Fourth and Final Christmas

Kevin's parents came up today. Anna and Carter each got a Leapster 2. I got the three pictures I wanted for the chocolate painted wall in the kitchen. Kevin got to hang them which was a challenge because one was a slightly differnet size and each had it's wire at a different height on the back. But they are hung and look nice.

It snowed some more and we're getting another 1/2 inch tomorrow morning. I'm hoping I can make it to work without too much trouble on Monday. We're getting another storm on Wednesday so it's good I'm off on Thursday and Friday next week. Crazy weather.

Christmas #3 - Santa Claus Comes to Town

Anna woke up first. She came into our bedroom and asked me if she could watch cartoons. Ok I said. I turned them on and as she is sitting on the couch her eyes got wide and she said Santa Came! But she still didn't get up to go check everything out. I think she even said something like "I think I see my DS"

I actually went back to bed and she watched cartoons for a few minutes. But Kevin and I knew it would be long so we went ahead and drug ourselves up. We also wanted to see how much snow we had gotten. Finally Anna said she wished Carter would wake up and I told her she could go wake him.

She came out and said that he said he didn't want to get up. She came downstairs and I was headed up to get him when he peeked his head around the corner from his room and got that twinkle in his eye when he realized Santa had come.

Anna got a Nintendo DS with Dora Puppy game. She was obsessed with it all day. She also got a cow webkinz and rainbow markers that click together, all from Santa. Carter got a digital camera, a dump truck and a pillow with Slugger and his name on it from Santa.

From mommy and daddy they got books, Anna got doll house toys and Carter got more Geo Trax train toys.

Afterwards we bundled up to play in the snow. But it was bitterly cold and windy so we only lasted a few sleds before coming inside to warm up with hot chocolate and oatmeal.





The roads were too bad so Kevin's parents decided to wait until Saturday to come up so we headed to Sam and Candi's in the afternoon. The Christmas they were supposed to be hosting also got cancelled because of the weather. So we helped them eat a nine pound roast, mashed potatoes, gravy and green bean casserole. I also ate quite a few peanut butter balls.

This year didn't really feel like Christmas to me. Even with the snow and the kids being really into it. Not sure why. I have felt unprepared all month. I started out so good getting the decorations up early but too many hours at work this month made me a bit of a scrooge at the end.

Plus I hate the cold as I might have mentioned a few times.

"Can I taste-test the cookies for Santa?"

Yes Anna, yes you may.

The kids are cracking me up this year - looking out the window and saying they see Santa's sleigh and Rudolph's nose.

"I want to go night night" - Carter

Why can't they say this every night? Ha.

Well, we had lost the charger to our digital camera battery so I wasn't able to post any pictures over the last two weeks. No idea what happened to it. It might be in Tahoe. So desperate times (have to have a camera for Christmas) call for desperate measures and I spent $40 on a charger that won't even hold the battery in place in the wall charger so we had to put tape on it.

Today we had Christmas #2 at my parent's house. Zach gave Carter a voice changing mega phone and my parents gave him a drum. Kevin says he must have wronged someone in a past life. They are two of the most annoying toys we have ever had.

Before:


From Uncle Ben:


From Uncle Zach:




My favorite moment of today was the twinkle and amazement in Anna's eyes as she opened a jewelry box my mom gave her and the ballerina began to twirl and the music played.


I mailed my Christmas cards today. So they will arrive after Christmas, but hey, better late than never.

We have a tape shortage and lots of gifts left to wrap so we may be using stickers and scrapbook adhesive because we are currently in a blizzard warning and everything is covered in a sheet of ice underneath the 8-10 inches of snow we are anticipating.

Merry Christmas!

Less than three days till Christmas

And I just addressed my Christmas cards. I am so behind this year.

I added up the total hours I worked two weeks ago and it was nearly 60 hours. No wonder I haven't been able to keep up with my daily posting.

One more day and then a four day weekend! And apparently it's going to snow quite a bit on Christmas Day. The kids are way excited!

On Thursday Tassie ate an entire platter of cookies while I was away at Starbucks getting some coffee.

I think at Carter's checkup he was 36 inches tall and weighed 36 pounds. I think. Although on our scale he only weighs 32 pounds.

Santa always put toothpaste in Kevin's stocking. I think this is a horrible stocking stuffer. Who wants toothpaste? What did you get in your stocking? Best stocking stuffer ideas?

