Christmas 2010

Wow. What a whirlwind the last few days have been, but I guess Christmas is always like that. It reminds me of my wedding - all of the planning and preparation and anticipation, and poof... it's over in a heartbeat. But as sad as I am to think that it's over, this was absolutely the best Christmas I've had in... well, maybe forever. Todd and I had such a ball watching Nicholas take it all in this year. He was SO excited about Santa, and he really got into the whole Christmas "thing," even more than I was expecting. He wanted to blast Christmas carols on the iPod and dance around the living room, he searched for Santa in every single thing we watched on TV, and of course, loved the whole receiving of, and yes, eventually the giving of the presents! He was so funny - on Christmas Day he was always making sure that Todd and I had something to open. He would go to the tree and get things for us, hand them to us and say, "Thank you, Mommy," or "Thank you, Daddy." (Even if the presents weren't actually for us.) It was very sweet. The hard part now is making him understand that Christmas only comes once a year. He keeps saying, "Santa comin' Mommy!" It's sort of a tough one to explain to a toddler!

One of the greatest parts of the holiday was Christmas Eve night. He had such a great time, and even got a visit with Santa! Can you beieve Santa found time in his busy Christmas Eve schedule to come to our party??!! We're so lucky. Nicholas was a little awestruck at first, but after a while, got up on his lap, said, "Thank you," for his gift, and even gave Santa a hug and a kiss. It was a Christmas miracle! Of course, you'll have to just take my word for it, because the battery in my camera died just as Santa arrived. It figures. If anyone out there has some good shots of him with Santa - email them to me! I was so bummed.

So... overall I'd say the holiday was a HUGE success, and I couldn't be more proud, or more madly in love with my little monkey than I am today. Funny thing is... I'll love him even more tomorrow. That's the cool thing about being a mom I guess! Hope all of you had a wonderful holiday too. Peace and grins from the Cutlers! :.)

Ho Ho Ho!

As a teacher, I've always known that Christmas is all about little ones, but now that I have my own, I can see that it's true. There is just nothing better that watching Nicholas sit by the Christmas tree in his holiday jammies and point to a book and yell out, "I see Ho Ho Ho!"

Granted, we still have some work to do on the whole "it is better to give than to receive" concept. Every time we talk about giving presents to other people, he responds with, "No. Me presents." He is two, for goodness sake, so we can cut him a little slack, but I must admit, it does make me cringe.

We're also working on getting up the courage to sit on Santa's lap. He's getting warmer, but we're not quite there yet. We're keeping our fingers crossed for Christmas Eve. We had our breakfast with Santa last weekend, and he was most interested in the turkeys! It was at Flamig Farm in Simsbury, and just outside the doors were a bunch of live turkeys wandering around. At the end of breakfast, he belts out, "Turkeys, please!" So funny. My boy is an animal lover. Wonder where he gets that from????

This past week was a tough one. Nicholas had his first battle with the stomach bug, which was totally gross. I swear I have never felt more like a mother than I did when he was sitting there covered in puke, and looking up at me saying in his most pathetic voice, "Mommy..." We all got through it, though. Ten thousand loads of laundy later... we are healthy again! Better last week than this one I guess!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

We have been having such a good time getting ready for the big day! There's so much to do this time of year, and Nicholas has been having a ball experiencing the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. We cut down our Christmas tree a few weeks ago, and he was a big help. He was squatting down next to Todd and yelling at the top of his lungs, "Cut it, Daddy! Cut it!" It was hilarious. I have a great video of it, but I can't seem to figure out how to upload a video onto this blog lately - they must have changed something. Nicholas has been surprisingly indifferent to the Christmas tree, which is good I guess. He helped us decorate it, but hasn't touched an ornament since. Of course, we purposely bought a very sharp blue spruce, which could land you in the emergency room if you grab a branch, so maybe that's why.

Today was the firehouse Christmas party, which was an experience! Nicholas must have walked every inch of that firehouse... ten times over! And between the chocolate donut, ice cream, cupcake, and lollipop he ate... he was in rare two-year-old-form! The magician made him this HUGE red and white balloon hat, which he wore proudly for the rest of the party. He looked like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book.
We even got to see Santa ride in on the back of a firetruck, which was just about the coolest thing he'd ever seen. He didn't sit on Santa's lap, but he got close enough for a picture, and even said thank you for his gift. As you can see, though, he wasn't about to take his eyes of of him. We're having breakfast with Santa tomorrow morning, so hopefully by Christmas Eve, he'll have warmed up enough to actually sit on his lap. Here's hoping..







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"Bobble Bobble!"

No... that's not a typo. That's how Nicholas says, "Gobble Gobble!" And I, for one, don't have the heart to correct him. "Bobble bobble" is way cuter anyway.

It's hard to believe that almost an entire month has passed since I blogged last. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only teacher out there that feels this way, but I HATE NOVEMBER!!!!!!! It's insane at work, and I am completely exhausted. Between report cards, parent conferences, and 22 holiday-crazed 7-year-olds... I've had it. I think that's why I love Thanksgiving so much. It's what I consider an exhale holiday. I swear I've been holding my breath for an entire month. Now I can finally breathe again.

Thanksgiving was great this year. Nicholas is finally getting the whole "holiday hoopla" thing, which is so fun. OK, so he may have been saying "Happy Halloween" most of the day, but... close enough. We started the day at the Cutlers' for dinner and a packed house. It was so nice to see everyone crowded around the table. Nicholas's favorite part of the meal? No, not stuffing, mashed potatoes, or even turkey. Black olives. I swear he ate a dozen of them. He likes to put them on his finger before he eats them. I think we all did that as kids too.

We took a break in the middle of the day so Nicholas could nap at home. I can neither confirm nor deny any napping on my part, however. Todd had to work nights, so after he left, Nicholas and I headed to Auntie Gail's for dessert with the DeBisschops. He had a great time playing with his cousins. I swear, it was like someone shot him out of a cannon! Not sure if it was the pumpkin pie sugar high, or just all of the people around, but he was in rare form. I think he went up and down the stairs at least 20 times.

After I got him home and into the tubby, and eventually into bed, I finally had a minute to sit... cocktail in hand, in my quiet house, and truly take time to give thanks. Sometimes I get so busy with life, or so stressed out, that I don't take the time to really appreciate all that I have. Thank goodness we have this day to force us to look at our lives and count our blessings. The last couple of years have been very good to Todd and I. We have this beautiful new house to live in, jobs that we love (most of the time) and a perfect, healthy little boy who has changed us both emensely... for the better. There are days that I just want to bar the doors and put a plastic bubble over the house, and never go outside, because I think that everything is so perfect right now. I don't want anything messing it up.

But, obviously, that's not an option. So, I guess the best I can do is take some advice from one of my favorite movie characters who said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Man... that Ferris Bueller was a genius. So, here's to stopping to smell the roses every once in a while. Cheers, everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving.