365 days

I'm not a huge fan of retrospective topics like the past 365 days, but I can shove that aside for one post. Some of you have asked how our year was.

365 days in a nutshell:

Looked at mountains
Watched it snow
Watched it melt
Accumulated frequent flier miles
Drove on I-25
Drove on Hwy 7
Explored some higher terrain
Went to the lake
Got new job
Lived without daddy for three months
Started new business
Moved 500 miles
Sold old house
Found new house
Missed the mountains
Went to some football games
Expanded new business
Bought new car
Blogged
Shot lots of photos
Played
Worked with great clients

And on the 365th day...we rested and reflected.
Happy new year! May it bring health, happiness and good fortune.

Pause, Week Two

Our blogging break is in week two...and oh, it feels so good to have so few responsibilities. We're enjoying every squeezable, smushable moment with Parker and our families- we definitely feel so blessed to have the extra time together this year.

It's not all fun and games though, we are doing a little work in some rare moments off the couch. I'm working on some goal setting for 2009 to help our little business grow and blossom; reflecting on the past months, and determining how to use those lessons as we move forward. It's been quite a year!

Merry Christmas!

We have so much to celebrate and be grateful for—our health, family, and great friends.

Merry Christmas!

The Cookies are Ready

We are ready for the big man's appearance. (And I'm pretty sure the big man is ready, too.) We made our cookies the other day and will be taking them in the Moresville sleigh to G&G's house.







And Parker says he promises to be asleep when Santa comes. Probably just like this.

Pardon our Pause

Posting may be light over the next couple of weeks as we travel to the motherland to enjoy the holidays with friends and family. We hope that wherever your travels take you the next couple of weeks, that it's safe, warm, and filled with lots of love and laughter.

Happy Holidays!

In a big boy bed

The guard rail for Parker's bed/crib finally came in. He hasn't really figured out yet that he can climb out of bed on his own now. I'm sure that won't last long!

The Hug Heard 'Round the World

Parker is terrified of Santa. I mean, the hold-me-and-don't-get-closer-than-five-feet-from-him kind of afraid, even having gone so far the other day, "Momma, Santa scary." So needless to say we haven't inflicted the experience of sitting on Santa's lap. Like, ever.

We had reservations for a special breakfast with Santa this morning and thought this might be the perfect, low-pressure way for Parker and the big man to get to know each other better. We've talked about him, and Parker was perfectly prepared (or so we thought).

Breakfast was good...Parker, being one of the youngest kids there, thought it was super cool to drink water out of big kid (real) glasses and have his milk in coffee cup. We talked lightly about Santa and that when we were done eating we'd go see him and say hi.

And of course, we said Cheers to us and the holidays.





Time to see the big man in red. Parker was a little shy at first, but there weren't any other kids around to hurry him. Parker wouldn't think of sitting on the Santa's knee or his big couch—he would only stand in front of Santa, as if testifying for his actions the past twelve months. Santa was very kind and non-threatening (as much as a man in a big red suit can be). So they talked a moment, and then came the big question.



Santa: "Parker, have you been a good boy this year?"
P: "Mmm-hmm."
Santa: "What woud you like Santa to bring you for being such a good boy?"
P: "Mmm..a TRAIN."

Wait. What?!? This—the child who for the last three weeks as we've been talking about Santa, can't stop talking about the car that Santa is bringing—suddenly chokes and tells Santa he wants a TRAIN?!?

Siggghhh.

Santa asked if Parker would like a little present to play with while he waited until Christmas Eve, and of course Parker thought that was pretty cool. (Two dinosaurs, which he was so proud to say came from Santa, and he has appropriately named Phil and Andy. That's totally another post for another day.)



It came time for another child's turn to divulge his wish list. Parker put his hand up for a big high five from Santa, and then Mike asked Parker if he'd like to give Santa a hug as his Christmas present.

And then came this. And my heart nearly burst with pride in Parker for conquering his fear.

Playing outside

We bundled up this afternoon and headed outside for a little fun in the snow. In true Parker fashion, he would only wear his rain boots, hat, mittens and coat. (I felt like I had sorta won the battle with those things, so I wasn't really going to battle about the others.) Needless to say we didn't last long enough to bust out the saucer sled or anything else, but he seems happier about the snow than last year...which is a 1000% improvement.

Sunshine in my mind

Well, even if the sun never does shine here...I can at least pretend and think sunny thoughts. Now I remember why winters in the Midwest are so long...

Snugglin'

A Marshmallow World in the Winter

We got our first snowfall today. What was forecasted to be an inch turned into several...and I'm sure I will feel each and every one of them in my aching muscles tomorrow morning.

I know what you're thinking...why not use the snowblower--the very snowblower you moved 750 miles to Colorado, where you never used it, and another 550 miles back to the Midwest--to clear the driveway?

Two reasons:

1. I don't know how to start it. And it's heavy. And I don't trust myself with heavy machinery.
   
2. I'm a freak who actually enjoys shoveling/working outside in the winter while the snow is still kissing your cheeks. (As long as it's not windy.) It's in my blood.
   

