The Christmas Catch-Up Post

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, filled with friends, family, and food...just like ours! Christmas this year was such a blast; Squiggles definitely understood the idea of presents better this year than last year, and had a lot of fun tearing the paper off his packages. I say "tearing" but it was more like controlled peeling. He would peel back the smallest bits of paper, and the gift was not unwrapped until every bit of paper and tape had been removed from the package. I guess he's a lot like me in that way, though hopefully it won't last because I know I drive everyone crazy with how I unwrap gifts! Anyway, he would get frustrated if he couldn't get the present opened right away, but he's going on 2, so he gets frustrated if his toys look at him funny these days.

We had our little family Christmas here before we left for Ohio, and it turned out to be such a great day. Squiggles and I made cookies, and I fixed a few of Brian's favorite foods for our celebration. We did it all up as if it were Christmas Eve, putting out cookies and milk for Santa and reading "The Night Before Christmas". I don't think Squiggles really gets the idea of Santa and the birth of Jesus still, but we sure had fun with it. He was definitely excited, even if he didn't really know why.

After we opened presents (Squiggles got entirely too many action figures!) and ate breakfast, we got dressed in our shorts and took cookies to our neighbors. We all agreed that taking a walk in the sunshine was a good Christmas tradition to start.

The next day we drove to Orlando to stay with Brian's brother, Phill, for a night before we all headed up to Ohio. I am so thankful that Phill was on the same flight with us; I was so sick all day. Brian and Phill picked up a lot of the slack, and the crew on our flight were extremely helpful, so everyone made it through just fine. I just had a 24-hour thing, so I did get to enjoy the rest of our trip.

Christmas was wonderful! We got to spend a lot of time with both families, and Squiggles was sufficiently spoiled. His present opening technique did not change, but he did develop a fascination with bows (we don't usually use them). He would go around the room, pick the bows off of everyone's presents, and then redistribute them. Hilarious!

He also developed a keen sense of how to respond to each gift. Especially the clothes. Of course, we told him to say "thank you" after he opened a gift, but when he opened a box with clothes in it, he would pull each piece up in front of his face, shout "woo!" and then throw it backward over his head. You could definitely see the "Gee, thanks, Grandma, another pair of socks is just what I wanted" look on his face.

We even got to spend some time with our friends from our BCC home group, along with being able to attend two services at BCC. Oh, how we missed our church! The process of finding one here is daunting only because it has such a high standard to live up to.

So here's to a great 2009! May your year be filled with smiles, love and...dancing!

NaBlo...never mind

Well, I failed at NaBloPoMo again this year. It is difficult enough to post every day, let alone to do it while I'm on vacation. I did much better than last year, though. I'm not sure if I'll do it again next year or not. I felt like I was clogging the web with silly posts on some days just for the sake of posting. Plus, I had to back-date my posts a couple of times.

Speaking of which, between last night and this afternoon, I managed to put up a few posts from our Thanksgiving vacation, so scroll down to see what we did last week!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of family, fellowship and food. We got to watch the parade (Squiggles only paid attention off and on, but he loved the Sesame Street float), eat a yummy dinner, and spend time with family that we haven't seen in a while.


It hit me during dinner that just a year ago, our little Squiggles hadn't even started eating solid food; this year he had a little bit of everything on his plate and ate most of it!

He played really well with his cousins this year, too. Last year, his cousin tried to play with him, but I think was disappointed with a baby that just drooled and cooed and rolled around. This year they had a blast playing with Legos, running around the house, and even doing push-ups! I so wish I had a picture of them, but I still haven't gotten the camera fixed. Grrr.

Ok dada.

We've found a new slam-dunk toy, and we found it in the most random way.

This is a basic bead maze. We've seen them at the doctor's office before, and although Squiggles seemed to enjoy them, he never was all that enthralled with them.

Fast forward to last night. We went to a great little barbecue place near The Reservation (yes, we actually left The Reservation). We only had to wait a few minutes for a table, but we saw a couple of these bead mazes in the waiting area so we grabbed one and let Squiggles play with it. He loved it! We took it to the table with us so he had something to do while we ordered and waited for our food, and it kept him entertained the entire time. He cried when it was time to eat and we had to take it away, and he cried again when it was time to leave and we had to take it away a second time.

