holiday mini album

The last weekend in February was my annual get-away scrapbooking weekend with my sisters-in-law. That weekend always brings me joy, joy, joy. And completed projects!

I present, our holiday adventures. Weighing in at 5 by 7 inches, and about an inch and a half thick... sandwiched between delightfully see-through acrylic covers... tada!




Click the photo to see more of the album. I still need to add some journaling on the last pages, but wow, does it feel good to get a project out of my head and onto paper (and glue).

I love this little album. We had some great times and great pictures in December.

more... and more

JT got the hang of opening presents as we went through our extended Christmas holiday. Here he is amidst a pile of wrapping paper and presents asking for more. And then packages kept coming in the mail after Christmas, so now he checks under the tree every morning to see if Santa came AGAIN.

Yesterday JT got a package in the mail from For Bare Feet. Aunt Memaw ordered JT about 6 more pairs of their socks! Now he has crabs, lobsters, hiking, and puppy socks to go with his favorite tractor socks.

The kid is rarely without socks. Last night he pulled off his socks just before bedtime. The floor felt so funny under his feet he went walking around in a little scoot on all the different surfaces. I allowed it for the 5 minutes before bedtime only... I am a major proponent of warm feet year round. Thank my acupuncturist. :)

boys' toys

I managed to make one digital scrapbook layout while we were still at my parents' house for Christmas. So if I never get around to scrapping the other 296 pictures I took over the holidays, at least I'll have this...

The guys were seriously thrilled with their gifts. It's the first year my dad didn't tell us, "you really shouldn't buy me anything." John LOVES the gps. We call her Roxy. And JT loooooves trucks. If you didn't know that already, perhaps I have been remiss in mentioning it here.

hide-n-seek

John got a Flip video camera from Santa for Christmas. We have a digital video camera already, but this one makes taking video easy and fun. We can shoot random, everyday videos like this one of the boys playing hide and go seek and not feel like it's a chore.

The camera actually takes great quality video. So please disregard the lighting in this clip that gives it an eerie "blair witch project" vibe...

mama, Mama... MAMA!

I mentioned that I took somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 pictures during Christmas, right? Do you know there are exactly 3 of me with JT (or just of me anyway). This is the best of those three.

Once again, John was chided for never taking over the camera. At some point, even a bad photo is a good photo when it's all you have. And shame on me for not handing over a camera to other family members. I had two cameras with me the whole time anyway...

So if I saw you over Christmas and you have pics of me... please send my way. Please.

And this red-headed boy I am holding in the photo? He sure loves his Mama. I couldn't even go to the bathroom without him running around yelling, "mama? Mama? MAMA?!"

holday wrap-up

Christmas came and went with a flurry of activity and traveling. We visited John's family in St. Clairsville for Christmas eve and Christmas day. Most of John's family looked like they had seen a ghost when they saw JT. They say he looks exactly like John did.



We spent Friday night with Aunt Joan and Uncle Wayne in Canton. JT spent the evening amazing them with all the tricks and new words he has learned since Thanksgiving.

On Saturday we visited with my Grandma and my dad's family in Akron. JT was more attracted to GG's tree than any others he has been around. But his Grandpa was sure to keep the tree safe...



When we got home on Saturday, we started opening all the new toys and checking them out. The fun continued into Sunday. I think by now we have opened everything and all toys are in their new locations ready to go. Here are John and JT trying out the Tonka race track:



I think I have something like 300 pictures from the holidays... will share more soon.

celebration, round 1

This morning was Christmas with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. Luckily, Santa knew where to find us today...


JT didn't want anything to do with the presents until he had some breakfast...


It took a while to get all the presents open because JT had to play with each as he opened it. Of course, once everything was opened, the combination of presents got a little awkward (well, awkward for some of the other presents)...


Grandpa also quite enjoyed his Christmas present... not sure where Santa was with the wrapping on this one... he just hid it in the back of our car!


We took a break mid-gift-opening to have some breakfast. Grandpa made pancakes for everyone... and yes, JT ate AGAIN...


Uncle Bill and Aunt Theresa got JT a big dump truck. It took him a bit to figure out if he was supposed to ride in the back of the truck or just push it around. Turns out this is a toddler-powered truck...


Finally after bugging Grandpa all day, JT convinced him to go for a walk. Grandpa found out that JT is not so much about holding your hand on a walk. He's a big boy and can walk, er run, on his own, Grandpa...

decking the halls

We spent Saturday rearranging the furniture and putting up the Christmas tree. It's always a major, messy production. But this year was much easier since it's the second year with our artificial, pre-lit tree.



JT didn't actually help much with the decorating. Although, on the plus side he also hasn't been too destructive since we got it finished.



He took a THREE hour nap, even through all the noise of furniture-moving and cleaning. We really liked how pretty his hair looked when he woke up.



