Advent Calendar

This year I took on a great idea I read about in a magazine. Instead of having a traditional advent calendar with candy treats, we have come up with 24 activities. The first day was a bust because Maya was sick, however, we have had so much fun. So far we watched a Christmas movie, decorated the Christmas tree, made a Gingerbread house, done a Christmas craft, made Snowman pancakes, gone to see Santa, gone to a Christmas party and wrote a letter to Santa. Tonight is day 9 (we try to do our activity together each night) and it looks like we will be making a card for a friend. Maya has loved finding the 'magical' piece of paper that appears in our advent calendar each day to see what we are going to do. I sneak it in during nap time and tell her the elves came by. Love this idea!

Santa Experiment

We have already seen Santa 3 times and it's only December 9th. The first time was successful. We went on the Santa Train in North Bend and met up with the old guy. Maya sat in his lap and told him she was 2 and that she wanted a Tiana doll for Christmas. Though she looks like she's going to bolt, we even got a picture (I will admit this guy looks like a wax figure though, weird!). The second time we saw him was at a Christmas Brunch for Chris' work. We waited in line for about 10 minutes only to have Maya decide it wasn't a great idea when it was our turn. In the picture she is holding on to Chris for dear life while Owen is in Santa's lap. We have a nice picture of her back which is better than last years brunch where she screamed while Chris held her. The third time was a little more successful. This time the kids got dressed up to go see Santa at the mall. When Maya realized it was our turn, however, she took three steps towards him then sat on the ground. I thought we were in for tears, however, Santa, being the kid friendly guy he is, suggested she stand to his side by her baby brother and help hold him. Smart guy! Maya isn't smiling and almost ended up cut off in the picture, but she helped hold Owen and stayed in the picture. In the end she even gave Santa a hug when he gave her a coloring book. Two more encounters; I'll have to update how they end up in my Santa experiment.

My Wish

Right now I am listening to the song ‘My Wish’ by Rascal Flatts. It’s on my playlist on my Blog so turn your sound on and take a listen. It’s one of those songs that really sums up your thoughts…in my case, and maybe yours, it sums up my thoughts about my kiddos. I was reading something online the other day and in the article the woman wrote that she realized, looking at her teenagers, that the day would come when they wouldn’t be an active part of her daily activities. When Maya woke up this morning (she wasn't quite ready to be awake but came downstairs anyway), she cuddled up in my lap. It made me think of all the mornings she used to do that. She'd snuggle her little face in to my sweatshirt and hug me until she was ready to get up and play. This morning I realized what a big girl she already is as all 39 inches of her tried to cuddle in. It's a little sad to realize I don't remember so clearly those things that happened during our first year together. I know, I know, new memories are made and that's why, but I guess I don't want my baby to grow up too fast. Maya's first year I was always so excited for the milestones. With Owen, I think I'd be content if he'd just stay where he is, rolling around on the floor smiling and laughing. Ok, my rant is over. In the end, my babies will grow up and that will be a good thing.

The sickies strike again!

I had just been thinking it had been about 4 months since Maya was last sick, fever sick. We tend to get a fever every 3 or 4 months and it's always ugly...ugh. The poor girl doesn't bat an eye at a cold but a fever is awful with her. We got home from Target and she proceeded to have a melt down. When she calmed down I noticed that blank look in her eyes and though 'oh oh!' Sure enough it was 100.4 and 101.2 an hour later. She changed in to her favorite Tink nightgown, I gave her some Tylenol, and she snuggled on the couch the rest of the day with her Tink blanket and princess pillow watching movies. Poor girl felt awful. No puking though, that's always my fear. She's only thrown up once and it was only formula (she was 7 months old) but I am pretty much terrified of throw up in general. Now I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we all stay well until long after the holidays!