What do you do??

Shea hates going to bed in his own bed. He goes like a super star if we're letting him go down in our bed, but his own bed? That's a whole different story. Tonight after Chris put him down I finished the dishes and was walking by his bedroom door to find this:



I'm convinced that there's almost NOTHING more pathetic than those sad little fingers waving at me from under the door. It breaks my heart!! What do I do? Leave him there to eventually fall asleep or go in? After a while I couldn't stand it anymore so I went in to cuddle with him, but I had to let him know that he was being naughty right? One look at my face and he says, "Mommy are your eyes and face mad at me?" I almost cried!!! And I thought the waving fingers were pathetic!! I swear baby, I will never look at you like that again. I promise!!!!

Apparently he has said this to Chris before and when he was sure that Daddy was no longer upset he asked, "Daddy is your face nice at me now?"

I can not even stand how much I love him!!!!!!! (We cuddled for a good long time after I went in his room tonight. Heaven! I choose that over sad waving fingers and mad eyes ANY DAY!!!)

Clare's Bows

My newest obsession? All things baby girl! Especially bows and hair clips. Here are some of the bows that I made today. Yum, Yum!! I can't wait to slip them on that soft, sweet, teeny, little head. I hope she has as much gorgeous dark hair as Shea did!

Pink and Brown

Pink and Green

Red, Orange and Pink

Blessing Bow

Talking bellys

Seriously, where do they come up with this stuff?? I was trying to tuck Shea's jammies in last night and he wouldn't let me until he made his belly talk. What did his belly have to say you might ask?
I love you! :-)

And a Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Merry Christmas!
We hope everyone's was as wonderful as ours was. We had such a nice day yesterday and Monday. I love the traditions of Christmas. One of my family's longest running Christmas traditions is to enjoy chili and donuts (thanks Grandma Hansen) on Christmas eve, and as you know from previous posts (how does chili come up so much on our blog? :-) I do not enjoy chili! So I was excited that I'm the mom now and if we're not having Christmas with my family I get to decide what we eat on Christmas eve right? Wrong! Chris was loathe to give up this family tradition and was very stubborn that we continue it (yes, he loves chili!) So Christmas Eve saw us having chili and donuts and watching Joy to the World and reading Luke 2. It was such a nice evening. Then Shea went to bed and Chris and I wrapped and put things together, while watching Christmas movies. Being the parents is fun, the anticipation is almost as great as it is when you're the kid! I didn't sleep well at all, I was so excited for Shea to wake up and see what Santa had delivered. My favorite thing when I woke Shea up at 8 was his first comment. "Mommy, I heard Santa and the real reindeer and the bells on my roof last night." Wow! He was so excited, he's absolutely convinced he heard them. I love it!

Christmas morning was so much fun!! Shea loved everything and had a blast, except for this little slip up. A week or so ago, Chris and I took Shea to the Guitar Store where he got to play the...(drum roll please) DRUMS! He wants nothing more in life than to be a drummer, and it was heaven for him to play a bunch of different sets that day. Well, we were there to get him some drum sticks as my wooden spoons are never available to cook with because he is constantly spreading all the couch pillows out around him and "playing the drums." So we thought real drum sticks would be better than wooden spoons and that he'd love them. So, they are the first thing he pulls out of his stocking and he looks around and gets a really sad look on his face and says, "But where are the drums? I'm sad that no drums came." Oh, we didn't anticipate that at all! We SUCK!! Happily, he quickly got over it when he saw all the other great stuff, including the "cool, big boy bike" that he'd been asking for.

That afternoon we were able to go up to Ventura to have Christmas Dinner with Aunt Dee, Uncle Greg and Cam and Cole. They spoiled us rotten and dinner was amazing!!! We had such a great Christmas and hope you all did too. We love you!

Merry TUBA Christmas!

For those ignorant to the workings of the Tuba world (like myself, before marrying a tubist) every year since 1971, the tubists the country over gather in hundreds of different cities to celebrate Christmas and the Tuba. This year there was a Tuba Christmas is 233 cities and L.A. broke the record this year with 627 tubists playing at Downtown Disney, Chris being one of the them as (you may remember from August) he is the VERY proud owner of a georgous new tuba.
We really had a blast. First of all, it was at Disneyland, which of course, is the best and second, 627 tubas playing Christmas carols for an hour is pretty spectacular. Chris made a brief (very brief, and you couldn't see his head as it was blocked by the bell of his tuba) appearance on the evening news and the front page of the L.A. Times. It was a really fun day.

12 Days of Christmas Update

I've gotten behind in sharing my fun Christmas Season. Here's an update:

On the 6th Day of Christmas:

Mom sent this soft, succulent yarn to crochet (one of my favorite relaxing past times) a throw for Clare.

7th Day:

New PJs. I have only taken them off to go to church and work since I opened them. I love a soft, new, comfy pair of PJs!!!

8th Day:

Grandma sent a darling blanket and musical toy for our new little muffin.

9th Day:

What better way to relax than with a nice cup of hot cocoa and some peppermint malt balls. Yum!

