28 weeks, 23 months...

First of all, thank you to McLaughlin and Auntie Jesh for the comments and prayers. They really do mean a lot to me. Kristin, I knew you'd "get it" the most. Even Jason said, "That was a good comment." :) So thanks! My ankle swelling and head "issues" were a tad bit worse yesterday and I haven't bothered to take off my socks yet to check today. My mom is bringing her blood pressure cuff over tonight so we'll see if anything is looming in that area yet too. The optimism I had at the beginning of my pregnancy (or even last week) is gone now and I must admit I currently have this "It's not IF but WHEN" feeling about it all. I hate this. I have my next OB appointment and ultrasound on the 18th (about 9 days from now). I was thinking of calling on Monday to see if I could squeeze in just a tad earlier but what's the point? Not much. We'll see if I feel the same about it in a few days. They were going to repeat my 24 hour urine test at 28 weeks anyway, I forget if the bloodwork was a part of that too. They might be now. :) I'm trying not to freak out too much (and I think I'm doing a good job for me!) but it's hard. I have constant reminders so it's not easily forgotten, you know?

I am definitely in the 3rd trimester now that I'm 28 weeks. Some people seem to think it starts at 27, some at 28, and a random few pick other days. Any way you look at it, though, I'm there. That's exciting!

Also happening today: Easton is 23 months exactly. Only one month until my baby boy turns 2! I cannot believe it. We still have so much to do for his room (well, we have done nothing so we have everything to do). I have a lot of his presents already hidden away but a few gifts depend on his room so they'll have to wait. We'd better get crackin', especially since I feel the terrifying threat of bedrest lurking in the future. But enough about that...Onto happier thoughts...

Easton Yesterday
He loves my musical snow globes. I thought on the dresser they'd be out of his reach but if they're close to the edge they're just within his grasp:

And, he sort of slipped on our bed, milk in hand and landed hanging on like this. He asked for help but we were laughing so I asked if I could take his picture before I rescued him. He said, "Yeah" and posed for two pics (he's wearing a pair of MY Christmas socks):

Chillin' with Santa:


And onto today...we did the movie! Easton's first! Getting ready to go:

Here are Daddy and Easton walking to the theater:

Apparently Easton had the place confused with my mom's school because he kept saying, "Gramoo" (well, "Guhbah") and "ball". Oh well. It wasn't crowded at all at the theater. Whew! And Easton settled right in.
"Ooooooh, cushy seats"

He did some coloring with Daddy while I got us some snacks. A "first movie" experience wouldn't be complete without popcorn! Easton went to town.

Before the flick started Mr. Ken from My Gym got everyone up and moving around. Easton joined right in. He likes Mr. Ken. Then it was time for the movie. Kinda boring. Easton did very well for it being so boring. Once during the film Jason took E to roam out in the halls for a few. They came back and we watched till the end. He was a little young for this particular movie. He's getting his first DVD Disney movie for Christmas and I hear it's a hit with other toddlers. Maybe he'll feel the same way? Anyway, after the movie they had people in the Toot and Puddles (they're pigs) costumes. He walked right up to Puddles (cutting in front of everyone in the line we didn't know existed)...anyway, he grabbed Puddles hand/hoof and wasn't scared. Then we were going to leave but he saw Toot and said, "Yellow. Touch?" Toot wore a yellow shirt so we got in line to pose for a Polaroid and so Easton could touch. When it was our turn he got nervous just like with Santa. He clung to me and we got our Polaroid. Good enough. On the way out they gave us a goody bag with stuffed Toot and Puddles ornaments and a book. Easton hung the stuffed pigs on the tree and now he's having a nap.

My mom and sister are coming up for dinner tonight and tomorrow will probably be one of our laze around the house all day in our p.j.'s days because of football. So, now you're all caught up. Toodaloo!

