Holiday Fever

I have Holiday Fever.  Everything I do, hear, see, eat has to be holiday oriented.  My car radio is set on a station that only plays Christmas songs, I made the family watch Elf this morning, I am patiently waiting for the Christmas cards I ordered to get here, I whipped up some sugar cookie dough for cut outs tonight (thanks for the recipe Teresa!) and I will bake them tomorrrow.  I even have my own signature holiday drink...

Fricken' delish...

I like mine room temp but the hubs likes his heated up and with cinnamon, either way, it is fab.

My cookie cutters and some sprinkles ready for tomorrow...

I got around to replacing the burned out light bulbs of the star my dad crafted for us and the hubs hung it up tonight...

 And viola, the house is Christmas-ized.

My shopping is basically done and I only have this week of work before a nice 10 day stretch off.  Life is good.  In fact, life is great.  I don't know how I got so lucky.

We have a tree at work with names supplied by the Coalition for the Elderly so that some people who normally would not get any gifts can get a gift for Christmas.  Having the life I have had, I truly have a hard time imagining anyone who would not have anyone- no family, no friends- to spend the holiday with.  Of course, I know that the reality is, it is more common than I would like to think.  In many cases, there is a simple lack of resources from which to attain basic necessities, much less a gift of any sort.

I am fortunate to have all of the above, family, friends and resources.  I am happy I am able to make someone else's holiday a bit more merry...

James got a pair of flannel pajamas,

Genece got a fuzzy white robe and

Henry got a George Foreman Grill.

I am eager to share this experience with Sully.  He will be able to pick some names and we will go shopping for someone else for a change.  I can't wait to teach him to be giving and thoughtful of others.  I can't wait to have his heart fill with the warmth of purpose and responsibility.  We have so very much to look forward to...

St. Nick

So St. Nick came to our house the other night...

I am so glad he brought the Wheels on the Bus book, now I finally know the words to that song.

And Sully is so happy he finally has a toothbrush he likes.

Did he stop at your house?  What did he bring?

December

Happy December! 

Sully has been busy cutting molars (3 for sure and possibly all 4 but he won't let me see or feel without throwing a fit).  Poor kid, he is attached to me as he is just not feeling so good.

But the celebrations must go on...

We headed to Milwaukee for a night with the Wadzinskis.  There was cake, and cake and then more cake and after that, Christmas cookies.

What?  Don't your friends make you a boob cake when they know you are coming to town?  Normal...

These little frogs were for the birthday boy!

 And of course, he loved it.

And my favoritest pic of the weekend...



Looking forward to my shopping day tomorrow!!

Oh Tannenbaum

Now that the birthday madness has subsided, it is on to Christmas decorating.

I have lots of Christmas decorations.  But I just was not feeling brining out all the same stuff that I have been using the past 5+ years.  I needed something fresh and different this year.  But mostly, something simple, not over the top.

I was in luck.

As fate would have it, my MIL Subes had 3 boxes of her mother's vintage Christmas bulbs and was wondering if I would like a few as the rest she was going to take to Goodwill.  No, those bulbs would never have a chance to see the Goodwill shelves.  They were all coming home with me.

I decided that this year, my Christmas decor was going to be beautifully simple and focused around these fantastic bulbs.  I tied some ribbon in place of the hooks for hanging them on the tree.

Then, I put up my two trees, one in the downstairs living room and one in the dining room.  I decided to try something a bit different with the dining room tree.  I hung the top two sections of the fake tree I normally put in that room from the ceiling from an anchored hook.  Why?  Honestly, I did not want to have to keep the boy away from two trees and the place I normally put that tree is where we store the high chair when we are not using it and I had no where else to put it.  If I hung part of the tree from the ceiling, I could lower the high chair and still store it in the same spot, no problem.  Here is how the two trees evolved from just lights to final product:

I even had some bulbs left to put over the sink in the kitchen...

And some more for a tray in the dining room.

 

And just for funsies, here is the dining room table and our stocking scape...

The only thing left is put up Sully's little tree in his room and we are ready for Christmas!

One

The boy turned one year old today.  We had a little party to celebrate.  I apologize in advance for the ridiculous amount of pics in this post.

Here is the birthday boy helping me get ready for the party this morning...

Sully is totally into balls, especially throwing them at one's head, so a ball themed party it was...

The little "man kitchen" is the handiwork of my awesome parents.

Thank you Kluz family for the birthday Monkey!

The kitchen was a BIG hit!

Sully's crowd...

The proud parents...

Poor kid, hardly got any presents...

It was just after the present opening that he took his first 2 steps!!  I have no idea how I managed not to have my camera for that, but I have about 25 witnesses to corraborate my story.  This is so Sully, he is such a ham and he totally would wait until he had a crowd around him to take his first steps.  Too funny!

And then it was time for singing and cake.  I was not sure how he would do with the cake as he does not like to touch anything wet or sticky but he did very well.

After the party, he had some balloon fun.

But then I realized we never got a family pic!  Foolish!  No worries, just set up the tripod and set the self-timer.  Phew.

 And here is the aftermath, a happy boy playing in his mess of new toys!

Thank you for all who were able to acknowledge this special day for us.  Thank you for making it special.

Happy birthday little Mister- here is to many, many more!

One year eve

Dear Sullivan,

On the eve of your very first birthday, I find myself categorizing, organizing and filing away the memories and pictures in my mind of your amazing year of firsts.  I am carefully filing all these away in a bright, shiny, golden box.  I put it gently on the shelf in my mind to pull out at a later date.  This week I have also been stashing away a few tears here and a few tears there, making sure to hide them so no one finds them.  Because they are not tears of sadness but tears of pride and joy.  Enjoy your last sleep as a baby.

Love,
Mama

Thankful...

In the spirit of this holiday season, it is only fitting that I acknowledge all that I am thankful for this year...

I am thankful for my beautiful baby boy and wonderful hubs.

I am thankful for baby boys who sleep through the night (7 nights in a row now-YEAH!!).

Although traveling with a baby and dog seems like it will take more energy than I have, I am thankful I will be spending the holiday with my family and that I have a loving family to spend it with.

I am thankful for red wine.

I am thankful for my new iPhone.

I am thankful for my health and the health of all my family.

I am thankful for a job that challenges me and that I enjoy.

I am thankful for my stay-at-home-mom Mondays.

I am thankful for those who chose to fight to protect our country and their families who sacrifice so much.

I am thankful for surviving my first year as a mother.

I am thankful that all my friends and family love Sully so much and that so many of them will be able to celebrate his first birthday with us.

I am thankful for all the experiences I have had as they have made me the person I am today.

I am thankful for amazing friends.

I am thankful for DVR.

I am thankful I am not 8 1/2 months pregnant this Thanksgiving (3rd trimesters are NOT for wimps!).

I am thankful for my 8 followers (although I know more than 8 people read this blog).

I am thankful my cholesterol medication is working.

Finally, I am thankful for my most wonderful, challenging, joyful, emotional, happy, sleepless year I have ever had.

Happy Thanksgiving!!