My Christmas List

Dear Santa,

If it's not too much trouble, could you...

Get me a lifetime supply of chocolate?

Add 6 more hours to the day so I can read as much as I want?

Somehow take away the consequences of eating cookie dough?

Hang my Christmas lights for me?

Make me exempt from my to-do list for one week?

Make it snow on Christmas Day?

Get me a heating blanket? (ok, this one is actually on my real Christmas list!)

So, you'll look into these for me? Thanks!

Snow Day

Those of you who live in cooler climates will just have to excuse those of us who make a big deal out of the snow (however brief) that we experienced this past Wednesday. Yes, it lasted for less than 3 hours. Yes, it was a meager covering. And yes, it's just snow. But we've learned to appreciate each rare occurance of snow to our part of the world because they are so few and far between.

So, I woke up at about 7:30 am to a very pretty blanket of snow covering everything in our neighborhood accompanied by big, fluffy snowflakes still falling. By the time we had the boy bundled up and out the door (after breakfast) an hour later, the snow had almost turned to rain and the snow was no longer a pretty blanket. But still, Ethan got to romp around in it for a while and was not happy when I made him go back inside. Temperature...neither extreme heat nor cold...seems to dissuade him at all from wanting to be outside a good bit of the time. I am not complaining about that, by the way.

This was his first time to wear mittens and I was convinced that he would hate them. But surprisingly, he kept them on and any time he has seen them the past few days, he brings them to me to put them on his hands.

I WAS There: Thanksgiving 2009

I am officially making a New Year's Resolution a month early. I WILL be in more pictures of family events (and just pictures in general) from now on. I am not in one single picture from Thanksgiving. Of course, indirectly, there is evidence of my presence since I took all of the pictures, but I don't want to be mysteriously absent from all of our family albums. I did discuss this with Casey on the way to the lake on Thursday. I said, "please take the camera from me at some point so I can be in some pictures." And he said okay. But then I failed to force the camera into his hands. That's how it has to be done. Not his fault. We just both (always) forget.

Well, enough of that...we had a fabulous Thanksgiving this year. The food was great, I read 1.5 books, watched 3 movies (one of which was in an actual theater), sat on the porch, slept in (thanks to loving grandparents on both sides), visited with family, relaxed, and the Cowboys won.

Stop #1 was at my parents' lake house. Man, there was some gorgeous weather to go with the beautiful scenery while we were out there. Reading on the porch is the best thing ever. Ethan really got cooking with the play kitchen in his playroom and discovered his love for throwing rocks into the lake like daddy (who was skipping rocks, not just throwing...to be clear). I think Ethan would have stayed out by the lakeside all day throwing rocks if we had let him.

On Saturday, we headed down to Grandaddy Price's house/farm for another meal. I tell you, we hardly spent any time at all indoors that day. Ethan got to play with his cousins, which I think they both enjoyed. They certainly gave him a lot of attention. And he also got to drive the tractor with Casey...another thing that he discovered he loves. He cried and cried when he had to get off that tractor. Poor guy.

There are a few more pictures in our photo gallery.

18 Months Old

I just can't believe that Ethan has been around for a year and a half. He has now experienced two summers and is getting ready for his second Christmas. It's probably bad that I'm already getting nostalgic for those baby days. But, this 18-month-old is the light of our lives and still so sweet and precious. And getting funnier by the day. His personality is ever-developing and I think we're about to see some budding independence coming up pretty soon...if not already! Speaking of that personality...Ethan is cautious, sweet, loving, silly, meticulous, persistent, and giggly. Just to name a few of his traits. And he's still tall...here are his stats from his check up the other day:

Height: 33.8 inches (95%)
Weight: 27 pounds (70%)

"Oh, no!" Moments

The other day I walked in the house, up the stairs, and into Ethan's bedroom, when I heard Casey say, "babe...stop right where you are...I think you have mud on your shoes." And I did. There were about 20 mud markings to prove it. I still don't know how I got mud on my shoes in the first place, but I do remember scrubbing it out of the carpet.

We were loading the car and just about to leave for Thanksgiving this past week when I got a call on my cell phone from a number I was not familar with. I don't answer calls from numbers I don't recongize so I didn't answer this call. I did notice that when the phone rang, Ethan was holding my phone, which I don't let him play with. Apparently he had taken it from my purse. The caller called again immediately so I decided to see what was going on since it was Thanksgiving day. Turns out that Ethan had just dialed 911 and they were calling to make sure there was no emergency. Good grief, child. Out of all the buttons on my phone, you managed to push 9-1-1 in that order?

Today at the grocery store, I saw Ethan flick something from his finger into the cart out of the corner of my eye. I didn't see what it was but I immediately noticed what looked like blood on his hand. Then I realized he'd peeled off his bandaid, which he had gotten at his doctor's appointment this morning for his finger-prick. Then, I looked at his face and noticed blood all around his mouth because he's contstantly chewing on his fingers these days...he's growing teeth. Then, I realized that I had absolutely nothing to clean up the blood with. I have long ago stopped carrying burp cloths or wipes actually in my purse. I just keep them in the car. And I really didn't want to use my shirt sleeve...it wasn't saliva or snot, you know. So, we went to the Starbuck's counter and asked for a napkin. Crisis averted. The nurse had told me to make sure he kept the bandaid on his finger until it stopped bleeding...and I guess we didn't quite make it that long.

PJ Day Continued

Part of PJ day was doing the laundry, including the sheets on mommy and daddy's bed. Ethan loves to fall into pillows, blankets and other soft things on purpose...and then squeal, get up, and do it again. So, he loved rolling around on our unmade bed in the warm and just-washed sheets.

This is not grumpy Ethan (above). This is concerned Ethan...although I'll admit it's hard to tell the difference. The only reason I know is because I was there. And because he is such a cautious child, he was expressing concern about how he was going to get off the bed. In other words, "mom...quit taking pictures and help me."

Did I mention that I love footie pajamas...and the boy who is wearing them?

PJ Day

It's not very often around here that we stay in our PJs all day. But the other day, we did. These expressions...this boy...he kills me. I love him in footie pajamas. The thing about staying in your PJs all day is that we didn't go anywhere, obviously. It was great.