Unease

Okay...so...remember the other day (Monday) when I was happily raving about how well this pregnancy is going? Well, you can scratch that. Not that things are bad per se, I'm just beggining to worry. Why, you ask? Yesterday afternoon I noticed some slight swelling in my ankles. When Jason got home he confirmed it (and sweetly massaged them!). Now, I know many many pregnant women experience ankle swelling in pregnancy. I know this. However, last time the swelling marked the beginning of the end so you can see where it has me more than a teeny bit worried, can't you? Another part of this that has me fretting is that it's 2 weeks after the swelling started last time (25-26 weeks last time, 27-28 this time). I doubt if everyone remembers, but that perinatologist woman we saw said that I've got a good chance at developing "mere" preeclampsia again simply because I had HELLP syndrome last time and that women with my history and the treatments we're doing often only get to 2 weeks further along in their pregnancies. See where I'm going with that? Here's the other part that had me unable to sleep at bedtime: last night I also started experiencing this "fullness" in my head. The way I described it to Jason was, "You know how your head feels when you've been running on a hot day?" When your face is beet red and you can feeling your pulse throbbing in your ears? Well, that's how this feels which makes me think of swelling. Not only think of swelling but it's eerily reminiscent of how my head felt at the end of my last pregnancy but I didn't realize it until I felt it again last night. Anyhoo...I know none of this really means anything necessarily. This could all continue just fine, I'm just a worrier by nature and I like to share that with/force that on all of you. :) Keep praying is really all I can say.

Anyway, I finally get to sleep last night despite the worrying and our little guy decides to call for me at 4:30 in the morning. Lovely. I didn't go in as he wasn't sounding desperate, just awake. He stayed awake (and therefore I did too) until at least 5:15 then went back to sleep but was up for the day just after 7. I went in to fetch him this morning and on my way found that Blitz had yakked (he'd been doing so well), then I walk in to find Easton with blood crusted on his face and sheet from a spontaneous bloody nose (could that have been why he was calling for me? Oops!). Plus, Easton was in a yucky mood. Just getting his chocolate treat from his advent calendar was an ordeal, the stinker pie:


Eventually he came around. We're certain now that he's teething (perhaps this explains the drastic mood swings?). He's frequently seen gnawing on his wrists which is weird because he is soooo past the "put-things-in-his-mouth" stage. He sleeps more restlessly too. The sad part is, when I look in his mouth I can't even see a hint of these 2nd year molars yet. I hope this doesn't last too long for him, especially if they're the reason for his behavior. As a shirt he has says, "Teething bites." A ha ha ha!

Okay, so since I'm sorry for opening this post by being a bit of a downer I'll make it up to you by ending on a lighter note. I had this crazy idea that I could wrap presents with a toddler in the room. It's actually not too bad but he sure likes to "help":
Climbing in the wrapping paper tote after I told him not to:

Sitting in the empty Amazon.com box (this was actually where I preferred him to be but he didn't stay long):

And, taking some artistic license when it came to adorning Auntie Jesh's present, "Hope she likes bows..."

I was brave enough to put two gifts under the tree "just to see". So far so good, he hasn't gone near 'em. Maybe we'll put out more soon?

Okay, well, I guess that's all for today. Tomorrow we have plans to take Easton to his first movie: Toot and Puddles: I'll Be Home for Christmas. My Gym (where we take Gymsters) is part of some special promotion that is doing a free family screening of the flick. It's short and it's free so we thought we'd give it a go. Just hope it's not too crowded...wish us luck!

Me First, Then Easton

So, sometimes I am wrong about things although it is rare. :) 'Member yesterday when I said, "I'm a little anemic but I doubt my doctor will do anything"?? Shyeah...they called and said, "Your iron is just a tiny bit low so we want you to take some supplements." I'm actually happy to if they think I need it. Having missed out on the last 7 weeks or so of pregnancy Easton (like most preemies) was anemic while in the hospital. Jason even donated blood in case Easton needed a transfusion (very likely). He ended up not getting the blood (we changed hospitals and it got too confusing) but instead he had to get a shot of something called Epogen (to treat anemia) every day for 5 days. Whatever happens with Baby Deucie's arrival I don't want that if we can help it...so iron supplements for me it is. The big downside to this is the friggin' cost: $8.99 today for just 40 pills of the version of iron my doc recommends. Pricey!

