Christmas 2010!!!

As I put this post together, I came up with a New Year's Resolution- take more pictures!!! When he was a little baby I took tons, posed him with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Now that he is a little being with a mind of his own, a sense of independance, and a temper- well that just doesn't happen as much and I don't want to look back at these holiday memories and regret not having more pictures of him with his loved ones. Even if they are not all smiley, posed, and perfect- they will be real and priceless!

Gearing up for Christmas. Tuesday Brooks and I went to the Center City Macys to see the light show and Santa. This made me think of my Grandma because I remember her talking about the yearly trek to Macys, then Wanamakers, to see it. I have to say- it is obvious the technology is stuck back in time for when she went, but it was pretty cool and B was captivated for about 5 minutes.



When he started getting restless watching the show, we headed up to see the Macy's Santa. Well- it would have been ok if we had not had to go through crowded 'Dickens Village' first. This is the 'line' for Santa and is a small village with moving characters that portray A Christmas Carol. B hated it, got slightly hysterical, and was not into seeing the big man- at all.

Heading into Dickens Village- all was still well.



The aftermath- Santa at the end. He was horrified (B, not Santa, although Santa doesn't look too jolly either)



Thursday I decided to bake with Brooks. It just doesn't seem like the holidays without baking. This was B's first time baking and he had SO MUCH FUN! I will say, the cookies were tossed in the trash after because we forgot the baking soda. You will see in the pictures from baking how easy it was to miss that step- this was an adventure for sure. It is also not something I am going to repeat on the day after the cleaning ladies come.
Also- although we did throw out the cookies- don't worry, the utensils used for baking are different from the ones all over the floor. Like I said, B was having a blast.
First we cleaned up any stray dog food on the floor (Ming is a messy eater) and changed him out of his nice sweater

hehehe


The we got baking

At first he was intrigued and semi-helpful (or I should say not unhelpful)



He quickly caught on to the idea of snitching




And then the flour came out and I lost any attention of his that I had



Christmas Eve!!!
Like I said- posed pictures have become impossible- here is the evidence :)


I think he could have spent hours shutting himself in the foyer of Nana & Grandpa's house- if only he could open it himself (knock on wood- please don't figure out doorknobs anytime soon!)


MERRY CHRISTMAS MORNING!!!

Checking out the haul

A bit overstimulated


But SUPER EXCITED!

Opening presents- this is the first time we actually got him interested in helping rip paper

Enjoying presents!


Brooks was super spoiled- everyone was so generous with him! From extended family he got the huge foam blocks you see- they are awesome, even the same ones gymboree uses. He got the basketball hoop & net, small toys, a zebra scooter, a couple little people things, an indoor water art mat, dishes & utensils, snow gear, I could keep going on and on. Eric and I got him a bunch- but have not even gifted him with his 'big' gift- a manly play kitchen with faux granite and stainless steel appliances and all. We figured there is enough new stuff and it can wait until the tree comes down and we have a little bit of space back in the house.
We also got him a 'controversial' gift. Some may call it girly- but I don't care and he LOVES it. To prepare for Squeaks arrival, we got him a baby doll (which he can say Baby) and stroller. The kid loves pushing the stroller around so much it is ridiculous.


And to wrap Christmas up- we had snow!!! It snowed about 10" here- we were supposed to have a lot more, but 10" is plenty for me.
I got to break out his snowpants-


Then we went outside for about 15 minutes to check it out. It was too windy to stay out longer because the bitter cold and snow blowing onto our noses.
How cute is his new hat from Nana & Grandpa?



Obligatory shots with the parents


My snow cutie!


Walking along the sidewalk- thinking Daddy is nuts that he shovels the whole thing and not just a decent sized path.


The wind made a lot of snow drifts so it looks like a lot more than it was.



That is all for now- the sad thing is I have so much more to share (18 month dr appt, updates on Squeaks, etc). That is all coming soon! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is staying warm & safe!

Tis the Season to be Jolly!

*** look out for another post this week- Brooks turned 18 months old on Friday and we have monkey pics and such, but it was too much to put together all at once***


Tis the Season to be Jolly!!! The Christmas Season is in full swing and we have been having a blast. Last week we went up to NJ to spend the night with my family- it is going to be a yearly tradition to go see Santa & bake cookies with my mom (and my sister if she is available!)

Here is last years Santa picture for comparison:




This year he was not quite so happy to see Santa. Brooks has been having some major mommy attachment, and being placed on the big guy's lap and watching me walk away was a bit shocking to him I think.


