2010: Year in Review

I'm supposed to be in Awendaw right now, ready to ring in the new year like I did so many times in my Furman years -- on the intracoastal waterway, with fireworks and bitch beer wine (we're classy now) and friends. 

Happy New Year 2002! Awendaw, SC - Sarah, me, Katie, Emily and Betsy

And this year we had an added bonus: in-house volunteer childcare (in the form of my friend Sarah's awesome parents, like they don't do enough for all of us and our new year hootenanny tradition) so we could have a fancy adults-only dinner in downtown Charleston.

But.

Some sort of g/i bug that hit both of my children in the last 24 hours stopped those plans.  Seriously, Nathan and Anneliese are so rarely sick.  Why this week?  Why? Really? Really?!

(In other news, kiddie imodium is my new bff.  Just sayin'.)

Yep, Mark and David were there that year too! (Wow we all look not hott.)

So now instead of relaxing in Awendaw, I am sitting at home, one kid in bed and one in my arms (heck yes I can type while soothing a sick baby* in my lap, I'm supermom, how did you multitask today?) and pondering the past year.  That's one of the bonuses of writing a blog, you know: it provides a written account of my year and what (I thought) was worth writing about, which leads to retrospection and pondering.  Which is good when you're home with no plans on new year's eve and have time for such things.

But here's the thing about my retrospection and pondering: I kind of don't know how to neatly sum up this year. 

The last three months have been so consumed with house stuff -- flooding, burglar-defending, repairing, selling, trying to buy -- that it's hard for me to even remember what I used my brain cells on for the first three quarters of the year. So part of me says this has been the year of the house.

Oh, I remember now.  The potty.  I thought about the potty.  Namely, getting Nathan to sit on it, stand by it, defecate** into it, aim towards it, etc.  Aside from the fact that he can't go all night without a diaper, is on a pooping strike, and still won't pee in front of anyone but Mark or me (meaning we still have potty obstacles ahead in 2011 too), I'd be tempted to call this the year of the potty.

Lots of people in my family jumped into the next generation of cell phones this year -- a Blackberry for my mom, an iPhone for Brad, and Droids for Nick, Barbara, Emily, Trey, Mark and me.  Lots more pictures and messages going back and forth between all of us than there used to be, and I now feel so much better connected to my out-of-town family.  That feeling is totally worth being a textaholic.  And it might just lead me to call this the year of the smartphone.

And considering the number of hours I spent shopping for, trying out, lusting after, and writing about Anneliese's awesome fluffy bum, I could probably call it the year of the cloth diaper.

Still, the week Simon died is what really stands out for me in my memories of this year.  I think a part of me will always remember 2010 as the year we lost Simon.

But we did good stuff this year, too.  Mark and I took a lovely cruise, we married off my sister and one of my best friends, we took lots of road trips to see new and old friends, AND get this: everything both things I resolved to do last January, I totally did: I cooked with Nathan (way more than once a week actually) and I definitely did not make any promises or hints or goals about being a better wife (ahem).  Done and done.  So.  I think that means 2010 is officially the year I kept all my resolutions.  It has been spoken.

(But it's also kind of the year of all those other things too. And the year of the not-awendawesome ending.)

Happy 2010!

*I am also an expert at nak-ing.  Nursing at keyboard.  You have no idea how many blog posts have been brought to you by a good latch. You needed to know that.

**I'm very sure mine is the only Year in Review post you will read this weekend that uses the word defecate.  You're welcome.  And I win.

Christmas with Relatives: Top Ten

Sunday morning we woke up to lots of snow!  When all was said and done, we got almost ten inches at our house!  That's crazy in these parts.  We missed having a white Christmas by one day -- but people as close as Charlotte and Greensboro got their white Christmas, for the first time in like sixty years or something. 

No, I did not take any pictures of it, I was frantically packing and loading for our road trip Christmas celebrations.  We braved the snow to hit the road.  It took us over an hour to get out of Raleigh, but after that everything was more melted and driven on, so the roads were fine.