And, more on me: my belly is totally smaller today. Maybe he has already dropped??? It seems quite early for that, though. Eek! This morning as I was rolling out of bed Jason said, "Your belly looks small right now" and I was just like, "That's just my positioning". But once I was actually up and paying attention he was right--it's smaller and it might be lower too. In addition to all this I had some pains when I was first standing upright. Like I had pulled all my abdominal muscles or something. It's gone away as the day goes on but it was all very strange. Right now some of the sore muscle feeling lingers...almost like "I-spent-all-night-heaving-into-the-toilet" kind of fatigue. What could it be? Bizarre.

Anyway, on to Easton...lookie lookie what I found:

Oy that's a long picture...sorry! I changed it to black and white since he looked so much like a little model in that pose that I wanted the picture to look more Calvin Klien ad-like. Anyway, those are jeans that fit!! From Old Navy even! Now, I don't know what Old Navy's size issues are but they've got 'em as I'm fairly sure Easton's summer jean shorts were the 3 month size (from Old Navy) but these jean pants are their 12-18 month size. I was so excited when I saw them (and for a mere $10 to boot!) they just looked like they might work for our skinny mini and they do! Woo hoo! I could've gone to town with some of their cute "real" pants...little brown cords, greenish hued pants, coordinating shirts...so cute! But, I bought only the jeans. Such restraint I have. Anyhoo, now that we know they'll work I threw 'em in the wash but Easton's not getting them till Christmas. He's got those wonky second-hand store jeans to get him through till then. I don't love giving regular clothes as gifts to young 'uns (I'm supposed to provide that for him anyway, right?) but "special" things like a jersey, an Elmo shirt (for his birthday!), or jeans "like Dada's" can be gifts. Make sense?

Speaking of gifts, we have not put any presents under the tree yet. Easton is not doing so great with the "don't touch" rule regarding the tree (he's very very gentle, but still...he touches...it's all too tempting I guess). None of the stuff he can reach is all that special or even delicate and he hung it all there in the first place. But, because of that, so far the presents have stayed away from the tree. I sort of want to put some down but we'll see. There's really no hurry I s'pose.

And back to today, we had Kindermusik this morning and our regular teacher was back. Yay! We were late, though. I keep leaving in plenty of time but there is all this danged construction 'round here that gets us every time. You'd think I'd learn by now but nope. Late again. Not too late, however. Easton had fun and did great as usual. On the drive there I had a Christmas CD playing and "Silent Night" came on. You know the part that goes, "Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth"? Well, little Eastie picked up on "Jesus" and from the back seat I hear his little voice ring out, "Jeeee-zis". It's so sweet to hear him singing. Especially about Jesus. Warms my heart and soul.

After music we hit a few shops, mostly for grocery-type things (by the way, Moosie--your Sam's Membership that you so nicely let me be on expires today). When we pulled in the parking lot of the "regular" grocery store Easton said, "Yay! Car!" because he gets to drive the car cart 'round the store. He also remembered they have free cookies...well, cookies...he doesn't know they're free but Mommy does! Then he asked to ride the horse. So he did, laughing and smiling all the while. All that fun for a mere penny. Almost makes the $8.99 iron supplements I picked up worth the cost.

Now we're home and he's having a nap. I'm trying to finish up a few Christmas things...I'm nearly done...and that'll be that! Bye!

The Santa Update

So...Easton had a nice long nap, woke up in a great mood and I got him in his Santa-visiting clothes. We even looked online at a few pictures of kids sitting on Santa laps to prepare. He tried putting on his fancy shoes himself:

I don't know what this face is about:

And just before we left:


Then we were off to the mall! We got there a little early to do some shopping and to take a peek at Santa and the kids. Easton didn't get to see Santa too much just yet as some lady kept talking to him about his cute socks and his amazing eyelashes. So, we continued to shop until we felt it was time to go get in line. Well, wouldn't you know it? Santa was on break for another half hour. Sooooo, Easton and I grabbed a caramel apple and plopped down at the head of the line to wait for Santa and Daddy whilst we enjoyed our apple.

"Ho hum...How long does it take Santa to feed the reindeer?"

Daddy showed up before long and then SANTA!!! Easton seemed happy to see the jolly ol' fella walking by and he was smiling as we peeked at him through the trees of the backdrop. However, once it came time to plop him on Santa's lap he got very nervous. He didn't cry exactly (you've seen kids do a whole lot worse before) but he did kind of reach for us and kept saying, "Mama mama" while the photographer snapped off a few shots. I took one too:

That's not the "official" photograph though. I still need to "scan" (take a picture of it with our camera) the one they took and I'll share it later. When I've shown it to Easton he makes the funniest face--almost like he's embarassed but a little proud. Mostly embarassed. Oh well. I think it went about how Jason predicted it would go. He's so wise.

