Sunday, December 4, 2011

a visit to Santa ... and ... cole's first "real" haircut

This afternoon, we went to visit Santa Claus at International Plaza mall. Colton did really well. He was excited to go see Santa. I showed him the picture of him sitting on Santa's lap last year. Then when we saw him, I said, "Look, Colton! There's Santa! Are you going to sit on his lap?" He said, "Yeah!" So, he got up to Santa and said, "Merry Christmas, Santa!" Then he saw Khloe sit on one leg, so he let me put him up on the other leg. Then he was just fine taking several pictures with Santa. When he was finished, Santa gave him a book. He said, "Thank you, Santa!" It went really well. I was very glad for that. Khloe did well, too. She didn't even cry once! What a nice time visiting Santa. We, also, got some good Christmas shopping done today. It was a full day at the mall with Gwendy and Mason.
Waiting with our friends, Gwendy and Mason, to see Santa!
Khloe and Colton with Santa! They both did a great job.
Playing at the mall after visiting with Santa.


Tonight, we cut Colton's hair for the first time. I am SO sad! It was tough for me to cut off the hair he has had since he was born. But I know he looks much better without his hair flying in the wind. I may have to let it grow back ... just to see if the curls remain. He looks like such a little man now. He's growing up so fast! I officially hate his hair cut. I think it's too short. I shouldn't have cut it as much as I did. I'm definitely going to let it grow back in. I miss his long hair and curls. I'm not a fan of this hair cut at all! The only part of it that I'm glad is gone are his curly wings that used to fly out above his ears.
See his beautiful hair!?! All of those lovely curls. What was I thinking?
We had him sit in just his diaper watching 'Finding Nemo'.
A sweet curl I snipped off.
This is where I should've stopped. I just should have trimmed a few pieces and left it this long.
So much is gone! Almost done.
Look at all of the hair on his back! Ha, ha!
The wad of his hair before I swept it up. Isn't there a lot of hair here!?!
Some views of the final product hair cut. I don't like it! I miss his luscious, curly hair!!!
With the hair cutter ... Mommy, who regrets the hair cut, because she misses her little boy.


Last night, I had an official 'Girls' Night Out' with my friend Gwendy. We let our husbands put the kids to bed while we went out to have dinner and do some shopping. It was really nice not having to worry about kids being quiet or taking them in and out of the car wherever we went. I had a great time! I didn't even come back until 11:00 p.m. It was fabulous! I think we're going to do it again next week ... we're going to try to see a movie.

Last week, we got some presents for the kids from my Dad & Rose for Christmas (and Billy and Colton's birthday gifts). One of the presents couldn't be wrapped, so we got to see it early. It is this beautiful step stool for Khloe! Isn't it so cute? I had never gotten around to making one for Khloe like I did for Colton. It's just adorable, and I know Khloe will cherish it forever.

So, we baked and decorated some Christmas cookies on Sunday night. This was Colton's first official decorating session. He did okay ... he tried to eat a spoonful of icing! He loves Christmas cookies as much as his Dad! It's a fun tradition that both Billy and I shared with our families, and it's nice to continue it on with our children. Colton spilled a bunch of sprinkles onto his tray ... and then he couldn't concentrate, he just wanted to pick up and eat the sprinkles. He got to have one cookie ... and then it was off to bed. It was a lot of fun to decorate with him. Next year, Khloe will be able to join in on the fun!
He's stirring the frosting to get the color to mix.
Taking a bite to see if it's yummy.
Ready to frost this reindeer cookie!
A little red frosting.
Some sprinkles ... they went everywhere!
Tasting the masterpiece cookie!
Another bite.
Some final cookies.


Well, I'm off to do my Jillian Michael's DVD ... didn't get around to it until tonight with all of my mall adventures.

tractor party

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Dear Colton! Happy Birthday to you!" Colton sang to himself along with everyone else at his tractor party today. It was pretty funny to see him singing to himself and ending the song with a big clap and cheer, "Yay! Colton!"
All of the kids minus Emily ... they are so cute! (And so much bigger than a year ago! Check out the picture below ... it's the kids at Colton's 1st birthday!!!)
A few kids have changed this year ... we have Landon instead of Lia here this time, and we added Khloe ... but look at the difference between Colton, Mason, and Mei Mei! How time makes such a change!


He was pretty blessed today to have his friends and family here to celebrate his second birthday. Of course, we missed having a lot of his family here ... grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins, but we did have a few members--and that made the day very fun! Colton's tractor party went really well. We decorated in a John Deere theme ... as Dave kindly pointed out, "Who's the Packer's fan!?!" (wink, wink) We had grilled sandwiches, fruit salad, veggie plate, crackers and alouette cheese, m&m's (of course), mini pita pizzas, and macaroni & cheese (the cauliflower Jessica Seinfeld recipe). It turned out really well. The food was tasty! Colton's tractor cake was pretty yummy, too. I'm glad it turned out so cute!

