December Highlights and Christmas Delights

It’s hard to believe that the month of December is almost through, Christmas Day has come and gone, and we’ll be ringing in a New Year this Saturday night.

It always seems that after Thanksgiving, the December days seem to fly by even quicker since they are filled with so many activities and the flurry of Holiday preparations and fun.

This year we especially enjoyed talking about the reason for the season with our youngest, Colton.

As we read to him (many times this month) the story book (see below) we have about the birth of our Saviour, it was so cute to watch Colton “perform” as he looked at the pictures on the different pages when we read to him. When he saw the bright star in the sky, he would flick his fingers for twinkle, twinkle, he’d “baa” for the lamb and “hee-haw” for the donkey, he’d wave to the wise men, and put his fingers to his lips and say, “Sshhhh” when he saw the baby Jesus sleeping in the manger.

It was just a joy to watch such precious interpretations from a toddler’s understanding.

The beginning of the month found us taking Colton to get his first haircut.

I must say, the distraction of the dum-dum lollipop worked like a charm and he never even flinched.

That same day we trekked on over to the mall for the official Santa photo. 

Mommy had to get in the picture because Colton was having NONE of this Santa guy stuff! 

As far as R.J. was concerned, there was nothing to it which is clearly evidenced by his, "After all, I've been doing this for 10 years now!" look on his face.

We then wandered over to the Build-a-Bear workshop, and let Colton use his birthday gift card to pick out a special “friend”. 

He chose a cute German shepherd puppy that R.J. helped him name…"CAM" (given that we’re such huge Auburn fans, that name should not surprise any of you!)

The finished a.k.a. "love-stuffed" doggie

R.J’s school days prior to Christmas vacation were filled with some fun activities.

One of the days they got to make their very own gingerbread houses. 

His came out amazingly well, dontcha’ think?

The proud architect!

Our house also is visited by an elf every year.

For those of you familiar with the Elf on the Shelf, you already know what I’m talking about.

His name is “Straighty” - - dubbed such by R.J. when he was 4 years old (R.J. that is, not the elf)!

Actually, I spoke about this special friend of R.J.’s in this blog post last year.

Straighty pulled off some very unique things this year.

After all, he’s a very clever elf!

Just take a look…

There was also a DVD that came out this year that really helped to bring the Elf on a Shelf story to life. 

It’s only about 24 minutes long and it was just the perfect length for Colton to be able to sit and watch without being distracted and wanting to get up and do something else.

Before we knew it Christmas was here!

R.J. left his letter to Santa along with cookies and milk. 

Amazingly, this year Santa’s cookies also happened to be Mommy’s favorite ones.

Imagine that?!!!

Christmas morning arrived…

Santa came, and Santa delivered!!!

R.J. got most everything he asked for and among his favorites were the 2012 Madden NFL game for his Wii, and a miniature Auburn Football helmet.

He also got a remote control airplane complete with a miniature camera attached (Air Hogs Hawkeye Blue Sky) that he had been wanting since the summer…more on this gift in just a bit.

Colton got a miniature arm chair with his name on it that he loves!!!

Combine that with his CD player and mini trampoline and trust me, this kid is one happy little camper!!

Okay, back to the airplane…

R.J. was dying to fly this thing, but on Christmas Day it rained…all day.

So the day after, we charged the airplane, put batteries in the remote control and off he went to take his plane to greater heights all the while videoing what R.J. said would be, “All sorts of neat stuff!”

Not even 5 minutes later, R.J. came back into the house crying hysterically with remote in hand and no plane.

When he calmed down we learned that yes, R.J. had taken his plane where no plane had gone before…and it promptly got stuck smack dab in the tallest (and I mean tall) and most limb ridden tree in our front yard!!!

No ladder, no branch trimmer, no nothing could reach this plane.

Well, maybe if we had a power company bucket truck…but, we didn’t!

I give my husband credit. For several hours he tried (and eventually my neighbor, and my neighbor’s father-in-law also joined in) to get that darn plane out of the tree by throwing baseballs and footballs Hercules style at it and at the limbs it was stuck in…to no avail.

Thus, this is what we have left of the video capturing airplane…

Remote control full of brand new batteries and a broken airplane wing!

The rest, well, it’s still stuck in the tree and I’m sure some species of bird is going to think he/she has found the mate of all mates…LOL!

Okay, remember up above when I said Santa came and Santa delivered?

Well, R.J. reminded me that Santa forgot to leave him a letter this year.

Every other year Santa had left a letter, but not this year.

Hrumpf?!

How do I explain that one???

I calmly and ever-so-motherly explained to him that Santa must have just accidentally forgot or misplaced it.

After all, Santa did have a whole lotta’ children to visit and deliver to on Christmas Eve.

My explanation seemed to suffice, but I couldn’t help but notice a wee bit of disappointment in R.J.’s face.

What to do????

Mommy put her thinking cap on and viola’ one Santa letter/memo to R.J. in an authentic looking envelope coming up!

This is what it says…

North Pole, Alaska

From The Desk of Santa Claus

MEM-HO-HO-HO-RANDUM

December 27th 2011

Subject: Forgotten Letter

Dear R.J.

After I got back to the North Pole, I looked in my mail pouch and realized that I had forgotten to leave you your letter from me. Yes, there it was in the bottom of my bag.

Oh, by the way, I apologize for the "Hot Chocolate" stains you see on this letter. One of the deer bumped my arm while typing this... Hmmm, I bet you know which deer it was too?!?

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I had been keeping a very close eye on you and of course Straighty was filling me in too.

I must say, you have been a very good boy this year. Oh, yes, there have been times when you have given your parents a hard time about this and that (you know, like brushing your teeth), but I must say, for the most part I have been very proud of you. Although, I do want to remind you to watch your manners about how you talk to Mommy and Daddy (and Mimi and Boppa) every now and then.

I really want to thank you for being such a good big brother to Colton. I know it isn’t easy to be patient with such a little one, but rest assured that your baby brother is learning from you, and the kind and caring way you are with him is the way I wish all girls and boys would be with their siblings.

I also want to let you know that it warms this big guy’s heart to hear the way you say your prayers every night. Never ever forget that the birth of Jesus is what is most important about CHRISTMAS. Oh, yes, presents are wonderful to get, but the most wonderful present to ALL of us is HIM.

In closing, please forgive me for forgetting to leave your letter (with all the houses and all the boys and girls I visit in one night, it was bound to happen).

And don’t forget, just because this Christmas is over you’d still…

Better watch out, You better not cry, Better not pout, I'm telling you why: I'm coming to town…again (in just 364 more days). And don’t you doubt that I’ll be…

Making a list, and checking it twice; Gonna find out who's naughty and nice.

As always,

Santa Claus

R.J. spent the night off with a friend last night which is perfect because I can slip this in the mailbox and when he comes home, I can ask him to check the mail and there the letter will be.

Mommy, er um, I mean…Santa redemption!!!

I hope!

I’ll let you all know how it goes.

In the meantime, please accept my heartfelt wishes to you and yours for a most blessed and Happy New Year!

Christmas Card 2011

Baby Stats - 18 months

Colton's 18 month check-up
Appointment on: 12/6/2011
[He was also very sick this day...viral bronchitis - YUCK!]

Age: 18 months and 2 weeks old (on date of blog entry)

Weight: 26 lbs. (50th percentile) - - He’s lost weight since his 15 month check-up

Length: 32 inches (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 48 ½ cm {19.5 inches} (75th percentile)

Diaper: Size 5 –Pampers brand – Cruisers (during the day) and Pampers Extra Protection Size 5 (at bedtime)

Clothing: Still wearing sizes 18-months and 24-months/2-T depending on the brand/type of outfit.

Shoe: Size 5 …W-I-D-E!!!! He’s got the same chubby little foot that his big brother did when he was a toddler.

Liquids: Skim milk and juice. Speaking of juice...although it costs more, I’ve been buying Gerber’s Fruit Splashers. It contains less sugar than regular juice and it's already diluted.

Amount: Heck, I stopped keeping up with amount of liquid awhile back…some days it’s a lot and some days not so much.

Solid Food: All of a sudden, he’s turned into a picky eater. Things he used to eat and love, now he turns his nose up at. The one thing he absolutely will never turn down…graham crackers. After all, those are a part of each of the different food groups, aren't they?!! LOL!

Sleeping Habits: He’s sleeping through the night with an occasional wake up, but usually it’s because he’s lost his pacifier or he’s gotten himself into a position that has made him uncomfortable. A calm word, a pacifier pop-in, or a back pat most of the time is the ticket back to la-la land for him.

What He's Doing/How He's Progessing: Now that he’s walking, he can’t be stopped! Seriously, this kid can walk/run circles around a marathon expert! ! Once he’s down, he’s off! I used to cringe when I saw parents with leashes on their kids, but I am seriously about to check them out on Amazon.com - - LOL! His vocabulary has definitely expanded. One of my favorite words he says right now is “purple”. It’s not so much that he says the word, it’s how he says it that’s so darn cute! He also is into making animal sounds. He can “roar” like a lion. “Growl” like a bear. “Woof” like a doggie. “Nay”, like a horse. Blow fire and smoke like a dragon, etc. He still has an ear for music too. He has us cracking up when he starts bee-bopping to a song on the radio or a commercial on TV. He has no lack of rhythm that’s for sure. He’s able to clap and pump his hand right on beat. He’s still trying to show out with a bit of a temper and he likes to slap. At times, this is very frustrating for us (probably for him too), but we are muddling are way through it and trying to help him to understand that sometimes it just can’t be “Colton’s Way”. Let’s just say, at 18 months old, he already knows where the time out chair is and what it’s for!!! He's still a momma's boy BIG TIME!!!  While at times I find this endearing, at other times not so much...like when I'm trying to do laundry or clean up the kitchen and I've got a toddler literally hanging onto my legs and I am forced to "drag" him around with me while he clings tightly to the pants material as I try to manuever around.  It's pathetic and funny all at the same time.  He’s gotten over his fear of the bathing in the big tub and now it’s his favorite evening past time. He loves to blow at the soap bubbles and play with the “cack-cacks” (little yellow rubber duckies). Honestly, even mommy is thankful for his bathtub time because there are days when she can only get Colton to eat his dinner if he’s sitting and playing in the tub…LOL! Hey, whatever works, right?!!

Happy Birthday, My Son!

R.J., today you turn nine years old!

It's hard to believe that many years have already gone by.

From the moment I knew you existed, you captured my heart.

As you grew in my womb, that special bond between a mother and a son was formed and has never, ever changed.

Although you arrived earlier than we thought (Thanksgiving week too), our arms and hearts were ready to hold you.

R.J. - our first born son!

When I looked into your beautiful face for the first time, I promised God that I would try to be the very best parent I could be, even though I was slightly scared about how I was going to know what to do and that I would be able to raise you right.

November 26, 2002 ~ just hours old

One day when you are older and become a daddy, you will understand that there are no guarantees that your child/ren will turn out the way you want them to be...

But, you know what?

I got lucky right from the start!

You are such a good boy and a wonderful big brother.

You are handsome and very, very smart.

You like to draw and read, and you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE football...AUBURN football the most!

You like your Wii and Nintendo games almost, but not as much, as you like the outdoors.

You are witty and charming and you have a caring and giving heart.

You love the Lord and your kind spirit shows others you do too.

You're obedient and respectful, and you are careful not to intentionally hurt someone else's feelings.

However, if pushed, you can be as strong and tough as they come.

You aren't afraid to say, "I Love You!" to those you do.

As I continue to watch you grow, I marvel at the person you are...so very proud you are my son.

I cherish the pictures and memories I have of you now, and I look forward to more of both as I follow the bright future and full life that lies ahead of you.

I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I definitely must have done something right!

Happy 9th Birthday R.J. - - I love you with all my heart!

~Mommy

9 years old

8 years old

7 years old

6 years old

5 years old

4 years old

3 years old

2 years old

1 year old

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday dear R.J.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!

Who Are You Calling Turkey?!

Evidently, my child was chosen as the "head" model for the Turkey hats they were going to be making at daycare this week.

The teacher, Ms. Nancy, said that all she was trying to do was get a size estimate as far as how big/or small to make the paper headbands on the hats, but once she put it on Colton's head, he didn't want her to take it off.

As his mom, I found that description very interesting because at home whether it is a hat, pajamas, diaper, shoes, etc. he will fight you tooth and nail just to:

1. Get him to be still enough to put the item on, and

2. Once you do get the item on, he's usually trying to remove it.

Maybe I need to have Ms. Nancy move into our guest room???

Colton is obviously much more cooperative for her...LOL!

Okay, back to the hat.

It's still missing the multi-colored paper feathers and cute little orange accordion legs that will dangle from the sides, but nevertheless you get the "PICTURE"...LOL!

I've got to give a big shout-out thanks to Ms. Nancy and her camera phone for capturing candid shots of my babe.

After all, she knows this momma loves her some pictures!

Gobble, Gobble!

See below for wording on poster

All turkey birds are different
From sea to shining sea
And you'll never see another bird
Like this one to you from me.
Can you see what makes him different?
Do you need some helpful hints?
I made him from my very own
Thumb and fingerprints!
~Marsha A. Burks


GOD BLESS AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

A Hard Lesson "To-e" Learn!

When I was pregnant with my second child, I cannot tell you how many times friends and family told me, "Be prepared Tracey, no two children are ever alike."


And every time I heard that I thought, "Eh, how different can two kids (same sex siblings for that matter) really be?"


Well, let me tellya' folks...my two boys are as DIFF-er-ENT as different can be!!!!


With R.J. (my oldest) I could tell him "No" and he would accept it and move along.


Seriously, no questions asked.


No whining.


No crying.


No little hissy fit.


At his youngest of age he totally understood the sternness in my voice and figured out early on that when mommy said, "No", she meant it.


Till this day he is pretty much the same way.


Don’t get me wrong, he may try to barter his way out of a "No" sometimes, but for the most part he knows I'm serious when I say it.


Enter child number two...my youngest...my baby...my 17-month old toddler...C-O-L-T-O-N.


Oh, dear Lord, were my friends and family ever right!


I guess you could say that from the beginning Colton was different.


R.J. was a very colicky baby and Colton was as laid back as the day is long.


Good indicator of a laid back personality, right?


WRONG-O!


This sweet, smiley, blue-eyed child is wide open!


And now that he has found his "walking" running feet - - look out world!


Compound his uber energy with the fact that not only does he not like to hear the word, "No", when he does hear it, he either:


A. Continues to do what he's doing (ignoring the fact you ever said it);

B. Breaks out into a tears running down his face, can't catch his breath, ear piercing cry (as if you'd burned him with an iron);

C. Throws himself into a belly flop on the floor writhing and kicking like he's a fish that's been thrown onto the waterless surface of a boat, or

D. Temporarily stops what he's doing only to look at you with a sly little grin on his face and in less than a nano-second goes right back to doing whatever it is he's not supposed to be doing, touching, pulling at, destroying, playing with, sticking in his mouth, running away with, etc.


Honestly folks, this is going to be my child who when I tell him the sky is blue, he's going to INSIST that it's purple.


After all, he knows it's purple.


And you cannot tell him it's NOT purple!


He is stubborn with a capital "S" - - must take after his er, um, daddy…LOL!


You get the picture, right?!!!


Well, the other night there I was in our kitchen headed to the pantry to put a box of cereal away.


You know, just your average, run-of-the-mill, tidying up the kitchen activity.


EXCEPT, I forgot to tell you one other thing about Colton...


He is attached to me like a flea on a dog's back.


Everywhere I go (especially when I’m inside the house) he is either following me, hanging onto my pants legs while I am walking around, climbing on top of me if I am sitting or laying down, or raising his arms up to be carried if he's too tired of being my shadow.


Soooo, you can just forget about him staying in another room with his daddy and big brother if mommy is up and milling around in the kitchen.


Anyway, when I opened up the pantry door, as is typical, Colton is right behind me.


That is, until he stepped aside and spotted all of the colorful cans on the bottom shelf of the pantry that were also within arm's reach of his little toddler hands.


As he stretched out his arms to reach for one of the cans, in my identical Michelle Duggar-ish calm and gentle voice immediately I said screamed out like a mad Italian woman "NO, Colton!"