So we spent Sunday afternoon with dad's family, and then yesterday we celebrated with mom's people.  And now we're back home, where the kids and I are quite literally at home, probably for days, because I am way too lazy to dig my car out from under the pile of snow still encasing it.

While I'm (voluntarily) snowbound, here's a top ten list from Christmas with relatives...

1.) Brad on skype.  Most of us hear from Brad down in St Croix via text or phone or email with some modicum of regularity, but since my Grandpa is hard of hearing, phone calls are difficult for him (and he's not part of the texting/internet generation, to say the least).  So being able to video chat with Brad with lots of relatives around was kind of cool.  It took my Grandpa a few minutes to realize that he was actually talking to Brad, not just watching a video or something, but when he did figure it out he was so happy he cried.  Aw.

2.) Princess potty book. My aunt bestowed upon Anneliese a book about a princess {sigh} and a potty.  Nathan is the one who clamored for it, though, and thought it was hilarious.  Apparently the titular princess is a super pooper.  Nathan insisted this was necessary reading when he sat in Grandpa's lap.  I'm very sure that never made it on Grandpa's list of things to read with his great-grandson.  :)

3.) John licking coal.  When he found a lump of coal in his stocking from my mom, my sister's new(ish) groom assumed it was chocolate and tasted it.  It wasn't chocolate.  (Don't worry, it wasn't real charcoal either.)

4.) Chocolate wine.  I love red wine, and I love dark chocolate, but I'm not sure I need them in the same bottle.  Um, ew.  Fail and fail.  Good luck to whoever's going to Ashley's Happy New Year shindig, I heard this is on the menu!

5.) Stop snoring, Daddy!  Nathan was scared at my mom's house, so halfway through the night Mark went in and slept with him in the double bed in my sister's old room.  And apparently snored all night.  And apparently Nathan wasn't any more a fan of the snoring than I am. And apparently he thought it was lough enough to wake up Anneliese (in another room).  Hilarious.

6.) Stockings.  These are just the ones for the dogs.  No, I am not kidding.  The human stockings were in a completely different location.

7.) Breakfast menu.  Yep, my mom made so much food that it required a menu.  She prepared more dishes than there were brunch invitees.  (And she seemed a little surprised at the amount of leftovers!)  She got up before six am to finish the meal.  Yes, she's crazy.  But she makes a darned good brunch!  (It's kinda her thing.)

8.) Bad hair day.  What's funnier than a bad hair day on a baby?  Um, not much.

9.) Date night.  Mark and I got to go on an unexpected dinner date!  He helped my mom with some computer stuff, then she held down the fort to get ready for our next-morning celebration while we grabbed a late dinner.  Oh and he wore his hott jeans.  Win.

10.) Years of memories on DVD.  For a Christmas present to Ashley and Brad and me, my dad spent hours and hours putting like fifteen years of home videos onto a stack of DVD for us.  How incredibly awesome is that??  After Ashley watched the first one, she texted me this: Just watched 84-85. You were something of a show off and a bossy bully, dear sister.  :)  I was a space cadet and Brad was a crybaby.  Nothing's really changed, right?  Au contraire, sweet Ashley.  Everything has changed. Now we can watch our home videos and make fun of each other in digital format, the way God and the new millennium intended it. 

Merry Christmas to us!

For more pictures of our celebrations in Huntersville, click here.

Home for Christmas

We have had such a fabulous Christmas day at home.  Last night we went to church as a family.  When we got home, Nathan had a hard time going to sleep, since he was so worried about Santa coming in the house.  But Mark was able to soothe and reassure him, so eventually he and I got to play Santa ourselves and get everything ready for Christmas morning, which actually isn't much because we are trying for simple Santa tradition around here -- one toy per kid, and stockings with little treats and candy. 

It was nice to wake up this morning to our own little family nucleus, which has become our treasured norm.  It was simple and easy and fun.

