Happy Birthday Mom

Dear Mom,

For 2010, I resolve to be more thoughtful. Part of that is remembering birthdays and such. So, Happy Birthday Mom. And, although it is technically still 2009, I wanted you to be the first blog post birthday write up for 2010 (instead of the last). I also may have mentioned before that I do have a tad bit of blog envy of Mo putting all her love out there. So, I'm just trying to be like my big sis, except for the every day posting. Are you crazy, Mo? Whose idea was that?!?

But, I digress.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I hope you are enjoying your trip to Vegas, and I hope you win big. I wish that Dean and I could be there with you. Of course, I know that it was totally Dad who wanted to go, but I think it's great you went along with the idea. Wink. Wink.

Thank you for all the love and support you've given me through the years. Thank you for all the miles you've logged in on the road and in the air, especially in the last six years. Thank you for all the times you packed, unpacked, cleaned, organized, cooked, and cleaned for me. Did I mention cleaned? Thank you for the Mrs. Piggy costume you made for Halloween when I was 6, and the poodle skirt with real fur you made for me to wear for the 4th grade talent show, and the yellow suit and purple hat I wore for Mardi Gras senior year, and the blue sash on my wedding dress when you said "go for it." Thank you for not only letting me be myself, but encouraging me to do so. Thank you for being there for me when Noah was born. Thank you for teaching me to love God and still reminding me to go to mass on Sunday. Thank you for teaching me how to be good mother. Thank you for being a great grandmother to Noah. Thank you for being so loving and supportive of Dean and our family.

I love you Mom, and I hope you have an awesome birthday!

Preschool program 1980-something. 

An early lesson in rouge application.

Graduation Day 1996

My Wedding Day 2002

Noah and Grammy 2007

Grammy and Noah 2009

Santa Claus is Coming To Town

Noah loved Christmas this year. We listened to Christmas music. We talked about Santa. When I would ask Noah what Santa says. He would respond, "Ho. Ho. Ho. Merry Christmas." We listened to Straight No Chaser ad nauseum. His favorite songs were Carol of the Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town. He woke up every morning and turned on the Christmas tree lights. He ate his breakfast from a Santa bowl. Daddy taught him about Baby Jesus, and now any baby he sees, he calls Baby Jesus. It was a great Christmas, and I think our little guy was really happy about the season.

Noah must have been a good little boy this year because Santa made a special trip to our house in Texas, a week ahead of schedule. He must have gotten the memo that we would be out of town for the big day.

The loot

Noah took his time and went through every item in his shopping cart. He labeled the ones he knew and the ones he didn't, he looked at us for help. I mentioned the story about the hot dog, but I actually got it on video. It is too cute not to share. I love how you can totally see his little mind working once he gets his hands on the hot dog.

Daddy also got a surprise gift from Santa this year.

A beer fridge, which coincidentally can also house Diet Cokes and bottled water.

Santa must really know our Daddy (and Momma) well.

What We Did On Our Christmas Vacation

Being the new guy, Dean fully expected to be on call this Christmas. I can even remember telling my mom back in July that she shouldn't expect us home for the holidays. Well, unexpectedly, Dean not only had the holiday off, but decided to, after a little prompting by me, take some vacation time too. We headed to Louisiana for Christmas week and had great time particpating in all the festivites that we usually miss out on while we are away.  A house full of cousins, meatballs and peanut butter fudge at MaMa Ellens.  A trip to Mississippi to catch up with friends.  A very rainy Christmas Eve.  Spending lunchtime with Dean's Parrin and family.  The craziness of opening gifts with the family on Christmas Eve.  Adjusting to Noah's late night bedtimes.  A beautiful Christmas day surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.  A home edition of the newlywed game where Dean and I came in close second to Grammy and PaPa.  A day after Christmas crab and shrimp boil with some old friends.  A good Christmas for 2009.   

Our little family all decked out in our Christmas colors.

Noah and his Gram

Noah and his cousins

The chaos of opening gifts on Christmas Eve.

Noah getting excited about all the fun!

Great gift Nanny Aunt Mo!  And, I quote, "Nothing weird about having sticks as long as you're doing something with them."  Do I see a drummer in the making?

Nanny Aunt Mo and Sarah A. looking super cute in their matching Christmas gifts from me.

Noah catching up with his cousin (my godchild) Henry.

The after Christmas Party.  22 kids under the age of 14.  Wow!

Enjoying the beautiful weather and Grammy's backyard on Christmas Day.

Daddy relaxing on Christmas Day.  Thanks for a Happy Christmas!  I love you!