The picture actually came out pretty well since he just looks shell shocked. Aunt Ali tried to sneak in some pictures from the second floor and you can see he was not a happy camper.


Brooks has been back to himself, seems to be fully recovered and back to making mischief and making me laugh. He also runs around the house fake laughing now and it is hysterical- I am working on getting it on video, however once he sees that camera he will not forget it because he loves to watch videos of himself on the little digital screen. It is a catch 22- can't get more videos of him because he wants to watch them LOL.
We stayed inside much of last week because it was COLD- like seriously cold. Thankfully it has since warmed up a bit, but getting out of the house in that freezing wind was icky.

So cold, we actually had our first snow that 'stuck', although not much. I went out to my car in the morning to find this: (random & hysterical)

Watching for Daddy out the window with Mingers

(he is in pants, he just plays with them and pulls them up)


I'm talking to YOU!


Climbing... his new favorite experiment that scares me. Note, his feet are up on the table here. He also tries climbing over the back of the couch and on whatever he can... Hopefully he doesn't make it out of the crib soon!



And tonight we finally decorated our Christmas Tree!!!

Brooks did suprisingly well. He helped out with the cranberries (Eric loves the stupid cranberries). We also had a couple cheapie ball ornaments that he could throw around. That was enough for him- he basically ignored everything else. The only thing that interests him and we will have to watch him for is the ball shaped ornaments. Hopefully his nonbreakable cheapies will keep his mind off the other ones.


All ready for tree decorating in his cutie Christmas shirt!!!



First access to the tree- it has been gated off (and will continue to be!)


'

Putting on the cranberries! and may I say he was VERY serious about it LOL

Somehow, all the cranberry sprigs ended up in the same spot.


He wouldn't let us sweep up the needles without his help :)


Helping Daddy with the 'balls'.




And a turn with Mommy & Squeaks




The finished product! Our tree looks so tiny. We tried to be conservative with size and I think we were a little too conservative. It is over 6 ft, but it just looks so teeny.

Recovery

Recovery mode
We are recovering from our mono week last week.
I am doing much better- I was a wreck by the end of the week both physically and emotionally. It drained me more than I would have imagined. Thankfully the weekend hit and I had Eric and some help, plus it was obvious my baby was getting better so a huge weight lifted off my heart and shoulders.

Brooks is doing a million times better. The highest temp I have recorded in 48 hours is 100.2, I even stopped with the motrin to see and it still didn't go up. I hate giving him meds for so many days, and he wasn't miserable without- so WIN! He is also back to smiling and playing. He is still getting drained fairly easily, and is sleeping more than usual, but I am not complaining about that. Thank goodness we are past the rough part.

Here our pictures from our week- you will notice a recurring theme of Pajamas, sweats, or nudey baby. Also an alternation between play and misery. Poor munchkin

Sicky Baby

Doesn't stop him from loving my shoes though- seriously, he could walk in these all day. He even throws a tantrum if he wants them while they are literally on my feet.


A bunch of medicines, a 3 hr nap, and losing his clothes to cool off helped cheer him up.



Miserable... just not feeling good


Hmmm... if it wasn't mono, I would think his notorious trash picking would have a part in getting sick


When you are stuck inside & sick- things get boring fast. What better way to switch it up than to play with household items like measuring cups and dog-poop bags

More misery


Half smiles- best mood we had all week

This kid takes no interest in cartoons- but if Daddy puts on ESPN he is entranced

Christmas Cards!

It's that time of the year again, time to send out our holiday cards!
Last year we used Shutterfly for our photo cards and I loved them, so we plan on using them again. It means so much to me to send out a photo card as a lot of our friends and family live far away and do not get to see Brooks throughout the year. I know I always love seeing pictures of people and their kids, and how they changed throughout the year. The best part is- there are so many options so you can include 1 picture or 4 or however many you want. With an active toddler, who knows how many 'good' shots we will get, so it is nice to have the options on whichever background we like.

Shutterfly has a ton of great options to choose from- I can't pick a favorite now- but I will have to when we have our winning picture.

Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

Since we are an interfaith family- we are also looking at less Christmas themed cards and more general holiday choices.

Holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

And when we place our order- we will also be ordering the gift for the grandparents. Each grandparent set will be receiving a photo calendar to show Brooks throughout the year- I am glad I took so many themed photos to help fill this in. It is going to be adorable.

wall calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

Mono

My baby has Mono- mononucleosis. WTF?!?! How does a 17 month old get mono.

