It’s a bird!
It’s a plane!
No! It’s Super Santa Lightyear!
Faster than a speeding…Mommarazzi.
To the North Pole…and beyond!
Dear Graham,
Happy Birthday to my big boy! Four years ago today, at 4:17 in the afternoon, you entered the world. Upon your arrival you completely rocked MY world and changed my life forever.
I had known love before that day, but the instant, unconditional, overwhelming love that I felt for you forever changed me. I remember sitting in church the following Sunday and starting to cry. Because if I loved you THIS much, how much more did it mean that God loved me? Unbelievable.
You are a joy and a delight. Your smile lights up the room and makes everyone around you smile too. We can’t help it. It’s contagious.
You still do that jumpy/bouncy/vibrating thing whenever you get excited and it makes me laugh every time you do it. I think I will mourn the day that you do it no more, for it will mean that you are that much older and even less of a baby.
Speaking of growing up, you started Playschool this year and you are in your element! You are a social guy, and are getting so much out of the time spent with Mrs. B and all of your other teachers. It’s only two mornings a week, but you would go full time five days a week if it were possible. I think that you will transition easily to Kindergarten next September.
People love you. I have so many people, both friends and strangers alike, tell me how special you are. How friendly you are, and what a neat kid you are. You will play with anyone you meet, whether they are a baby or a teenager. When we go to the park you join in with complete strangers as they play.
When babies are around (and there are a lot around here these days), you want to sit with them and talk to them. You absolutely adore your sister Emily. You always want to hold her on the couch. You like to lay next to her on the floor and talk to her, and you are disappointed when I put her down for a nap. You often tell me “Emily’s SO CUTE!â€
You and Nathan are the best of buds. You play together all day long, and with that come the standard small fights. You are both quick to say sorry, and that makes me proud. Any time you two are apart (like if he has a nap), all I hear about is Nathan and how you want to see him. You are a good big brother to him and teach him (words, manners, etc.) all day long.
You are also very sweet to both Daddy and I. You want to be where Daddy is, doing what he is doing…at all times.
Lately you’ve been telling me a few times a day, “Mommy, I want to give you a BIG hug!†You have also been saying to me at least once a day, “Mommy, I love you so, so, so, so, so, SO MUCH!â€
I love you too, dude.
Love,
Mommy
I called Karen a short while ago to wish her a happy birthday. The lucky girl spent a good chunk of the day at the Spa with all of the ladies in her family. She asked how I was doing…
I told her that I had felt OK until after lunch, when I had started feeling rotten. And had to run to the bathroom. Twice.
“Bummer”, said she.
“Literally”, said I.
This better not be the start of the flu, or I will not be a happy girl. I feel woozy when I walk around which means I’ve just been laying on the couch. Daytime TV sucks, so I brought the laptop over to keep me company.
I was feeling a little off emotionally too. It happens every year right after Christmas. There’s all of the joy and excitement leading up to the Big Day. Christmas Day itself is packed with food, fun, and family. Then Boxing Day hits, and I just want to crawl into bed for a week and sleep.
Unfortunately, preschoolers don’t seem to have that same urge, so I’ve been doing my best to not be Grumpy Mommy. I was doing well until Sick Mommy took over, but they’re happy to just have me around…even if I just lay on the couch in the same room that they’re in.
I hope I’m feeling better tomorrow, because we’re having everyone over for G’s birthday party. His 4th birthday is actually on the 29th but his aunts and uncles are likely heading back to the Coast that day. So tomorrow it is, whether I’m Sick Mommy or Healthy Mommy.
I’m hoping Healthy Mommy wins out. It’s bad enough that he has a December birthday. I want to give him as good of a party as I possibly can. I also want to have energy and a clear head so that I can write a birthday post worthy of my wonderful boy.
I think I need to get even more horizontal. Here’s to a better tomorrow.
Today is Karen’s 32nd birthday. If you know her, you likely know this already (If not – here’s your reminder. Call her.) If you don’t know her, you should get to know her. Seriously. Your life will be better for it.
Karen and I met 14 years ago at Briercrest. We didn’t become good friends until we met up in Vancouver about, oh, 10 years ago? My memory is fuzzy. Maybe it’s because I, too, will be 32 in a few weeks. At least Karen has beat me to it, yet again 
We spent a year as roommates and it was a great year. Look at our youthful faces:
Our cohabitation ended when we each married our respective hubbies…three weeks apart.
