Santa, snow & Atlanta

Colin informed us while we were in Omaha that Santa doesn't go to Atlanta because it doesn't snow there.

I hope he doesn't tell his friends in Atlanta this!

Mom spit

We have all seen someone do it -- moms who spit on their napkin or hand and clean their little ones face.

Well, here I was at my mom and dad's house and Colin had a dirty face that was driving me nutso! I grabbed my napkin, spit on it and wiped Colin's face. Colin gave me this look and said, "Mom, what was that?!" I explained that it was the universal cleaner called 'mom spit'.

That started it, I then found out that my dad hated 'mom spit', and his mother did it to him all the time! He hated it so much that my mom was not allowed to do this to their children (my brother, sister and me). Reflecting back on my action, I realized that I rarely do this and usually use a baby wipe. But this time I was trying to conserve baby wipes. We were running low this trip and had already been to Target several times and was not interested in making yet another trip to Target to get more baby wipes.

Now I know not to spit on my kids -- especially in front of my dad!

No more cribs for Nathan

We have been thinking about transferring Nathan to the big boy bed, and actually moved Colin's old toddler bed into Nathan's room recently. We bought bunk beds for Colin with the plan that eventually Colin and Nathan will room together. So far the bunk beds are not put together, so Colin is sleeping on the big mattress on the floor.

So before the trip to Omaha, Nathan slept in the big boy bed once when he was very very tired. The first day we were in Omaha, we put Nathan down for his nap in the pack-n-play. We went outside to play in the snow with Colin and didn't think anything about it (see previous blog!). Next thing we know, Nathan comes crawling upstairs to see everyone! Guess he can climb out of the pack-n-play!! So the rest of the trip Nathan slept and took all of his naps in the big boy bed. Grandma Mary has short little beds that Nathan can climb up, so that worked really well.

I remember the transition for Colin took a little longer. He would sleep at night in the big boy bed, but napped for a couple weeks (maybe just a week -- who remembers for sure) in the crib. Last night was the first night that we were back, and Bob put Nathan in the crib at one point. A little while later, I hear crying and then there is Nathan opening the door to his room. I guess he climbed out of the crib too! So there will be no more cribs for Nathan. Not if he is climbing out of it.

Luckily, Nathan is very responsive to what we tell him. Last night, after he climbed out of the crib, Bob gave him his puzzle and set up the big boy bed with all his stuff (bear, Nemo, the blue pillow and pacifier), and told Nathan when he was done with his puzzle to go do bed. A while later when all was quiet, we peeked in and Nathan was tucked into his bed under the covers and everything, sleeping like a baby!

Snow!!

For the holidays, we go back to Omaha where the grandmas and grandpas live. During this trip back to Omaha, we got to see the white stuff ... snow! Now, this is a real treat, because the last couple of years, it didn't snow at all. I don't know about the whole "global warming" thing, but it really seems like it snowed a lot more when I was a kid growing up in Nebraska.

So anyway, Colin was absolutely thrilled to see all of the snow and couldn't wait to go play in it. Poor Nathan was sick and didn't get a chance to experience it. But I figure there will be lots of time for Nathan to get his chance. Heck, this is Colin's first time and he is 4!

Bob and Colin head outside and before you know it, there is a snow ball the size of a small country for the base of the snowman. The snow is absolutely perfect for snowman making. It's a little wet and deep enough so you don't get all the grass in snow ball (I hated it when that happened to me when I was growing up!) The snowman turned out very nice.



While Bob was completing Mr. Snowman, I'm following Colin around with the camera and Colin just lays down in the snow and starts making a snow angel! I was shocked ... where did he learn to do that? Or are snow angels just something that is instinctive to do when you are a little kid. I wouldn't think so, but here he is doing it!


After the snowman, it was time to do some sledding. This time was just down the small hill (I really hesitate to call it a 'hill' though!) in the front of Grandma Mary and Grandpa Jerry's house. Grandma Mary had a couple of plastic sleds that Bob and Colin used. Bob would slide on his stomach with Colin laying on top of him! I'm just so thrilled that I got an amazing picture of this as they were flying past me!


Colin had a couple more adventures in the snow during this trip. One of them was sledding down a very, very steep hill with Bob and Uncle Ian. Colin even got to see it snow when we returned to Kansas City for the flight home.

Christmas presents

It's Christmas time so time to get Christmas presents for people. I'm notoriously bad at remembering to get presents for people other than family. This year I am even doing poorly getting the gifts for family, but that's another story!

So now that Colin is old enough to understand the giving part of Christmas, I have some help with the old "what to give" problem. Even if it is a really bad gift, all I have to say is that it was all Colin's idea and instantly it becomes the greatest gift in the world. I think it also takes the pressure off of me to get the absolutely, most perfect gift. I want to clarify that's pressure that I put on myself, there is nobody else criticizing my gifting choices ... well maybe there was somebody and I was traumatized earlier in life -- but what's done is done. Anyway it would probably do me some good to remember the old adage, "it's the thought that counts".

A couple of months ago, Bob and I hired a part-time nanny to watch Colin and Nathan when I go into the office. She comes two days a week and is a really sweet lady. Today is the last time we will see her before Christmas. Naturally, yesterday was when I decided to go shopping for her Christmas present. I asked Colin what he would like to give her for Christmas. He says, "A flower". Ah, how nice! "But not a fake one", he continues, "one that can grow". So that means a potted flower or plant, not just a flower cutting. I'm thinking, what a perfect gift! Colin is a genius!

So we went to Home Depot to look at the real flowers. Of course every one Colin sees is the one he wants to get. Me? I've got to find the perfect one before I even ask for Colin's input (see above comments about perfect gifts). We decided on a little rose bush, you know with the teeny tiny roses. It might not even be a rose bush, but that's what it looks like to me. I couldn't find a nice pot to put it in, so I just wrapped the plastic pot with red Christmas foil. I hope she likes it!

Rocket ships & space suits

Yesterday I picked up Colin from school and he was talking a mile a minute about his activities on the playground. He said that they were playing in the rocket ship that went "5,4,3,2,1,blastoff!" And the rocket ship went up into the sky and he saw me from up in the sky, did I see him? Uh, no I wasn't looking, sorry! Then Colin said that the rocket ship went up to Mars two times. Wow, all during recess, that's a fast rocket ship. Colin's space suit was his coat and he had to wear his hood because it protected him. When we got to lunch (Harrison's birthday party which started at Savage Pizza then on to the Little Jumping Bean), Colin put his coat on backwards and put his hood over his face. He wanted Harrison to see him, I said that everyone was going to notice him! I guess wearing his coat backwards was a more protective space suit!

And there was so much more that Colin was talking about, he just went on and on and on about the rocket ship and space suit. I wish I had a better memory to record it all. I just kept laughing and laughing. It was so cute!

Photo shoot

My friend, Amy is starting up her own photography business. She did our Christmas pictures last year. This year she took more pictures that included shots of the boys by themselves and together and with us. It was pretty fun, and the end result are some amazing pics. I've only posted a couple of my favorites on this blog!