Big Plans

I had big plans for New Year's Eve..Big plans involving getting caught up on episodes of Parenthood and eating my weight in ice cream.  Instead, I gave up and went to bed at 10 o' clock.  Must have been an inspired decision, as Holden was up at 6 AM to ring in the New Year.   I thought it was because he was sooo excited about going to the "big kid Sunbeam class" at church today.

Turns out he had a bad dream that he lost one of his quarters.

Ahh, 2011.  The highs were high and the lows were low.  I am expecting no less for 2012, as I have come to realize that that's what years are like when you are a grown up.  I am still crossing my fingers for more of the high highs than the low lows.

Happy 2012!

Twas Two Days After Christmas..

..and all through the house, there is lots of post Christmas recovery to take care of, so I am blogging instead.

We ate a lot:

Pictured:  Holden giving my cinnamon rolls (30 by 30 checkmark!) a thumbs down.  He was totally wrong by the way, because they were awesome;  Christmas Eve dinner extravaganza.
Not Pictured:  The 14,000 other times we ate good food.

We got visited by Santa:

Pictured:  Checking on Santa's location one last time before bed; Running around like a maniac checking on all our Christmas spoils
Not Pictured:  Holden holding still and/or looking at the camera.  Santa's gifts wait for no man.

We literally opened presents for hours.

Pictured:  SOME of the presents we had shoved into my parent's living room (in our defense, there were 12 of us)...But we were also spoiled.  Baby Girl even got her fair share of gifts in utero; a happy three year old opening said gifts.
Not Pictured:  Holden picking out which present he would open next while there were still 10 people to go before his turn came around again.

We took obligatory awkward family photos

Pictured: My way too pregnant belly;  MORE of my way too pregnant belly next to a cute and tiny pregnant belly in the form of my sister in law; and proof of my inability to take a picture without giving someone creepy glass eye (I thought the camera on the iPhone was supposed to be foolproof, what am I doing wrong?)
Not pictured:  TONS of other people, because we were lucky enough to see so much family that if I posted all the photos you would still be reading this blog post tomorrow, when you really wish it was already over.

Oh, also?  Merry Christmas!

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas

I have been determined not to let Christmas slide through my chubby pregnant fingers the way Halloween did, so  we have been living it up with the Christmas activities this year.

Exhibit A:  Since Holden is still not a fan of Santa's beard, we decided to write a letter instead.  Holden can still ask for his Firehouse Legos and Thomas Train Set, but doesn't have to be creeped out by the big guy...Everyone wins.

Exhibit B:  We went to the Festival of Trees and ogled impossibly intricate gingerbread houses and took funny pictures of ourselves while waiting for the REAL point of going, watching the dancers.  That's everyone's favorite part, right?  Oh, that's just Holden, then?  Hmmm..

Exhibit C:  Inspired by the impossibly intricate gingerbread houses, we decided to construct some of our own.  Pay no mind to the fact that if you look too closely you will see that they are actually haunted gingerbread houses.  Halloween clearance will not be ignored, people!  P.S.  Holden put exactly two pieces of candy on the gingerbread house before declaring he was going to go watch Netflix.  Scrooge.

Exhibit D:  We have been doing LOTS of Christmas crafts in our underwear.  Well, Holden is in his underwear.  I am usually wearing sweatpants.

Exhibit E:  We also play with our nativity sets a lot.  I have been finding baby Jesus' all over the house.  Maybe Holden just thinks I need some reminders of the reason for the season.

In non Christmas news--Reo had a birthday.  It went both undercelebrated and under photographed...Sorry honey.  I'll try again next year.

Holden and I celebrated Reo's big day by seeing a movie (some family we are) (also, 30 by 30 alert).

Reo missed out on an empty theater and typical Holden gems such as...

"I used to watch The Muppets when I was a kid!"

"That's okay, I will just leave it at the movie theater." (said after dropping his Junior Mint on the floor).

"Oh no! I forgot my Kitty Piano!"

and finally,

"These Junior Mints are delicious! Even the minty ones!"

More Christmas festivities to come!  

30 By 30

Normally, I really enjoy making New Year's Resolutions.  Sometimes I even keep them. However, I don't plan on making any for 2012.  Mostly I plan on spending a good portion of the year in a hugely pregnant/new baby fog.  BUT,  since the very beginning of 2013 will bring a new decade to my life, I have decided to try and complete an infamous list of 30 things to accomplish before I am 30.  That gives me 13 months and one day.  Some things on my list aren't exactly ambitious, but still need to be done.  So before you judge, remember the whole hugely pregnant/new baby thing and cut me some slack.

Without further ado,  here is my 30 by 30 list:

1.  Make homemade cinnamon rolls.  (Since I am afraid of yeast, this is a terrifying one for me). 

2.  Have coordinating family Halloween costumes.

3.  Give Birth

4.  Go "Unplugged" for 3 days...No TV, movies, internet or games on my phone.  Phone calls and texts don't count.  Mostly because I don't make many of those.

5.  Make something for the baby....So if anyone has any no fail ideas, keeping in mind my utter lack of craftiness, please let me know.  This one makes me nervous.

6.  Buy a house...P.S.  If you know anyone who wants to buy a really cute condo, send them my way!

7.  Read a "classic" book...One I haven't already read.  Again, I am open to suggestions if you have any you liked.

8.  Go To Disneyland.

9.  Make 72 hour kits for my family.

10.  Learn how to properly clean a bathtub.  This is one household chore that continues to best me time after time.

11.  Stay at least 50 dollars under my grocery budget one month.  Right now I pretty much go over every month, so heaven help me with this.