Poor Carter

Poor Carter has eczema everywhere. It looks awful and he said it doesn't feel good and it must be itchy cause he keeps scratching. It's the worst on his left shoulder and arm, down the right side of his body and behind his knees. His cheeks are pretty red too. I literally have been covering him head to toe in Aquaphor the last two nights.

Tonight I had used up the rest of the Aquaphor I had so I went to Walmart and bought two of the biggest tubs they had. I joked that I needed to get it at Sam's Club but Carter didn't understand and kept asking me if I got the "medicine" from Sam.

I also got a prescription filled that we got at his checkup on Thursday (when it actually didn't look too bad but took a turn for the worse on Friday). We also started a humidifier in his room tonight. In addition he has a light rash covering his entire body. I've been giving him Benadryl but it doesn't seem to make it go away.

He also had two bloody noses today. I ended up making him stand in the bathtub until he would quit crying cause otherwise blood was just getting everywhere, including on me and the rug.

I think he and I are ready to move somewhere warmer.

I ventured out to Toys R Us today and had pretty good success. I think I was there for over two hours. They were sold out of Lincoln logs and doll clothes. Seriously. I also can't seem to find the game Simon. I thought Anna might like that game but maybe they don't make it anymore. I'll have to look for it online.

My mom and I took the kids to see The Princess and the Frog. It was pretty cute. I think Carter ate an entire large bag of popcorn. I thought he would take a nap but he didn't fall asleep until after we left and were driving home.

Tomorrow we have Christmas #1 of four Christmases in less than a week. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I only have to work Monday through Wednesday so that's good.

Is Christmas Over Yet?

We have four Christmases over the next week starting in two days. All I want for Christmas is to sleep late, wear my pajamas all day and veg on the couch but it's not looking like we'll have any downtime time until New Year's weekend.

Carter's Christmas Program

Candi's video is from the right side and mine is from the left. Her's is so cute cause it captures everyone's reaction as Carter arrvies (we were the last ones and arrived just in time).

Alex and Carter got to sit next to each other. Super cute.

Here are mine... Jingle Bells (I have to tell you cause you might not be able to tell from listening to the yelling, lol)


Santa Claus is Coming to Town:
Ok the battery on my camera died and I can't find the charger so I can load this one to the site. So this is all you get for now :)

Yay Friday!

So after what was perhaps the most insane week at work ever, which included changing my pants in my car at one point, I got to have some serious QT with my BFF. We had martinis and good food and chatted it up like two blondes who hadn't seen each other in two weeks and were bursting at the seems to babble on about their lives. I'm sure everyone around us was completely annoyed but we didn't care.

We talked work, kids, Christmas, family, everything. I feel sooooooo much better.

No hubby, no kids. Good girl time. What more could a girl ask for?

Eh

The best news I got today: My new car is coming next week!

I had kind of a crappy day. I just want this week to be over. I'm going to bed.

Carter had his Xmas progam tonight and we made it just in time. I'll post video this weekend.

Is it seriously only Tuesday?

I was up until 2 am last night working. Carter was up at 6 (crazy insane child. wonder what he was like at daycare today). I got ready and started dinner in the crockpot. This morning I had a breakfast bookfair thing at Anna's school to go to. Then I had meetings all day including one at 5:00 pm at which point I had some more coffee. I got home at 7:30, ate, did dishes, bathed children and then laid down with Carter for an hour until he finally fell asleep. I think it is more of the no-binky thing than the big bed. He's just restless laying there.

I am soooooo far behind on anything Christams (other than decorations). I need to get my Xmas cards ordered and buy some freakin presents. I think it's gonna be an online holiday cause I really have no desire to pack up the kids and get out in this frigid wet weather and try to shop. I didn't get that nap last weekend and I could sure use it now.

Seriously. Just Tuesday?

It's 10:15 and my 3 year old is still getting out of bed

I've pondered getting a lock and flipping it around to lock him in his room.

I've pondered if they make cages to go on top of twin beds.

I've pondered putting him back in his crib.

Meanwhile I'm trying to get work done so I can go to bed. He is going to be so tired by the end of the week because instead of going to bed at 7 he's going to bed past 10three nights in a row.

Any tips for making a three year old stay in his bed?

Big Boy Bed

Yesterday was Carter's first night in his big boy bed with no binkies. I was shocked he didn't ask for his binkies. He did ask to go back to his crib twice. He got out of bed probably over 100 times. For three hours we worked on taking him back to bed. I rocked him for 15 minutes. I laid with him in bed for 30 minutes. He finally ended up crying himself to sleep at the foot of his bed on top of his quilt after Kevin "got mean" and mommy wasn't around.

