Santa Hat

Holden has a very special outfit to wear to our holiday gatherings this year. I tried to get a good picture of him in the santa hat, alas he prefers to eat it. I still think it is cute.

The parties begin tomorrow.  It is going to be a busy week.  In the past several years I've been able to take my vacation the week before and the week of Christmas ... new job ... no time off ... so I feel quite frazzled trying to make sure I've taken care of all the mandatory holiday responsibilities.  

The week will end with the beautiful wedding of my beautiful cousin H.  I bought a new dress and shoes, today for the occasion.  I was PLEASANTLY surprised by the dress size!   

Now I am off to work on laundry.  Just one more load before bed.

-Carmen

New Toy

I am posting from my bday present! Thank you, hubby for the iPod Touch! I love it!

-Carmen

Ladies' Night

I got together with my favorite girls for our second annual ornament exchange last night. This year's theme was "handmade." These ladies create to impress!

Check 'em out.......

Auntie H painted this "C" to compliment our 2005 wedding invitation (has it been that long?)

Aunite A sculpted this little guy. Look familiar?

Auntie L found vintage 12 Days of Christmas cookie cutters, circa 1970 something and made us each a complete set!

These girls melt my heart. I miss spending time with them, and I am so thankful for every moment we have together.

Oh, and I knit these little guys.... I remembered to take pictures in the car with my phone.

The roads were starting to get nasty on the way home. It was a slow trek. About 3 minutes after walking through the door, the power went out at our house, and didn't kick back on until 2 am. No worries, though. Jordan LUCKILY bought firewood yesterday so we could cozy up and talk about our day.

-Carmen

New Friend

I have a new crafty friend.  She made this o-so-precious ornament for dear Holden.  I absolutely love it.  

Check out her website.  The Bottlecap Boutique....

-Carmen

Happy 11 Months!

So, I'm a week late. Oh well. The cloudy skies this week and early sunset have proved to be difficult for Holden's 11 month picture. The clouds parted today so I jumped on it.

My favorite thing about life with Holden this month is that you can really see his little personality shining through. Most everything puts a smile on his face, but he is starting to have favorite toys, favorite shows, and favorite foods ... that's a lie ... he likes all foods.

-Carmen

Tree Lighting Ceremony

I have fallen in love with the city where I now work. Everyone I meet genuinely CARES ... unjaded and sincere. It's a new kind of place for me, and I am really digging it.

We took Mr. Holden to his first Christmas parade and tree lighting ceremony in this township I am so fond of. Jordan met us for dinner at one of our fave cafes on the main street then we took our spot on the sidewalk for the parade.

It wasn't over the top, nothing too fancy, just a bunch of citizens that are proud of their borough.

The high school band was my favorite. Holden started slapping his hands on his lap. I think he liked them, too.

The moon was crazy full, tonight.  Click here to find out why.

We even ran into Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Holden did really well and loved the excitement as usual. He seemed especially fond of the teenage girl standing next to us. Holden grabbed her rear at least a half a dozen times. He pouted and fake cried when I used the sternest of the stern voices and forbid him to do it, again.

-Carmen

A Touch of the Tireds

I am worn out. I vow to have all preliminary Christmas tasks completed by December 1 next year (insert eye rolls and "yeah rights," here.) 

If only I still had a security blanket or something to cling to that would make it all better.

Or in the words of my sweet nephew, "Dinusaws, whe auh ew?"  That is Sawyerspeak for "dinosaurs, where are you?"  When he can't find an object he desperately needs he summons said object by asking it where it is.

It could be anything, really.  "Guh-guh, whe auh ew?" that is his sippy cup.  "Nemo, whe auh ew?"  Nemo, as in the lovable fish.  It could be his shoes, or his pillow, or his book.  You have to imagine hearing his voice from another room when you know no one else is in there, asking Mickey Mouse, "what's your 20?"

Sawyer is so beautiful (yes I called the boy beautiful.)  I could look at him all day.  He looks EXACTLY like my little sister when she was his age.  I can remember thinking, "she is so cute, I want to squeeze her till her eyes pop out."  Now that is love.

Click to enlarge the picture.  His skin is so dreamy.  

  

"CALGON, whe auh ew? Take me away!"

-Carmen

The Trouble with the Tannenbaum

Two weeks, five trips to the Christmas section of the local retailer, 6,600 NEW clear lights, multiple power outages and surge protectors, and one fire drill later ......

This is year four of life with our nine and a half foot Christmas tree. Every year I have good intentions of wrapping the branches with lights so that I never have to put lights on the tree, again.

Alas, every year I crumple in a sobbing heap after tedious attempts that leave me covered in nylon tree branch scratches and two-thirds of a tree to go because I STILL don't have enough lights.

Unwrap ... unwrap ... screw it.

I'll do it next year.

I have publicly declared my husband's awesomeness on many occasions and I am about to do it, again.

If not for Jordan, there would be NO tree ... or any decoration of any kind this year.

I'm just not feeling it. I don't know what my problem is. All year long I look forward to this time of year. Normally I feel like the entire year is one big build up to Christmas.

I should be ecstatic ... this is my son's first Christmas!

Jordan, the one usually "anti-holiday," came to my rescue as I started showing signs of throwing in the towel ... or the TREE ... literally, I threatened on multiple occasions to knock the thing down and drag it outside to let the neighbor kids have their way with it.

He helped me from the first strand of wrapping lights to the very last ornament. I felt like a fourth grader refusing to do her homework as Jordan VERY patiently kept me going. He even blasted my favorite Andy Williams Christmas tunes to try and provoke a more festive mood.

You should see how seriously I take this Christmas decorating thing. I have neatly labeled tubs (lots of them) full of neatly documented and labeled ornaments, charts, and graphs for the precise method and manner for making the process go smoothly. It is sick, really.

This is after all the tree that my incredible husband proposed marriage in front of.



This is our first tree ... in our first home ... to now be shared with our first-born.

I really do love this tree. I just love it a lot more when it is decorated.

And now it feels more like Christmas.....

This is my favorite new ornament

This is Jordan's. He kept calling him Monkey Socks and blushed when I told him he is actually a Sock Monkey. I think Jordan's version of the moniker has "stuck."

-Carmen

Don't Hold Your Breath

I promise we are still around ... just having issues with our internet connection, our Christmas tree, time management, staying awake, scroogey moods (me not Jordan ... insert gasps,) and other little things that add up.

sigh

-C

Holden Meets Santa

Holden met Santa Claus!

Last Christmas he was still slow roasting in my belly. I remember thinking how great it would be NEXT year when Holden would participate in the holidays. I tried to picture him on Santa's knee, likely screaming his head off.

He is a lot bigger, happier, and more Jordan-like than I could have ever imagined!

Santa was as handsome, gentle and sweet as always. He even let me snap a few pictures of my own.

Holden didn't have a long list to share this year with the Jolly One, but I think Santa already knows he'll be well taken care of.

-Carmen

Two Peas

Imagine my anxious sickening frustration when I tried desperately to post this picture of Holden and Sawyer on Sunday and our internet service once again proved highly unreliable!

The fam got together at Aunt N's and Uncle J's house on Sunday. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my family. I have the bestest family in the whole big wide world. We have so much fun together.

I have a lot more pictures and sweet sappy lovey dovey to spread, but I fear the cyber gods are not smiling upon me, even still. So I wanted to at least get a taste of the holidays posted.

Carmen