Our New Ornament This Year

Each year we buy a new ornament for our tree. This year we bought two. One was purchased when we were on our cruise in the Bahamas. The second, and more special one was purchased very close to home. When I saw this ornament in the store, I was touched very deeply. Something about it made me remember the true meaning behind Christmas. Something, that in the busy moments of rushing to buy gifts for everyone on my list, is easy to forget. I wasn't in the true spirit of the season, at least, not until I saw this ornament. It spoke to me in a voice that I haven't heard for a long time, and it's not because the voice wasn't there. It's because I hadn't been listening. I bought it and hurried home to show J and R my incredible find. I needed to share my moment with them.

This ornament will grace our tree this year and every year to come. I hope it helps to remind us all to remember what Christmas is all about. It's there for us all year long. All we have to do is open our hearts and our ears and listen.

I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year.

God Bless!

KNEELING SANTA PRAYER

The sleigh was was all packed, the reindeer were fed,

But Santa still knelt by the side of his bed,

"Dear Father, " he prayed, "Be with me tonight.

There's much work to do and my schedule is tight.

My sack will hold toys to grant all kids' wishes.

The supply will be endless like the loaves and the fishes.

I can do all these things, Lord, only through You.

I just need your blessing, then it's easy to do.

I do this only to honor the birth of the One,

That was sent to redeem us, Your most Holy Son.

So to all of my friends, lest Your glory I rob,

Please, Lord, remind them who gave me this job."

~Anonymous

I have a headache...

"I have a headache."

That has been a common statement in our house lately. (And no. It's not been coming from me.) It seems R, has picked up on something...again. She says this whenever she doesn't want to do something.

Mom: "R, time to eat dinner. Go to the table!"
R: "I'm not hungry. I'm tired. I have a headache."
Mom: "You can't watch TV if you have a headache. You should go to bed."
(even though it's only 6:30)
R: "Ok...I'll eat, but only a little bit." "When I'm done with dinner do you want to play Zingo with me?"

Or the conversation goes something like...

Mom: "R, you need to pick up your toys. Come on, let's get the floor picked up."
R: (while playing with something)"I can't now mom. I have a headache."
Mom: "Guess I'm going to have to pick them all up and put them in this trash can."
R: (Jumping up quickly) "No! It's mine. Give it back!"

Funny how threatening to throw the toys away or no TV works better than Tylenol. Maybe I'm on to some new and fabulous medical miracle...

J's observation on this recent new sentence is, "Well, at least she has that one down early."

(HA HA...very funny J. Careful.)

-A

Kissing, Cursing and Pedicures. Oh My!

Ok. We've all said it.
Or at least we've all thought it.

Kids grow up so fast. TOO FAST!

Our little one is apparently not an exception to this rule.

Let me start with what happened on Friday. (and I suppose in this tale is the thing we need to worry about the least. For now for awhile at least for a few more years.)

R's teacher said she had a good day on Friday...then followed up that comment with, "But you may want to talk to her about not kissing boys..."

After I freaked out, laughed, was able to talk to R about what her teacher said, I asked her what boy she had kissed. The conversation went a little like this...

Mom: "R, did you kiss a boy today?"
R: "Yes" (said with a big grin on her face)
Mom: "On the lips or on the cheek?"
R: "The lips" (very matter of fact like)
Mom: "Did he kiss you back?"
R: "Yes" (another grin)
Mom: "Why did you kiss him?"
R: "Because I love him" (again, very matter of fact like)

Yikes! She's kissing boys. She loves him. She liked it!

Mom: "Maybe you shouldn't kiss boys anymore at school...ok?" (in a worried tone)
R: "Ok mom." (no sweat)

If only everything were that simple.

Our next adventure of the weekend happened on Sunday evening. Jackson (the cat) and Ozzy (the dog) were teasing each other a bit. Ozzy started barking at the cat.(nothing unusual or our of the ordinary...yet) Here comes R from the other room and asks...

R: "What the h*ll is the problem with Ozzy?"