10th Day:
On the 10th Day of Christmas my mommy sent to me, something for my all time favorite relaxing past time! A Borders Gift Card. Can't wait to redeem this baby!

11th Day:
Some yummy apple lotion and the "world's best emery board" to make my hard, scratchy hands nice and soft.

Wow Mom, you've outdone yourself!! I love you!

Merry Christmas!!!

Check out this little holiday video

(ok - Shea and I just got home from some errands and saw Daddy's little video. Shea has watched it non-stop for 15 minutes!! "I want to watch it again! Again! Again!" Is the mantra. He laughs and laughs. It's pretty funny. Just wait a few seconds for it to load before pressing play.

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

The 5th Day

Today I get to take a seat and pamper my feet. (But of course, since I can barely reach them, Chris has been enlisted to do the pampering. He can't wait. :-)

Christmas Candy

I realized again this week that there's a reason I only do Christmas goody plates once a year and it's not because Christmas only comes once! It's because I hate to bake, and these goody plates are A LOT of baking. Chris made it worth it this year though, when he said, as he was devouring the plethora of candies, that he loves Christmas, not for the presents or the tree or the festive atmosphere, nope, he loves Christmas because of my Christmas candy! Aww.

Thanks Dad, holiday candy maker extraordinaire, for all your recipes (which everyone here loved!) and for instilling in me this Christmas tradition. I can't remember a Holiday season without goody plates!!

Shopping for mommy's present

Last night Shea and I went looking for his present for Jenna, but it turned out to be a little more difficult than I had expected. After I (very lovingly) vetoed his first couple ideas, a big girl bike and Legos, it became a lot less fun for him. I tried to steer him toward clothes, but he didn't like anything. For some reason, he decided it was a good opportunity to try out all his different ways of saying no. There was the usual "No way, Jose." But then he started getting more creative. "Umm... probably no," and my favorite, "I was all like, 'no!'" Of course, in his little kid voice it was more like, "I was aah yike, 'no!'" Unfortunately, when he did finally decide on something, I had to say no again (Jenna can thank me that she's not getting a bright blue muumuu with a pattern of pink cupcakes, or as Shea called it, "food clothes"). We came to a consensus in the end and got mommy something nice, but for a while it was more like hostage negotiations than Christmas shopping. Honestly, how stubborn can a two year old be???

4th Day of Christmas

This is so fun! Thanks so much again, mom. I get so excited about the next package under my tree. Today I had to force myself to wait to open the 4th day until after my visiting teachers left. It was torture. I feel like a kid again!! Today there was this adorable little baby girl outfit to help me remember that a little person really is coming!

Third Day of Christmas

Today I opened a wonderful little bag of aromatherapy goodness with a relaxation CD. Can't wait to take a long bath!

Shea's new favorite past-time

Helping mommy "cub" (scrub, that is) the dishes. He can't get enough. I would LOVE it, if only he didn't make a bigger mess than he was supposed to be cleaning up. No, I do love it. He gets such a thrill out of being mommy's big helper!!

On the second day of Christmas

My mommy sent to me a darling new maternity shirt for the holidays.
Adorable!!! I'll be wearing it on Sunday! :-)

The Twelve Days of Christmas

I don't recall that anyone's ever done the 12 Days of Christmas just for me, until this year that is!! :-) My wonderful, sweet, thoughtful mother decided to do them for me this year as I wait out the end of this pregnancy. She's dedicating all 12 days to easing the nastiness of the last two months. Wow, I can't wait!! I already have 5 or 6 packages under my tree with their dates on them, just waiting for me to find the fun goodies inside. I thought I'd share my exciting 12 days with you all. So, today was the First Day of Christmas and my "mommy sent to me, a heat pack for my sore back!" It's a beautiful, lavender scented set with an eye pack and a pack for your back. I love it. Thanks mommy! I'll be using it tonight!!!

Christmas Secrets

Shea and I sat down today to wrap daddy's Christmas gifts. We had a blast and got them all wrapped up and under the tree. We also had a serious discussion about secrets and how we don't tell daddy what's in his presents, he waits until Christmas to unwrap them and find out what we got him. What is the absolute FIRST thing Shea does when daddy walks in the door? Yep, says as fast as he can so I can't cut him off, "Daddy come look! We wrapped your basketball, shirt, legos and book!" Good job buddy, way to keep a secret. :-)

Wicked Nursery

It is SOOOO hard to teach your child appropriate behavior when you just CANNOT stop laughing! Chris and I both knelt down with Shea to say his prayers tonight. Sometimes he doesn't want to do it himself so I was prompting him tonight. All was normal until from somewhere he started putting this random adjective in front of everything:

Mommy: We're thankful we could go to church today.
Shea: We're thankful we could go to wicked church today.
(I peer over his head at Chris who looks as puzzled as I feel.)

Mommy: I'm thankful I could go to nursery.
Shea: I'm thankful I could go to wicked nursery.
(Chris & I are starting to giggle discreetly - where is wicked coming from?)

Mommy: Please bless President Hinkley.
Shea: Please bless wicked President Hinkley.
(I know, it's so irreverent but Chris and I were totally loosing it by now.)

