Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

First Day of School

Today was our first day of nursery school. (i will be posting some Christmas Day images soon! i promise) Nolan and his friend Taylor go to school together. It's a 3 hour program, 2 times a week and it's pretty much just structured play. When you drop them off they go to 'circle time', which is sitting on the rug and singing songs. This is primarily designed to allow the mom's to leave without any fuss. Next is snack time, followed by an 'art project'. This must have been finger paints today because Nolan's fingers and nose came back yellow. Then they take a break from art to go to either the KidZone or Playground. Then back to the room for more art, then lunch, and then more singing. Finally we pick them up around 12:30. Cortney and I were a little worried about dropping them off in a new room. Nolan usually fusses some when I drop him off at babysitting, but this room has some pretty cool toys. So, the kids were not bothered. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out Mom!! THEY LOVED IT!! The best part of the day was picking them up. You open the door and they sprint to the door screaming MOMMY! Right then, you are the most important person in the whole wide world. That feels good!

ps: thank you to all the grandmas who kitted nolan out for his first day of school. grandma toni got nolan his frog backpack, grandma janet got nolan his thomas the train lunchbox and grandma marilyn got him his gap outfit (which now has yellow paint on the sleeve of the sweater!!).

First Day of School 2

Santa Claus

Once Conor, Maddox and Mom arrived, we made plans to go to the mall. Mom was going to shop and the boys were going to see Santa. When we approached the 'North Pole' I was optimistic. The line was short, the boys were in good spirits and nodding their heads as if to say 'Yes, we want to see Santa.'  OR do we?!?! Even approaching Santa, the boys were in a good mood. It was once Conor and I swooped in and made the maneuver to put them on Santa's lap that all hell broke loose. Maddox was struggling to get away and Nolan was crying while kicking Santa in the balls. Poor Santa!! I strategically moved Nolan's leg and we ducked out of the frame to get one shot. We took the boys and shook Santa's hand and thanked him A LOT!! Have you ever heard of the book 'Scared of Santa'? I found it on Harper Collins' website. (You can find the link to the right) Scroll down to Chapter 7: Misery Squared. I think we are a prime candidate to open that chapter. Here you decide. Should I send it in to Harper Collins for a reprint?? 

Christmas Card Out-takes

So the holidays are over and I now have to time to breathe, so the blogs will come a bit more frequently now. I have lot of material, so I promise to get a blog up everyday or so. Right now, I am going to post a few pics left over from the Christmas card photoshoot. They are adorable and it's not very often I can get Sophie to sit still long enough, so here are some of my faves!!  Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Mr. & Mrs. Pukey McPukersons

So, you may have already heard...Chris and I both came down with Nolan's stomach bug.  I won't go into a lot detail here, talking about Chris and I being sick is MUCH MUCH different than talking about Nolan being sick. Let's just say we were both bedroom and bathroom bound for a good 7-8 hours. Fortunately, I was hit after Nolan when to bed. Which is a blessing in disguise, because in my condition I could not have cared for my son, but the downside was the lack of sleep. The next day was a Thursday and I woke up thinking I was so much better, but that was in relative terms. If you compared my symptoms to the ones I had the day before, I was awesome...for awhile. Massive dehydration began to sit in around mid morning. In my mind, I was still getting on a plane to Chicago the next day, so I had some errands to run before we left, but I could NOT get myself to set foot in my car. I still had a HUGE stomach ache, which meant I couldn't eat or drink much of anything. Slowly, my head started to explode...then my body started to ache, head to toe, everything hurt...and then the chills set in. I wasn't running a fever so the chills really confused me. I could NOT get warm. I finally looked up the symptoms of dehydration on the internet and I was nailing everything to a T,  much longer I would have needed an IV. I called Chris and ask him to come home early, which I NEVER do, so he knew it was bad. He brought me gatorade to help sort out my electrolytes. Then we had to cancel our trip to Chicago, which really SUCKED. I had been looking forward to it since we booked our flights back in October. Chris and I were going to have our first weekend away without Nolan. Nothing but adults and dinner out and bottles of wine. Just like the old days. Instead we stayed at home and rested. Chris took a 4 hour nap on Saturday. Finally, we are starting to feel better. Nolan still has a wicked cough, which I have to get checked out this week, but other than that we are well.  Hopefully, we can stay healthy. I hope, I hope, I hope.