My usual late sleeper was then tip toe-ing into our room at 6:00 am. He was so quiet that Tassie didn't even hear him coming and barked when he showed up tapping next to me asking for a drink of milk. After putting him back to bed he was then back up to go potty. After putting him back to bed I think he stayed in there for another hour until Anna went in and got him up. Someone will be in dire need of a nap come noon.

Next up for his room is painting and curtains. Not sure what we are going to do with the crib and the rocking chair. Maybe a slip cover for the chair?

Hungover

Oops, didn't have time to post yesterday. I'll post twice today to make up for it. Yesterday was a long day at work and then we headed to Kevin's holiday party for work. We arrived just in time for dinner and missed the cocktail hour which actually worked out great because Kevin is not much for mingling, if you can imagine.

I needed a few drinks but maybe not that many drinks and today... well let's just say I'm hungover. It was a rockin party (insert sarcasm here) as we closed it down at 10:45 pm. I made the DJ (who had a headset microphone) play Party in the USA as the last song and I was the only one dancing. I remember my dress also came unhooked at the top at some point late in the night when I was dancing. I didn't show anyone my boobs so it all worked out ok, but I was really wishing my BFF was there.

Those parties always make me feel young and not fat. Kevin and I did some pretty good people watching.

Today's to-do list
Get rid of headache
Go to Target, have a long list for here
Select photos of kids to buy
Order Christmas cards
Create annual family calendar and order for Christmas presents
Grocery store for dinner unless we order something to-go
And somewhere in there is definitely take a nap

Home Sweet Home

I am finally home tonight after spending most of the week in Indianapolis for some new training at ExactTarget.

I'm pretty sure everyone is happy to have me back. Kevin did great getting the kids dressed, fed and in bed on time. Carter wanted me to rock him and kiss him. Anna wanted to read me Amelia Bedelia and show me her new bookmark that apparently she "bought" in the third grade room on Tuesday and was clearly made by a third grader. The kids haven't had a bath since Sunday so don't smell them.

Kind of wishing I hadn't eaten so much at my two Thanksgiving dinners, the MU/KU game, and all the restaurants while I was out of town. I'm going to try to fit into a hot dress tomorrow night for Kevin's black tie optional holiday party.

And finally. It's cold. really cold. 20 degree cold. i hate the cold. welcome home!

Holiday Pictures

At the risk of spoiling our Christmas card photo, these are so adorable I had to share.

If I could just bottle the giggles here and save it forever.






Now if I can just decide which ones to order. I think I've narrowed it down from 107 to about 15. It's a start.

Daily December

As promised, I'm posting daily in December. I really enjoy Ali Edwards daily december scrapbook album she does each year but I don't have the energy or creative juice for that right now so blogging will be my Daily December.

I'm headed to Indianapolis for work this afternoon. I put on a crockpot of Taco Soup this morning for Kevin and the kids when they get home. It's a new recipe so hopefully it turns out good. Nothing like cooking onions and beef before 8 am.

I get back before the weekend and will have Friday off instead of Thursday so it will be nice to enjoy a three day weekend. I'm going to try to do some Christmas shopping by myself, or perhaps with Carter, on Friday.

I did get the house all decorated the day after Thanksgiving including the tree, mantle and front door so that is crossed off the list.

I have bought hardly any gifts, nor have I really even thought about it.

Happy 3rd Birthday Carter

My baby won't be a baby much longer.

At three you...
Are potty trained during the day
Are trying to outgrow your nap. but you still need it.
Are still sleeping in a crib
Are still using your binky at night
Ask me to rock you at night
Sleep in until 8 or later on the weekends

ok so you are still enough like a baby to still be my baby :)

you love...
playing trains
playing baseball
playing with the dogs
pretending to shop (you usually buy tools, wonder where you get that)
eating syrup with your pancakes for breakfast
playing with your "buddy" Alex at school

you like to read the books...
Snow by P.D. Eastman (one of my favorite authors - he wrote Big Dog, Little Dog)
The Very Cranky Bear (now my new favorite children's book)
The Sweet Smells of Christmas (this was one of my favorites as a child, with the scratch and sniff stickers)
If I had a Dragon (I think you like this one because it's about playing with a brother and you know you are Anna's brother)

I love it when you...
Hug me for no reason
Grin so big it shows your dimples (still no idea where these came from)
Clap your hands the way you do, just once
Say "Oh Man!" or "Gosh!" (you would probably be hysterical if we let you watch Napoleon Dynamite)

Daddy built you a "big boy" bed which has been in your room for quite awhile. We finally plan to get a mattress and I ordered the bedding which should come soon. You're excited to have your room painted blue with a baseball theme.