After lots of reassurance that even though there were new presents under the tree, Santa is for sure all done, it was soooo fun to see Nathan and Anneliese enjoying their new toys.  Nathan got a kiddie version of a digital camera, which made it hard to get a real picture of his face all day.  :)

He took hundreds of pictures.  Of everything in sight (or out of sight).  He tried to capture every minute of the day.  Maybe he needs his own photography blog.

And Anneliese got and a starter set of legos (well, duplos).  Nathan loves legos (and got a few additions to his own set), and it seems Anneliese is following right in his footsteps.

Also, there are legos everywhere.  All over my whole house.  In every corner of my life.

I made egg nog french toast for everyone for breakfast, then we had fun unwrapping all the stuff we had picked out for each other.  Nathan never got tired of it, he was equally as excited every time there was a new present to unwrap.  (And I don't think any of the rest of us opened any gifts without his help.)  Anneliese got her first cabbage patch doll and a new play kitchen, a few books and toys, and some new clothes.  Nathan got a helicopter, some small matchbox planes, and also some new clothes.  And don't worry, he documented all of the gift-opening for our family history.

And I got my own new digital camera too!  Mark got me one that's totally waterproof!  No more disposable underwater cameras for me.  It's also apparently sand-proof and freeze-proof.  (I kind of want to go to the beach right now just so I have an excuse to use it in the elements!)  It's awesome and really pretty too (he got me the green one).  He even got me a little lifejacket strap for it so it will float when I take it swimming.  LOVE.

Then tonight we hosted Christmas dinner for our raleigh family.  The Chamblees came bearing food -- beef tenderloin since we're all a bit done with turkey -- and I made traditional holiday sides to go with it.  And Nick and Barbara came in time for dessert and some loud boisterous wii matchups. 

Between all of us, we had an extra wiimote, so we let Nathan us it.  He thought he was playing too, it was so sweet and hilarious. 

Today was the perfect combination of wonderfully intimate family time and loud joyful social celebration.  Such a good day.  Merry Christmas!

To see more of our Christmas at home (including lots more pictures of Nathan taking pictures), click here for the photobucket album.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Our 2010 Christmas card, in bloggity format, since we only sent a few out by snail mail this year (mostly to people who don't live in the digital age):

For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given... and His name shall be called Wonderful, Couselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6

Merry merry Christmas, y'all!

Family (Festivus) Outings

We tried to have a couple of family outings this week.  It always feels good to me when the four of us manage to get out the door at one time and do something together, and with Nathan out of preschool this week is the perfect time.

The first one, last night, was a success.  We went to see Lights on the Neuse again.  It wasn't nearly as cold as last year, but we still needed to be very bundled up.  (And no, I'm not just saying that because I wanted an excuse to wear my new purple coat.  I'm no longer even pretending to look for excuses to wear it.  I'm just putting it on every time I leave the house without any shame or hesitation and I don't care if I  probably don't need that much warmth most days... you can never be too warm... and if you're me, you can never get warm enough.)

Anyway.  We lingered by the campfire, we ogled at the tractor, we did the hayride, we listened to Christmas music (Anneliese danced in my lap the whole time, seriously so so precious), we saw lots of Christmas light displays in the farm forest, and the whole thing finished with a big patriotic Proud to be an American flourish.  Because... of course it did.  And Merry Christmas.

Then this morning we had big plans to go bowling.  We had hunted down two different places that were open early enough for us to spend a few hours bowling and still be home in time for lunch and naps.  But... both places were closed.  Nathan's sad face was super heartbreaking, he was so disappointed. 

But we ended up at chick fil a for chicken and a playground, and while it wasn't nearly as good for Mark and me, I think Nathan would still call the morning a win.  (Anneliese was oblivious.  As long as she's shoving food in her mouth and someone is paying attention to her, she's good.  Bowling or chick fil a, doesn't make a lick of difference to her.)