12.  Buy a good pair of jeans.

13.  Make my passwords more secure.  I am currently probably asking to get hacked...Dear Internet creepers, I am doing this one soon, so don't get any ideas.  Thanks.

14.  Finish organizing my photos.  I got a good start earlier this year, and then gave up halfway through.

15.  Use the gift card Reo gave me for a massage for Mother's Day..  2010...I know, I know, but I am really afraid of strangers touching me, so I have been avoiding using it.

16.  Try a new (to me) restaurant.  Can't be a chain restaurant.

17.  Complete a Couch to 5K program.  Given my current situation and my overall laziness, this is probably the most unrealistic goal on the list.

18.  Fix the giant hole in the bumper of my car.

19.  Cook a ham.

20.  Send out birth announcements.  I didn't do this with Holden, and I probably should have.  Emailed birth announcements count if I get desperate.

21.  Put blonde back in my hair.

22.  Get CPR/First Aid certified. 

23.  100 percent potty train Holden.  I am seriously not kidding when I say I live in fear that this will be the last thing on my list to be completed.

24.  Watch a movie that won an Academy Award for Best Picture.   Suggestions?

25.  Learn how to cook an artichoke.  Those little poke-y vegetables intimidate me to no end.

26.  Complete this 30 day Mom Challenge.  

27.  Take a spontaneous Day Trip/Overnighter.  As in, decided the day of.

28.  Put aside enough money for a car rental/gas for our Hawaii trip.  (Probably around $500).

29.  Take Holden to his first movie.

30.  Set up a chore system for Holden.  Besides me begging him to help me pick up and him saying  "I will just watch you do it."

There you have it.  I will probably be updating as things get completed, you know, for the whole accountability factor.  But, the more I look at it, the more I realize those are going to be some pretty boring posts (A picture of me with an artichoke?  Yawn.)  Consider yourself warned.  

"These are my Thanksgiving pants!"**

That's right, to celebrate the gluttony that is Thanksgiving I made the switch to maternity pants, and I am thankful I did, as I literally ate until it hurt to move.

Other Thanksgiving things I am thankful for:

(Unusually)  None of my Thanksgiving food contributions were inedible/really really ugly to look at.

(Not as unusually) neither were anyone else's contributions.

To make up for my Halloween laziness, Holden and I successfully completed a Fall themed craft while it was still technically Fall.

Probably the number one reason I decided to have kids was to make the holidays fun again.  Holden is not disappointing me.   I could not love more that it is 100 percent obvious that a 3 year old decorated my tree.  There are bare spots galore along with the occasional branch dripping with 4 or 5 ornaments.  And almost all of the ornaments have been relocated at least once to make room for Holden's newest favorite game "Ornament Plinko"--AKA dropping ornaments through the tree branches onto the ground and cheering about all the money you just earned.

I get to peek in on this sleeping face at night.  Which believe me, I do a LOT after a rough day.

For the record, I am NOT currently thankful for Blogger, as I had a bunch more pictures to post (you know, ones of actual people and stuff), but they kept rotating funny and I got bored/annoyed.  

**For those not in the know--title is courtesy of an episode of Friends.  Just thought I should clarify.

Free to be Three

Holden has been three for a good month now, so I figured I was overdue for one of those cheesy growing up posts I like to do every once in a while.  Thanks for indulging me.

The biggest difference between two year old Holden and three year old Holden is that he is starting to assert his independence.   Despite the bad rap of the "terrible twos,"  Holden really didn't care too much about testing boundaries or doing things his way.  Now he does, by the way.  Now he does big time.  But when I think about it, I can't blame him too much.  He has a lot to catch up for.  He turned 11 while I wasn't looking.

Proof:

The Stats:
37.5 inches (50th percentile) (more importantly, only 2.5 inches away from riding all the good rides at Disneyland).
34 lbs 3 oz (75th percentile).

The Things He Likes:
Candy
Quarter Machines
Having unintelligible conversations with Siri (the creepy robot lady on my cell phone).
Playing Plants Vs. Zombies

The Things He Doesn't Like:
Eating Dinner
Sleeping
Going To The Dentist  (He hasn't actually been yet, by the way, nor does he have any upcoming appointments, but he tells me pretty much daily that he doesn't want to go, so I am expecting THAT to be a treat when the time comes).
Santa's Beard

Funny/Weird/Random Stuff He's Been Saying Lately:

Me:  What are you doing?
Holden:  Just talking to Siri!
....

Holden:  Is your cell phone in here, by chance?
...

Me:  Holden, do you have to go potty?
Holden:  Don't tell me if I need to poop!
...

Holden:  Does the baby have any toys or anything in your belly?

So there you go, a little snapshot of Holden's third year thus far.  Hope you weren't too bored.

Potty Training Is My Nemesis

And the worst part is I am pretty sure he is doing an okay job, especially considering we are only a week in and we each lost a couple of days to the evil stomach flu that took down our house last week..  

Someone please tell me it gets better, and the rest of my life won't be spent with "Do you have to go potty?"  being the most frequent words I say.

And it's too late to tell me to wait until he's ready, because ready or not, I didn't let my kid eat almost an entire bag of Skittles in one weekend for nothing.  We're committed.