After Santa we walked over to California Pizza Kitchen for some dinner. We hadn't been there before and I love trying new places. A local (yet unknown) "celebrity" sat next to us. It was this guy (he looks pretty good for being 106, no?)...not quite like the time Easton got to see Marie Osmond but E checked him out nonetheless, probably because he was so darn tall (being the minor league basketball player he is):

The only reason we knew he played for the 14ers is because Jason saw him whip out some fancy ID to get a discount. One time I saw one of the guys from the Broncos using a coupon at breakfast. Now that's just sad but I guess many of us like to save where we can, even if we do have the income of a professional football player.

We got Easton in bed late because I "needed" to have dessert and we were at the mall kind of late. We put him in those same warm fleecie jammies (if he doesn't get breakfast on his p.j.'s or spend the whole livelong day in them we often recycle the jams from night to night). Anyway, thinking he'd be hot again I left off the blanket when I put him down. Once I left his room we heard him call, "Buh kah?" (blanket) so I put it on him. He doesn't stay under the blanket all night, he usually does for his naps though. I just thought it was cute that he asked for it. It wasn't long ago that he was terrified of a blanket in his crib...remember?

Because he went to bed late he got up quite early this morning. Before J left. Oh well...he's been in a fine mood. Easton and I puttered around the house for a short while before heading up to Boulder for my gestational diabetes test and they also checked for anemia while I was there. My blood sugar came back quite low (NOT diabetic) so that's good and the hemoglobin and hematocrit both came back a tiny bit low, actually, but I doubt the doctor will suggest anything for that. My numbers are pretty normal for our altitude and this stage in pregnancy so I'm not worried.

When we got back, guess what I did: I called the cops on our darned neighbor dogs. Last night Jason found this on our city's website: "Barking Dogs. It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, or have in his possession or harbor any dog which, without provocation, by frequent or habitual howling, barking, or otherwise, shall cause annoyance or disturbance to any persons." I left a message with a "code enforcement officer" and we'll see if she calls back. Right as Easton was in bed last night Blackie started up. 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted barking. Seriously. It continued on and off for an entire hour and a half! There was not one light on in the neighbor's house so I don't think they were home to know, but my goodness! That's insane. Plus they woke me up around 6 ish almost every weekday morning last week. Ugh! It was briefly better (SO much better) after Jason went over there that one morning at 5:30 but it's been crazy lately sometimes. And, they leave those poor dogs out in the very very cold snowy weather all day. They're just very bad pet owners. I understand it can be hard to care for dogs, that's why we don't have or want one.

Okay, well...that's all from my end. Gotta go work on the next batch of Christmas cards while Easton naps. See ya!

Just 20 days till Christmas!

My how quickly time passes. Our plan is to take Easton to see Santa for the first time tonight. He didn't go last year because he didn't know who Santa was, he couldn't tell him what he wanted for Christmas, and we still had to be very careful about the germs on Santa's funkified suit. Ick. This year, E'll be one of the ones leaving germies behind. Bwah ha ha ha! We have no idea how he'll react to Santa. He knows and recognizes images, decorations, etc. of Santa but once he sees the real live guy he might freak. And I doubt he'll tell Santa what he wants: a "cycle" (trike) and books. Oh well. It's just something you gotta do, right? Jason will be meeting us at the mall on his way home tonight so we can all share in the fun. This might be the best we get:

That's one pair of his new festive jammies. They're a very soft fleece and with his sleep sack and blanket last night he was too hot in bed. He wouldn't go to sleep and his head was all sweaty. I had to ditch the blanket so the little dude could get some zzzzz's. Oops. They seemed comfy though as he lounged in his rocking chair:



And one last shot of him being very proud of himself for making the tree play it's music (you have to spin it to wind it up then it plays like a music box):


I actually don't have much else to say for today. The last two days Easton has been a little strange in that he'll be sweet and in a great mood one minute and flip the next and spend the next 5-10 minutes throwing a fit on the floor for no good reason. I hope it ends soon. Today after Gymsters he was asking for milk (sometimes not so nicely) the whole way home. Well, when we finally got home he threw a huge fit and refused to get out of his car seat, then the car, wanted to leave his coat and shoes on and simply lay on the floor. I made him get out and take off his coat and shoes but I let him lay on the floor by the door to the garage while I did fun things with the laundry. Then I picked him up, gave him some milk, and he was fine. Very strange.

