Thanksgiving and Christmas 2011

Now that it's January 17th, I'm finally taking the time to document our holidays.  Have you ever gotten so behind on something that you just keep ignoring it?  Yeah, that's me and blogging lately.

On Thanksgiving Day, we had a great little family feast, just the four of us.  The turkeys were pricey so we had a rotisserie chicken instead.  I highly recommend the lemon pepper rotisserie chickens from Publix.  Delish.  We also had cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes loaded with sour cream, chives and bacon bits, these tasty biscuits, cranberry sauce, and a Costco pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.  We also treated ourselves to our favorite beverages:  Izzes and Cheerwine.  I asked Bear, "Can you say 'Thanksgiving'?" and he replied, "Yum yum!"  It was sooooo satisfying.  The rest of the day we just watched movies, played games, and relaxed.  It was much needed.

On Friday we drove over to the west coast of Florida and spent the weekend in Fort Myers.  It was our first time visiting that side of the state and I loved it.  It was much more quiet and relaxed than our area.  We spent all of Friday afternoon on Sanibel Island.  To get to the island you drive over a large causeway with beautiful views.  It was such a quaint little island with neat shops and restaurants and a great beach COVERED in seashells.  We collected tons of seashells, even some giant conch shells.  After the trip I used them to make some ornaments for our Christmas tree.  That day at the beach was without a doubt one of my top ten favorite days of 2011.  It was peaceful and relaxing, and we had so much fun with our little family.  The weeks leading up to that trip had been very stressful so it felt amazing to kick back and relax.  That night we went to dinner at Red Robin - nothing fancy, but it's one of our favorite restaurants and there aren't any around here so it was a treat.  We stayed the night at the Hilton in Fort Myers.  The beds were super comfortable and it was a great change of scenery.  The kids slept pretty well.

 (This picture of my three boys is one of my new all-time favorite pictures!)

On Saturday we visited the Henry Ford and Thomas Edison estates.  Ford and Edison were good friends and they built their winter homes next door to each other in Fort Myers.  It was fascinating to tour the museum of all of their inventions and learn more about the thought process that lead to many of the modern inventions and technology that we use today.  The gardens were also gorgeous, right on the riverfront and we took a leisurely stroll to check out all of the tropical flowers, fruit trees, and giant ficus and banyan trees.  The homes were full of all of the original furniture and they had just put out the Christmas decorations.  I absolutely loved the character and old-fashioned comfort in those homes, especially the big wraparound porches and porch swings.  The temperature was perfect and there was a gentle breeze.  I could certainly see why someone would want a winter home there.  James was especially interested in all of the old Ford cars.

After we finished there, we headed back home.  James and I read to each other in the car and Bear watched Curious George on our phones.  It was the perfect Thanksgiving weekend, and it helped me survive the next few weeks.

The first few weeks of December were some of the most stressful that I have experienced in quite a while.  I was constantly on edge and I was definitely not as patient with Bear as I should have been.  James was gone all of the time studying for finals and only came home to sleep.  Bear was on an especially destructive streak and I totally lost my cool.  Being a temporary single mom of an energetic 2.5 year old and an infant was a huge challenge.  I have a newfound respect for single mothers.  Finals time for the first two years was not so bad but Bear was not as wild then, and there was only one child to look after.

It was rough.  For those three weeks, my patience was tested in new ways and I felt pushed to my very limit.  Looking back on it, I can think of hundreds of more challenging trials, but at the time, I felt constantly on the brink of going totally insane.  One especially difficult evening, I took both kids to Target and Bear was whiny the whole time, and when it was time to go he had an all-out tantrum.  On the way home I turned around and yelled, "STOP CRYING!"  Of course, that didn't help anything.  I think having it get dark so early didn't help matters.  I felt trapped indoors every evening when going out for a pre-bedtime bike ride would have worked wonders.  I survived the whole thing by doing lots of Christmas decorating, going to a few fun Christmas parties, taking the kids to look at Christmas lights, and all with the help of some good friends.

When James finally finished his last test, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  I was overjoyed to have him back from the evil clutches of law school finals.  We kicked back and did absolutely nothing for a few days.  Having an extra set of hands to help with the kids makes all the difference in the world.  And I love having my husband/best friend around just to hang out together.  We slept in, ordered pizza, played at the park, and watched unhealthy amounts of television.  After a few days of recovery, we shaped up, cleaned the entire apartment, and packed our bags.

