Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Decorations

This weekend we kicked off the Christmas season by setting up our tree.  This is my favorite Christmas tradition and shared on both sides of the family.  Every year as I set up the tree I take the time to reminisce about the year we purchased/received it.  This year I spend less time reminiscing and more time keeping the precious ornaments away from little people.  We had one that was eager to touch everything and get the tree decorated and another that wanted to undecorate the tree as quickly as the ornaments went on.  I'll let you decide which one was which.

This year we added a few ornaments to the tree.

This one we purchased at the San Diego zoo, obviously.  When I first purchased it I thought it was a little big but given the poor selections I bought it anyway.  It turned out to be a good choice as it is plastic and can with stand the roughness of a one year old who will likely tear it off the tree many times before Santa arrives.

I couldn't resist buying this digger for Grady.   You may not be able to read that it says Grady 2011 on it.  He was eager to find a perfect place for his ornament.

We couldn't leave Cooper empty handed so we chose this tractor.  Grady nicely placed the tractor beside his digger.  I couldn't have picked a better place myself!

It wouldn't be a fully decorated tree without a little Mator.

And don't forget about Lightening McQueen.  If you don't know who they are, you certainly don't have a 3 year old boy!

Both boys loved these ornaments and they are plastic!  I picked up 4 ornaments for $8 at Shopper's and it turned out to be a great purchase.  Doc Hudson and Ramone are chillin' on Nana's tree!

This is my favorite addition of the year.  Last year I wrapped everyone a personalized stocking and bought the stocking holders after Christmas.  I just love the way they look on our mantle!

For the first time in 3 years I put up our Christmas village.  I hate all the Styrofoam from the box and it just seems like a lot of work.  I was pretty sure Grady would love it and I was right.

Cooper preferred the annoying singing and dancing animals and Santa's.  Notice the singing frosty the snowman in the over Grady's shoulder....

With the tree up and the wreath hung we are ready for the Christmas season!

Mommy Dates

In the past few months I have been 'asked out' on mommy dates.  This was a foreign concept to me.  My friend Carmen recently wrote a post on having a trustworthy face and it got me to thinking that I must have one as well.  Being asked out by another Mom is like being in high school and a boy asks you out and you don't know how to say no nicely. Or worse yet, you say yes and during that date it is awkward and you can't wait for it to be over.  Yes, this happened to me.

I am very fortunate of having many friends around me that have kids around the same age.  Grady has no shortage of friends to play with and I have no shortage of other Moms to discuss any issues I am having or getting parenting tips from. I am lucky, I know.  Not to say that I don't want to make any new friends.  It is just where do I fit these 'new' friends in when we don't even see our existing friends enough?

The first time it happened to me was at Grady's gymnastic class.  Nana was on holidays for a few weeks so I took Grady to gym while Cooper enjoyed the class from the Bjorn.  The very first class another woman and I started chatting.  She had recently moved to Calgary and didn't know that many people.  I had 2 boys, she had 2 boys, so of course we had lots to talk about.  At the end of that class she gave me a home business card and asked if I wanted to get together sometime.  I felt bad ignoring her as I had to see her weekly for the next 2 weeks so I emailed her and we picked a date to get all 4 boys together.

It started out OK and then she started talking about this babysitting cult co-op she was in and how they disciplined each others children.  That makes sense, if you are babysitting, you have to discipline the other kids the way you see fit.  She asked me if that was OK.  Sure, I said, thinking she was never going to babysit my kids.  What isn't OK is disciplining my kids when I am sitting right there.  Hello?  I am sitting right here.  I can handle my own child in my own home.  I was less than impressed.  When she left I knew there was no way I was every having a play date with her ever again.  As Moms, we did not click.  Aside from the last gym class, we never communicated again, maybe she felt the same way.  My first mommy date experience was not a success.  I gave myself credit for trying it out.

Moving along, I have been known to make friends at the park.  Almost every time I go, without realizing it, I strike up a conversation with a mom with a boy similar in age to Grady so we can follow the kids around together and chat.  If Grady is happy I am happy so we end up at the park for long periods of time and it is nice to have a little adult interaction.  Usually when one of the kids are ready to go home, me and the other mom say good-bye and we each go on our merry way.  Except once.