He's having a nap now so I don't know if that'll help or if it's just a temporary phase. All I know is it is very draining when he acts like that but he makes up for it in between fits so that's good. Anyway...

Wish us luck with Santa and I'll be sure to fill you in tomorrow!

Monday Ramblings

Before I forget I want to address our sort of sad looking Christmas tree. I married into that skinny thing. One day we'll get a nice, tall full one but for now that's our tree. Easton certainly doesn't care yet. He loves looking at it and declaring it "pretty".

PREGNANCY UPDATES

That picture is from last night, at exactly 27 weeks 1 day which also is exactly 3 months away from our due date of March 3rd. Pretty fun. Since I definitely won't be pregnant on my due date it's a little crazy to think that there's less than 3 months to go no matter what happens.

So far everthing is looking good...I haven't been back to the doctor yet but I can tell you that I'm not swelling anywhere yet and that's what I'd look for at this point to compare it to Easton's pregnancy. In fact, I went back again to pics from E's pregnancy to compare my belly size at 27 weeks 1 day back then. Still pretty much the same other than my belly being quite a lot higher this time and my face back then was already starting to swell, unbeknownst to us. But, with the belly being high you can see that I'm still in my regular jeans somehow. Jason was around as I was pulling them on yesterday and he said, "Good thing your belly is so high this time so you can wear those for longer" Then, in his silly tone he quickly added, "And good thing you're so small..." Tee hee! I've trained him well. He also says things like, "Yeah, from the back you don't look pregnant at all." I've never understood why pregnant women like to hear that but we kind of do. What a nice hubby I have.

Right now my biggest pregnancy "issue" is those dang middle-of-the-night leg cramps. Yowza! Last night I had a horrible horrible one...I almost woke Jason up to help me through it (like a labor pain or something). Anyway, I often get foot cramps during waking hours too but last night's calf cramp was so hurty that it still feels injured today. I remember as athletic trainers in high school we'd tell our athletes with leg cramps to eat a banana and drink a glass of milk because potassium and calcium are essential to your muscle function. Not to mention keeping hydrated with water. Anyhoo, this morning I decided to take that advice however I cannot drink milk and I cannot simply peel and eat a banana BLECH! So...I made a smoothie for E and me. We had 3 overripe bananas on our counter and I threw every single one of those bad boys into the blender along with a few frozen strawberries, heaping spoonfuls of yogurt (for the calcium), and for good measure I even added some non-fat dry milk powder just to "up" the calcium (the added protein can't hurt Baby Deuce's developing brain either). Then I gulped that sucker down. Mmmmmm. Hopefully the potassium and calcium boost will hold me over a few days/nights. I already get up a ton during the night to pee, I don't need something else getting me up. Sheesh!

But, while I'm still talking about my pregnancy it is worth mentioning (to me) that I had a contraction the other morning. I've had those dumb menstrual crampy type "contractions" that everyone has all pregnancy long but Saturday morning it was a real Braxton Hicks. I told J my belly was kind of hurty and tight and I wondered if it's a contraction...so I stuck my hand on my belly and sure enough...SOOOO tight just like I'd felt on laboring women before. Jason put his hand to feel too and then we could both feel it going away. I haven't had another once since but it was kind of interesting since I didn't have those with Easton.

EASTON STORIES
Sorry to ramble on about me for so long. Let's get back to Easton...where to start? Hmmmm...when he woke up from his nap yesterday he wasn't quite finished sleeping so I held him in his rocking chair and he went back to sleep for half an hour or so. It was sweet and I loved being able to take advantage of that special time. I know I won't have time for that kind of thing much longer.

