Christmas

Christmas was a success!  Emma got her Fur Real Go-Go dog, who she proudly named Kennedy, Drewbie got his own doggie, Andy got his Apple TV (among other things) and I got my iPhone (among other things).  Here are just a few images from Christmas morning.

Setting out cookies and milk for Santa!

Here's Kennedy:

Drew just loved his doggie!

Stocking overflow

Two new "push toys" for Drewbie.  Pushes them all over the house.

Wonder Woman to the rescue!



Kid's Christmas Wish List

Just some of the things on the kid's Christmas Lists this year....can't wait for Christmas morning to come to see if Santa delivered!

EMMA'S LIST:

Fur Real GoGo Pet

Big Top Cupcake

Barbie Doll Mansion

DREW'S LIST:

Chuck and Friends Truck

'Lil Snoopy

Little People Farm Animals



Christmas Break

Andy's officially on Christmas Break now, which means I am officially jealous.  While he's off sawing logs in the nice, warm, and cozy bed, my rear end is still getting up bright and early to go to work.  In the cold, snowy darkness.

But that will all change soon, because I am taking the entire week off next week!  Wahoo!  I don't think I've ever done that since I've been working.  :)

I'll soon be able to do all the fun things that Andy's been doing the past few days.  He loves his time with the kids, and he crams as much into these two weeks.  So far, they've been to the Children's Museum (again....we go all the time...but it never gets old...so much to see and do!), Taylor's Bakery to pick out some sugary Christmas cookies, the library, Monkey Joe's, Grandmas to bake Christmas cookies, and they even had time to meet me for lunch yesterday!  Still to conquer: baking Christmas cookies at our house (for SANTA!), sledding at Fort Ben, Papa's house for Christmas, looking at Christmas Lights (we like to pack it up in the car and look at all the pretty lights), going to the movie theater to see Tangled, and the Children's Museum again!

Winter Wonderland

Andy made the best "faux" hill in our back yard yesterday.  I often wonder...am I a mom to 2 kids, or 3?!?

A Conversation with Emma

Oh, Emma.  The things she says are just too stinkin' halirious.  So I think I'm going to start a new series, called, "A Conversation with Emma," where I re-inact some of the conversations that we have.

So let me set the stage for this first one. 

While getting into my car the other day, she notices that there's a wrapped Christmas present in my front seat....

Emma: "Mommy, what's that?"
Me: "Oh, that's a Christmas present that Mommy & Daddy got for Brennan."
Emma: "Did you get it from Santa?"
Me: "No, I got it at the store."
Emma: "But you're not supposed to give presents.  Santa's the only one who can give Christmas presents."
Me. "No, actually Emma.  Other people can give presents as well.  Christmas time is the season of giving.  We all give to others, especially those in need."
*she ponders this thought for a minute*
Emma: "Oh, okay.  So where did you get it at?"
Me: "The store."
Emma: "What store?"
*I pause for a moment, because I'm not sure I want to say 'Toys R Us'....she sometimes freaks at the mention of that place...she LOVES it.*
Me: "Toys R Us"
Emma: "Where?"
Me: "Toys R Us....I just told you that."
Emma: "No, but where?"
*Okay, this is where I need to provide a little insider information.....the girl is so intuitive.  She wants to know exactly where....as in the address, the aisle, the bin number....I mean, she is so precise.  Great, yes--she's intelligent.  But I gotta admit, I tad annoying at times.*
Me: "Emma, what do you mean.  I told you....Toys R Us."
Emma: "You know what I mean." *this is her new thing....*  "Where, Mommy?"
Me: "Down an aisle."
Emma: "What aisle?"
Me: "I don't know, Emma.  Aisle 6."
*She pauses.  I look back in the rearview mirror and I can just see it.......she's picturing Toys R Us, walking down the aisles, counting them to see if she can place what exactly is down Aisle 6.  Finally, a few moments later...*
Emma: "Did you get him a barbie?"
Me: "No, Emma.  I did not get him a barbie.  Now, I'm not going to tell you what I got him.  You just need to wait until Christmas to find out."
Emma: "Fine, but that's not fair."

It's Hard Work...

being a kid.....

Visit with Santa

For the second year in a row, we visited Santa at the Children's Museum.  Emma was extremely excited to tell Santa what she wanted, along with the items on Drew's list.  (For the record, Emma wants a Fur Real Go-Go pet and Drewbie wants a truck.)

We got there around 10:45, thinking that we'd be one of the first in line to see Santa because his hours started at 11:00.  But we were one of the other 1,000,000 people who thought the same thing.  It was crazy.  Pure madness.  The line was already out the door by the time we got there.  So Andy & I took turns waiting in line, while we let the kids play. 

Drew was all over the place.  Emma got tired of playing, so she just stood in line with me.  Drew took a dump and of course we didn't bring any diapers.  So not only did he smell nice and ripe, but at this point he was also Mr. Cranky Pants.  You couldn't hold him without him putting up an absolute fit.  So I opted to keep him out of the picture.  I didn't want to subject Santa to that treatment and smell.  (God, it was gross.)

So cute: Emma telling Santa what she wants.

 And this is what happened every time you tried to pick Drew up.  He was a complete nightmare.

Oh, sure...he's Mr. Happy Pants when he's able to do what he wants! (BTW---please excuse his long hair....he's in desperate need of a haircut.  I'm not a fan of long hair on boys and I can't STAND the way it looks right now.)

Emma was finally able to "beat" Daddy down the slide!  Everything's a competition for Missy Lucille.