Grady and I were at the park and I started talking to the mom of another boy at the park.  He was quite a large boy for his age and quite clumsy at the park.  He didn't talk much and wasn't overly social.  That doesn't stop Grady. He followed this kid around for most of the time we were there trying to play with him.  I really enjoyed the mom's company and obviously she enjoyed mine as she handed me a home business card before we each headed to our vans.  She told me if I was ever at the park again to give her a shout and they would try and meet up with us.

I never contacted her.  I felt awful.  It wasn't that I didn't like her, I did, I just prefer to see my existing friends if I am going to the park.  It sounds really mean to type it - but it is true.  I left the business card in the van for quite sometime before throwing it out.  I felt really bad about it.  I didn't want her to feel like I was rejecting her.  Totally like a date in high school.

The third and final incident was at Grady's preschool.  One of the mom's that works takes random days off and brings her son to school.  I hadn't seen her in over a month and when we arrived at school she immediately acknowledges Grady by name and gives me her contact number saying that she has Mondays off and would love to get the boys together.  I was faced with a dilemma.  I have to run into this woman periodically over the year and her son and Grady's son may end up friends.  What to do, what to do?  I decided to drop her an email with my contact info so that the ball wasn't in my court only.  To this day, we still have not arranged a play date and I am not sad about this at all.

I wish people would stop giving me their contact info.

I have come close to asking someone on a mommy date once actually.  There is this mom at preschool who I love talking to.  Her daughter is in Grady's class and she also has a younger son about 6 months.  We just click.  I talk to her before and after every single pick up.  There are other moms that chat with often but I am always looking to see if she is at school yet.  I finally introduced myself.  We knew our kids names obviously but I became known as 'Grady's mom' and not by name. I continue to talk to this woman and often think about asking her out for coffee after we drop the big kids off at school.  I am scared of rejection and of changing our current pleasant relationship at drop off and pick up.  That, and once I go back to work, I won't have time for new friends yet again.

This whole mommy dating thing is so comparable to high school.  It is about fear of rejection, putting yourself out there, and moments of awkwardness.

Wordless Wednesday

The post I am knocking on wood as I write it.

Grady stopped sucking his thumb.

There I said it.  He stopped about 2 months ago.  I didn't want to jinx it by talking or writing about it.  I just waited by seeing how long it was going to last.  He stopped sucking his thumb one other time for approximately 2 weeks due to a very sore throat.  When he started again, it wasn't gradual, he picked up where he left off sucking it often.

Just the other day we were watching Cooper's birthday video on the video camera (that still has every video we have ever shot on it) and we decided to watch Grady's birthday in June.  He was sucking his thumb.  After only 2 months of stopping it looked funny to see him doing what he was most comfortable with for more than 2 years.  

We went to the dentist a few weeks back and Grady told the dentist that he stopped and he got a special prize.  He was thrilled.  Have I mentioned I love our dentist?  I love our dentist.

I have my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed that we have seen the last of this bad habit.  So far (knock on wood) (knock on wood again just to be sure) Cooper is not interested in his thumb.  Remember Grady started at 11 months so in my opinion we are not 100% out of the woods yet, but I like to think we are just about there.

Cooper is sleeping through the night.

Right after his birthday he just got it.  He went from doing the 4am wake up to most days making it until 6am.  We aren't sleeping in by any means but we aren't getting up anymore during the night. The odd morning he wants to start the day in the 5's  but I leave him until 6am. I just can't bring myself to start the day any earlier.  Or... I bring him to bed with us until 6am.  There is never any sleeping on his part, but at least I get to stay in bed.

Since he was no longer having a nighttime bottle, when we ran out of night-time diapers, I switched back to 5s at night.  He woke up in the morning absolutely drenched.  So we went back to night diapers.  What is with my boys and pee?

Now that I have both of these items of my chest I hope I don't have to eat my words!

Pinterest

Everyone has been talking about this new site Pinterest.  At first I didn't get it.  Why would I want to 'pin' something to an imaginary Internet board.  I joined anyway and it sat idle... until recently.  I discovered an app for my phone so I can look at it on the go.  After a few sessions of me browsing while on the go I realized that this whole 'pinning' thing was kind of fun!

I want to show you my first pin that I actually attempted myself - A Christmas Card Holder.  I have wanted one of these for ages but never found one that I liked.  This one looked easy enough and with Christmas card season right ahead the timing of the project couldn't have been better.