Peace Love Joy

Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Learning to Share (Germs)

For the first time in a long time, we no longer live in the same town as our friends Chuck and Jodie.  Chuck has been a staple at many a holiday function for the past eleven-plus years, and Dean and I commented that since our initial move to Texas, we have probably spent more holiday time with each other than with our own families.  So, yesterday we made the quick two and a half hour drive to Mississippi to catch up with Uncle Chuck, Aunt Jo-Jo, and little Caroline.  It was so great seeing you guys, and we love your new house.  Thank for the hospitality. 

Since we last saw Caroline, she has gone from crawling to walking.  She has gotten a mouthful of teeth.  She celebrated her one year birthday.  I am pretty sure her hair has gotten redder.  She has become quite the busy body getting into everything and keeping her Momma hopping.  She gives big smiles, laughs loud and eats her veggies.  Noah could learn a thing or two from little miss.

I love seeing Noah and Caroline side by side.  Doesn't he look so tall?  Notice Noah's sippy cup.

 

 Notice the sippy cup switcharoo.  Nothing like sharing a sip among friends.  Jo-Jo and I really tried to keep them straight, but these two each have a mind of their own.

 Unfortunately, Caroline got the raw end of the deal... an empty sip.  Although, she was drinking prune juice, so it's really a toss up in my mind.

 Mine.

 Sippy cups are one thing Caroline, but good luck trying to steal that stick.

Little Moments

One of the things we are always working on with Noah is shared attention. Playing together. One of the little games we play is where I pretend I am sleeping. I lay on the floor snoring really loudly and then I sit up and wait for him to look at me. When he does, I say loudly, "Wake up Momma!" Depending on where he is looking at the moment, I usually move my head around to make it easier for him to find my eyes before I say it. Well, the other night, we were playing, and I sat up, and he started bobbing his head around looking for my eyes (mimicking me) and said "Wake up Momma!"

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Santa came early to Texas since he heard we will be spending Christmas day with family. Santa left Noah a kitchen complete with a huge basket of pretend food. Noah started pulling out all the cans and fruits and veggies naming everything he touched. When he found the hot dogs in the basket, he grabbed them and immediately started to pretend cook them in his kitchen's mini-microwave. How telling?! I wonder what he eats a lot of at home.
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Friday we had the teacher with the early intervention program come to the house for a session. She always comes with a pen and pad to write her note at the end of the hour. We were upstairs when Noah spied the pens, and as you know, he loves pens. He grabbed it, but immediately handed it over after I told him no. Later on in the session, he walked over to the teacher, handed her a car, and proceeded to pick up the pen again. He was totally trading, and although I still didn't let him have the pen, I had to give him credit for trying.

Hustle and Bustle, Part Two

The Boys. My sister decided she didn't see enough of me on our Vegas vacation, so last weekend, she and the boys made the drive over for a quick getaway.  The boys had a blast in our new house, and Noah loved having them around.  By the second day, he was even trying to particpate in the all-boy roughhousing.  It was great!  We had lunch at Rainforest Cafe, spent lots of time at Bass Pro and did a little shopping.  On their way out of town, the boys insisted on the usual pitstop at Dave and Buster's.  Thanks for coming guys it was a really fun weekend!

Blake and Dean at Rainforest Cafe

 

Zack and Seth ready for the carousel.

The group at Dave and Busters

School Program. Tuesday, Noah has his Christmas program at his preschool. At the start, the head administrator got on the stage to welcome the parents. She shared rather bluntly her two rules. (1) No crying kids. Not on her stage, so if you see your child crying, please meet them on the side of the stage for pick up. (2) If you are a parent of a child under 2, please hide. If they see you, the might cry (see rule one) or they will want to leave the stage, and no pressure, but during rehearsal, all the kids stayed on stage.  No pressure or anything.  I have to say... pretty tough, but I like this lady. 

So, Noah came out at the end of the program carrying a yellow star with his name in glitter on it singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  He was with Mrs. Alyce, one of the administrators who has taken an interest in him.  Dean and I both noticed right off that Noah wasn't being himself, but he stayed on stage, and even did a little clapping.  Please excuse the picture quality.  My camera is still not working properly. 

Noah and Mrs. Alyce

Uh-Oh.  I think he spotted us.

Although Noah did notice us in the crowd.  He did not cry (phew).  We headed back to his classroom for a snack and realized that our little guy was really not feeling good.  I decided to take him home for the rest of the day, and home is where we stayed until today.

Sick.  Nothing slows you down like a sick little one.  Noah came home from school running fever, and we stayed home for two days.  It was just as well, the weather has been awful here.  His fever lasted about 24 hours and didn't get above 100.7.  It turns out that a couple other little ones in my mom's group were suffering from hand foot and mouth disease.  Noah didn't see a doctor, but this morning I noticed a small rash on both feet, so I am thinking that this was his affliction as well.  He seems to be on the mend now, so we are hoping the holidays will be a healthy one.