Snow!

We FINALLY got that snow we had been hoping for the last couple of weeks. It snowed about four or five inches last night and another two or so today. The snow is finally tapering off this afternoon and it’s pretty white blanket makes everything outside look wonderfully tranquil. I’ve got my slippers on and a hot cup of tea to keep me warm. Love it.

We attempted to play in the snow this morning and after battling to get Jack bundled up in his full snowsuit, rain boots* and hat and mittens; we lasted less than five minutes before he face planted in the snow and started crying hysterically. We called it good and came right back inside. But, in typical Jack fashion, as soon as we were all undressed, he sat mournfully at the slider and pathetically tapped on the glass saying ‘eh eh eh’ until I relented and decided we would try again. This time, there was no snowsuit, just some too-big  rain boots, a jacket over fleece jammies and a hat and mittens. I think we lasted another five minutes but thankfully there was no more face planting.

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Aaron just came home and traded me cars, which is the perfect excuse to stay nice and cozy at home. No errands or trips to the grocery store; just a quiet house and the click of my computer keys. I’m feeling much more coherent today. Knocked a few items off my list, delegated a few to my husband, and blissfully, Jack has been sleeping for nearly two hours. The napping makes all the difference in the world.

Hope you’re warm and cozy wherever you are.

*Oops, I somehow missed the boat on buying snow boots for my kid. I hope rain boots two sizes to big will work for the season!

Procrastinating

It’s the truth. I am a bit of a procrastinator ( ‘a bit’ meaning ‘huge’).

I am staring at a dishwasher that needs unloading and a high chair that needs scrubbing. Let’s not mention the 700 piles of clean laundry that need to be put away or the bed that just never quite got made today.

I have an inbox FULL of emails and three (!) new freelance projects to work on. Just as clarification, I work as a consultant for a medical school very part-time helping with university relations and fundraising. That’s my constant gig. When I mention freelance projects, its writing/marketing/fundraising for one of our local hospitals. I love the work I get asked to do, because it’s interesting and challenging and it helps that they pay pretty well too. So, I pretty much never turn them down, even if it is a week and a half before Christmas and I am BUSY.

Instead of tackling one of the hundred things that would make me feel better and more productive. I think I will write this nonsense here and listen to my son fight his nap in his crib. As a segway, what is up with 1-year-olds? He took a great nap at daycare this morning and when we got home around 12:30pm this afternoon, we played and had a snack just like every day I go to work. At around 2pm, I layed Jack down for his nap where he proceeded to yell, blow raspberries and talk for an hour. At which point, I got him up, played some more and then as he got fussier and fussier, layed him down again around 4pm (half and hour ago). He’s still awake.

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And, as is my life, it’s five hours later. Jack never did take a nap. But I did unload the dishwasher and make dinner. So, that’s something. The laundry will have to wait until tomorrow.

Also: it’s snowing! A lot. At our old house, our neighbor always used his snowblower to clear our driveway for us, so Aaron never had a reason to shovel. Most people would mourn losing that neighbor, but not my husband. He is giddy at the thought of getting up early to shovel his driveway. Too bad he has to ’sweep’ away the snow with a broom. Maybe tomorrow I’ll buy him a shovel.

It’s the little things.

Hopefully, tomorrow a post a that makes sense.

Funny to Compare

This is going to be sort of random, but I just came across this picture when I was looking for a picture of Jack from this summer:

And I laughed out loud, because much like childbirth, I’ve blocked out most of the remodel. I only have a few hazy memories of coffee pots in the bathroom and trying to keep Jack from eating construction debris.

It kind feels like we’ve always lived with it this way:

Although, it’s only fair to admit that the appliances have greasy finger prints on them and there’s almost always a stray toy car or nerf football or other Jack-related item underfoot.

Same goes for the living room:

I can only picture it as it is now:

We have lots more hard work ahead of us. (Oh hello eighties bathrooms with peeling linoleum and nasty walnut vanities and don’t forget the pastel blue duck wallpaper!) But, these photos remind me that all this hard work we’re doing is worth it.

Because we love living here. Which is a good thing, because I think we’re going to be here for a very long time.

The Elusive Family Photo

We really tried to get a family photo for a Christmas card this weekend.

If I wasn’t blinking, then Jack was either running away or crying. And, that was if Aaron could actually jump over the couch and get in his spot before the camera went off.

Needless to say, there were lots of shenanigans, but not so much in the way of producing a family photo worthy of the Christmas card.

Take a look:

Or

Then we tried a family shot

Aaron didn’t quite make it before the camera went off…oops.

Hey! Don’t run away! Come back here you rascal!

Yea! A picture! With all three of us! Wait…what are those funny spots? And, why does Jack look miserable?

Oh well.

Maybe next year.

Holiday Cheer

So, I would love to show you pictures of my new house all decked out for Christmas. Or maybe a shot of my precious child in his new Christmas jammies (let’s be honest, we have about 5 pairs of holiday jammies to rotate through). I mean, I could even post a photo from Thanksgiving or of the little half bathroom we are almost finished renovating.

But…

In order to do so, my camera battery would have to ‘work.’  As in, not dead.

So instead, I thought we could talk about Christmas cookies. How does that sound?