Mommy: Please bless the missionaries.
Shea: Please bless the wicked missionaries.

We were laughing so hard that I just ended his prayer at this point. When he sat up he said, "There is a wicked witch in Sleeping Beauty hun mom?" Apparently you can't pray at our house until you've thoroughly discussed what you're thinking about first.

Am I a teenager now?

Yesterday Shea's very first Children's Friend came in the mail. I was so excited for him to sit down and look at the magazine with me. I showed it to him as I was opening it and Chris and I were telling him it was a magazine just for him. When I handed it to him, he cocked his little head to the side and in total seriousness and a little confusion asked, "Am I a teenager now?"

Chris and I were DYING!! How on earth did he make a connection between teenagers and magazines and think that only teenagers could have them? We cannot figure it out, but we think our little 2 year old teenager is THE FUNNIEST little thing ever!

Potty Training Update

Yesterday Shea was in the same pull-up from 8am to 8pm!! He is getting so good at going to the potty! He didn't have a single accident yesterday! Although mommy and daddy are sometimes wishing (ok, not really) that he would. He is so fastidious about it that he'll want to go 4-5 times in a 1/2 hour period sometimes. (Although this could also be blamed on the fact that he's still getting 2 spicy bears every time he goes - maybe he's just working us over!!) We're now working on the concept of holding it until there's more than 2 drops. But he's doing soo good and we're so proud of him. And mommy's so relieved that this is easy now!! Halleluiah.

To add to my list...

Of my FAVORITE things about living in southern California is

Disneyland Season Passes!!!!
For the price of TWO days at the park, I can go w/ Shea (cause he's still free) to Disneyland and California Adventure 170 days this year!!

Our wonderful, incredible, terrific friend Morgan encouraged us to get some passes so we can go with her and Shea's little buddy Henry as much as we want. So on Wed we just hopped in the car and 40 minutes later climbed out at the Happiest Place on Earth! My favorite thing about having a pass - we don't have to stay 16 hours to get our money's worth, and you can only ride 3 rides and sit and watch the ducks (or people) or whatever for the rest of the time if you want, because you can come back anytime!! It was so much fun!!!

Shea got to see Santa and his reindeer at Disneyland this week!!! It was precious. He sat right on his lap and when Santa asked, he said, "I want a bike for Christmas." (Which he's been asking for since Sep.) Then Santa asked him what color and he said, "I want a cool bike!!" And then my sweet little guy looked into Santa's eyes and said, "I've been a really good little boy!" It was so cute. I guess all our, "You better be a good boy or else..." is working. :-)

Trying to peek in on Santa-


Mommy, Shea and Santa!!-



"Mommy, the Reindeer are real!!"-


Goofing around on Santa's sleigh-


His two other favorite things turned out to be watching the little Jedi Training School while we were waiting for Morgan to get our chicken and fries. Next time we'll definitely let him participate because he's been saying NON STOP since we got home that we wants to fight Darth Vader!!! He also ADORES the Buzz Light Year ride. He cried when we were done because he wanted to do it again. Hooray for Disneyland!!

He did NOT just say that!!!

Shea has been having a really hard time sleeping through the night lately. He wakes up a couple times every night and wants to come in mom and dad's bed. Some nights I let him because it's easier, and other nights I end up in his bed for a while or I sing him songs or something to keep him in his bed. Last night was terrible! He woke up twice, and both times I laid down by him to coax him back to sleep, but the second time I was so tired I fell asleep for an hour. An hour on the edge of an IKEA toddler bed is not a pretty thing, in case you were wondering. So I manage to haul my exhausted, hugely pregnant, cramped up self out of his bed and back to mine. The second I fall asleep he starts crying again. I know I should just let him cry, but if I do then he'll get out of his big boy bed and I don't want to start a pattern of that, at least now he stays in it no matter what (or so I thought.) So, practically crying at this point, I'm so tired and frustrated, I go back into his room and sit on his floor and try to talk to him. The second I'm sitting he LEAPS out of bed, bolts around me and tears into our room. I jump up and follow him just in time to see him launch himself into the bed where he grabs the covers and snuggles right up. I can't believe it, but I'm so tired and bugged I don't even care. So I crawl in and the little turkey worms his way into the middle of my pillow, squashing himself against me until I'm barely clinging to the edge of the bed and snuggles up to sleep. I am seriously crying at this point (I know it sounds like I need professional help, but I'd been up for hours, was sooo tired, am 7 months pregnant and he was being such a turkey!) Then that little devil half turns around to look at me and has the gall to say, "Stop crying mommy, I'm trying to sleep."


You little TURD! :-) :-)

Awww

I love walking in on moments like this. Chris was reclined watching football and Shea crawled up and leaned in to watch with his daddy. Awww.

Playdough Joy

We have discovered playdough! Shea can not get enough of it!!! This day he sat at the kitchen table for a little over an hour!!!! He LOVES sitting there creating and it's just a bonus if mom or dad comes to play with him. He uses every kitchen gadget I'll give him and loves it. My favorite photos are the ones where he's cracking himself up over the "funny" animals he made.

The finished product:
(He tells us it's an eagle and he made it all by himself!!)