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: