Christmas Day

I know some of these blogs are a little out of order, but when you might have 20 minutes or you might have an hour to post, you take what you can get. Santa was very good to Baby this year. He got a lot of presents and I have the feeling this year the givers of the presents were more excited than the recipient. (I know that will change next year.) He was very happy to have so many new things to taste and eat. I had never realized that parents get a totally different experience than the kids. The kids get to open and play with all the new toys, but the parents spend most of their time prying the new toys out of the ridiculously difficult packaging. Who comes up with the way they package toys? I don't really think the toy truck needs 10 twist ties on it, but hey what do I know. Then after you have pried all the buggers out of their respective packages, then the clean up begins. I swear I am still finding bits of cardboard lying around. Amazing. It was a great time for all and we received some wonderful gifts.Even Thing 2 was excited...or maybe he just wanted me to leave him alone with the entire box of dog biscuits. But I can see why it only comes around once a year, it took us two days to recover and we are definitely broke now! Ahhh, the holidays are almost finished and on to the gloomiest part of the year, January. Sorry January, you just can't compete with December.

Christmas is over.

This morning I was greeted in the hallway by the decapitated remains of one of the dogs' Christmas presents. It was ironically a reindeer. So I guess they are done celebrating the holiday too. Thing One
Thing Two

Merry Christmas to all....

Garden D'Lights

Last weekend we got a night out as a family to dinner and a short walk around the Bellevue Botanical Gardens and the Garden D'Light. We started at dinner at the Pomegranate. I love this bistro and Soder had never eaten there. It was so good. Unfortunately, Baby didn't get the memo that we would be eating at a nice, little, trendy place. This was the first meal where he didn't perform up to the bar that he has set for himself. He is usually wonderful and sits and keeps himself entertained. I know that that is not normal for a baby to act so great, but trust me when I say that he is past that. He was just like any other 7 month old that was squirmy and noisy and not happy to be strapped into a wooden high chair. So we ate in shifts and had dessert in the car on the way to the Botanical Gardens. At the Gardens, it was beautiful to see all the lights and was amazing they could create all those displays with just lights. They had all kinds of different flowers, trees and animals created from lights. It was a great time and we can't wait to take him next year when he can really enjoy them.

Merry Friggin' Christmas

This week we had to have a few repairs done on our car, to the tune of over a grand. That is right, our Christmas has a great big new present parked outside our little home, in the form of the intake manifold. It is even wrapped in a big red package. Yeah for us! I feel like the Grinch after he has ruined Christmas. I am hoping to hear the Who's down in Whoville start their carols so that the spirit can return.

Ninja bread are coming to town

This year, while we were Christmas shopping, we found a perfect addition to my cookie cutter collection.
So after a long day, I had a little fun with my first attempt at gingerbread. (I also had limited colors of frosting so that spurred the story on a bit more.)First I frosted the 'gingerdogs' but they looked a little rabid after I used red frosting for the eyes. So they were classified as rabid, gingerdogs and they proceed to attack my ninjabread.

A great fight ensued....The gingerdogs started to multiply...There was a lot of carnage. (actually a lot of my ginger bread broke so I had a pile of broken cookies.)
During the battle there were other casualties as well.
Eventually the battle was won because of a few good ninjas.

And this is why I shouldn't be left alone for too long.... otherwise my imagination runs wild!

FINALLY......

Took me 3 months to complete and now it is ready for Santa to fill it with goodies. Now that that is finished I can relax for the rest of the holiday. (I haven't even started to work on Travis' one, but that might just be saved for either child number 2 or when I have time in the middle of summer to work on it.)

Miscommunication

Lately, Soder has been working a lot of overtime. Great for us financially, but sometimes I feel like I haven't communicated the best with him. So as opposed to carrying on over text message like we have been talking lately, I thought a blog post would be more efficient.
I have been a little short with him, but have bit my tongue so this might clear up some confusion for him as to why I have been annoyed.

The baby is not attached to a cord at any time. So when I ask if you have eaten breakfast and you say I need to make some toast then look at me like I need to take the baby, he can actually be transported with you to the kitchen and be in your arms while you take the bread out to put in the toaster. The same applies when you need to get something from the bathroom or the bedroom. He has not been attached to any body or thing for over 6 months... I don't think my uterus wants to reattach to him.

When I ask if you want to change his diaper, that means that by some crazy mother induced smelling ability I know that Baby needs to be changed. Like now, like 5 minutes ago, like really, really soon. A little hustle is all I ask.

