Christmas Activities

As a way to make the Christmas season special for my little boy and to spend some quality time with Zack before I have to share my attention.
We spent lots of time on the mall trains...with and without friends.  How can I resist when my little boy chants choo choo choo choo choo....

We threw a party for our friends...the theme was Reindeer games...

We had a snowball fight with cotton (basically the boys got into it while the girls looked at them like "shouldn't someone stop them?") They "built snowmen" put the cottonballs in a mini water bottle.

"cheese"

I feel like he is cheating...oh well it was about the fun.

the photo booth...yeah I may have gone a little overboard, but look how much fun they had!

We went to a cookie decorating party.  Zack liked playing with toys better than decorating but the aprons looked super cute...

us mommies made these for the kids at our monthly craft night

The smear of frosting on the cookie was done by me...who wants to decorate when you can eat mini marshmallows?

finally I gave in and let him eat the cookie (after 3 whole minutes)

playtime

We went to see Santa Cow at Chic-Fil-A...

the picture says it all...however he LOVES Santa from afar...he likes saying "ho ho ho"

We pretty much did something every day and unfortunately I didn't take pictures of everything but I can't wait to have two boys to celebrate the season with next year!

North Pole Express

You know that amazing idea you have...
the one that you have high expectations for, the one that looks perfect on paper?
Well as much as I LOVE Pullen Park, and as much as I love doing Christmas activities...I was a little disappointed in the North Pole Express.  Not that it wasn't a great activity for kids and not that they didn't have tons of activities and even things to entertain kids online...it wasn't so great for my toddler.

He LOVED the train

He LOVED the carousel
...however everything we did required waiting in line...and try explaining to a little boy who keeps seeing the train drive by that we need to wait our turn.  He fussed, I ignored and Adam hated that Zack wasn't happy or that I was determined to get it all done.
When we pulled up Adam dropped me off so I could get our tickets and went to the shuttle parking. THIRTY minutes later Adam and Zack were on the bus (although Zack LOVED his first bus ride...Adam wasn't all that thrilled...if only we could all have the attention span/memory of a toddler).  Then we waited on line for the train, then the carousel...

I wanted Zack to see Santa...we paid for tickets and even though our last attempt was a failure I wanted to try again.  Adam convinced me that we should eat so I waited on line for food while Zack and Adam played on the swings.  Then off to see Santa and take one more train trip...right...that's what I wanted.  I mean Zack loves trains, and he should love Santa...plus I wanted a picture of him with Santa (again).  Adam brought me back to earth and talked me out of Santa, when we went to the train the line was ridiculous (and it was bath time).  We let him play.  It was the happiest I'd seen him all night...

It took me until the next day to realize that I am letting my love of Christmas activities drive my family away from ever wanting to do said activities ever again.  "I" wanted to take Zack to see Santa.  "I" thought that Zack should ride the train once more.  "I" thought it was worth it to push back dinner bath and nap because gosh darn we were going to have fun!
I apologized to Adam for snapping at him when he was trying to make me understand that standing in another line wasn't a great idea and I plan on intentionally thinking about Zack and Adam the next time I plan something and not thinking about the experiences we NEED to have as a family.  Ironically our MOPS mentor mom lead us on a devotional that mimicked my story...and my entire over planning life...and encouraged us to linger and enjoy rather than focus on the destination.  Plus I read a blog entry of a friend who described how she came to this same conclusion after taking her child to a museum.  Is God trying to tell me something?  Disclaimer:  I am not one of those people that get overly stressed about getting everything done during the Holidays...I may be worse since I LOVE everything having to do with Christmas and expect that Zack and Adam would also LOVE doing these things.  I'm working on it...

Cree Christmas Party 2012

I look forward to this party every year.  I love shopping for a new special dress (even if I HATE shopping for dresses).  I love going to the fancy party and playing wife to Adam.  I know I'm his wife all the time but I love making conversation with other CREE wives and meeting/seeing Adam's coworkers.  This year and last year we booked a hotel room downtown and left Z with the grandparents giving us a chance to sleep in.  The food is always amazing, the bands are great, and they throw in some fun shows.  Last year they got a bunch of the managers to be in a flash mob, and African Dancers.  This years they had two bands, and the gymnasts that hang from ribbon.

This year didn't disapoint.  I was a bit worried when I found out I was pregnant that I would be huge and miserable but I felt great!  I even found a dress I loved!

I decided that I am going to not drink and wear flats every year...usually by the end of the night my feet kill me and my couple glasses of wine are making me want to sleep.  This year I just needed to put my feet up and give my swollen legs a break.  Because I was pregnant I didn't think twice about having several plates of food in front of me or asking the bar girl to refill the bin of bottled water.  I was well fed and well hydrated...and no matter how enormous I felt I loved how everyone told me I looked AMAZING...I may have figured out something I enjoy about being pregnant.