I started by cutting a box in a rectangle in a box from Cooper's birthday gift.  The gift was fantastic by the way and is currently being enjoyed by both my 1 year old and my 3 year old.  I digress.

I bought some wrapping paper that I absolutely love and wrapped it up.

Doesn't it look great so far?

Then I stuck some stencils on the front to spell Merry Christmas.  I was disappointed with how the white turned out on the blue paper, but I am not sure black would have been any better.  Not sure what I would do if I made another. Maybe choose a paper with less of a print?

I cut my ribbon in 2 long strips and duct taped it to the back.

I realized after I should have used one LONG piece of ribbon instead of attaching a 3rd piece of ribbon the top.  Improvement point for next time.

I purchased small clothes pins to actually attach the cards to the ribbon.

Finished product in action with Cooper's birthday cards.

I am actually really happy with how it turned out.  The test will be to see how many cards it can hold before actually falling off the wall.

I was somewhat disappointed with the cost.

wrapping paper: $6

ribbon: $11

stencils: $5

cloths pins $5

So grand total of nearly $30.  This pinterest crafty thing could get expensive. I figure I can use the wrapping paper and the ribbon on other things so that brings the cost down.  I have since done 2 more things I found on pinterest.

I would say if you have time to spare that it is worth having a look at!  It can easily waste as much time as facebook - so beware!  

Weekend

This weekend I had the pleasure of having Candace and her family stay with us.

Sadly, I have no photos of her gorgeous little girl Amelia (who could stay up later than me) or any picture of her husband Mike (who played restaurant with Grady whenever he asked).  All I have is this one picture taken on my phone while at the mall.  At least I have that.

It was great to see them. Visits have changed over the years, but despite diaper changes, tantrums, night owls, and crying, there was still time to shop, eat, drink, and laugh.  Some things never change.

We went to Cross Iron Mills which I had only been to one other time.  It was when I was  over 40 weeks pregnant with Cooper and not really in the mood to shop.  Well this weekend we explored just about all the mall.  It was a zoo.  Seriously, it was so busy and we had to wait in line every where we went.  Every store had a line up.  I didn't care - I had no kids in tow so I was happy to just take it in stride.  I got some great gifts and even a few goodies for myself.  I can't say I am in a rush to go back there - but with company it was a great place to spend the day.

Every time we have company from Saskatchewan it reminds me how much I miss my friends and family back home.  It has been almost 11 years since I moved away.  Although I don't see us ever moving home (sorry Mom), there is a part of me that always wonders how my life would be different if we ever did.  I am so fortunate to have kept in touch with my girlfriends from high school and to be able to pick up the phone and call each and every one of them like we haven't skipped a beat.  We see each other only a handful of times a year and after each visit we are already talking about when the next visit will be.  Now we start the countdown to Boxing Day......

Too Fast.

My kids are growing up too fast.

A few days after Cooper's first birthday, 2 to be exact, he took his first steps. On Friday he cautiously took 2 steps on his own. James, Grady, and I all witnessed it. Saturday night he took a few more. Sunday he was all over it. This kid will be walking full time before we know it.

password is cooper.

Walking! from Christy R on Vimeo.

My kids are growing up to fast.

iPhone Randoms

Today my photo count on my phone is 446. I can't bring my self to erase them from my phone. I like looking at them every so often when I am bored. Here are a few random ones that now sit on my computer, my phone, and my blog.

Cooper sneaking Layla his food.

Snow drifts from Welcome Inn. I sent the picture to Deena just to make her jealous.

Another great day at the park.

On the way home from SK this summer.

Taken a few hours later. Does any thing beat watching a kid sleep? Don't ask me what is on his face. I have no idea. Probably chocolate.

Grady's first day of preschool. When he liked it.

Just a typical attempt of me trying to get a nice photo of me and the boys.

Cooper lovin' his bath. Me lovin' his hair.

Grady requested a trip to zeller, in his halloween costume, to ride the car at the front of the store. Notice he is in shorts. It was no where near halloween.

Cooper trying on a scooby costume that was an utter fail.

Trying on Cooper's outfit for family pictures. It barely fit. I had to stretch it out for the day of. Totally worth it though... the pictures turned out great!

Cooper enjoying a fall swing!

Grady trying out the bassinet. I couldn't get him in it as a baby and that day I couldn't get him out!

My 3 men enjoying the view in San Diego. Oh look, it is blue sky!

Cooper trying on the devil ears from my Halloween Costume.

Cooper enjoying a second cup. Empty of course!

And there you have it. The random things we do to fill our time!

Hair

One thing you miss out on having 2 boys is getting a chance to do a little girls hair. Pig tails, ringlets, and bow head bands are not priority when you have boys. I got the kids out of the tub the other night and I needed to spray conditioner in young Cooper's hair to battle cradle crap. His hair was long so I rubbed it in and made a faux-hawk out of his extra long hair.

Grady thought it was fantastic and we tried a faux-hawk on his hair to. As long as his hair is (he refuses to go the hairdresser and James refuses to cut it anymore) it wasn't long enough to get it just right. Instead I suggested using James' hair product and making it spikey.

He loved it!

Who said you can't style little boy's hair?

Party Time!

Since Cooper's Birthday was during the week, we decided to celebrate his birthday on the weekend.  I prefer to have our family party on the day of, but the kids just go to bed to early for it to be worth while.  And who are we kidding?  They aren't necessarily in the best moods right before bed.  Especially Cooper.

So we decided to have the party Sunday and have an early supper.  We had the time change working against us and both kids were up at 5:30am (new time).  We knew we were in for a long day.  Given the timing of Coop's birthday, we will likely have this time change battle every year.

While Cooper had no clue what was going on, Grady was very aware that party day meant a party, cake, and presents.  He was thrilled when I pulled out the party hats.

Cooper on the other hand, not so thrilled.

While Cooper napped, Grady and I decorated for the party. You can't tell from this picture, but Grady insisted that if Cooper was getting a '1' balloon that he needed a '3' since that is how old he was.  How could I argue with that?  Despite how it looks, we were not going for a Halloween theme, but I can see how one might think that. I can foresee that over the next 10 years we are bound to have at least one Halloween birthday party!

As always, Cooper's birthday cake was made with love by Nana. As always, she did a great job. It looked and tasted FANTASTIC!

I am going to go out on a limb and say that that best part of Cooper's party day was the balloons.  He loved them!  He wanted to hold them, hit them, throw them, and really just play with them.

This was the best picture I could get of the boys together.  The side by side wasn't working so I suggested that Grady sit behind his brother. He suggested putting his arms around Cooper's neck.  This picture was seconds before Cooper started freaking out, likely because Grady was choking him.

I did a self portrait of me and my littlest man.  I can't believe that this big boy was in my belly 1 year ago.  Time really does fly when you are having fun!

This was Cooper's look of the night. No smile, just staring.  He couldn't figure out all the camera's and flashes.  The cake and the sparkler were just another thing to be confused about.  He started out really slowly with the cake.

Then he really got into it!

He didn't actually eat a lot of it.  He mostly just squeezed it through his fingers and then flung his hands around to get the cake off.  It was much easier for Grady's 1st birthday as we ate outside.  Cooper left me with a bit of a mess to clean up!

Presents weren't really his thing, although he was interested in the paper.  Not sure he had a chance to get into the presents as Grady was all over it.  I kept telling Grady that he was helping Cooper but Grady was on a sugar high running a mile a minute.  It was actually sweet to see him work with Cooper to tear the presents open.  Then before even looking at the gift he was on to the next.  Cooper was happy to just watch.  It was surprising Grady even cared about the presents as he knew what all but one was!

The aftermath of the gifts.  Grady made his way around the room asking for the boxes to be opened.  Cooper was happy to sit in the paper and play.

It felt great to celebrate Cooper's first year of life and to celebrate the fact that we survived the year being parents to 2 active little boys.  It wasn't always perfect but we did the best we could.  At the end of the day we have 2 healthy, happy boys and wouldn't change a thing.

Happy Birthday to our little boy.   The baby of our family.  The flirt.  The non-sleeper.  The great eater.  The apple of our eye.

We love you Tooper!

Cooper - 12 Months!

Although you can't tell from this photo, today's photo shoot did not go as well as past months.

Dear Cooper,

Today we celebrate your first birthday!  Today we celebrate the little boy that you have grown in to.  In some ways it feels like the year just flew by and in others it feels like you have been with us forever! Simply put, we cannot imagine our lives with out you in it.  I can only imagine what the next year will bring!  For now, let's bring you up to date on your 12th month!