Also we finally replaced our stolen wii today (with another black one, which involved a more-complicated-than-it-should-have-been exchange process where I might or might not have had to be a tiny bit saccharinely argumentative with a customer service desk), and Another Nathan is coming over tonight under the  premise of bringing Christmas presents but mostly to help us get wii-acclimated* to having video games around. 

Happy Festivus!**

*Yeah, I went there.
**There will be no airing of grievances.  That's just mean.  There also will be no feats of strength, unless mariokart pushes Mark and Another Nathan to duke it out, which could be kind of amusing.  Let's not rule it out, mmmkay?

Anneliese at Fourteenish Months

It's not the thirteenth of any month, which means Anneliese isn't close to even a pseudo-landmark in terms of age, but I decided it's time for an update anyway (I know, I know, who am I?)...

Talking- While she's not quite (ahem) as talkative as Nathan was at fourteenish months, Anneliese is getting better and better and expressing what she needs through words.  Some of her new favorites in the last few weeks are uh-oh, no and don't.  (Which pretty much sums up life with a fourteen-month-old, I think.)  She also gets a lot of mileage out of mama, dada, Bowden, hi, ball, Nay-nay, and go.  And, you know, good old fashioned yelling.

Eating- Praise the sweet baby Jesus in the manger for the wonderful gift of Anneliese feeding herself!  At least one meal a day, I can dump a bunch of finger foods on her tray and she shovels it in on her own.  Finally.  She'll eat bananas that way, and small crumbles of cheese, granola bars, cheerios, mini ravioli (without sauce), cooked carrots or mandarin oranges.  WIN.  She still eats purees or foods we have to feed her (yogurt, oatmeal, that kind of thing) at many meals too.  She responds to our requests for her to use her own spoon with lots of head shaking and closed-mouth screaming (can you imagine what I'm describing? it's lovely).  But we'll get there in time.

Moving- Anneliese has become quite the crawler in the last month.  It didn't take her long at all to get speedy on all fours.  Now she tears around the house, laughing as she goes (she's still rather proud of her new skillz).  She still isn't bearing much weight on her legs, so we're a long way from pulling up or walking, but again... we'll get there in time.

Socializing- Oh man we have a sweet friendly little girl on our hands.  When she sees someone she knows and loves, she reaches for them and laughs out loud.  I'm telling you there is no better sound in the world than a child laughing solely because she's happy to see you.  It's like seventy kinds of awesome.  She loves to wave, and sometimes keeps waving hi even after we've greeted her and are holding her in our arms.  Oh and she's still totally the best hugger in our family.

And I still love her so much I might burst.

I Need Something to Drive

Nathan's attachment to his cars is getting out of control.  It's the closest thing he has to a security blanket, or a lovie.  It doesn't matter if we're in the car, going to bed, running errands, the resounding chorus is I need something to drive.  Lord help us all if we're caught without a car or truck.

Your daily Nathan: he needs something to drive!

Driving Mommy's car is just a rare special treat.  :)

Milestone Text

Another Nathan sent me a sweet text a few weeks ago and it made me smile because:

a- I can never go over on my texting anymore, and I therefore never get in trouble for going over on my texting 
b- again, it was a sweet message
c- it was the THOUSANDTH text in the thread*

Do not judge me for taking a picture of my phone.

Also, and I'm slightly embarassed to admit this, but I sent/recieved almost eighty text messages yesterday.  I'm pretty sure that's way too high, considering I'm thirty.  Still, I think I can now officially compete with my dad, or any good seventh grader, when it comes to texting.  (Remember when T9 was all the rage?  My how far I've come.)

Thanks, new phone and new phone plan. :)

*And you know how I love a good seemingly-arbitrary milestone.

Happy Girl

Because she knows me and loves me and knows it would make me smile, my friend Mary texted me this picture as a daily Anneliese when she was taking care of her a few weeks ago.  And I love it. 