Oh yeah...long time "Easton aficionados" will remember this video. Well, that Bert and Ernie song is on a CD we listen to with Easton. The other night Jason and I were singing it to Easton and making up our own words after the "la la la la"s and it wasn't long before Easton caught on to the "game" and was cracking us up with his own lyrics, "La la la...(look around the room for something)...football" or "La la la...Jesus". Very cute and it's a fun one to play in the car too.

His other recent funniness is saying both "Thank you" and "Your welcome" at the same time. Like any responsible parent we try to teach Easton some manners and encouraging him to say "please" and "thank you" are the biggies. Yesterday I handed him something and, unprompted, he said, "Thank you welcome". Ha ha ha! Goober! He's been doing it a little today too.

And yesterday at Max's party Max's mom was trying to get Easton to say, "Snack" which is what he's always called Max. But, he kept doing it right and saying, "Max" which isn't funny at all and she wanted Max's dad to hear the funny way. Oh well. However, at bedtime we were rocking and he was doing his new thing where he recounts parts of his day and he said, "Hap beeday, Snack" so there's hope yet for Max's dad to get to hear the funny way.

Our little reindeer in headlights before J's jambalaya dinner last night:


TODAY
Here's my guy reading his new favorite book from The Maws...there are blocks to match up with pictures on the pages. It is the perfect challenge for Easton and he does so well matching up the ABC's, 123's, and shapes. We were pleasantly surprised with his abilities:


Lunching today:

He's never worn that shirt before and when he saw the plaid flannel he pointed and said, "Dada". Yup, Daddy wears some plaid flannel too. His pants today are some wonky looking jeans I bought at a second hand kids shop. He is just too skinny and it's hard to dress him in "real" pants. The ones that fit his waist are obviously all too short. Jason finally realized the dressing dilemma while we were out shopping this weekend. We'd put pants on Easton only to have them fall down. It's tough. So I had to settle for some lame elastic waist "jeans" just to get the length. I can't wait till he's tall enough for the new "adjustable waist" pants they have out there. I can't find anything till the 24 month/2T size and he's not quite there length-wise.

Since the pants are dumb we only wear them when we were out today. After we got home we took them off and Easton decided to climb into a tote of summer clothes we keep in the closet:


Right now he's having his li'l nap and I'm contemplating wrapping Christmas presents vs. reading my book. Hmmmm...book reading would be a lot quieter while our light-sleeper rests. Guess my mind's made up for me, eh? Until tomorrow...

Mr. Grinch

Since Easton slept SOOO late into yesterday morning his nap was also quite late. We decided to wake him after two hours (which was 4:15) so he would maybe go to bed at a close to normal time. I think either way would've been a lose-lose because he was quite cranky as we decked the halls (and tree) yesterday.

Instead of the planned jambalaya we ordered a pizza. Easton slept too late, Jason cleaned too much (not possible) and we wanted to get the decorating underway so the jambalaya was rescheduled for today. Good plan.

Trimming the tree started off happy enough...there were lots of new things to explore and totes to climb on. Then the reindeer ears...

They're just not made for Easton's wee little head yet he was insistant on wearing them and doing all of it himself. We could NOT touch them. That's when we first saw the glimpse of Mr. GrinchE:

I decided not to remove the red eyes because it was so fitting.


He'd get so P.O.'d if we tried to help straighten them and what not. Then he was mad because there were a lot of things we wouldn't let him touch: the lights, the breakables, etc... He would've done okay on a normal day but he was not normal after being woken from his nap. Oh well. The baby gate was temporarily down so he did lots of fleeing to the kitchen to fling himself on the floor. Good times:


He perked up a ton when it was time to hang the ornaments. Here is his 2006 ornament:

We briefly considered Hallmark's Thomas the Train ornament but Elmo is more his favorite character, the train is just his favorite toy...you see? I was happy to find it because the website says they're sold out. Whew! Close one. Here he is getting ready to hang it:

And then hanging it (it was the first ornament on the tree):


This is our 2006 family ornament. We couldn't find anything we loved so we went with the snowman fam representing our own family of 3 (so far):


Tree fun with Daddy:



His most favoritest parts were hanging ornaments all by himself. We have plenty that hang without hooks and he got to go to town with those unbreakable ones. The bottom of our tree is sweetly cluttered with Easton's "I did it"s.