Colton enjoyed having his friends here ... Mr. Mason, Landon, Mei Mei, and cousin Emily came to help him celebrate. He loves Emily! As soon as she arrived, he said, "Emily come play with me!" He was blessed to get some really cool gifts. It was a dump truck themed gift party! He got a BIG Chuck the dump truck that does a lot of really cool tricks from Landon ... a Playskool dump truck with a front loader attached from Ethan, Beth, and Emily ... a Chuck race and play dump truck race park from Brian, Gwendy, and Mason ... and the coolest Chuck Taylor's from Dave, Mellie, and Mei Mei. Perhaps, I was the most excited about the shoes! Colton opened his gifts, and he said, "COOL! A dump truck!" He will be so excited to play with his new toys when he gets up from his nap.

Colton playing legos with his cousin Emily.
Mellie with her daughter Mei Li. Poor Mellie ... Khloe spit up on her arm while she was holding her. I guess Mommies are used to that ... but I felt badly.
Mr. Mason playing with toys.
Landon enjoying the outdoors.
Billy with his cousin Ethan.
Brian and Gwendy ... thankful for Gwendy (and Mellie) who helped me make the grilled sandwiches.
Colton opens up his dump truck from Emily.
A big hug to say 'Thank you!'.
Some more great dump truck toys!
Those cool new Chuck Taylor's!


We, also, had a John Deere tractor pinata. The kids took turns bashing it with a hockey stick. Luckily, Colton's cousin, Emily, is five years old. She really got at it and broke it open for the little kids--who try as they might, barely nicked the pinata. Colton gathered up as much of the candy and crackers as he could carry. He was excited to have the pinata. It was so cute to watch the kids try to hit it. Mason did a pretty good job ... he just needs a little more strength behind his swing!
Landon went first ... he had some help hitting the tractor.
Mei Mei went next ... she hit it a few times. No luck in breaking it, though.
Then Mason tried. He was a good hitter, but he just wasn't strong enough to break it.
Next, Colton took some swings at it. He hit the tractor, too ... but no breaks, yet.
Finally, Emily took care of it. She broke it and out came the candy!

Colton's stash!


It's always nice to have friends and family over for a visit. It's just fun to sit and chat with each other. I have found that I stress so much over getting everything ready, and it turns out great whether I finish what I wanted to accomplish for the party or not.

I am so excited because I am finally reunited with Jillian Michaels. My 30 minute shred is back on ... and since Khloe has been sleeping through the night (knock on wood), I will probably start getting back out for a run in the mornings before too long. It feels so good to get some regular exercise. I have needed all that exercise gives me. The energy, the pride, the health ... it's all been missing in my life for a while ... I'm ready to get that back! Jillian Michaels is a great way to get started. I am seriously getting rid of this baby weight.

This week, I am getting a girls night with Gwendy. I am so excited! We're going to grab dinner and do some shopping. I think I'll try to get some Christmas shopping done. It will be nice to have an evening off from putting the kids to bed! I think Billy will be okay ... I hope. Ha, ha!

I can't believe I blogged twice this weekend. Yay for me!

Friday, December 2, 2011

my big boy is 2!

This week was one big milestone for Mr. Colton ... he turned two years old. It sure makes me sit back and think about how fast these past two years have gone. My parents assure me that it only gets worse as the years go by, and I can't imagine what I will feel like when my baby boy turns 18! When I think about how I was feeling two years ago ... it's not that hard to remember the fear, questioning, sleepiness, joy, excitement, and utter complete love that I felt with my brand new baby boy home in my arms. (Mostly because I have just gone through those same feelings with little Khlobear just a few weeks ago!) Now, I plop Colton down in his crib after his story and prayers ... say goodnight, give him a million kisses, and wonder who that big boy is in my baby's bed. He has grown into such a smart, sweet little boy. He has accomplished so much learning in the past two years. I can't believe how much he knows and absorbs every day! I love to observe him playing the most ... he will talk to his toys and sing songs while he plays. I wonder what goes through his little head. He has brought me more joy than I have ever had, and I have been blessed by his presence in my life. I am so proud of Colton and the wonderful big brother and big boy his has become ... I can't wait to see what he will be like when he is 18--but I don't mind waiting a while!
I made this shirt for Colton. I found some John Deere fabric at Jo-Anns and some green fabric that matched. I had some brown embroidery thread here at home, so I stitched his name into it as well. I like how it turned out!