Emma's Christmas Program

Emma's very first Christmas Program was last week at Kid's Kastle.  It was so cute.  Almost brought a tear to my eye.  Okay, I confess.  It did bring a tear to my eye.  Emma's class, the "Lords and Ladies" were the angels (girls) and shepards (boys).  However, Emma had very first solo part as Mary.  As a proud Mommy, I must brag and say that there were only 2 solo parts at this Christmas show: Mary (as played by Emma Swickheimer) and Joseph (as played by Joseph Wang).

I know the pictures and video aren't that good.....it was a packed house and I didn't have the best view of Emma from where I was sitting.

Elf on the Shelf

If you have toddlers and young children, then a must-have during the Christmas season is the "Elf on the Shelf."  This is an activity that we've done 2 years now, and it is fabulous!  It's a book, explaining that Santa knows who is naughty or nice because he sends an elf to every home. During the holiday season, the elf watches children by day and reports to Santa each night. When children awake, the elf has returned from the North Pole and can be found hiding in a different location. This activity allows The Elf on the Shelf to become a delightful hide-and-seek game.

It's so much fun, and not to mention--my "secret weapon" for when ever Emma starts throwing a fit.  All I have to say is, "Emma, I sure hope Buddy isn't listening to you right now."  And she immediately stops and realizes that she needs to act good or else Buddy (the name of her elf) will report back to Santa that night, that she's been a bad girl.

Acceptance

I'm going to take a moment to write about something that is very near and dear to my heart.

Acceptance.

As a parent, there are two main things that I want to teach to my children, love and acceptance. As a human, those are two main qualities that unfortunately, some people aren't able to do. It is so important to me that my children grow up knowing no boundaries when it comes to race, religion, disabilities or sexual orientation. It is so important to me that they love all Asians, all Jews, all homosexuals....any and all individuals who are other wise "different" than what they are.

This entry comes as a reflection on what a good, good friend of mine is (unfortunately) experiencing. Her parents lack the one necessity that I consider to be a moral staple. She is gay. She is also a caring, wonderful, loving, outstanding person and citizen. She respects herself and others. She contributes to society. She would be there for me...and has...in a heartbeat. But unfortunately, her parents have a hard time accepting the fact that she is gay. They have a hard time accepting the fact that she has so-called "chosen" this lifestyle. Ultimately, they have a hard time accepting her.

As a parent---hell--as a human I ask: WHY? How can you not accept the fact that your beautiful, wonderful daughter simply loves the same gender? Why the HELL is that so wrong?!? Just because you cannot fit it into your religious framework, you chose to disregard her and her wonderful partner? Just because you cannot fit it into your religious framework, you are missing out in a wonderful life that she has created. Just because you cannot fit it into your religious framework, you might possibly miss out on your future grandchild.

And for what? Just because you can't "explain" it to your friends?!?

Would you do the same thing if she had a disability? Or chose to marry someone with a disability? Would you choose to leave him or her out of the annual family Christmas card because you cannot accept the fact that she chose to be with someone who has Cerebral Palsy? You may think this is an extreme exaggeration, but it all revolves around the same principle. Acceptance.

My friend did not choose to be gay. Just like someone does not choose to have a disability. But it is your acceptance of it that you must learn to practice.

I cannot fathom raising my children without acceptance and love. It would absolutely break my heart to raise a child who treats others the way that my dear friend is having to endure with her parents.

Emma's "Craft Project"

I let Emma pick out a craft project to do tonight while I was at one of my favorite hangout places, JoAnn.  And what did she choose?  Well...

Yes, folks.  She's only FOUR.  Despite the look, vocabulary, and attitude....only four.

Drew's Infected Toe

Poor Drewbie.  Little guy's got an infected toe due to an ingrown nail on his big toe.  We're not quite sure how it happened, but about a week or so ago we noticed that his big toe was redder than the others.  Then we noticed that it looked like there was an infection, we so began cleaning it out with Hydrogen Peroxide and wrapping it in a band aide with some neosporane during the night time hours.  It wasn't getting any better, so I took him to the Pediatrician yesterday, we the doc confirmed that he has a bad ingrown nail.  He asked if it was causing him any pain, which is the funny (and good) thing...it hasn't at all.  You wouldn't even think that it bothers Drew.  The only time it does is when I push the cuticle back.  So the Dr prescribed some antibiotics and told us to soak his toe in some Epsom Salt.  Hopefully he'll be all cleared up in the next few days!

The Flu...followed by Strep Throat

It all started with the Colts sucking wind on Sunday night.  So I fully blame Peyton Manning for not only making us look bad on national television, but for also hitting me with a truck.  Because that's what I felt like Sunday night and then all day Monday.  I haven't been this sick in years.  I was completely out of commission.  I had the chills all day, so I was wrapped in layers and layers of covers.  By the end of the night, my fever had finally broke, so then I was sweating profusely.  But I finally felt better Tuesday. 

Or at least I thought I did.  Hell, anything felt better than what I had experienced for the previous 24 hours!  So I ended up going into work, which turned out to not be the wisest decision I've ever made....because I woke up today (Wednesday) with the sorest of sore throats.  So I drug myself into the Minute Clinic to get tested for Strep.  And as soon as the Nurse Practitioner took a look at my throat, she said--and I quote--"This isn't going to be good."

No kidding, Sherlock.

So here I am, stuck at home, quarantined off from my family...from seeing my little babies.  Feeling like doo-doo.

Do you feel sorry for me yet?