And here we have it... Christmas at our house.



What do you think of the furniture arrangement? I think it's cozy and more conversational. It's screaming for a fire in the fireplace. I need to get rid of a chair that we just don't need and some other clutter. I also still need to come up with a shelf storage solution to get stuff off the floor and to be better organized. AND we also want to replace the tv with a flat screen. But I think I like it this way. We'll see how it works for us after Christmas before I make it permanent.

How is Christmas coming along at your house?

wishlist

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Can you believe it's getting close to Christmas? I've been thinking on a wishlist. Although, I think I am really only getting one thing. I want it, but I think hubz and Nana want me to have it nearly as much... and that is a telephoto lens so I can really get those far-off action shots of JT in the wild. I think I'm a little afraid of so much lens though... we'll see what happens.

Here are a couple ideas that don't come with so much pressure... heee!

Quick & Easy Photo Albums - I'm intrigued by combining photo albums with scrapbook pages lately. I have soooo many pictures that I'll just never be able to scrapbook all of them.

Lap Desk - I like spending cold, dark winter evenings under a blanket in my comfy chair. But the computer doesn't like hanging out with the blanket. With a lap desk, we'd both be happy!

Bracket Punch - Brackets are fun, what can I say?

And if I'm really going to be wishful, I'd also like a lensbaby, a gorillapod, and anything from my Etsy favorites!

quick summary in photos...

On Thursday evening we had carpet installed in the basement...


On Friday we got the house all cleaned up, chores and errands done, and finished wrapping packages...
Then we went to visit John's family for the weekend. JT got presents out the wazoo... and spent a ton of quality time with Aunt Jen and the rest of the family...

On Sunday we had our Christmas exchange with John's Dad and JT's cousins... the group photo of the kids didn't go so well. And yet, I love this photo... :-)


If I don't post again . . . Merry Christmas to all!

more wrappin'...

Oh my... there are still packages to wrap! I think I have 6-8 more packages to wrap tomorrow night before I can put away the wrapping supplies. A few much-anticipated packages arrived tonight, so I was able to get those wrapped. Just one more package is still in the mail somewhere. Good thing it wasn't intended for anyone in particular. (I always buy a few extra whatnots to add to other gifts, you know?)

We are having carpet installed in the basement tomorrow. If you've been reading the blog very long, you'll remember those tales - and the debacle of a floor solution. Anyway, we're just going to do wall-to-wall carpet like we should have done in the first place. It should be nice. I'm looking forward to it. Of course, it also meant that tonight we spent picking up and moving all our stuff down there. Ugh. Too much stuff. (Most of it the crafty stuff...)

JT went to bed EARLY tonight. I fed him dinner a little later than usual, then a bath, then off to bed. We skipped the nighttime bottle for the first time ever. He has been sound asleep for 2 hours already... it's so weird. I remember a few weeks ago when I'd be thinking "a couple hours of sleep before he needs fed again". Time flies... please, stop! I don't want my baby to grow up too fast.

Next week is all about him. I am going to savor every bit of him that I can. Luckily for me, it will mean going to bed early and greeting the day a little later in the morning - yahoo! For now, n-night.

wrappin' presents

I told you we had lots of fun on Monday... here is one of our activities...


And certainly, don't let me catch any of you putting your baby in the Bumbo on the tabletop AND letting him chew on plastic wrap at the same time! I had to get the package away from him... he was seriously going to make a meal of it!

santa baby

JT and I had a day o' fun. We did some shopping and hung out all day. He laughed so much today and pretty much captured hearts everywhere we went!

I hadn't really planned to spend so much time at the mall. But he was so enamored by the whole thing, we just sort of goofed off. He loved the lights and the music and the PEOPLE! He didn't cry over Santa. They just sat and chatted a bit... JT reached out and touched Santa's beard. Luckily for Santa, he didn't pull... tee hee hee.

Of course, he screamed in the car most of the way there and most of the way home. I'm not sure what is so terrifying in the back seat of the car... and why he doesn't fall asleep instantly back there like the other 90% of infants.

Well, I can't wait to see his beaming face again in the morning... so I am off to bed to hurry that along. :-)

I can't get enough of these photos. This one is totally "my parents are so weird". lol...

Ok, I'm committing. I signed the pledge to buy handmade this holiday season. Etsy is the place! Recently I bought this print which I framed and hung in my bedroom. And I love this quilt I got for JT just before he was born. Otherwise I have held back. But if you're on my Christmas gift list this year... watch out, it's gonna be a Crafty Christmas. muhaha.

how many days til Christmas?

Yay... it's Christmas season!! I think I have all my Christmas cards ready to be mailed. I finished them up tonight. Obviously, having them finished this early in the game means I didn't write anything meaningful and sentimental in them. They all feature a darling picture of our little Christmas angel, so I think folks will overlook the lack of sentiment. (Next year... words, I promise.)