Your daily Anneliese: from Mary

This oddly-lit, half-grainy cell phone pic captured her current essence* so perfectly.  The dimple, the smile, the shoulders.  It's just so... Anneliese. 

Martina McBride is pretty much a genius: Everybody knows that the sweetest thing that you'll ever see, in the whole wide world, is a happy girl.

*Did I just talk about my daughter's current essence?  Good grief, what has motherhood done to me?

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is for you to stop freaking my kid out.

Seriously.  You see this little boy? 

That's Nathan.  You know him.  (He's on the nice list, under G.)  He's adorable.  He's happy.  He doesn't have a care in the world. 

Oh, except that you're going to come in our house in the middle of the night while we're sleeping and eat our food and go through our stuff.  That?  Is giving him nightmares.

His first Christmas, when he was five months, he was clueless.  When he was eighteen months, he was a little timid, but you were a new person, so that's understandable toddler stuff.  Then last year when he was two and a half, he was legitimately scared, so we didn't push the Santa agenda.  We thought he'd outgrow it when he understood better.  But this year, he understands.  And he's still freaked out.

We're not sure what we're going to tell Nathan about you, Santa.  Because here's the thing: he loves you in books, on tv, in posters and ads, and in statue or blow-up versions (if he doesn't have to come too close).  He loves that you make toys for all the children of the world.  He loves that you love cookies and milk -- he favorites cookies and milk too!  He loves that you take care of elves and have pet reindeer and that you ride in a sleigh, although he's the teensiest bit sad you don't land it at the airport.  He loves the idea of you.  But you, a real live man in our house when he's sleeping... that is oh so totally not cool. 

So what do we do?  We've been dancing around the issue of you, Santa.  We don't want to outright lie to him, when really the idea of you is what we're celebrating anyway.  No sense scaring him into midnight panics over a fun story, right?  And we're not into the fear-mongering or the constant reminders about a naughty list to bribe good behavior.  (We have candy for that, thankyouverymuch.) 

We like that he asked if you brought baby Jesus some presents and toys in the manger.  He seems to be latching onto all the right things about you: conversations about generosity, and why we give presents at Christmas, and why the birth of Jesus is so important to celebrate.  But do we take it further and carry the Santa thing out to its fullest, when at such a young age he is already focused on the right part of the tradition, and risk messing that up (and frightening him in the process)?  I'm kinda thinking no.

So, Mr. Claus. It seems we might end up being one of those quasi-Santa households.  Is that cool?  No hard feelings, right?  We love you and we love the tradition of you and we love the magic you add to an already festive holiday.  You'll always be a part of our Christmas celebrations. We'll write you letters and hang stockings and leave cookies for you, and we'll give you some credit for some of the Christmas-morning surprises.  It will be a fun game, and we'll enjoy you the way we enjoy Disney movies or Thomas the Train.  But we're not going to make a fact out of you. 

Because you're freaking out that beautiful little boy up there.  And what I want for Christmas this year is for it not to be scary (also, to not get up in the middle of the night for any more bad dreams, kthx). 

Love,
Nathan's mommy

PS- Before I loved Nathan I loved a doll named Becky.  Best Santa present ever.  I'm sure I sent you a thank-you (it was the Bumgarner way), but I'll say it now too -- thanks again.

PPS- Please bring this weather back to the north pole.  It does not belong here in North Carolina.  We're not below-freezing kind of people.  True story: I cannot get warm.

PPPS- Is a sleigh a kind of airplane?  Is it more like a jet airplane or a propeller airplane?  Inquiring minds need to know.

PPPPS- Rockin' awesome job adopting Buddy the Elf, friend.  Christmas has never been so humorous.  And purpley.

Refuting My Klutzy Reputation

I have a reputation in my family for being a bit klutzy.  The klutzy one, actually.  It's totally unmerited.  Uncalledfor.  Unjust, even.  So  I am officially going on record to say my mom is the klutzy one.

Michael texted me this picture today:

I see no valid reason why this should not be her new facebook profile pic.

Want to know what happened?  Of course you do.

Well, like so many of her stories, this one starts out with I was running, and I tripped over a curb...

Except, instead of ending with a broken wrist or a hip fracture or a cracked rib or a falling-off toenail or an out-of-whack shoulder or a sobbing emotional mess on a street corner (all real-life examples in the last few years), this one ends with and then I broke my face but went for eight more miles.  And this story doesn't even need to fall back on external factors like slippery decks or icy roads!

It took several people (several, as in: more than one) to take note of my mom's post-fall loopier-than-normal loopiness, and get her to an ER.  Where she got a bunch of stitches and the pronouncement of a concussion.  (That's not exactly how the hospital part went but hospital sagas are always boring so I'm not detailing it any more than that here.  Also I  might be a little fuzzy on that part myself.  Again with the boring.)

Oh!  And somewhere in the middle of that story is the part where she says I was reading a nutrition label and that's why I tripped over the curb.  Really?  REALLY?!  You couldn't wait til after your leisurely, just-for-fun Saturday marathon to read about how many calories (well let's just be honest, you were definitely checking for fiber) is in your mid-run snack?  Really?  Mom. Mother.  I hope that calorie fiber knowledge was worth your broken face.

{sigh}

Ok, folks.  Here's the thing.

Once I swam into a wall and ended up with a concussion of my own.

Once I tried to kick a soccer ball, tripped over it, and broke my arm.

Once I fell off my bike while trying to mount it at the beginning of a race.

Once I face-planted into snow because I couldn't manage to get onto the ski lift correctly.  (Okay, maybe that was twice.  Not counting the face-plant when I tried to get down off the ski lift.)  (Fun fact of the day: I'm not a big fan of skiing.)

Once I fell into a bush while wearing a huge drum* and reindeer antlers and because I couldn't get myself up, the other four people harnessed to me (with blinking Christmas lights, as long as I'm painting the picture) couldn't leave either, so they had no choice but to stand around and laugh at me.  One. Time.

Those were isolated incidents, people! 

Yes, I have had moments of klutziness in my life.  We all have.  But my mom's trips and falls and stumbles not only tend to result in real injury, they're consistent.  When I tried to tell her that she was even klutzier than I am, she laughed and said, I know, how said is that?!  Yeah, um... not that sad, if we all stop using me to set the bar for family klutziness, and use you** instead!

Take another look at that picture up there and let it be the final nail in the coffin of MY reputation as the klutzy one.  Kthx.

*Yes I played the energizer bunny drum in marching band.  That makes my band geekiness a little cooler.  It does.

** Or we can use Dad.  I'm not too picky about who I throw under the bus here.  After all, Dad did fall off his roof into an a/c unit this summer, he's chronically battling a sciatica problem that's probably a sex yoga injury, and then there's that one time he accidentally took a chainsaw to my brother's arm.  (Story for another day.)  Really, really, anyone but me!!

Messiah: Deep Thoughts From Nathan

Our church choir sang a big chunk of Handel's Messiah as an Advent offering this morning.  No, we're not one of Those Choirs who can just whip out music like that any old time.  We worked and worked and a lot of sweat (our directors'), tears (mine) and blood (ok there wasn't really any blood) went into it.  And we pulled it off.  Not with any professional panache, but... pretty respectably.

Anyway.

I should have been sick to death of every movement and everything to do with Messiah and everything Handel has ever written, for that matter (side note: our hymnal says Joy to the World is attributed to him, how did I not know that until today?), but apparently I wasn't, because when I hit play on the cd deck in my car tonight, Messiah was playing... and I didn't turn it off.

We* listened to And He Shall Purify for a few minutes and when it was over, Nathan heaved a big sigh and said that's hard to sing, isn't it Mommy?

Yes, sweetie.  Yes, yes it is.