I still haven't made your 3 year check up appointment, so no stats. But I'm pretty sure you're tall for your age. Everyone says you look just like me, or at least my side of the family, and either my brothers, or my grandpa or my uncles, if they've met my extended family.

I love you very much and am happy I can still hold and cuddle you, like a baby. Even if you're three and growing up way to fast. Happy birthday!

Three is the New Two

Today was Carter's 3rd birthday. He was a monster.

He started by pooping in his pants this morning. Then he peed on the floor. Then he wrote on walls, doors and furniture with a permanent red sharpie marker while I was taking a shower and Kevin was not here. Then he wet his pants about three more times today. I took him to the grocery store to pick up his cake and get ice cream and he threw a fit for 30 minutes while I tried to get other groceries. I'm pretty sure everyone at Price Chopper wanted to ask us to never come back. Then he threw a fit when I left to take Anna to go buy him a present. He was fine while my brother Ben and parents were here and we celebrated his birthday. Then after everyone left and I was upstairs putting laundry away he found some cleaning spray and made a huge puddle on the kitchen floor and sprayed one of my newly painted walls.

Needless to say I put him to bed around 5:45. Around 8 I realized I didn't feed him dinner. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day because what I thought was going to be a happy day today definitely was not.

Carter's Bedroom Theme

Will be baseball. He loves it.

Blue sheets from Pottery Barn

Quilt from Land of Nod

I also have my eye on this cute $29 bean bag seat we saw at Target.

Curtains TBD. I'll match the paint color to either the light blue in the quilt or the sheets. I'll have to see how they look when they come in.

It's my next home project. Carter is very excited. Anna now wants her room to be blue.

Thanksgiving #1 (and other stuff i've been busy with)

We are back from Thanksgiving #1 in Rolla. It was a good trip, minus the hour of Carter crying on the way down.

I got my fix of Settlers of Catan, even though I didn't win. The turkey was great and so was the breakfast casserole which I think had blueberries and cream cheese. Add to that the chocolate peanut butter pie I stuffed myself with and well... it's time to start running again.

After the half marathon I ran about a month ago I have not run since. The cold weather and long work hours made me want to stay in bed. Tomorrow I have an early meeting so Tuesday I'm hitting a run in the morning. I didn't rejoin my running group this session but plan to in January to train for the Hospital Hill half marathon in June.

I only have to work 2 1/2 days this week so I'm looking forward to Wednesday! I'm getting the kids' pictures taken.

Oh - and I just painted my kitchen to look similar to a Starbucks - While Kevin was away on a hunting trip. Two walls are "thick chocolate" and has a plum hint to it, to match the tile, the wall with the windows I made a slightly brighter green, and the wall with the refrigerator is a coffee/latte color called "Sweet Georgia Brown." My only mistake was washing the curtains. They must have shrank four inches and now look ridiculous. I'm on the lookout for replacements. They are faded anyway.

I keep apologizing for not posting often. I am comitting to a Daily December month. I will post every day. Ali Edwards does a Daily December scrapbook. I can't scrap every day but I can post. And I also hope to get caught up on my days off this week. I have lots of pictures on the camera I would like to document. Since I haven't been uploading the pictures to Kodak Gallery with captions this really is my only documentation of journaling when I want to go back and scrapbook or try to remember when something happened. So I will get caught up! Here is my first step :)

On Monday they build my car! And Sunday Carter will be three!

Elmo, a Cheerleader and Superman

Carter is Elmo, Anna is a cheerleader and Alex is Superman

We taught Anna to say "I like candy yes I do, I like candy how bout you!?"

We were the only ones trick or treating in our neighborhood at first.


This house even had a motion activated flying ghost!

Carter always says "Alex is my buddy"

Carter with a mouth full of candy.

Mommy, I can't have these.

Lake Tahoe Pics

View of our resort from the beach.

Dinner at sunset

After the loudest breakfast buffet ever.

Our pool.

Our main living area in our cottage.

Pretty mountains the day we arrived.

We got up at 3:30 am to make our flight so needless to say I'm in sweats and glasses.


View from our balcony.

New Car Coming!