To which I was met with his quick glance of defiance just moments before he grabbed the family size can of Beef-a-roni (Sssh, don't tell my mom, but the kids like it) that promptly fell smack dab on his pajama legged, barefooted, big toe.


Within a mini-flash, he let out the most blood curdling crying scream.

And, when I looked down this is what I saw...

OUCH!

I felt so bad for him.


I mean after all, no mommy wants their child to be hurt and you gotta' know that this definitely hurt...BIG TIME!


When I finally got him to calm down, I gave him some Motrin for the pain and cradled him to sleep in my arms, all the while covering him with kisses.


While I was looking at him peacefully asleep, glad that he was going to be okay (albeit he may lose that toenail), I realized that this was a very hard lesson for him to learn.

But, moreover, I hope he realized that when mommy says, "No"...

She.

Means.

NO.

From Pumpkins To Potter And Sick In-Between

Can I be honest? (like when am I not...LOL!)


I am just THAAAA-RILLLLED that October is O-V-E-R!


And, no, it's not because it means were inching closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas.


It's because October held yucky, yucky sickness for my sweet boys.


Our youngest, Colton, came down with strep (for the bazillionith time) and had probably one of his worst respiratory 'bouts yet.


I was out with him for a week administering meds and doing nebulizer treatments...fun, fun, fun - - NOT!


Poor baby.


He did start feeling better after staying at home for all those days being cared for, so we piled up the kiddos and headed to the best Pumpkin Patch EV-AH!


It's called Dreamfield Farms and it's located here in Alabama.


We had an perfect autumn family day.

R.J. posing for the camera

We couldn't get Colton to sit still for this one

The "corn" box was a big hit!


Especially for Colton...

 So was the "cow" train!

We've even got video to prove it!

R.J. thought the animals were cool, but he thought the fact that his new "transitioning" eyeglasses was even cooler since they turn into sunglasses when he's outside and there's sun glare.

All of my boys enjoyed the hayride (and Mom did too, but as usual I'm the one taking the pictures).

Picking the pumpkins was best of all!

Here are the finished products!


R.J. did a double-sided pumpkin...

Side 1

Side 2

 And Colton did a wee little skeleton...

The "perfectness" of our fun-filled October day ended with the pumpkins and the Patch because just when we got the baby all well and back to daycare, my oldest, R.J., starts running a super high fever, throwing up, coughing and loses his appetite and energy.


Off to doctor with him - - TWICE.


Hello, Mononucleosis!


Good-bye school for a week.


Welcome to our house - UGH!


Seriously folks, I have never seen my son so pale and lethargic.


This mono stuff truly is no laughing matter.


Being sick is not fun.


Being a kid and being sick is even worse.


Being sick during trick-or-treating time is the worstest!


R.J. had been home for a week resting and taking his medicine, but we really weren't sure if he was going to feel up to going trick-or-treating, and if he didn't feel like it that was completely okay with us.


October 31st came around and he decided he wanted to give it a try.


For the past few years we've been meeting up with my friend and her two children.  They live in a really good neighborhood to go door-to-door.


Harry Potter-ville, here we come!

R.J. as Harry Potter and my friend's daughter as Hermoine



Daddy was Dumbledore
(Michael's mask scared Colton so much that he had to take it off)

Mommy (yep, that's me) was Professor Minerva McGonagall



Colton was Hedwig the owl
(Okay, so I know Hedwig was white, but this is when he was a "baby" owl...LOL!)



My friend's son was the Transformer Optimus Prime
(Sure, sure, Transformers were NOT in Harry Potter, but Hogwart's School
taught wizards, and we all know that wizards can be ANYTHING they want!)

R.J. was quite the trick-or-treating trooper and tried to put on a happy face, but after about ten houses he was so exhausted that he and I turned around and headed back to the house while the others finished their rounds.


In contrast, Colton had enough energy for ALL of us and would have kept on going until midnight if we had let him...LOL!


So there you have it...like I said, from pumpkins to Potter and sick in-between.


So long October.


Delighted to meet you November.


Please be good to this family.


Thankyouverymuch!