Christmas

We had a very nice Christmas. The Man's brother, wife, and their three girls came up and stayed a couple of days with us. It was so nice to have Tamara here - she did the dishes the entire time and helped me cook. *sighs* They left too soon.

We had our Christmas Eve dinner on the floor and spent the rest of the evening with our friends the Shelton's. Christmas morning was, of course, gift time. The Boy got tons of books and puzzles as well as a race track, some magnetic blocks, and this lovely little number that took The Man many hours to assemble the night before.

This sucker is made of solid steel and is a danger to my walls, but the Boy loves it. Can't beat that.

We did Christmas dinner with the Pulley's and had a really nice time. I'll be sad when The Man has to go back to work tomorrow. Since he's been home, he has done all the dishes, made most the dinners, finished all the laundry, spent two full mornings out with the Boy, brought me whatever food I demanded, fixed a light switch, and set up our generator (just in case). Now THAT'S a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

We hope yours was wonderful, too.

If You Haven't Already Heard...

We are, indeed, expecting. Anyone who lives near us probably already knows this and has for some time. Between my informative two-year old and my unstoppable nausea, it was pretty difficult to hide. We are due on the Fourth of July. I have a gift for having due dates land on a holiday - the Boy was due on Valentine's.

This time around has been more difficult than the first. Eating is such a chore. I have spent a good amount of time in the bathroom and even more time contemplating but fighting it. The Boy has been very sweet and helpful during these times. He comes into the bathroom and generally asks if I'm "spitting out the baby". He stands next to the toilet and offers his flushing services, too. On occassion he waxes empathetic, leaning over the bowl, coughing, and spitting, claiming that he is also very sick. It is a welcome distraction and makes me giggle. I am, however, looking forward to the day where I gain a pound rather than lose. Let's hope that comes soon.

A Nasty Cold and a Black Eye

We went to a Christmas Tree Farm for preschool on Friday. It was absolutely freezing, but the sun was out. The Boy was surprisingly brave to go down this slide by himself. Or maybe not. While it looks like it could be fast, he had to propel himself forward. He enjoyed petting the goat and playing on the hay pyramid.

Unfortunately, at some point after, he picked up a bad cold. Now since he's such a happy sick kid, he was still up to his no-good chasing of the dog last night. Unfortunately, he wasn't watching where he was going and the dining room table is right at eye level. Poor boy.

Can you see it?

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

I got a slight chemical burn today. It's on my umm...backside. How do you get a chemical burn on those cheeks, you wonder? You sit in undiluted Drano. I know what you are going to ask next, too. Why did I sit in undiluted Drano? Well...The Man poured some down the tub and forgot to flush it with water. I, not knowing he had done this, went to take a bath a small while later. I decided today to sit in the tub and THEN start the water, rather than letting it fill up first. I didn't notice my backside burning until after I got out of the bath. The Man read the back of the product on what to do for skin contact. It says "wash with water". I think I took care of that.

So there you have it. My "pants" are seriously on fire. I am seated while I write this, but I'm sitting on my heels.

Thanksgiving

We had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at home this year. The weather was cooperative enough that we went to the park that morning.


The Man had his hands full with the Boy and Roxy.

We ate lunch around 2:00. Where's the turkey? We didn't have one. We had filet mignon instead, and it....was....good! And easy. They took 10 minutes to broil - no problem.

The Boy helped make this cute hat in his preschool class. He loved it!

Conversations with the Boy

This is a conversation the Boy and I had this morning while I put clothes away:

Him: Hey mommy, you know what?
Me: What?
Him: You're a sweet, sweet girl.
Me: Aw, thank you. You are a really wonderful little boy.
Him: Oh, thank you. You know what?
Me: What?
Him: You are delightful.

Well I just melted. I'm not sure where he got the word "delightful", but seeing as how I've been anything but lately, I was so happy to hear him say it.

Halloween!

The Boy was a lot more interested in Halloween this year. He could not wait to get into his costume. The idea started out as hobo, but ended up as Huck Finn. It was surprisingly difficult to find a child size straw hat. This panama hat was the closest I could do.

I know it's huge, but it was so cute I couldn't bring myself to cut it down.

We crashed the other Ward's party on Wednesday...

...and then went trick-or-treating over at the Pulley's on Saturday. Thanks Anabel for coming with us. Unfortunately, it was so windy that night, the hat kept blowing off. Oh well...after five houses, he was done anyway.

Here's the Plan...

I love this sequence of pictures I got at the Apple Farm a few weeks ago with the Boy and his friend from preschool, Lena. It makes me think they were coming up with some sort of mischievous plan...

Clear right.
Clear left.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

How Sweet He Is

Here are some of the sweeter things the Boy has said recently:

I got so incredibly lost in the city the other day. He knew I was bothered and sad. So he said from the back seat, "Mommy, you're a sweet girl."

A few days ago he was playing with the little pumpkin I just bought him. I asked if he liked it and he said, "Yes, it's pretty like Mommy."

Last night, The Man was reading to him. They came across a point in the book where it says that David is Elmo's best friend. The Boy said, "That David is Elmo's best friend, and this one (pointing to the Man) is mine."

This morning he was upstairs playing with his giant stuffed caterpillar. He said, "I like caterpillar because he's cute and he likes to go to church."

He seems less sweet at this particular moment as he crams his face into his cheerio bowl.

More Race Photos

I found some "official" race photos of Amy and myself as we made our way through Battery Park.

S is for Spaghetti...That's Good Enough for Me

The Boy loves spaghetti. He can put it down with the best of them. He starts off with a fork, but inevitably the hands rule. Can you hear me plead with him not to make a mess?

Remember the Bees in my Tree?

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch when through the window behind the television I noticed something fly through the air and land in the little tree next to my house. I go to the window and see this (the picture is cloudy because I took it through the window):

Ahhhhhhh! What's with the snakes this year? I think he must have been on my roof and flung himself down into the tree. Ugh. Creepy. I hate snakes.

Pre Pre-School

I put the Boy into a co-op preschool this year with some friends of his. He goes twice a week from 10:00 to noon, and I think it is working out pretty well so far. Of course, I haven't had to teach yet, so I may revise that statement come December. He really loves it, though.

The First Day at April's. They went on a "bear hunt".

Their first field trip was to the Apple Farm. I love the joy in their faces when they were all laughing at each other. Oh and I love the drool, too.

And then there was this dog...

Hey, kid. Could you please do me a favor? I have this itch, ya see?

Ohhhhhh, yeah. That's the spot!

I've grown weary of your scratching. I need a nap.

I think this will be a great experience for both of us.

Tunnel to Towers

As we did last year, some friends and I went to NYC to participate in the Tunnel to Towers 5K run. It was a little different this year in that it rained the entire morning of the race. We were cold, we were wet, we were ready to just get it over with.

I took very few pictures over the weekend. I seem to remember the days by what we ate rather than what we did. The Thai food at Pongsri, the salad at The Cafeteria, and the dessert at Max Brenner, and the bagel at Murray's. *drool* Nevertheless, here's what I do have.

Race Day. The Rochester Fire Department was nice enough to give us some shirts and sport them at the race this year.

Lue, Katrina, Amy, me, Ann, and Marilyn. I was under an umbrella up until we took this picture. The other women were less of a sissy than I and had already been standing in the rain an hour or so.

Clean and dry coming back from Chinatown later that day.

Randomly ran into Joanna, Suzy, Deborah, and Mary in Times Square on our last day. That was really great!

What is this Truck Doing in the Corner?

The Boy put it in time out. And how do you like the sticky hand print on the wall? Click to zoom if you can't spot it.

More from North Carolina

Fun with Dad.

Thank goodness for the hot tub, a warm water hose, and a kiddie pool. Otherwise, we would not have made it through the rainy days.


Chasing birds is hard work.

Naked pool. Always a good idea.

Vacation!

We went on our first real, family vacation last week to the Outer Banks, NC. We rented a house just a little way off the beach with my brother-in-law's family and had a nice time. Here's our place:

We really only had two or three days of good weather. The rest of the days were cloudy and always looking like it was going to rain. We still went to the beach on some of these days, but it was windy and not so warm.


The last day we were there we had sun! The Boy loved chasing the birds...


...throwing sand into the waves...


...and then running away from the surf.


This is him after a full day at the beach and no nap.


We will go back soon hopefully. Next time I think I'll stay here (yeah right):

http://www.carolinadesigns.com/cdfinal/asp/master/209m.asp

It sleeps about 28 people. Anyone want to come?