Our Christmas trip to Georgia was the best one yet.  I drove most of the way there and Bear watched movies in the back seat while the other two boys slept.  The drive went quickly and smoothly.  We stayed in a four star hotel just a few minutes away from my in-laws' house.  Both kids slept well every night.  The room was luxurious and comfortable.  We had a lot of fun with James' family this year.  I was nervous about how Bear would treat his cousin Logan, since Bear can be rough, but they got along swimmingly.  There were also two dogs for Bear to play with so he was in heaven.  On the 23rd we had our little family Christmas morning with just the four of us in our hotel room.  I brought all of the presents from my parents and we opened them then.  My parents both did a thorough job of spoiling the boys.  It was so fun to see Bear's ecstatic facial expressions as he unwrapped each present.  James and I agreed that as parents it is now more exciting for us to see our kids happy than it is to do things for ourselves.

We spent Christmas Eve with the Potts side of the family and I got to meet James' great-uncle for the first time, who was visiting from London.  (James' grandma is British.)  That was a bit of a long day because the boys were both out of sorts but we survived it.  Christmas Day was with the Banks side of the family, as usual.  All of James' grandparents are getting pretty elderly so it will be interesting to see how all of the traditions change in the coming years.  But we had a great time visiting with everyone.

In the days following Christmas we got to see many of our close friends that we knew in Utah who either now live in Georgia or were visiting their own families there.  So many fun reunions!  We spent a whole afternoon with our friends Mark and Stephanie (we were all friends before any of us were married, and James' was one of Mark's groomsmen and I was one of Stephanie's bridesmaids, and their two kids are the same ages as our kids).  We went to an awesome place for the kids called Catch Air.  They had all kinds of bounce houses, giant slides, jungle gyms, ball pits, and that sort of thing.  We turned Bear loose and let him wear himself out for a nice long nap afterwards.

We also spent a day in downtown Atlanta with James' lifelong friend Taylor and his wife (newlyweds! precious!) we went to the World of Coca Cola where you can learn all about the history of Coke products and taste test hundreds of different sodas that they sell all over the world.  I thought most of the European flavors were pretty awful, but some of the Asian ones were quite tasty.  There was a green apple flavor that I really liked.  But of course Coca Cola classic is the best!
(Which reminds me, have you seen this yet?  It's hilarious and totally reminds me of James on prescription pain killers.  "I just want a normal diet coke."  haha)
We then visited the Georgia aquarium.  It was very cool, but it was also PACKED and Bear was long overdue for a nap so we were all feeling pretty irritable by the time we left.  We still got to see some interesting fish though.  Bear loved touching the stingrays and we went through the shark tunnel.  Bear loves Finding Nemo so he was especially excited about the tropical fish exhibit.
We went to The Varsity for lunch, an old-fashioned drive-in restaurant that has been open since the 1920's.  James taught me how to order an "F.O." (frozen orange, it's like a creamsicle slushie!) and I learned that coleslaw on hot dogs is a good combo.

During our trip we also visited several other friends including Michael, and Tommy and Laura in Gainesville.  It was wonderful to see everyone.  It was a perfect, relaxing trip.  The best part for me was having James around after barely seeing him for a few weeks.  The drive home felt longer (it always does) but I was happy to get home.  I noticed the contrast between winter in Georgia and winter in Florida this year... and I LOVE Florida.  I love the year-round warmth.  I love the green trees and sunshine.  There's no place like home!

James has started his very last semester of school and it's going to be a doozy but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Our Christmas vacation worked wonders for my stress level.  I feel decompressed and ready to face this busy semester.  James will graduate in May, take the bar exam this summer, and with any luck by this fall we'll have entered the REAL WORLD.  Wish us luck!

¡Christmas Traditions!

During the boys' nap time yesterday afternoon, I created a truly superb Christmas music playlist, if I do say so myself.  I know Thanksgiving hasn't even passed yet (and I promise I won't forget to write about it on ye olde blog), but I just couldn't help myself.  Christmas music puts me in the best mood.  Even when everything else is complete chaos, Nat King Cole's dulcet tones have a completely calming effect.

With Christmas on my mind, I'm starting to think about our family Christmas cards.  Here's what our card looked like last year:

Time for new family pictures!  Bear has grown a ton and poor Adric isn't even in them!  It feels like these pictures were taken just yesterday, but I wasn't even pregnant then.  So much changes in a year.  We've got plans to do some new family pictures soon.  (I'm so excited for the boys to wear their new outfits!)

As soon as I get the pictures, I'm going to rush to the Shutterfly website and whip up some cards to send out. We used Shutterfly last year and I was so happy with how the cards turned out.

What I especially love about Shutterfly is the contemporary feel of their designs.  Generally I think there is more attention to detail with Shutterfly's card designs than what you find at the big box stores.  They even get some of my favorite bloggers to do designs for them!  I do love the one hour waits at local stores, but their designs are usually more simple.  Shutterfly is conscientious of current trends.