On Thursday (Cole's actual birthday), we had a birthday dinner and a little cake. Colton said he wanted macaroni and cheese and peas for dinner. So, I made a macaroni recipe by Jessica Seinfeld. It's a super delicious recipe that includes cauliflower puree. It was incredible! I am going to make more of her recipes to see if they all taste so good. She is the queen of adding vegetable purees to foods to get kids the nutrition they need without fighting the "vegetable" war at meal times. Anyway, Colton ate it up! So it must've been tasty. He picked out the sprinkle cake mix and chocolate frosting at the store, so we had a small cake on his birthday. It was okay ... I didn't feel like making frosting from scratch (I've been busy to say the least), but it didn't really taste as good as homemade. The cake tastes like classic birthday cake. That's probably why I don't like it--I'm not really a cake person. Colton LOVED it ... I guess sugar is sugar to him. He blew out his own candles this year! It was really very cute.
This is Colton's snowman pancake made especially for him for his birthday breakfast. He liked it a lot, because we had been watching Frosty this week. He likes Frosty!





After cake, he opened his presents! He had such a fun time. He got so many wonderful gifts from grandparents and aunts and uncles. He is a blessed kid! We got him a tricycle. He loves it ... he'll have to learn to pedal. We are excited to teach him. Other than that, he got some great Bible videos, a tractor, Cars: the movie, a robot, and a sing-a-long book. He loves everything! What fun gifts from the family. He has really enjoyed it all!



I have been feeling kind of sick today. It's my fault, really. I took my prenatal vitamin on an empty stomach this morning ... and it has been cramping my tummy all day long! I've done this once before, but I didn't connect the issue. I thought it was residual effects from the surgery ... but now that I'm feeling this way again, I see that it was taking my vitamin on an empty stomach. By the time I ate something, nearly 3 hours had passed, so it eased the effects but didn't take it away. I think it will take the vitamins time to clear my system before I feel 100%. I'll have to remember this for the future. Upon looking at the bottle, I saw that it said "Take this product with food." Whoops! Read the label.

We're having a birthday party for Colton on Sunday. A few friends and family members will be coming. It's nice to have people come to share this day with him. He will love having his friends here. It's a tractor themed party. He is so into those right now. I'll post pictures on Sunday night ... I hope! This week, when we were driving in the car getting stuff for the party, Colton was "reading" this magazine from the zoo. He now wants it every time we ride in the car. "Mommy, I'm reading my mazagine!" he says to me. (Yes, I know I spelled that wrong, because that's the way he says 'magazine'.)

I sent a quilt square to my sister-in-law this week. She's making a cute quilt this winter for my niece, Elle. It's a patchwork quilt with squares from all of the important women in Elle's life. I love the idea! It's going to be adorable. Here's the square I made.

It represents Elle and all of her cousins, as well as, me! The base square and the trim are from the blanket I made for Elle. The E-R-E are from her cousins blankets, and the apple represents me (a teacher)--and I embroidered my name on that. I think it turned out well. I'm happy with it. I just can't wait to see the blanket finished. I know it will be fabulous!

Khloe has passed the 10 week mark. She still wakes sometime between 4:30 and 8:00 every morning. I love the days when it's closer to 8, and I am happy with every other day--it definitely could be worse! I started feeding her a bottle with a medium flow nipple ... she is eating much better now. I think that might allow me to feed her more per bottle and have less feedings per day. I would like to cut that one feed out before Christmas! I have been really happy with her personality so far. She is pretty chill--much like Colton. She is happy most of the time, and she sleeps very well. I love, love, love her chubby cheeks, and I could give them kisses all day long. She's starting to laugh. She laughed at me a few times today ... and yesterday, too. I can't wait until I can get it on video. She is much better at tummy time than Colton was. She will lift her head and look at me a little ... and only complains and crys a little in comparison to Colton who screamed bloody murder whenever he had tummy time! Poor guy!
This is Khloe at 10 weeks ... she's wearing my sweater from when I was a baby. She looks pretty good in it, too!


Today, I toured a Montessori pre-school with my friends. It is a great little pre-school. Colton had fun playing there and being at "school" for the tour. We probably won't send him to pre-school, but I do wish he had more and longer contact with other kids. We have friends, but the social aspect of meeting lots and lots of kids is something that I wish he had more of. I think once Khloe gets a bit bigger, we'll officially join Mom's Club, so he can be around a lot of kids more often. The Montessori school is great, but it's so expensive! More than putting him in an Adventist school the first year.

I'm so happy that it's the weekend. I love it when Billy is home! I was spoiled last week when he had 4 days off for Thanksgiving. I'm excited for Christmas break ... and going to see my Mom ... though the actual trip itself is going to be rough! Well, I'm pretty sleepy, so I'm off to bed. Happy Sabbath ... again, it took me a week to write one of these things!