• At your 1 year appointment yesterday you weighted a whopping 26 pounds and were 28.5 inches.

• You are getting better and better at walking with assistance.  You are can even walk slowly holding only 1 finger.  If we give you both hands you can really cruise.  Some days I think you are really close to walking but I know that you could be at this stage for quite sometime.  We are enjoying watching you get more confident each and every day.

• You stand independently.  At first it was only when I let go of your fingers, but now it is all on your own.  It makes mommy scared when you 'practice' this in the rub...  sometimes you are a handful!

• Speaking of the tub, you love it!  When we go in the bathroom and I stand you against the tub you get exctied.  When I actually turn the water on you squeal with excitement.  Than Grady joins in and it gets quite loud!  You bath with your brother  99% of the time and 75% of the time it goes really well.  You don't want to be there for the other 25%!

Some looked like this if we were lucky.

• You wave on command, you wave goodnight, you espectially wave when you see Grady, Mommy, or Daddy.  Big Smiles!!  You love when Daddy comes home from work.  We watch out the window and wave like crazy and you immediately want him to hold you when he walks in the door. 

• You still bite.  It hurts.  A lot.  You mostly bite Grady and I often wonder if you do it on purpose.  You can tell that you are frustrated or mad and just take a bite out of his arm, leg, back....  On Dad and I, it is usually the neck and the inner thigh.  I think I have screamed every time you bite me and it is followed by you crying because I have scared you.  I really hope this phase ends soon.

• Right now you are into the stairs.  You could climb up and down all day.  You are pretty good on them.  Most of the time you even turn around on your own.  You also understand and respond when we tell you to turn around on the stairs.  You rarely try and go head first anymore.  With that said, you have fallen down the stairs a few times this month.  You are generally a tough cookie, but there were some tears shed on these occasions :(

• You are 100% on homo milk and seem to have adjusted.  At first you were spitting up more than usual but we haven't seen that in a few weeks.  You are also using a sippy cup more and more and only have a bottle before naps, at bed time, and during the night. 

• You are showing all the signs for teething but we have yet to see any teeth appear.  Some nights you were crying so hard I though you were getting 6 teeth at the same time. Alas, you still only have 4.

• What are your favorite foods right now?  You love sausages, watermelon, eggs, pancakes and the list could go on.  You are still a good eater and we are very thankful.



Most looked like this. 

• While on the topic of eating, I am not sure I have ever mentioned that it takes you well over 30 minutes to eat a meal.  You take your time and are quite pick in choosing the order of what you eat.  You often end up with it in your hair and all over your shirt. You pull your bib off quite early in the meal... or Mommy forgets to put it on. When you are done eating you throw the food on the floor.  The floor around here needs to be washed more than it does!

• You and Grady still don't get along the best but you have given me a glimmer of hope that you may play together some day.  There are times that Grady actually asks you to play with him.  Generally when you do go to play he gets mad and it ends up in separation.  You love to imiate your big brother and have been known to copy what he is doing with his cars and try to play with what he has.  It is so sweet and always brings a smile to my face.

• Sleep.  Still not my favorite topic I tell you.  You still don't sleep through the night.  We are in the process of sleep training for the third time and hoping that this time sticks.  It is hard on all of us but I think that if we all slept through the night we would all be happier people.  I know I would be!

• You are down to one nap.  After vacation we figured there was no point in going back.  So far you have taken to it really well and sleep between 2 and 3 hours.  It is a nice break in the day for Mommy and Grady to do something together.

• We are down to our last smell of baby on your sweet little head.  Mommy still loves to smell you when you wake up from a nap, there is still a hint of baby smell left!  Mommy loves that smell :)

• You love to watch Mom cook and imitate whatever I do.  Maybe you'll be a chef someday!

• You are now in a size 5 diaper during the day   We switched you to a size 5 'overnight' diaper and it holds in the pee most nights.  Except for the nights you get up 3 times and have a full bottle each times.  Yes... we still have those kind of nights.

• You wear mostly 12-18 month clothes and sometimes even an 18-24 months.

We love you so much Cooper and are so proud of everything you have accomplished in your first year!

Love,

Mommy