Adam had a great time letting loose with his friends and drinking some good beer.  It was a much needed party after several months of late nights at the office.

34 weeks

How Far Along: 34 weeks

Maternity Clothes: yes!

Best Moment This Week: "Sleeping in" on Sunday

Weight Gain/Loss: +9 (lost a pound)

Gender: BOY...Hunter (still working on it) Milton

Movement: All the time.

Food Craving: spicy hamburgers and milkshakes

What I miss: a glass of wine at a party

Sleep: what is sleep?

What I am looking Forward to: all the Christmas parties we have on the books.

Symptoms: huge belly, fatigue, sore back, swollen feet, major pregnancy brain

Same/Different: pregnancy insomnia isn't as easy with a toddler. I am so thankful Zack is pretty flexible. I wish he hadn't decided that he now wakes up before 6 am and naps are now an hour.

Tummy Shot:

Why I needed to rake the leaves after Adam and Zack raked the leaves

It all started out innocent...

 yes...Zack is raking with a broom...

And then the Zack came out...

Adam showed him how much fun it was to jump in the pile...

 He decided not to let Zack have all the fun...

the leaves would have been left like this if we didn't have a showing on Tuesday.

Advent Activities

I decided to do the Advent Activity calendar to count down to Christmas because I didn't want the holiday season to pass us by without taking time to enjoy it.  The activities are mainly for Zack and I but I made sure to add some extra special activities for weekends.  I decided not to do one activity a day or pre-plan what was going to happen when.  Some of the activities were based on parties and playdates we were already invited to but most of them can be done several times and can be done at a moments notice.  At 33 weeks pregnant with insomnia and a toddler who all of a sudden decided to wake up before 6:00 am every morning I didn't want to feel forced to do something I wasn't up to, I still have to take care of little H.  It's more of a Christmas bucket list...we may not get tp all the activities and that's OK.  If Zack keeps taking shorter naps and waking up earlier we may do a Christmas movie in PJ's several times.  The whole point was to do something special with my little boy to celebrate Christmas...because Christmas doesn't just happen on December 25th.

Showering Hunter

My sweet friends threw me a baby shower.  I was so excited...even though I had a shower when we got back from China, taking your 5 month old to their own baby shower isn't the same, plus I needed a day to focus on little Hunter.

The food was Amazing

The decorations were adorable

The presents were lots of fun

Apparently my dad picked this out...mom didn't put her name on this one.

Now I need to find Zack something super cute to wear while little H is wearing this.

The company was awesome

And I went home with a cute book (and I am a sucker for Children's books) signed with messages for my boy.

Week 33

How Far Along: 33 weeks

Maternity Clothes: yes!

Best Moment This Week: Showering baby H and a visit from my college friend

Weight Gain/Loss: +10

Gender: BOY...Hunter (still working on it) Milton

Movement: All the time.

Food Craving: spicy hamburgers and milkshakes

What I miss: feeling human

Sleep: not so great

What I am looking Forward to: Adams company party!

Symptoms: huge belly, fatigue, sore back, swollen feet (after a day at the park)

Same/Different: pregnancy insomnia is beginning. With Zack it started full force at 35 weeks and in no time I was sleeping only an hour a day/night. Now I am sleeping several hours at night but not enough and I feel like a zombie during the day...thankfully teaching elementary school left me with the skills to put on a good face no matter how sleepy I am.

Tummy Shot:

Week 31-32

How Far Along: 32 Weeks...8 to go!

Maternity Clothes: yes!  and thanks to some wonderful friends who have lent me some cute ones.

Best Moment This Week: Pregnancy massage...best birthday gift ever!

Weight Gain/Loss: +7

Gender: BOY...Hunter (still working on it) Milton

Movement: All the time.  His down times are getting to be few and far between.  

Food Craving: spicy hamburgers and milkshakes 

What I miss: liking food

Sleep: not so great

What I am looking Forward to: My shower next week.  We had a shower when we got back from China (Zack was five months old) but this will be my first real shower...and I'll get some quality time with the ladies in my life to focus 100% on the new little guy.

Symptoms: huge belly, fatigue, sore back, swollen feet (after a day at the park)

Same/different: I had some major snoring issues with Zack and none so far with Hunter...when I was pregnant with Zack I would wake myself up I was so loud!