When you ask me to go take the dog out to poop, and when I say I can't because I am in my pajamas that is code for I am in my pajamas with no bra, a thin little top, and my sweat pants, with my hair all disheveled and looking like I just woke up. You on the other hand were completely ready for the day so I think you should go out with Crazy Thing Two to take care of business. Yes, I will help you get your toast ready that you managed to finally put in the toaster while holding the baby.

When I asked if you would watch the baby while I took a quick shower and your reply was you might want to wait because you have took a really long shower this morning, I was annoyed. I am not going to lie. Annoyed. All I wanted to do was take 10 minutes completely to myself before you go off to work till two and rinse the baby grime and dog slobber off of me and you had used all the hot water. I think you understood this because of the darting, scuzzy look I gave you.

I know that this will clear up any confusion we have had so I hope this helps. And for everyone who thinks that it might be a little harsh to tell him this over a post (also, in case you don't really know me, my middle name is sarcasm and inspite of everything, I do still love my husband.), everything I have typed on here is something that I would say to his face.... if only I could see it instead of him being at work all the time.

Ho, Ho, Ho?

So hopefully he feels different about Santa after he get all his presents. My sister said that a picture of him crying would be much cuter than a picture of him smiling. (we didn't really have a choice because all he did was cry.) She was right.

The dreaded Work party

The first weekend of December, we had to go to Soder's work party. We were both pretty happy because it was going to be a free meal in a nice convention center. In Utah, the 'cocktail' hours never consisted of actual cocktails and there were never any appetizers. At this party it was clear we weren't in Utah any longer. Cocktail hour consisted of a completely free bar (yeah!) and many, many appetizers to munch on. (Soder was especially happy about this). I was surprised at how many people were there and it was great to visit with a bunch of Soder's friends. He has a group of guys who go and play Halo every day at lunchtime. (one of the guys lives like 5 minutes away from work so it is super convenient.) It was nice to see his Halo Buddies and meet their wives. I had heard so much about their lives it was great to put faces with stories. The food was good, but the entertainment was where it dragged a bit. (I love the company he works for as much as the next guy, but I don't need to hear about it's history or the employees who have been working there for 10 year.) After all the boring stuff was out of the way, there was a dj and dancing. I felt a little goofy out there on the dance floor and I am sure we looked like fish out of water, but it was fun. I actually didn't let the fact that I was dancing like a dork in front of Soder's work party bother me, in fact I used it to my advantage by convincing myself that I wouldn't see these people ever again so I should just relax and have fun. It was a great time and really nice to have an 'adult' date night.

Winner winner, reindeer dinner!

On Tuesday night was my sister's annual Bunco Christmas Get-together. It was so much fun because everyone brings a gift of their favorite things. (like Oprah but with a $25 limit) It was great to visit with all the ladies and drink a really yummy sangria. I love to have someplace fun to go to at night especially when there is a chance to win money and you leave with a belly full of delicious food and a present. It must have been my lucky night because I won $25 for the most wins, (I have the reindeer antlers on in the picture because I had the last bunco of the game.) and I drew a number one for the present pick. (that means that you get to choose the first present and then at the very end you can steal the last present as well.) For my present I won a gift certificate to one of my favorite restaurants, Pomegranate. Soder has never been there so I was happy to steal this present at the very end so that we could have a date night. (conveniently I stole it from my sister, I wonder if she will still babysit for me after I took it from her?) It was so much fun and definitely was a great ab workout because we were laughing so much. Thanks girls, and Thanks Am, you sure know how to throw a great party!

Finally out of the the void

Last week has been a blur. Yes, I did fall off the face of the Earth, apparently. I have been so busy with work, and coming home from vacation, and getting everything ready for Christmas. I have been feeling like I am playing catch up. I still feel that way. I finally put my foot down and said that I was going to blog today if it killed me. My son is sitting on the floor next to me playing with every toy I can muster up just to keep him happy. This is a top priority today.
Christmas has been in full gear at our home. The tree is up (sadly an artificial tree instead of a wonderful fresh cut tree, but with two dogs I fear the mess from the fallen needles would be a bigger tragedy.) Most of the presents are purchased. (I think there is only one or two small things that still need to be bought. Yeah, me!) And now it is just having fun in the holiday season. I have been looking for fun stuff to keep our weekends busy, and now it is just getting to do them. Hopefully, a visit to some Christmas lights, the personal favorite of mine the Nutcracker ballet, and a sit on Santa's lap. It makes me tired just thinking of all that we are hoping to do..... (I had to throw that picture in, he looks so angelic and sweet asleep like that... not like the teething, screeching monster he has transformed into on more occasions than I would like to admit.)

Craziest thing I saw in the 'Tah

It wasn't the fact that my sister finally got to meet my boy.
It wasn't the fact that Soder's extended family finally got to meet the boy.
It wasn't the fact that we survived the Blizzard to end all Blizzards in the 'tah.
It WAS the fact that my mother got an early Christmas present from my dad.
It was a beautiful Ipad.
It was to give her the chance to read more books online (she is a big reader anyways.).
It was also a great toy for her to play games on.
It is a little unfair.
It seems like that graceful piece of technology has found a new, loving home.
It also seems like she at least appreciates it. It seems my number is on speed dial to act as her tech support.
It is nice to be needed by my parents 800 miles away. This blog post will be a test to see how much she uses her ipad.
It will be interesting to see if she says something about it tomorrow on our daily phone call.

The images I love....

Out of the tons of pictures we have taken here are some of my favorites so far, simply spending time with my parents at our house in Sunset. My dad love to walk around with baby and show him stuff around the house.


Baby is eating up all the attention and all the love and kisses from everyone. It is only half over so I am sure we will have many more sweet moments to blog about.

The reason for the visit...

SNOW!

We came down to Utah and, of course, what happened? It starts snowing. It is great for now that we have a great day to relax and wait out the snow, but not so great when I am planning on driving all along the Wasatch Front to visit people. It is refreshing because we haven't seen snow in over 2 years and Baby has never seen snow. I have missed how beautiful it is after a nice snow storm. It is nice to be here to experience it. And who knows, maybe we will go out and make Baby his first snowman!

Cutest find

As I was shopping for other things, (of course) I saw this cute shirt that fits the blog great. (and that is all that matters.) I can't wait to get a picture of him in it, but it is still a little big.

Baby's Blessing

On Saturday, we had Baby blessed. He was really wide eyed as he watched the Priest read the blessing. Baby was so amazed by all the gold icons on the doors of the alter and was excited when the Priest allowed him to touch the icons. And of course, the thing that made me happiest was dressing my boys up. I think my new drug of choice is putting ties on my baby.

Pictures speak loudly

I am in big trouble. I took some photos yesterday and when I looked at the shots today I realized I was in real trouble. There it was, looking at me right in the face: the bad situation that is looming right on the horizon. While the baby looks innocent enough now, the resemblance to the biggest troublemaker so far in our house is uncanny. My worst fears have been realized, I fear that Thing Two and Baby are on the same brainwave. It is only a matter of time before they are co-conspirators in trouble. You see it too, right? I am not going crazy, right? Please tell me you see the resemblance too. *sigh*

Weekend of nothingness

Well maybe not complete nothingness. This weekend was mostly errands to prepare for our trip to the 'Tah next week. I am at least finding some sanity in the fact that we aren't going to the wilderness and that if I forget something I can go to the local Target and pick it up. We did end up at one of my top 5 fun gift places in the Puget Sound area, Molbaks. I love that it just SCREAMS Christmas this time of year. They have a sea of poinsettias, tons of ornaments and lots of cute little knicky knack things.All the sensory overload created a little boy that looked like this...
Soder looked a little glazed over too because of all the crazy women snatching up all sorts of trinkets from candles, to bird ornaments, to anything holiday related. I love to visit places like this and they both played along wonderfully. Thanks, guys for putting up with my craziness.


For my trip, I have a mental list in my head that will be worked on for the next few days until we leave. I have stressed out more about my poor puppys being boarded in at the 'Pet Hilton'. (it really isn't the pet hilton, but it might as well be considering that we are paying an arm and a leg for them to stay.) I feel so much guilt that i haven 't even been able to talk about it with them. (yes, I am one of those crazies that talks to her pets. And yes, they do know what I am saying.) I know my little Thing One will take it the hardest and that just breaks my heart. She will think that she did something to be left with the crazily happy Thing Two. (I swear Thing one is a reincarnated Catholic because she has so much guilt.)
I had to laugh when Soder tried to help me organize by asking what I was going to be bringing to 'entertain' myself on the plane. Um.... I think the Baby is all I will be paying attention too, but thanks for thinking that maybe I should pick up a People Magazine because I might get bored. Haha, he tries so hard! He gets an A for effort and an A for putting up with me and my mental state. Now, I know why people don't do 'vacations' very often and most times it isn't the mother that is thinking travelling will be a great idea. Sorry for the disjointed blog post.... I might be more mentally organized once I get some packing done. Yeah, that will help the situation, right?