Wednesday night around 6:30 B started burning up and I took his temp 104.7 . At that point I had it with waiting per my pediatrician's advice. It was day 4 of a fever, 3 of which were above 104, and each day the highest reading was higher than the prior days high. So we went to CHOP- Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania. This is the most gorgeous hospital I have ever seen- it is amazing. I hope not to see it again, but it is so nice to have such a renowned place less than 10 minutes drive away.

B was checked out- strep tested again because his throat had a "raging infection with puss". That was negative- so not bacterial, but viral. Which means no antibiotics to help- but the wait and see and give tylenol and motrin treatment. That sucks. I realize that it is no different from my peds advice- but at least they gave us an answer, said it was clear the fever was from the infection, and gave us a timeline for healing. This made me feel much better as I was beginning to worry a lot about something else being wrong with him that we were missing.

Now we are in healing mode. His fever seems to have peaked and has been lower the past 24 hrs. He is still waking at night so I am giving him meds to ease the discomfort. They said the fever should be gone by the end of this weekend and that within another week or so he should be back to himself- just make sure we push fluids because dehydration is a big risk right now. Fortunately mono in kids is much less severe than the adult version (think chicken pox vs. shingles). So he is alright, he is recovering, and this week has really just sucked.

Oh- and surprise surprise, today I found a new molar and 2 canines popping through. That must have made the poor little guy extra miserable these past few days. I feel so bad for him, but am also kind of happy it was all piled on so as not to extend his misery.

Happy Turkey Day & Blogging at 4:30am...

(best/only family pic from the day)

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Happy Thanksgiving!
We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. There is so much to be thankful for- our family, Brooks being amazing, healthy baby on the way, I could go on. We are very fortunate and had a wonderful holiday and yummy dinner if I do say so myself.
Although the holiday was great- the weekend was rough. I promise I am not always negative, but wow we can't catch a break lately. Thursday was a bit overwhelming since it was really the first holiday I have done all by myself without help- but it was great, exhausting, but fun & yummy. I was in tears for a while b/c I invited the inlaws for 1pm and people got here 2:35-2:50. I busted my ass getting stuff done and sat there staring at my apps crying. My turkey was out before they even got here. Livid is an understatement. Then when I say this was the first holiday I did all by myself- I am not joking. Eric was very helpful, until we realized he HAD to watch B (we found him upstairs while FIL sat on his iphone). So Eric watched B and I cleaned up every single thing by my 27 week pregnant self without an offer of help from anyone.
So we wake up freezing Friday morning- our thermostat blew. Great, call the HVAC, they come out- not only did our thermostat die, but apparently our circuit breaker was overloaded and charring/burning- aka: extreme electrical hazard. So Saturday we had emergency service- hard on the wallet and hard on us which means we were without heat and electricity all.day.long. But we were fortunate they could fit us in and get it done. Fast forward to Sunday- good day until B came down with a 103.2 fever which just escalated to 103.9 by Monday morning despite medicine. Now it is Tuesday at 4:35 am and I have been up with him for over 2 hrs. I think past a certain point he just became 'awake' and was not going back down. Right now he is happy (watching Baby Einstein as I type)- but we tried & cried (yes both of us) for almost 2 hrs to get him back down. Eric even came to help- probably b/c he heard me muttering since I was getting hit (B just wanted to get down and run and I wanted to sleep). Eric sleeps like the dead- so for him to hear while the monitor is off means it must have been loud.

So that is where we are right now- like I said, it has been a very tough few days. Hopefully whatever this bug is disappears ASAP b/c we have Santa plans later this week wtih Nana & Aunt Ali and I don't want to cancel.

PICTURES:
Thanksgiving. I don't have many pictures AT ALL from turkey day. In fact, once his shirt is washed I am going to put him back in it to get a pic. I spent most of the day in the kitchen prepping & cleaning so handed Eric the camera- but he's not into taking pics, he was distracted by playing with B and the nephews (no surprise there- I married a kid at heart).

6 months down, only 3 to go!



Table for 10!

Appetizers- waiting for people to arrive

my pretty, festive, mantle

Yummy turkey!


Eric's cache of pics from turkey day!

(that's not a white bra shining through- it's his jeans, that bugged me for a while until I realized LOL)


Hostessing with a toddler is HARD- he was into everything, everywhere and it was hard to keep an eye out.

.


We had Grandma Barbara over for turkey day on Friday and B actually ate a Thanksgiving meal. On Thanksgiving itself he gorged on appetizers and ate a million pretzels so didn't eat much dinner. One thing I learned- the kid LOVES cranberries.



Here is our sicky baby relaxing with Ming... He never just 'sits' like this.



And my silly boys- the following is all courtesy of Eric LOL :)