Pukey McPukersons!

Nolan went to a friend's house on Saturday night. We were aware in advance that the family had just gotten over a stomach bug. Our friends, Chad and Virginia assured us they were clear of it. Unfortunately, this sickness must stick around and is highly contagious, because Nolan now has it. It's really our fault. We discussed the possibility that Nolan might get sick and to keep him home, but they had a babysitter and Nolan was going to stay at their house while we all went to a party in the city together. The idea of an evening out with adults was much to alluring for us, I suppose. Not to mention, that many of the people there were from the London office and we only get to see once or twice a year. 

So, this evening, the bug finally caught up with Nolan. I feel like such a horrible mother. I had made him fish sticks, mac and cheese and mixed veggies for dinner. He wasn't having any of it and kept asking to get down. I told him that he wasn't allowed down until he ate some dinner. Finally, after taking 2 bites, he looked at me with sheer terror on his face and threw up EVERYWHERE! Not once, not twice, not three times...but 6 times!! It's amazing how much a toddler's stomach can hold. I had to just let him sit there in his booster chair and puke it all out. So, I stripped off his clothes, put them to soak and ran upstairs to give him a bath. A quick bath later, he seemed pretty happy in PJ's and we waited for daddy to come home. I, meanwhile, had a massive task of getting puke off the table, off the booster, off the chair and off the floor (no wait, not off the floor because the dog ate it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, she ate it.) So, Chris gets home and notices puke in Sophie's hair. I had to explain to him that this lovely dog of ours likes to eat puke off the floor....while the baby is still puking! Oh, the joys of motherhood. I gave Nolan a few minutes for his stomach to settle and gave him some pedialyte and crackers. I needed to know if he could keep anything down. He seemed to be enjoying both when Chris says 'Hey, are you all right?' and 'Are you going to puke again?' I bet you know the answer to that question. Chris picked him up to move him from the carpet to the kitchen, when BARF! All over Chris's front and the carpet. By the time he got to the hardwood floor all he could do was hold Nolan at chest level and let Nolan puke on him again and again. Poor dad! Oh, the joys of fatherhood. So again, a bath, PJ's and this time bed. He's puked again in the crib and we hope the worst is over.  

Chad and Virginia eventually picked it up from Ethan, that's how they knew it wasn't food related. So, the rough bit is doing absolutely everything for your baby possible, all the while knowing you are next. Impending doom. At least you know I won't be bringing it to Oklahoma anytime soon. Actually that's where Chad and Virginia think Ethan picked it up. They were in Tulsa for Thanksgiving too! And it all comes full circle, I love life's little ironies!!

Family of Sickies go to Oklahoma

So, we went to Tulsa for Thanksgiving. Of course, we brought with us a nasty nasty nasty bug from CT. I think Nolan must have picked it up in babysitting at the JCC. I've had some form of it since Halloween. Chris has had it, now my mother has it. I want to publicly apologize to anyone we might have infected. I am so very sorry, because it really SUCKS. You will feel fine for a couple of days, and then BAM you've got it again. Despite all of this, we had a nice week. We both took advantage of having a Grandmas and Grandpa around and rested up while we could. We also had some other activities such as cousin Maddox's little birthday party at Incredible Pizza and massive Guitar Hero addiction. The kids had fun with each other and we ate ourselves sick as you do on Thanksgiving. I've added some highlights from the week below, but click on the slideshow to the right and it will link you to the Picasa web album.