Growing up my mom made amazing sugar cookies, cut out into trees, stars and geese. She made the frosting herself and carefully iced each one and then let my brothers and I decorate them with sprinkles (basically ruining her beautiful creations as we dumped sprinkles all over her hard work, but she was a good sport). Over the years, she has made a variety of other cookies and treats, but those have always been the constant. Cookie swap? Sugar cookies all the way. Last minute gift for a friend? Sugar Cookies.

I’ve decided that I need a trademark holiday treat. I’ve been scouring magazines and cookbooks, blogs and recipe sites, but nothing has really hit me. In the last couple of years I’ve made a really yummy chocolate shortbread cookie, hello dolly bars, pecan bars, my mom’s sugar cookies and some amazing lemon sandwich cookies that I found on the Martha Stewart web site. I would stick with the lemon cookies because they are divine, but lemon just doesn’t say Christmas to me.

So tell me, what are your holiday treat traditions? Do you have something you make every year? Any suggestions for what I should make? (hint hint)

Check Me Out

Have you ever checked out Bodies in Motivation? It’s a great site dedicated to excercise, healthy eating, gear reviews and funny intersting women who blog about everything from training for a marathon to their weight loss journey and everything in between.

If you need a little motivation, like I do sometimes, it’s a great place to get some.

I have a guest post up. Check it out.

You can read all about my ramblings on postpartum fitness and my never-ending battle to give up the cookies.

A Happy Thanksgiving

On this day I am thankful for:

A healthy and happy family.

The sweet smile of my little boy.

Delicious food simmering in the oven.

Lots of aunts and uncles, grandparents and other extended family who love on Jack (and us).

A chance to sleep in and rest while Aaron got up with Jack at 5:30am this morning!

The Christmas season about to begin! Let it snow.

Happy Thanksgiving.

It’s Not Too Early!

When I mentioned we had an adventure over the weekend hunting for a Christmas tree; I wasn’t kidding!

Thank goodness for this big-ass truck our friend’s borrowed. Aaron was drooling over it the entire time. We literally would not have been able to get to our ’spot’ without that baby, because the snow was WAY to deep.

Jack looks pretty serious/unhappy, but I promise he had a great time. He loved the snow! He loved watching Aaron cut down the Christmas tree and Rem run around like a lunatic.

We tried to get Rem in the picture, but this was the best we could do. He was way to busy running, jumping and doing back flips into the snow. That dog goes seriously crazy for snow.

Aaron and I were talking on the way back into town that we are really looking forward to years down the road when we have a whole car full of kiddos and we set out for these little adventures. I’m sure someone will be crying or whining or both, (just like I was as a kid) but I love starting these traditions and I can’t wait to share them with Jack and whatever phantom siblings he eventually has. Our friend’s girls had a blast playing in the snow, throwing snowballs and making snow angels. Their wonder at the snow and mountains made it that much more magical.

As I write this, my mother’s family recipe for creamed onions (sounds so gross but is seriously amazing) is simmering on the stove top and tomorrow morning bright and early I will be finishing up my Thanksgiving dishes so we can load the car and head out to spend the weekend with family.

It’s moments like these, when I’m cozy in my house, looking at pictures of my beautiful little family, that my heart is overwhelmed with thanksgiving. I wish you the same this holiday, that you are overflowing with thanksgiving for all the good things in your life.

A Boy And His Dad

Oh man. So dang cute. Seriously.

Power tools are awesome Dada!

These two are peas in a pod. Jack was enthralled with Aaron’s project and after bravely reaching out to touch the drill, after watching quietly for several minutes, he decided it would just be easier to sit in Dada’s lap and ‘help.’

So cute.

In other cabinet related news, Jack isn’t too excited about the babyproofing. He walks around the kitchen trying to open all the cabinets at least 20 times a day. Which is hilarious; at least to me.

Shoot!

Darn it, I seemed to have completely forgotten about my little blog. So much for posting every day this month. It has been surprisingly harder than I thought it would be.

A shout out to my littlest brother who turned a very old and legal 21 this weekend. Can’t wait to celebrate all over again at Christmas! (And see if you can keep up with your older siblings!)

We got our Christmas tree today! We blazed a snowy trail and almost got stuck a few times but had an absolute blast. Yakima got its first snow of the season and the adorable neighbor kids built a huge snowman in their front yard. By 2pm this afternoon, all the snow had melted but that snowman is still there! I can’t wait until Jack is old enough to build snowmen in the front yard.

Also, we (meaning Aaron) babyproofed the kitchen cabinets this weekend (I can hear my mother breathing a huge sigh of relief all the way from Utah right now). It’s amazing how much easier life is after just 24 hours. Somebody should have told me sooner!

And finally, we succumbed.

We are now an iphone family. My old phone hadn’t rung in at least three months and Aaron has been borrowing a co-workers phone because his old phone was a work one.  We basically spent the entire weekend geeking out like acne-prone middle school students. Any free moment was spent downloading apps, taking photos and surfing the internet. Or playing checkers. And losing. The iphone is better at checkers than I am.

So, I have lots of pictures to share and Thanksgiving dishes to prepare and of course a little boy to snuggle and play with, but I thought I would give the quick rundown of our weekend.

How was yours? Did you do anything fun? Did it snow?