This has been such a wonderful year for our family, full of countless blessings.  Shutterfly has great cards where you can share some of the highlights of the year:

They also have personalized address labels and thank you cards!  When Bear gets older I want to have him write thank you notes after Christmas to practice both his writing and his sense of gratitude.  :)

I could spend hours playing around with all of the different card designs.  So many to choose from!  Are you sending out cards this year?

(Disclosure: I wrote this post as a participant in Shutterfly's 2011 Holiday Promotion.  I received a set of photo cards in exchange for reviewing their holiday collection.  All opinions are my own.)

Oh Boy

This week, in an email to a friend I wrote "I can certainly relate about not having retained writing skills, etc. Since the person I talk to the most is two years old, I feel like my brain has turned to mush. Even my blog is sometimes a blithering chronicle of the lives of my children more than anything truly thought provoking. It is an interesting paradox to love being domestic but still want to stretch my mind and experience new things."


Regardless of all that, it's been a long time since I've done an update on the kiddos and I'm sure I'll want to remember this stuff someday.  So here goes...

Adric is the sunshine of my life.  He's such a good baby.  He sleeps great now and we've settled into a comfortable routine.  He still sleeps quite a bit during the day which makes it much easier for me to get things done.  He usually falls asleep for the night around 11:30 or midnight which is perfect for me, and he usually wakes up once or twice a night to eat.  There have been several nights, though, where I'll go out into the living room to feed him and accidentally fall asleep on the couch.  My muscles are always a little achy the next morning.  He is pretty dependent on nursing to fall asleep, and I know we'll have to train him out of that soon but I don't mind it so much.  He loves to cuddle until he is asleep - once he's out, he wants his space!  We often end up like this:

He's a great eater.  I am so relieved that I have been able to exclusively breastfeed him for nearly four months.  (You might remember how many problems I had the first time around.)  I have grown to love feeding him.  It's such a sweet bonding time for us - in fact, he often gets distracted from eating by having staring contests with me and he'll stop eating to smile up at me.  I just melt.  I've also become a lot more confident about feeding him in public so that I don't have to hide out at home or in the car or in a gross public restroom all the time.  I've finally gotten the hang of doing it inconspicuously (a huge thanks to my friend Molly for the cute nursing cover!) and at this point nobody even realizes what's going on, or if they do, they aren't presumptuous enough to say anything.  Most of the time, if I have a choice, I'll feed Adric somewhere private, but there have been a handful of occasions where we've been out to eat or at the park or a play date and there wasn't a convenient place.  I'm pleased that he has a steady diet of the most healthy thing available, and imagine how much money we've saved on formula!

Adric rolls all over the place.  He never stays in one spot!  He's eager to start crawling around, too.  He pushes his feet into the ground and ends up in the downward dog position.  He doesn't have the strength or coordination in his arms yet, though.  He loves to suck on his fingers.  At his most recent doctor's appointment, he had more than doubled his birth weight.  I love his little chubby cheeks.  The doctor told me that on a scale of 1 to 10 he is a 35.  He's a keeper for sure.

Now on to Bear.  Phew.  This kid wears me out.  I love love love him, but he certainly has his difficult moments.  Bear goes through phases where he behaves really well (I treasure them!) and other phases where he's a bit of a stinker.  For the past two weeks it's been the latter.  Overall, he is a happy, bright little kid, but the word the professionals use is "spirited."  He constantly wants to explore everything, which usually means making a mess or breaking something.  When we go to story time at the library, he does NOT want to sit in a circle with the other kids.  He is more active and more impulsive than other kids his age.  It's not that he's angry or spoiled or that he is a bad kid.  I'm not worried about any extraordinary special needs or medical issues.  I just haven't figured out how to handle his spirit yet.  I love him so much and I want to raise him to be successful.  His biting problem began a whole year ago and we still haven't kicked the habit for good.  He's gone for months at a time without any biting, but it always comes back to haunt us.  He started up again on Halloween, and after church yesterday the nursery leader pulled me aside and suggested that either me or James to be there with him until his behavior improves.  She was incredibly tactful about it, but I was still pretty torn up.  It's beyond frustrating to do my very best to teach him patience and gentleness but have it all be seemingly futile.


We do have moments where I think we're making progress.  He has gotten better at sharing.  At the beach last Friday, he took his bag of chips and, unprovoked, handed them out to each kid.  He also brings blankets from his room and covers Adric up and tries to give Adric his pacifier.  Sometimes he wants to lay down next to Adric and make eye contact with him and they laugh together.  Bear has also been extremely well behaved on Sunday mornings.  Since James has early meetings every Sunday, I have to get the kids ready for church on my own, and I also sit alone with them during sacrament meeting while James is up front being all preside-y.  Bear has been pretty great during those hours each Sunday - I guess he just saves it all up for nursery!