We explained to him that the toy wasn't ours; that it belonged to the nice people at the restaurant and we needed to leave it there so someone else could play with it. More crying. Then Brian said, "We'll go out tomorrow and look for one for you, okay buddy?"

"Ok dada." Plain as day.

Our jaws hit the floor.

We went out the next day and bought him one.

NBA, Burritos and Driving

Sounds like a bad combination, doesn't it?

Friday was more laziness...drinking coffee and reading. Brian and I did go to a very nice restaurant at the Hilton on the beach and sat at the bar. We shared an appetizer and had a few drinks and just chatted. It was wonderful, as was the drink I had. I don't remember what it was called, but it was vodka muddled with orange, lime and lemon wedges. Yum!

We slept in on Saturday and then headed down to visit Brian's brother. We saw the new James Bond movie, ate burritos at Qdoba, and then took in our first NBA game (only NFL to cross off the list of major sporting events!). The movie was all right, but the plot was almost too predictable - I like a little twist in my spy movies. The thing that bothered me is that it seemed like there was a large birthday party of 10-year olds at the movie. I'm not sure I'd take Squiggles to see a movie like that at that age, but I know I can be a bit of a fuddy-duddy sometimes. However, Brian agreed with me, saying something along the lines of, "We're going to raise our son better than that." Thank goodness. At what age would you think it's acceptable to take a child to see an action movie like James Bond?

The rest of the weekend was fun but uneventful: football, video games, and a fantastic cheese steak. We've arrived at The Reservation, reunited with our Squiggles, who greeted us with a hearty "DADA!". Everyone he recognizes is "dada", even me, except when he's upset - then he finds the ability to wail "maaMAAAAA!". Funny little guy. I think he's gotten taller.

A Lovely Day

It's almost 6pm, and instead of worrying about getting dinner on the table and trying to snatch away the loaf of bread that Squiggles is taunting the dogs with ('cause he steals it every time I open the refrigerator) AND trying to pick up the house before Brian gets home, I am sitting in a hotel room, watching Friends and surfing the web. I'm not even concerned about dinner (we're going out for Italian). Squiggles is having fun on The Reservation. This is a vacation, people!

And the whole day has been just as relaxing. I did have to ferry Brian to the school this morning; otherwise I would have been hotel-bound all day. I came back to the hotel, got a cup of coffee, and sat in bed doing the USA Today puzzles (Have you seen the Txtpert one? It's pretty cool!) and watching The Today Show. I worked out. I took my time getting ready. I had a leisurely lunch out. I drove around and enjoyed the beautiful weather (mid to upper 60's) and beautiful views of the beach and riverfront. I sat outside with an afternoon cup of coffee and read for over an hour. Now I'm just hanging out until Brian's done working.

This is really a nice break. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could admit that I needed a break from being a mom. I'm sure it stemmed from the fact that I felt guilty about having to work and couldn't be at home with Squiggles like I wanted. I thought that, since I had such little time with him, I shouldn't want to NOT spend time with him. Now I know I need a break every now and then so that I can be a better, calmer, less-stressed mom.

Fill 'er up!

Vacation time! Squiggles is on The Reservation with my folks right now while I'm with Brian on a business trip. As we left, I noticed how much gas prices have dropped. I remember that, over the summer, it was not uncommon to see gas near $3/gallon or more. Today? $1.87 per gallon! Can you believe it? I thought it would be a long time before I saw gas under $2/gal, let alone under $1.90. I guess it's a sign of the economy slide that we're in right now, unfortunately.

Well, poop. Literally.

I shouldn't have spoken so soon yesterday about bad things to come this weekend. Yup, you guessed it, it looks like we won't be going to the winery again. All I have to say is that somebody better be taking me to a winery pretty soon! I'm kidding. Well, not really.

Squiggles eating his first lemon wedge - stolen from my salad plate - while we were at Myrtle Beach back in September.