And here's the little guy proudly after proclaiming "I did it!" yet again. Plus, click the pic for a video.


Finally, after much drama, we called it a night for Easton but here is our finished product. Flash on:

Flash off:

We're trying to institute a "no touching" rule as far as the tree goes. Depending on how he does with that we'll see if we can put wrapped presents beneath it yet or not.

Anyway, onto today...E was up at a bright and early 6:55. He was in a great mood though, all traces of yesterday's terrible 22's (as in months) were long gone. Whew! We had some breakfast and then I did some cleaning, showering, and then Jason and Easton hopped in a shower because it is so much fun for everyone and I didn't want J missing out. Then we all got ready to go to Max's birthday party. Easton did great once again. He was a total angel at the party. He liked playing with Max's train set but he also enjoyed some crackers and 'ummus, a few bites of carrot, and a lot of Teletubbies cake. Yum. He even got a sack of party favors when we left. A real party! There were quite a few babies there and while I held one of them Easton came to check her out. He was soooo gentle and soooo sweet and didn't have any jealousy over me holding another kid at all. We took pictures but since we don't know the kid I don't want to be pasting her up online without permission. But Easton was great with her. I was encouraged. I know that can all change once we having one living in our house but still...it's a start. In fact, I gave her back to her dad (so I could eat my cake...duh!) and Easton noticed she was gone and asked, "Baby?" I'm gonna have to find some more babes to borrow to keep him so accepting. :)

Now he's napping and J's getting caught up on the Saints game he had to start TiVoing while we were out. Jambalaya is the plan for tonight along with the Broncos on Sunday Night Football. Hope you enjoyed all the pics. 'Tis the Season!

9:38

That's what time we finally heard from Easton this morning...can you believe it?!?! We couldn't. Especially since we both got up for the day shortly after 6.

I had arranged for Jason to go get a massage this morning and E and I planned to join him and shop in the neighboring stores for that hour but the massage was at 10 so J had to go without us. He came back though and we all went out shopping together: now we have our 2006 ornaments and nutcracker. We're planning to pull out the Christmas decor today...after the nap.

Currently Jason is attacking the kitchen (moving all the appliances to get the whole counter clean and such)...I should be glad that he's cleaning so thoroughly but actually it makes me feel bad that I don't keep the house clean enough. I guess I'm not much of a homemaker but I'm one heck of a stay-at-home MOM. That must be my area of expertise. Later J is planning to make a jambalaya. Not much of a need for me around here today with him doing the cooking and cleaning. Although Easton and I did make the bed and folded some towels earlier so I'm good for something :)

And last night I cooked too but my mom came down with a sore throat and we all thought it was best for them not to join us. Easton was just happy to eat corn:

He went to town on that thing. I hate that it's so messy, though. We had to take off his clothes after dinner:


Jason even did the rocking again last night. Easton was sad about his decision but we stuck with it. I'll rock him tonight even though whatever J did worked to get him to sleep for SOOOO long. Score!

So, this afternoon should be jambalaya and decorating...tomorrow is football and Max's birthday party. Busy busy! Hope you're enjoying your weekends!

Welcome to December!

Is it just me or did November absolutely fly by? It seemed quick. Anyway...it's the same ol' same ol' around here...pictures from yesterday:
A young Coloradoan quickly learns the importance of layering on below freezing days:

And on top of the layers, slippers are a must on the cold tile floors in winter:

This is what he did instead of eating dinner:

I could NOT get him to eat yesterday. We skipped breakfast before Kindermusik and then stopped for doughnuts on the way home. He ate about a third of one of those. Then, for his snack he ate half of a Ritz cracker. I'm not exaggerating here. For dinner he told me he wanted "noodles"...leftover mac and cheese that he likes. He ate 3 noodles and then put his napkin on his head and such. Finally after swimming we got him to eat a yogurt, all the while making a variety of sounds (train, plane, cat...) as I spooned it in. I took requests. He had hat hair though from putting on his hat with wet hair:

I told him so and he said, "mirror?" so he could have a look for himself but since he was eating I told him I'd take a picture. So I did.