I still completely love being his mom.  Let me reassure you, I'm not a total wreck and Bear is not a little hellion child.  Life is still pretty grand for the majority of the time.  For all of the frustrating moments, there are an equal number of tender ones.  I especially love watching him say prayers at bedtime: "Hefaver... Thank you for this day... Love Daddy, Mommy and Eegock (how he says Adric)... name Jees Christ.... AMEN!!"  He usually loves bedtime.  We read lots of books, brush teeth, and say prayers.  As I tuck him in, he always says, "Love you mommy! Night-night!"


We tried potty training him a few months back, and while it wasn't a total failure, we decided to postpone it for a little while.  Bear was GREAT at going potty as long as we were at home and he didn't have friends over - in fact, during those times, he didn't have a single accident.  But being out in public or having friends to play with proved to be too distracting for him at this point.  I absolutely want to avoid forcing it on him before he is ready.  I've seen parents do that and the results made me sad.


I'm reading a few parenting books right now that are really resonating with me.  One is called Taming the Spirited Child by Michael Popkin.  The other is Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka.  These books have been a huge source of relief and quality advice.  They have reassured me that I'm not a bad mother and I don't have a bad kid.  I am very hopeful that we will be able to resolve Bear's behavioral issues and help him use his spirit in a positive way.  I think his personality will help him become very successful someday.  And as James reminds me, Bear is only two years old.  We'll get it figured out.

Halloween 2011

Despite the rain, we had a great Halloween this year.  It reminded me of all the rainy Halloweens I experienced as a kid growing up in Seattle.  I started my celebrating last Wednesday.  I meet up with some of my girlfriends once a month for a cooking night.  We take turns hosting, and whoever hosts picks a theme.  Then everyone makes and brings something centered around that theme.  This month the theme was "spooky food"... my friend who hosted the evening had amazing Halloween decorations!  There were so many cute and creative dishes.  I made these "it's alive" chocolate muffins.  

I bought dolls from the dollar store and chopped off their arms... I hope I didn't totally warp my son by demonstrating that for him but he was ripping their legs off anyway.  And all this while we were watching Toy Story!  The muffins were very rich and required a tall glass of milk.  I loved how they turned out.  Very spooky indeed.

On Friday James and I went to an adults-only pirate-themed murder mystery dinner party.  It was the first time I'd ever left Adric with a babysitter.  It was nice to have a break from the kids for an evening.  The pirate theme was really fun.  James' costume made me laugh.  I got him to wear some of my black knee-high stockings.  They looked awesome with his leg hair!  

On Saturday my husband had to go buy all of the food for our church's Halloween party that evening.  We decided to make it a fun family trip and we FINALLY got a Costco membership!  I am super excited about it.  I love Costco.  We got one of their big, delicious pumpkin pies... and don't tell anyone, but between me, James, and Bear, we polished it off by the next evening.  On the way home we stopped and picked up some pumpkins and carved them that afternoon.  Here's our scary jack-o-lantern.  

Bear loved scooping out the seeds and guts, but his favorite part was lighting the candle to put inside.  He is my little pyromaniac.  

That evening we headed to the church for the annual trunk-or-treat.  It initially began outside but after just a few minutes we moved into the gym because it started pouring.  Normally I love doing family themes for our costumes but this year I wasn't feeling it... I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old and boring.  James went as Muscles Glasses, one of the guys on the Epic Meal Time youtube videos.  (If you haven't seen Epic Meal Time, it is pretty funny, but in an incredibly obnoxious way reminiscent of Jersey Shore.)  He even made a bunch of bacon and handed out bacon strips along with our candy.  What a goofball.  I love that man.

Bear and Adric reused some costumes we had from two years ago.  Bear was Yoda and Adric was my little chunky monkey.  I didn't wear a costume but I at least wore a black shirt with an orange scarf and orange sandals.  I wanted to get some cute pictures so I spent a lot of time doing my hair before we left... you can totally tell, right?  I just love the rain.

After we got home that evening, I roasted the seeds from our pumpkins.  It was the first time I'd ever done it and I think it's going to be a new tradition because they were delicious!  I used this recipe.

On Monday, I took Bear and Adric to a Halloween party for the kids at our friend's house.  There was tons of festive food and games.  Bear was not interested in the pin-the-nose on the jack-o-lantern, but he could not get enough of the bat pinata!  He could hardly wait for the other kids to take their turn and wanted to be right there in the action... he almost got whacked a few times.  He was also enthralled with the dry ice.  That might be my new go-to boredom buster.  He loved decorating cupcakes.  His idea of decorating a cupcake consists of putting frosting and sprinkles on the cupcake, licking it all off, and then starting over.

All in all it was a great Halloween.  Now we're getting excited for Thanksgiving... I'll have to do another post soon showing you all of the crafts and decorations we have been working on.  Happy November!