So it sat in the corner gathering flakes while I worked my fanny off making snowpiles for Parker to roll down.

After the driveway was visible again I enjoyed the solace and softly falling flakes.


I like the quietness after a fresh snow. How everything is so insulated, so peaceful. We may be in store for more later this week...

oooh...I still AM an adult and not just some kid's momma.

I'm still processing all the fun we had this past weekend.

I didn't quite realize several things this weekend until after we returned. One: that I REALLY needed a break more than I thought I did, and Two: that my child had tons of fun while we were gone. Now by no means am I trying to martyr myself, but until Saturday night I hadn't left Parker for 24 hours IN ALMOST TWO YEARS. Do you know what that makes a person? A total nutcase.

So it goes. G&G came down for a little visit, and while we were sad to leave Parker with them, Mike and I headed out for some much needed time away. Of course this time of year in Kansas City is gorgeous—Parker would have gone berserk seeing the "christmas" everywhere, and the cold weather hadn't quite hit yet so we strolled the Plaza and filled our arms with lots of goodies....some for us, and some for those we love. "Hellllooooo, Anthropologie. Why, Cole Haan, it's been a long time. And my bestie, Tiffany, what a pleasure to see you again." :)

Such beautiful lights, and lots of people enjoying the evening (photos from Flickr...sorry to disappoint):




We met up with some of our dearest friends and spent a wonderful evening laughing, telling stories of parenthood and life at The Capital Grille...it was a great way to celebrate the season.

And as a side note: I have finally, truly lived. Part of our dining experience involved lobster mac and cheese. For those who have followed the blog for a while, you know our running joke about that, and for those of you who need a refresher, hopefully this will catch you up. And, I must say, it was deeelicious.

I can't say thank you enough to those people (and you know who you are) who made the weekend so much fun and allowed us, for a little while, the chance to relax, refresh ourselves, and enjoy some time together. It was good for all of us.

Playing the penguin game

I suppose it's hard for me to count this as exercise if I'm not the one doing the work, huh?

Nothing short of utterly amazing.

I recently came across an interview about Bill Gardner (of LogoLounge fame) and his unbelievably beautiful creations for Wichita, KS-based Aspen Boutique. Every year Bill Gardner creates a one-of-a-kind work of art for their Christmas card, and has served some years as the shop's only form of advertising.

See for yourself...I think I drooled all over myself at the intricate details and unique thought put into each year's creation.









There's a wonderful article about how Mr. Gardner creates these with his senior art director here. Worth a look!

Stickers

A very sweet early gift came from G&G the other day—some window stickers (more "Christmas" to have at our house) and a Curious George movie for when we make our next trek up north. Parker loves them both—and the stickers have given him lots of entertainment. Mostly in the sorting and matching categories...in his world, each sticker has its certain place.

Santa's Workshop

I think this is the earliest I have ever even considered having our holiday cards done. (Guess all the poking and nudging I did to get everyone else's card orders in encouraged me to get ours done too!) I'm excited to get them in the mail and off my to-do list. :)

Mia and the tree

I swear, Mia waits every year for me to put up our Christmas tree, as if it's going up specifically for her. And I actually debated even putting one up this year, but I decided to give Parker the experience of having "christmas"* in his house. (*Definition to be explained.)

Mia loves to sleep under the tree. She knows when the big box comes out and has been known to sit patiently next to it while I unwrap each section and lock each of them together. Once the tree skirt (handmade and heirloom, I might add) goes down, she cozies right up and proceeds to sleep in the same position for the next four weeks. Five, if I'm lazy and wait til after New Year's to hand-wash the hairballs off and pack it all away again.



*Parker has become fascinated with seeing "Christmas" everywhere. As in, "look momma, I see christmas!" (Lights) "Momma, Christmas over there!" (Inflatable penguin and lights on a tree) "Wow, that's a big Christmas!!" (very tall tree with lights). Therefore, we have generalized the term Christmas to be all-encompassing of holiday decorations, winter decor, snowmen, reindeer, inflatable penguins, and other such novelties. Snow and Santa, though, remain their own classifications.

Outtakes

I couldn't help but giggle as I was editing photos from the other night's winter program.

Surely you've seen these "characters" at your recent school concerts:

The picker


The crier


The next president


The one who won't stop making weird faces


And, to top it off, the kid who is going to shake the sh*t out of his jingle bells, dammit! (Wait, that's a Moresville resident!!)

The making of a star

Parker went from a status of not-excited-at-all about his preschool christmas program to ok-this-is-kinda-fun. It helped when he spotted daddy. :)

Sorry for the long load time...

Dear Blog,

I haven't forgotten about you. I wholeheartedly admit to my slacker-ness these past couple of weeks. To make it up to you, I am working up some sweet new posts (in between our regularly scheduled life).

XOXO,
Moresville