. One day when I figure out how to configure my videos I'll upload him playing along with the video. His favorite band you ask? Muse of course.

here comes Santa Claus

So for the first time in his life, Nate willingly sat on Santa's lap. We went to the mall a few weeks ago, and Nate got close to thinking about sitting on Santa's lap, but then he wouldn't.

But a week later we had our ward Christmas party, and when Santa came this time, Nate was one of the first in line. He sat on his lap and enjoyed it. Graham would have nothing to do with Santa, but it was past his bedtime, and he wasn't feeling well. So what did Nate ask for? The same thing he says every time you ask him what he wants Santa to bring him- A guitar with a strap and strings that wiggle. He's going to be a rock star.

Graham's birthday continued

So my baby is 2. Sometimes I play with him or cuddle with him, and I think, how can I have another baby? This one is still my baby! I just don't think it's possible for me to be more in love with this child than I am. He is just such a joy in our lives. Sure, he can throw a tantrum with the best of them, and it can be frustrating when he's trying to communicate something, and it's not working, but there are also so many good times.

Graham worships his big brother. When Nate is not beating him up, or "sharing" his toys, Graham just follows him around, and likes to do whatever Nate is doing. He is my little acrobat, and his favorite pastime is to jump on the couch or bed. He loves to jump, and fall straight back onto his back. If all else fails, he'll jump on the floor, but that's not nearly as fun. Not only is he a physical mimic, but he mimics most things we all say. It took him a while to start talking, but he's really taking off, saying most things that you ask him to. It's getting easier and easier to communicate with him. He loves to be silly, and always makes sure that he has an audience. I get "mommy look" all day long. (Over and over and over....) He knows he's just about the cutest thing around, and he loves it. It is his mission in life to be adored by all.

These days he walks around all day saying "Bolt, George" and if he had his way, our life would be a never ending loop of watching Bolt and Curious George. He can name all of the movies on the shelf (and has been able to do that for quite a while now.) He also loves Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse and Little Einstein ("Rocket").

He's just so smiley and happy most of the time, and my favorite time of day is when I get to rock and cuddle with him at night. I love you little boy, you are the sweetest!

Here's a commentary on how opening his presents went last night. Nate really wanted to "share" opening the presents. Graham didn't really mind that much.

Hmmmmm... what's in here?

Ooooh, Mickey mouse!

I love mickey!

But, wait! What does Nate have? That looks interesting.

Oh yeah, a train, I think I like that too!

Oh, and more train things!

Nate's moving too fast! But what's in here?

Here, let me get out of your way Nate, I'll just watch from back here, no really, I'm just fine, thanks.

I like it!

Happy Birthday Graham!

So where is the birthday boy? Oh, there he is!
OK, this looks like fun!

Wait a minute! Maybe this isn't so fun. Didn't I burn my finger doing something like this at Grandma's house?

Yeah, I think maybe I'd rather not do this.

But maybe with mom here I can think about blowing out the candles.

Yeah, maybe I can do this.... it's not so bad from back here.

Yeah, OK, that wasn't so bad. Maybe even a little fun.

I could get used to this.

Don't worry, I'm good. Cool as a cucumber.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Don't worry, we won't make you blow out any more candles for another year!

A Slow month

So November has been a super boring month around here. Nate's been going to school, I've been staying home, blah blah blah. I don't even have any pictures of the kids from the past month. A whole month of their lives, gone. OK, so perhaps that's a little overly dramatic.

One notable thing to mention for those of you not on Facebook, is that we are expecting baby number 3. That is probably a big reason why this has been such a boring month. Either I've not felt like doing anything, or more recently the doctor has put me on certain restrictions. For almost 2 weeks I was told not to bend of lift. Yeah, good luck with that! But I'm now up to "just take it easy, and no purposeful exercise" So that means that I have to start doing my share of the work around here. Jesse was great about doing the laundry, and helping out with the cleaning and stuff. (I am currently rethinking the wisdom in having a third child considering my first child is driving me bonkers!)

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and we'll be at my mom's house this year, and I'm excited about that. Thanksgiving is always a fun time. And I have a lot to be thankful this year. (Yes, even the whiny first child is on that list.)

So here's wishing you a happy Thanksgiving, and hoping that you all have a long list of things to be thankful for.

First Pony Ride

Today we took another trip to "the pumpkin patch" or rather the corn maze. We went with Nate's cousin, and the women from Jesse's family. It was a different one from the one we went to with Nate's school, so there were a few different things to do, including a pony ride. As expected, Nate had no desire to ride the pony, but Graham thought it would be a good idea, so he got his very first pony ride, which also happens to be the first pony ride in our family.

We tried our hand at the corn maze, and despite Nate picking many many dead ends, we were able to do both paths in not too long.

There was also another of those jumping pillows, and we all had a great time jumping. It was much less crowded, so the adults got to have some fun as well.

The last thing that we did was to ride on the cow train, which was also the first time that anyone in the family had done that. Nate has always been wary of it, and Graham didn't so much want to do it this time either, but I forced him, and he did have a fun time. So it was a great time. It's possible that we'll get in one last fall adventure this week by going to a night time corn maze. October was a wet month out here, which made doing things like that a little too damp for us.

Halloween Tricks and Treats

So this year Halloween started on Thursday afternoon for us. Nate had a party at preschool, and got to wear his costume to school. I wasn't able to stay due to nap time, but he said he had fun. From there we went to a friend's house to have a party with the original playgroup-- the ladies I met when all of our babies were just tiny babies, and we became fast friends. Now that our kids are in school we don't see each other very often anymore, so it's fun to get together for parties. We tried to get a group picture of the kids in their costumes. You can see that Mummy Graham's alter ego is the Incredible Hulk. And.... did you notice who was missing?

Nate absolutely refused to come and have his picture taken. He was mad at me for making him put his costume on.

Then on Friday night was our ward Trunk or Treat. The kids had a great time running around, eating lollipops, and eventually Graham started to give candy back to those who would take it.

Jesse had a day full of crisis at work, so he spent some of his time like this.

We won the vote for the spookiest trunk that night. As I mentioned, I covered the trunk with a sheet, put a sleeve in it, and put different bowls inside my trunk. I think that the adults were more afraid of sticking their hands in than the kids were. I guess they were afraid that there was someone in there waiting to grab them. Oh, and just a future FYI, if you ever need to peel grapes in a large quantity, blanch them. You know, stick them in boiling water, and then in an ice bath. So much easier.

On Saturday night we went over to the Kigin's house, and had a wonderful chili dinner, followed by trick or treating. To recap, we had a mummy, a SWAT officer, and Jesse went as Hawkeye Pierce from MASH. (We don't have an adult size Cowboy hat...)

So what a busy few days, and boy am I glad it's all over with. It was fun, but I'm ready to get into a week that is just full of normal things. :) Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween as well.