After driving the GMC Terrain, Ford Edge and Mazda CX7 I have decided on the Terrain and we made a deposit today.

We custom ordered one a few weeks ago and it's officially mine now. Unfortunately it's scheduled to be made on November 23rd so it won't be here until December. I'm very excited. It's loaded up - the SLT2 and we got the DVD players which come in the back of the seats, not the headrests so the screens are bigger. Black and lots of chrome so it's got some bling bling.

The best part is the gas mileage - because I got the 4 cylindar as long as I push the Eco button I can get the same or better gas mileage as I get with my Volvo S40. The back seat slides forwards and backwards 8 inches so when the kids are in the car I can have it forward and slide it back for leg room when we have another couple with us.

Hello from Lake Taco

Our living space.


From the beach outside our room.


View from our balcony.

We are at Lake Tahoe on vacation, or as Sam keeps calling it - Lake Taco. It is very beautiful and peaceful here. The beach is rather deserted and the water is calm. I am trying to relax and chill out. Looking forward to a full body massage at the spa tomorrow.

The kids are having a vacation with their grandmas. I'm sure I'll get to come back to sugar loaded, sleep deprived, spoiled, undisciplined little monsters. But for now they are loving it.

We have a cozy 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath cottage complete with mini kitchen and a fire roaring in the fire place.

I am the only one of the four of us that is up on my gaming. I'm up on roulette and slots. We all learned how to play basic craps but I don't think that is my game. Anna and Carter's birthdays both won on roulette for me.

Heading to Indy

Trying to finish packing and I'm very indecisive. Hence four pairs of shoes plus a few extra outfits and running gear for every climate and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need an extra bag to get back so might have to pack that too. Ugh.

I think I did 5 loads of laundry plus dishes and errands and grocery shopping and I never got that nap I planned for the weekend to bank some sleep.

They've got us busy from 8:00 am to 11:30+ and I'm planning heels the whole time so my feet are going to hurt when I get back.

Speaking on Wed at 4:15 eastern time, just for a few minutes but think of me and wish me luck.

I'll be mostly updating on twitter. #et09 follow me @emailgirl if you're interested in email marketing tips, trends, or just my take on the conference in general.

good luck with the kids sweetie! although I always hear they are better behaved when I'm not around. I will miss you guys!!

Fell off the wagon

I was doing so good on my running. I even lost two more pounds and another pant size. I'm one pound away from goal weight.

Then I caught a cold last weekend. And I worked late every night. And it got really cold outside. And it rained one day for 24 hours. And voila I haven't run in a week.

I'm going to try to run 10 miles tomorrow. Maybe that's a bad idea. Maybe I will only do 8. The KC Half Marathon is a week from tomorrow so I feel I need to get a longer run in to be ready.

Next week I'll be out of town for work so it's going to be a challenge to get my runs in. Although in an email today they said if you are interested in going for a jog on Wednesday and Thursday to text in for special updates. I am, so I did. Maybe I'll get a few outside runs in in Indy after all.

Oh yeah, and I convinced one of my co-workers to sign up for the half marathon with me and she hasn't run in 3 months so we ought to make a good pair this week trying to run before the race, ha!

Not Stray Dogs

So Tassie and I ran last week on Friday and Saturday. On Friday I noticed what I thought was a fox and then decided was a stray dog because it didn't have a furry tail like a fox. On Saturday as I entered a neighborhood across from us a dog ran from a house and right in front of us and bolted across the street barking and running through the neighborhood waking everyone up at 5:45 in the morning, on a Saturday.

Last night I realized I'm an idiot and these aren't stray dogs, they are coyotes! In this neighborhood! Kind of freaky.

I bought a new leash yesterday for Tassie, Gentle Lead. It's supposed to keep her from pulling. We tested it out walking around the neighborhood yesterday. Tomorrow I think I will try it running. I'm tired of her practically pulling me off my feet to chase a squirrel.

Fall festival carnival

Every year our city has a fall festival weekend. There is a parade and carnival and the kids love it. This year it was a little cold with the wind but we still had a good time.

Watching the parade and collecting candy.


The slide was not as fast as you would think. Here's Anna.



Here's Candi and Alex. He cried so hard when they got done cause he wanted to do it again.



These swings were pretty fast.


I think the train ride was probably the best. They were giggling and laughing so hard it made Candi and I laugh hysterically too.



Anna said this ride was boring.

The boys seemed to like it.

We also ate corn dogs and cheesy fries. Good times.