Why aren't we going to the winery? Squiggles is a little sick. Actually, I don't think he's sick; I think he's teething. I can see the front tip of a top bicuspid coming through, and I'm almost sure there are more where that came from. The poor guy is chewing on anything and everything he can (especially his fingers and toes), drooling like crazy, and, yes, blowing out some diapers (sorry if that's TMI!). I feel so sorry for the guy, and I certainly don't want to take him far from home. So we'll probably just stick close to the house, and maybe go to the square tomorrow night and dance. Oh, he's getting to be such a cute little dancer! He kind of hops and prances around and turns in circles. Maybe we'll get some video with my parents' cool new Flip video camera. Have you seen these before? It's so cute and easy to use - you just plug the camera into a USB port and you can upload it or edit it. Very cool - and, if you need a Christmas idea, I'd love to get one of these designable minos (hint, hint)! *End product plug*

I found a geico in the backyard!

Ugh. I've spent the day doing some administrative work - changing our address with the last few billers, enrolling in health insurance for next year, and getting new car insurance. That was the real energy-drainer. We've always dealt with a local agency, but now that we're in Florida, we've been forced to switch companies. After much research, we ended up going with Geico because they had the cheapest rates and, well, I'm kinda cheap. It was just all a pain in the butt to get done. So instead of a well-thought out post, here is just a cute picture of Squiggles at Myrtle Beach.

Sunny Fla!

Well, we made it safely to Florida! The day wasn't without its stressful moments, though. Thankfully, none of them had to do with Squiggles. He was a happy baby all through the process of getting to the airport, checking our luggage, going through security, running to the gate, flying, and the reverse once we landed. I nursed him while we were taking off, and he fell asleep and slept for all but the last 15 minutes of the flight!

The stressful parts? Well, we arrived at the airport a little over an hour before departure (I know, it's supposed to be 2 hours, but we have a rinky-dink airport) to find the longest line I've ever seen at the check-in counter! A local high school marching band was on their way to Orlando to perform at Disney World. Cool, but how were we going to make the flight? Thankfully, we found out there was a separate line for non-band members. After some waiting there, we flew through security and to our gate (which were on opposite ends of the airport - why do they do that?) just in time to be called to board. Then, on the flight, I had a kid kicking my seat from behind, and a guy in front of me leaning back. I'm holding a sleeping baby, mind you, and I wanted nothing more than to be out of there!

But, like I said, we arrived safely and for that I am thankful. It's beautiful here, and I can't wait to relax and enjoy some time off.

Is this baby FAA approved?

We leave for Florida in just over two days now, so I've started reading up on airline travel with an infant. I don't think it will be too bad, as long as the following things happen:

• I remember to take all of the liquids/gels/creams out of Squiggles' diaper bag and put them in a 1qt zip top bag. Unless they are over 3oz, then they have to go in his checked bag. Oh, and I have to remember to put my little necessities (hand lotion, lip gloss) in there, too.


• I resist the very real urge to over pack. Since we didn't purchase a separate ticket for Squiggles, we are limited to two carry-on bags and 4 checked pieces of luggage. Shouldn't be too hard since Mom & Dad have a washer and dryer at the house (won't have to pack every onesie we own), but I think I brought way more than that on our last weekend trip.


• We're praying that: a) the flight isn't full, and b) that no one decides to take the middle seat in the three-seat row. Again, since I'm cheap and didn't spring for an infant ticket, Chef and I will reserve the window and aisle seats for ourselves; hopefully that will make the other passengers look elsewhere for seats. Unless, like I mentioned, the flight is full.


• The airline lets us gate-check Squiggles' car seat and stroller travel system. Bonus points if the aforementioned middle seat is available and we can actually strap him into the car seat (note to self: must check and see if car seat is rated for air travel).

Of course, I'm leaving off the really obvious things, like praying that our flight isn't delayed - especially on the runway! - and that Squiggles' takes to flying like he's done it a thousand times before. Actually, now that I've actually written down this list, I'm getting a little intimidated. And I didn't even get started on what it might be like to change a diaper at 30,000 feet!