*Anneliese was also in the car and responded to the music exactly as she has every time she's heard Messiah over the last few months (which is many): lots of loud aaaahhhhhhs and laughing.  Which totally counts as singing.  Therefore I will forever tell people the first thing she sang along to was the Hallelujah chorus.  I might've already written it in her baby book.  Just sayin'.

Yuletide Log 2010... Now in 3D!

Would you judge me if 62% of what I've been watching on our new tv is this?

It's the yuletide log!  Again!  And this year it's available not only in hi-def, but also 3-D!

My Grandpa S would be so proud of me.  I'm simultaneously hating myself for actually playing this on my tv, and laughing at the image of someone (specifically, Grandpa) sitting around watching it wearing 3-D glasses. 

Again: Christmawesome.

Again: May your days be merry and bright, and may all your yuletide fireplaces be in HD and 3-D.

Sleeping Beauty (and a Beast)

I am 100% sure that I am not the only mommy out there who can't resist pulling the camera out pretty much any time I catch my kids sleeping.

It's not just their peaceful facial expressions (or the fact that they're quiet) that makes them so endearing while asleep.  It's also that that they are seriously for real so beautiful.

November 12th: in the car

November 25th: in the crib

December 6th: in the car again, bundled up this time

December 7th: thirty seconds too late with the camera

Well, one kid out of two ain't bad, right?

Man Chair: Two Generations

For Mark's birthday, I wanted to get him a new chair.  Like, a nice chair.  Really comfortable.  Really reclineable.  Really yummy-smelling leather.  A man chair, if you will.

My original hope was that it would be a nice gift for him to have in the new house.  But, um... yeah.  That.  Then I decided that it's probably something he would like, no matter where we live.  So I bought him one anyway. 

And we finally replaced our stolen tv this week, after more than two months of staring at our old bubble-screen small set while silently cursing the a-holes who broke into our house and rifled through our personal belongings and took things from us. 

{deep breath}

Anyway.  With the new tv (Mark's last birthday, all over again!) and the new man chair, the boys in my house seem pretty happy, don't you think?

Mark in the man chair: college football

Nathan in the man chair: polar express

(Don't worry, the man chair won't always be this close to the tv; our living room furniture is currently on temporarily relocation to accomodate our Christmas tree.  All must bend to the will of the tree.)

This blog post might or might not have been written from the comfort of Mark's man chair.  And maybe there's a diet coke in the armrest cupholder.  And maybe Glee's Christmas episode is playing in the background.  Again.  All of which would make the man chair somewhat less manly, which is why I cannot confirm or deny that it's happening.

Anneliese Effigy

When we were in Lake Wateree for Thanksgiving, since all the bedrooms were taken by grownups, our children slept in, um... alternate locations.  For Nathan, it was the laundry room.  For Anneliese, it was the upstairs bathroom. 

That bathroom is located right in between the two rooms where Nick and Barbara and Mark and I were sleeping.  Nick was worried terrified at my wrath if he forgot she was in there, barged in, and woke her up.  So we brainstormed, pulled some inspiration from the old "scrunchie on the dorm doorknob" system, and arrived at the only logical solution.

We put an Anneliese effigy on the bathroom door to remind him she was in there.

Your daily Anneliese: in effigy

Of course.  Why not?  It was brilliant.  It was effective. 

Note: the effigy is in a more compromising position than the actual Anneliese was or ever will be.  Let the record show.

Happy effiging Thanksgiving, y'all.  :)

Leaves

As much as Mark hates the leaves, Nathan loves them.  He likes to shuffle his feet through them, pick them up, talk about them, and (my favorite), carry them into the house and car.

Such a big boy! Where did my toddler go??

He even likes to rake leaves! Too bad he doesn't actually know how to do it productively (Mark is counting the days/years, I'm sure).

This is why Mark wanted to have kids.

Maybe Nathan will grow up to love fall as much as much as I do. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to live in a place that gets four legitimate seasons in a year, but fall is particularly awesome and might be my favorite. (Spoken by someone who's not in charge of leaf removal.)