Matthew and I moved up here about a year before Karen and Travis did. They had this crazy idea to go and work in the States. I tried to be supportive, but I really wanted them to move here. Those plans didn’t work, and here they came. I’m still giddy about it…five years later.
Last year I had friends and family email me their thoughts and memories about Karen, which I put into a scrapbook for her. My eyes teared up when I read the tributes. It was another reminder of how blessed I am to call her Friend. Karen, you should pull that book out today.
She is an amazing woman, wife, mommy, friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter…the list goes on. She is more than a friend to me. She is family. As is Travis, Sarah and Ben. I look forward to being eighty-year-old white haired ladies, sitting at the table making cards and telling stories. And laughing. Hard.
I love you Karen!
Please join me in wishing Karen a Happy Birthday.
Yesterday was Christmas (obviously) and today is Boxing Day. Why is it called that? Is it because people fight each other in the stores for all of the good deals? Maybe. Can you believe I have never gone shopping on Boxing Day? It’s true. While I do like to shop, I like to go at times when it isn’t busy so I don’t get “mall disease”. Mall disease is when the crowds are so thick that you feel like you can’t breathe and you run out of the mall at mach speed.
Christmas was good. Matthew spoiled me, per usual. I spoiled him, also per usual. And we spoiled our kids. Kind of. It started on Christmas Eve, where we let them open one present from my Mom.
I knew she had sent jammies, and thought they would like to wear them.
They were very cute dinosaur pyjamas, but Graham really wanted to wear the Incredibles. He started to cry because he thought we would make him wear the new ones. Um, no, dude. You can where whichever jammies you please. Incredibles won out.
We didn’t spend much money on them, but we did cash in our Air Miles. We put every single bill and purchase that we possibly can on our Mastercard (and pay it off monthly) to rack up the miles. A couple of years ago we cashed them in for a sweet Sony stereo system. About two months ago, I was browsing through the reward offers on their site. I called Honey over, and he agreed that these would be the best. gifts. EVER!
They were a hit, to say the least. While Emily was sleeping we bundled up the boys and let them practice driving around the driveway. Matthew has them set to go the slowest speed for now, and it’s a nice pace…I can walk faster than they can drive.
We spent the rest of the day at Matthew’s parents. More spoiling was done all around, but not too over the top, which was nice. We had a great time visiting, eating, and laughing. The good times will continue today as everyone heads over here to sled down the back hill.
Emily slept through most of yesterday, per usual, so I just took this photo of her with the Elmo Auntie Karen got her.
I took this without a flash and I should have used the new tripod Matthew got me (yes!), but I was in a hurry. Excuse the blur – the girl never stops moving. Elmo’s a hit though. As was Emily with her aunts and uncles. We kept hearing, “She’s so tiny!”, and though she’s long, she is pretty lean. She sure looks tiny next to Elmo.
Did you know that Elmo loves you? He’s been singing it to us non-stop. We love you too, and hope your days have been filled with as much fun as ours have.
Some of our Christmas traditions:
The Christmas Card
If you didn’t get one, it’s because we don’t like you anymore. Kidding! I already complained about making them, so I’ll spare you the whining anew. Consider this your Christmas card.
The Family Photo
If we didn’t do this at Christmas, who knows how many years would go by without a picture of the whole family? As it is, this is the ONLY group photo from 2006. Seriously.
Baby’s First Christmas Photo Shoot
A bunch more are on Flickr. I had a hard time deciding which one to post here. Check ‘em out.
The Sugar Cookie Party
Here’s the array of decorated cookies:
Graham’s technique wasn’t so much about the decorating and putting them on the tray. He would decorate one, then eat it:
We did manage to get him to wear clothes yesterday to go outside and play, but upon coming back inside he became Mr. Incredible again. Note the icing all down his top. He was really into this.
So much so, that his little tummy decided to send back the massive intake of cookies. Hence the new jammies, and a sleepy boy on the couch:
The Alumni Basketball Tournament
Matthew graduated from high school here, and every Christmas they have a tournament where all of the graduated players play against each other and the current team. I have no pictures, because Nathan lost interest after, oh, about 5 minutes. I brought him and Emily home and Graham stayed with Grandpa D to cheer Daddy on.