Now, J didn't hear her ask this the first time...and I wasn't sure I caught it correctly, so I asked her to repeat herself. J caught the look on my face and we both listened and caught it the second time around...

R: "What the h*ll is Ozzy's problem? Why is he barking?"
Mom: (trying not to chuckle) "That's not a nice word."
Dad: (also trying not to laugh) "You shouldn't say that word."
R: (looking very confused) "What word?"
Mom: "H*ll. Not a good word to say."
R: "Ok."

Yikes! Her first curse word. Upon further investigation, she heard it from another kid. So at least she didn't hear it from one of us. And I suppose, if you want to look at this in any way that's positive, she did use it in the correct context. So her language skills are good. Not sure if we got through to her about not using it, but we haven't heard her say it again.

Then to top off the "I'm growing up and you can't stop me" weekend we were having, she decided to give herself a pedicure. I don't know why all of a sudden she decided that she needed her toes painted, or what possessed her to try to do it herself, but she did. Now before you scold me for leaving nail polish out where a 3 year old can get to it, I will tell you that while it wasn't behind a locked and childproof door, it was in a drawer, inside a zipped up travel bag. Not out in plain sight. She opened the drawer, took out the bag, closed the drawer (so nothing in the bathroom looked suspicious) took the bag to her room, closed her door, unzipped the bag, found a bottle that she liked, unscrewed the top, and painted her toes.

Impressive eh? Not to shabby for a first attempt, not to mention the first attempt of a 3 year old! She's promised that the next time she wants her toes painted that she'll enlist the assistance of Mom or Dad, with the understanding that if she doesn't there will be BIG consequences. (and not the pleasant kind either).

J's only comment was, "She can't even color in the lines, how did she paint her toes and not get it all over herself or the carpet?"

J, I don't have an answer for that. Maybe it's that she was being careful. Maybe it's because she's a girl, and it's just genetic. Maybe it's a little blessing we shouldn't question (because she didn't get any on the carpet). Or, maybe she's "just talented like that". (reference post "Daddy's Talented")

-A

Mommy purrs

When you're congested and recovering from a cold, you snore.
When you're pregnant and hormones cause things in your body to stretch and relax, you snore.
Apparently, I snore...or purr, as R puts it.

I took a nap with her today (because she falls asleep faster if someone lies down with her although the real reason is because it's a good excuse for me to nap too). I lost count how many times she nudged me awake to tell me to stop purring.

"Mommy, you're making that noise....again."

She seemed to think I was pretending to be a cat. So I played along and told her that if she'd stop petting my hand and doing fingernails (which she's done ever since she was nursing - it's her comfort thing) that maybe "Mommy the kitty" wouldn't feel the need to purr. Somewhere along the way we both fell asleep and it didn't matter anymore. I just have to figure out how to handle it now when the charming 3 year old tells complete strangers that her mommy purrs.

-A

Reasons I love my Husband...

I love my husband because...just because

• He almost always puts the seat down on the toilet
• Because R thinks he's a human jungle gym, and he's OK with that
• He takes out the trash when I leave the bag in the middle of the kitchen floor
• He wakes R up in the mornings so I don't have to be the bad guy to get a cranky 3 year old out of bed. Sometimes he carries her into our room so she and I can snuggle ourselves awake slowly
• He calls me just to say "I love you"
• He doesn't make fun of my pregnant belly when I do my lower back stretches
• He makes dinner on the nights I don't want to, or don't have the energy to
• He reads R's bedtime stories better when he doesn't think I'm listening
• He cleaned out the garage so I could park my car in it for the winter
• He put up Christmas lights in R's room before he did any other lights inside or outside the house
• He almost never leaves his underwear on the bathroom floor...(socks by the couch is a different story)
• He tries hard not to bite his nails so R will do fingernails with him when I can't do them with her
• He doesn't complain too much when I haven't done laundry for a week.
• He gets R ready for bed and remembers to have her brush her teeth first
• He brought a Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks to me at 9:30 this morning just because he was in the area...and just because he loves me...just because's are the best reasons
  

And those are just a few of the reasons...Did I mention he puts the seat down on the toilet?

-A