Tummy Shot:

Thanksgiving

This year was super special!  We were able to spend the Holiday with both our families without doing double meals.  Adam's parents were nice enough to invite my parents and grandma so I wouldn't have to ride in a car to Charlotte (avoiding swollen legs and back pain), and so Adam wouldn't have to deal with a cranky wife who was in pain and not sleeping well or a toddler who doesn't sleep well in other places.  It also kept me from taking 3 days to prepare for an overnight stay and 3 days to settle back (I mean really...how does one night in Charlotte take time to recover).
Adam and I are really blessed not only that we have families that get along with each other but that enjoy each others company.  I grew up with both grandparents at every holiday event and I loved it, how special for a kid to see all their grandparents...the spoiling is unreal when 2 sets of grandparents/great grandparents compete.
We ate a lot!

Guess who was super excited to graduate to the kids table...and no it isn't my mother in law...although she does seem to be enjoying herself.

Adam's sister, her husband and his father

Adam's cousin, her husband, his aunt, his grandma, my mom, my grandma and my dad.

4 pies, cobbler, and ice cream

The kids played...

Zack loves playing on grammy's piano

almost as much as he loved being included in the big kid games (speeding down the hill in a wagon). 

The ladies looked at Black Friday Ads...

I did so well on Black Friday!

The men...well...

I was actually there...and I am so happy that I actually remembered to take pictures this year!

A day with Zack...

You may not care so much but this is my baby book...the ONLY place that I record information about my pregnancies or my family. I'm sure once H comes I will quickly forget life with 1 little boy. Here is a day in the life of Zack and mommy.
-We wake up between 7-8 (the 8 is recent...and started when we moved Z to the big boy bed). If he wakes up before Adam leaves he "helps" Ada get ready while mommy takes her time getting out if bed. Since today he woke up at 7:45 we colored and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He LOVES the hot dog dance at the end and dances along while singing "daw, daw daw..."

-Once I have completely woken up, we go downstairs and eat breakfast. Standing at the table is one of the battles I choose not to fight...I know it's dangerous but I'm always there and we had such a hard time getting him to eat properly that I figured I would rather have him eat than sit...at least for now. To be honest he has never fallen and I figured if he does it may teach him a lesson he won't learn from me nagging him. Zack is a learn from mistakes kind of guy...which in a way I love but it would be nice not to sit back and let big kids push him down or fall down a few steps...I could be way off on this whole parenting thing but he hasn't pushed his friends or raced down the stairs without holding on for a long time.
Breakfast is usually a bowl of cereal that we share and maybe some grapes or blueberries.

-After breakfast I clean up downstairs (unload dishwasher/straighten the living room from Adam and I relaxing the night before). We are trying to keep the house as neat as we can so if someone calls for a showing we don't have too much to do. If we are going out in the morning this includes making beds and straightening up the bathrooms.

-If we don't have to be anywhere we have playtime in the playroom...usually blocks, books, throw the balls, chase or hide in the tent. We are working on cleaning up one toy before getting out another.

-After we play I make beds and take a shower. I leave Zack in the playroom watching Disney and playing...I usually get 2 min before he shows up in the bathroom. He used to stay with me the whole time but he can reach more things now and I ended up climbing in and out of the shower preventing him from playing with or flushing Adams glasses or our toothbrushes. The 2 min allows me to wash my hair...I figure anything else is a luxury.
-We usually have somewhere to go in the morning (Tuesday- MOPS or some sort of MOPS get together, all the other days we get together for playdates/run errands/dr appointments (these happen a lot between pregnancy and toddlerhood)/trips to the park or farmers market etc...when we go out I like to pack lunch and get back in time for nap. One day a week I like to have a morning in for laundry. and what not. Today was a laundry day.
-At around 10 we have a snack.

-We play/work some more (or head to the grocery store)
-I've learned that getting Zack to eat lunch is a lot easier if he helps to make it.  He pretty much just stabs the bread and helps me put the lids on.  He enjoys helping and I enjoy that he likes to do things for himself (sometimes).

-After lunch we clean up and get ready for nap.  Sometimes we read books or watch an episode of Clifford (depending on how tired I am).
-We wake up and have another snack...I offer several options since little man wakes up super grumpy.  I lay out the plate of food and let him work out his mood while feeding himself.
-Today we decided to bake some cookies.  Zack loved stirring the flour and re-arranging the cookies on the sheet...silly me I didn't realize how many more cookies you could get on the pan if you bunched them all together!

-At around 5 we start working on dinner.  It takes him a while to eat...and I'm OK with that.
-We play some more and clean up the playroom.  He is really good at cleaning up.  It may take three times as long but I loves that he is such a good helper.
-Bath time is Zack's favorite...he loves the bubbles!  He brushes his teeth and runs away as I try to get his pj's on.

-Zack drinks some milk and goes to bed...without crying.