Swimming last night was pretty fun. Neither Jason nor I had to get fully submerged we just waded around with The E. He'd hold our hands and lift up his feet or he'd toss a fish toy and chase it. He got cold as usual but still had fun.

Last night at bedtime Easton requested that Jason rock him. He's been mentioning it all week (Easton has) but then he chickens out and asks for me instead. Last night...no excuses. Jason engaged him in a convo about his day and when he asked for me Jason told him, "No sorry...she went downstairs" and that was the end of his requesting. Nice. I like that the boys could have their special time too.

Jason and I watched Survivor and had to tape Scrubs in the bedroom for another time. Turns out there is no re-airing of Grey's Anatomy tonight. Oh well. Such is life. Of the, like, 4 shows I watch...why's 3 of 'em gotta be on the same night? Sheesh.

Anyway...moving on to today...Easton woke up coughing so hard and so much that I thought he'd yak. Normally I hop in the shower real quick when I hear him start waking but not when he pulled that business. I figured we could shower together again...the steam might even do him some good. When he was done with his coughing spell I heard him start spouting off letters he knows, "A, B,...X". Pretty cute. So, then I went in to my happy guy and he got to start his advent calendar:


I was a little shocked that he popped the whole chocolate in his mouth...that's unlike him not to inspect things first. But, hey...I did tell him it was a chocolate treat. He must know that's safe. Yum.

We ate breakfast...well, I did...Easton had maybe 2 bites of oatmeal in addition to his chocolate treat and his vitamin. Ugh! I might have to change the advent time to post nap or something. Then it was up for a not so quick shower. Today he preferred to sit or lay on the floor of the tub while the water hit him. Sometimes he'd spit just for old times sake. He's fun. While I was in the closet afterwards finding some clothes I heard him call, "Oh Mama!" and so I took a peek and he was very proud of himself for tucking his little self into our bed:

I sure hope he continues to get a kick out of that...it might make switching to the big boy bed easier. Jason can't wait to tuck him into his little bed next month. Cuteness.

Speaking of cute...I dressed Easton up like a little man again today...no sweats yet again:

There is a picture from that same "session" above in our Happy December tag. It was a more polite smile so I used it, even though this picture is more like the real E.

We went out shopping this morning and I gave Easton his hat and mittens to put on:

He can never get the second glove on himself and that frustrates him...here's when Mommy does it, straight hat and all:


He was quite the trooper as we hit the shops this morning. He really is a good shopping buddy most of the time. We came home for some "lunch" (a few crackers and maybe 7 bites of banana) and now E's having his nap. We plan to work on a craft later and then my mom and sister might come up for dinner--sloppy joes. Have a good weekend!

Oh yeah...I meant to share this video yesterday. It's Easton repeating his alphabet after me back on our snow day. He surprised me by actually attempting the 3 letters he used to refuse. Click here to see.

It's December Now!

I admit, this time I was not "officially" tagged but Amanda said..."and anyone else who wants to join in!" Well, that's me...I want to join in.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate, for sure...I don't think I've ever even been brave enough to try Egg Nog. Eew!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa is too busy to wrap if you ask me.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Only the fake stuff...isn't the real kind poisionous?

5. When do you put your decorations up? Jason likes for it to be the first weekend in December...or maybe the 2nd weekend after Thanksgiving? Either way, they're not up yet.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I love a sweet potato dish (if it's done right) or maybe a green bean casserole. Mmmmm.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? Gosh, there's so many...I do like the tradition we had of all the sisters sleeping in the same room.

8. How and when did you learn the truth about Santa? Can't say for sure but I remember my best friend's oldest sister having something to do with it.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Just one. As a kid it was one from my dad.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Well, I don't do lights myself so I watch while those go up and then hang some ornaments. We always start with our special ornament of the year.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I'll just say "like it" but I do like a white Christmas. Living in Colorado it's easy to tire of the snow.

12. Can you ice skate? Yup...I even took lessons as a wee girl.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Not my favorite gift as a child...recently I'd have to say my Palm Pilot.

14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Family and traditions.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pecan pie if it's there...Hate pumpkin pie.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Picking out the new ornaments for that year and adding to my nutcracker collection with something special too.

17. What tops your tree? Always been a star, I think.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Most definitely giving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night...if it's done by the right person it can give me chills.