Christmas Kickoff

We had the first of our 2010 Christmas celebrations tonight. (Remember, we have lots of families, so that means lots of celebrating -- we start early!) 

Mark's mom came up for the afternoon and evening, which has happened on St. Nick's Day weekend for several years now.  Per our growing tradition, we took a handful of "adopted" angels from the Salvation Army angel tree, and spent our gift budget to buy stuff for them instead of each other.  We picked out jackets and toys and books and jeans...

And y'all?  It's fun to play Santa for strangers.  For real. 

Oh yeah!  And it snowed!  :) 

(Without messing up our plans or causing problems on the roads.  Hence the smiley.)*

Then Nick and Barbara made an ridiculously good veggie lasagna for dinner at their house.  We got to just relax and enjoy each other, and let the kiddos drink in lots of Grandma time.

After dinner, Mark and Nick apparently served up some wine to their mom (a rarity!) and it didn't take much convincing before she was getting her Grandma wii on!

The kids and I had headed home to bed at that point, but I hear it was awesome.

Tomorrow we're going to a Christmas concert at church, to hear the Raleigh Boychoir.  Ok technically it's an Advent concert, but still, yay festive music!  Yay concerts!  And happy Christmas kickoff this weekend!

*Photo evidence of my new winter coat, as requested.  It's very purpley. 
(Name that movie!)

Underneath the Groceries, Sweetie

This is what happens when I grocery shop on a non-Nathan-preschool morning:

Your daily Nathan: Where are my legs, Mommy?

(Yes, our below-freezing airport outing yesterday morning was such a roaring success I was optimistic enough to grocery shop immediately afterwards, with both kids in tow.)

Airport Playtime, Below Freezing

The kids and I left the house this morning almost as soon as they woke up, so that we could take Another Nathan to the airport for a trip.  It could have been just a drive through, wave bye-bye, starbucks on the way home type endeavor. 

But. 

It's the airport.  Which, in case you missed it the first six hundred times, is Nathan's happy place.  (Every day, as I'm getting him dressed: What do you want to do today, sweetie?  Go to the airport.  Every. Day.)  So clearly (clearly), we can't just go to the airport, keep on driving, and not play.  No matter what time of day it is, or how cold it is outside.

Which is how I found myself sitting on frosty grass at the airport playground, eating a picnic breakfast with my two children.*  In thirty-degree weather.  Before eight in the morning.

Who does that?

Yeah.  We do.  And you know what?  It was kind of awesome.

Is that Another Nathan's airplane?  Did it taked off?

Although, it does seem my children have no nerve endings, because they didn't really notice how cold** it was.  Sure, they were bundled up in coats and hats with extra layers (as for me, I was excited for any excuse to rock my awesome and super-cute new purple winter jacket), but I admit I totally forgot all our gloves. Pretty sure I have that Mom of the Year 2011 award all locked up.

Seriously, one of the best and most playful mornings I've had with my kids in a while.  Cold weather airport breakfast picnic WIN.

*But not Annie-Bop, who Nathan sorely missed.
**Another Nathan, a native midwesterner whose flight today took him to real winter, in Minnesota, is now rolling his eyes at my cold threshold.

Anneliese, Ashley and Frogginess

It's starting continuing to freak me out how much Anneliese reminds me of Ashley as a baby.  I think maybe it's because I have a few memories of Ashley when she wasn't much older than Anneliese is now* and even though everyone says Anneliese looks so much like Nathan, and Nathan looks so much like Mark... well, despite that, sometimes when my baby daughter smiles in just the right way, I see my baby sister.  Loud and clear.  It's crazy and awesome at the same time.

Your daily Anneliese: froggy girl like her aunt!

Ashley has always liked frogs, so Anneliese in her froggy PJs, hugging Hattie?  Even without the similar grin, I can't not think of Ashley.

*For those of you doing the math at home, that makes me about two and a half, and Brad a newborn.