Now I just need to get the Christmas music loaded back onto my iPod.

making seasons bright

So what if he didn't make the finalists for the Gap casting call?! What do those people know about cute babies anyway?!


Our friend Bryan took some amazing pics of JT for our Christmas cards at the open house on Sunday. Awesome, awesome shots that we are just drooling over!

Christmas Survey

This came from Allison... I'll answer here since it is so fitting to the season.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Wrap. But it certainly isn't any wrapping paper you've ever seen before!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Right now? Colored. I thought I was a white light girl... but I'm liking the colored lights. Don't tell my husband.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Mistletoe is not native to Ohio, so no.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
December 2 this year.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Can fudge count as a dish?

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Hmm... there's a lot to love. Our family friend dressing up as Santa and coming by on Christmas eve... getting up before everyone else to check out the goods... opening one present on Christmas eve... etc.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
It sort of evolved. I still hate to think there's not a Santa.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yep.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
With collected ornaments and lights. Next year I'm toying with an idea for some garland. And I REALLY need to get around to sewing the tree skirt I have in mind!

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Love the snow. Everyone get where you're going and then bring it on!

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes, but I can't stop.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Hmm, hard to say. I had a favorite doll growing up and I'm pretty sure she was a Christmas gift.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Being healthy and with family.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Let's go ahead and use fudge again!

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Putting up the tree.

17. What tops your tree?
A gold star with lights.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving... I wish I hadn't slept through November so I could have made more gifts this year.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Silent Night

20. Candy Canes?
They're awfully pretty and they taste ok, too.

21. What do you want for Christmas?
Relaxation.

do you hear what I hear?

So what are you listening to this Christmas? I have TONS of Christmas music. I LOVE it. I loaded it all back onto my iPod and have been jamming away since the first of December.

The first one I've listed is my favorite from when I was a kid. My mom had the record. Yes, a RECORD was my only source for this album until several years back when I found I couldn't live without it and got it on cd.

I'm also a big fan of the Nutcracker Suite. It's probably the only classical music I can actually hum along to. I won't be asking my husband to accompany me to the ballet any time soon, though. He went with me the first year we were dating and aside from it not being a great performance, he just didn't like anything about it. Oh well... I'll take Nana and our little munchkin in the future. We'll have a blast. I remember it being magical when I was like 10. And of course, the Ohio Theatre was nothing less than an amazing work of art... I couldn't believe they would even let people like us sit in their seats!

So here is a short list of what's playing on my iPod this Christmas:

• Favorite Christmas album ever: Merry Mancini Christmas by Henry Mancini, his orchestra and chorus.
• Favorite Album from last year: Martin Sexton's Camp Holiday.
• Favorite New Album this year: Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong.

What are you listening to? Anything new I need to know about?? :-)

Last night I got home from work and plugged in the Christmas tree.

tada!

Then I lit every candle and oil lamp in the living room. Next it was off to the kitchen to start dinner before John got home. Hamburger Helper taco something-or-other. (Hey, he bought it, not me.) So I made dinner and we ate. John cleaned up the kitchen and started the dishwasher.

We needed to work on a photo project for Christmas, so we sat down at the table in the dining room where I had the laptop and scanner set up. So we were plugging away scanning photos... when what to my super sniffer did I smell?? (Mind you, in pregnancy, I can smell everything.)

FIRE!!!! "John, something's on fire. Check the candles." He looks in the living room.... nothing. Gives me the look like I'm crazy and paranoid. I keep sniffing. "No, something is definitely on fire. I smell burning." I sniff the dishwasher. It's suspect. The dry cycle is on. I open the door and smoke billows out. Aaaah... the smoke alarm is wired to notify the fire department.... open all the windows and turn up the fan!

Turns out the bamboo spatula had fallen from the top rack and was laying on the heating element. Kids, don't try this at home... it's very dangerous.

But what are the chances that this would happen when we are sitting RIGHT next to the dishwasher? On a normal day we would start the dishwasher and he'd go upstairs to play video games and I'd go downstairs to scrap. The dishwasher seals pretty tight, so we might not have figured it out for a while.

Oh, and the spatula happens to be one of my favorite kitchen items. It's for the wok. It was a set of two - for left and right hands. How would you like to tell the left hand bamboo spatula his brother died in a firey accident in the dishwasher? It wasn't pretty, I tell you.

And about that super sniffer.... I got out of my car at the fitness center at work last week. It was the day that it snowed. I was getting my stuff out of the back seat of my car and thought, "I smell a chai latte from Starbucks." I start heading into the building and there he is across the parking lot with his holiday Starbucks cup. He's lucky chai has caffeine or I might have tackled him for it, it smelled so good.

Have a good weekend. And whatever you do... don't run your dishwasher unattended.