Christmas Eve
We let the kids open one present, and it’s a new pair of jammies (because they obviously don’t have enough pairs). We go to Christmas Eve service at our church. It’s a beautiful service, with candles and Christmas Carols. After we come home and the kids are in bed, Matthew and I exchange presents. We have a nice time together, and then Christmas morning is about the kids.
Christmas Day
I make cinnamon buns for breakfast. I usually do the Land of Nod buns, but I’ve heard so much about Amanda’s cinnamon buns that I may give them a go this year.
We open presents here, and then head over to Matthew’s parents’ house. There are even more presents, and then food as far as the eye can see. Matthew’s brother and sister are there with their respective spouses and munchkins, and good times are had by all. There will be six grandkids there, and Graham’s the oldest. Remember what I said yesterday about the volume? I’ll try to remember to bring earplugs.
It’s really quiet here right now, and I’m enjoying the calm before the storm, as it were. Merry Christmas everyone!
We had an interesting conversation at our dinner table the night before last.
Matthew started talking to Graham about Santa. Graham has heard a lot about Santa from trusted sources, such as Dora and Diego. Matthew started saying how Santa was going to fly in his sleigh with the reindeer, and land on our roof. How he was going to come down our chimney and bring presents. That we would leave milk and cookies out for him. Graham piped up, “And we’re going to eat the cookies too ?!?”
So cute.
While we were talking about Santa, I felt kind of weird. Like a BIG FAT LIAR. Santa’s not real. I know it’s fun for kids and all, but it felt so strange to look Graham right in the eye and tell him that the guy in the red suit was going to come into our house and deliver presents.
Growing up, we knew the real meaning of Christmas (Jesus) and also had the Santa aspect to it. It was fun, it was magical, it was, well, part of the whole Christmas scene.
It just felt odd to be the one telling the stories about Santa, instead of the one hearing those stories. Another phase of parenthood, I guess. I don’t think it’s bad to tell the Santa story…I just pray my kids can differentiate the truth of Jesus from the farce of Santa as they get older. And not just Santa, but the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy…
Any wisdom on this topic, folks?
I’m sure the kids will be fine once they discover all the lies that we’ve told them in the name of FUN. Right? If not, they can send me their therapy bills when they get older. And I’ll send them mine.
***
Yesterday morning I had Christy (and ther three munchkins) and Tianna (and her one munchkin) over for a visit. Tianna had called last week and wanted to get together since she hadn’t seen much of Emily. She still hasn’t seen much of Emily. Emily went down for a nap just before Tianna got here, and slept the entire 2 hours she was here. And then an hour beyond that.
I’ve started calling her “Sleeping Beauty”. Shhhhh. Don’t tell Mr. Murphy. I don’t want his Law to kick in.
Graham and Nathan had a fun time with Ben and Megan, per usual. Did you know that for each preschooler you add to a room, the volume increases TENFOLD? Just so you know.
At one point it got very quiet. I looked over the back of the couch and the kids were no longer there. I could hear them murmuring, but could not see them anywhere. I followed the whispers, and discovered that they had crawled into the bottom compartment of my corner workstartion. All four of them.
Yes, my boys are wearing their Incredibles jammies. They like to be super-heroes, and since we weren’t going anywhere…
Some days (such as today) they are dressed as Batmen. We also have Superman and Spiderman jammies for those other days. I have become one of those Moms who let their kids stay in their jammies. I can’t blame them – I live in yoga pants when I’m at home. I wonder what jammies Emily will want to wear as she gets bigger?
Anyhow, about an hour after Christy and Tianna left, a horrible headache kicked in. I was on the couch for the rest of the day. Tylenol didn’t eliminate the pain, but it helped. As did earplugs. I can’t blame the kids and their noise for my headache; they’re noisy every day. All. Day. Long.
I felt like I should be posting something. I think NaBloPoMo created a monster. I feel weird if I don’t post for a day, but it wasn’t going to happen yesterday. I went to bed at 8 o’clock…and got up at eight o’clock, save for one 20-minute feeding at 5 am. I told you Emily was Sleeping Beauty.
I’m feeling much better today, and tonight we are having Matthew’s parents over for dinner. After dinner, we are doing our annual Decorate Sugar Cookies Night. It’s where we try to get more icing and sprinkles (and Smarties!) on the cookies than in our mouths. Pictures to follow, I’m sure.
