Thursday, December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday spent with family and friends.  We're feeling extra blessed this year with our little one and our new home.  Here are some pics of our celebrations:

TL: All tired out from presents. TR: Opening presents with Pap Pap! BL: All the cool kids take their pants off (PS - I think he kind of looks like Gru in this photo with his big sweater and tiny legs.) BR: All ready for Church!

L: Not a huge fan of Santa! TR: Emma got Gunkle a puzzle with Tinkerbell on it. BR: Cousins in their Christmas shirts!

Some family photos and opening gifts Christmas morning.  Best Gift?  Why a box, of course! :)

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

No Place Like Home for the Holidays...

Even if that home is scattered with boxes and a huge mess, right? Our house is finally done and we are mostly moved in!  Still have a few things at the In-Laws house, hopefully they don't need their shed for anything too soon! :)  It's been an interesting process watching the house being built and I think we're pretty happy with everything.  There are a few issues here and there, but nothing major.  The last big piece of the puzzle is the fridge, which was supposed to be delivered tomorrow and we got a call today that it's not coming until early January, so we're very much disliking Whirlpool right now.  At this point, we can't really get anything else delivered much sooner, but I think we should consider cancelling and buying another fridge to prove a point to Whirlpool.

I got all of my Christmas shopping done before we moved, so I'm glad I don't have that to worry about, but I'm getting the urge to start making cookies.  I told the hubs that I would make his two favorite kind (Layered Cookies and Reese Cups) and that was it, but I'm really in the mood to make cut-outs.  I have no idea why because they make a huge mess and are very time consuming.  I think they're one of the cookies I always remember making with my mom and really put me in the holiday spirit.  There aren't many decorations out this year, but we do have a small (live!) table-top tree and the stockings.  I guess I'm just having a hard time getting in the holiday spirit.  Not that it's totally different from other years, unfortunately.  I'm just not one of those people that really get into the season. Hopefully as our little one gets older, I'll be better about the whole thing and not be such a bah humbug mom!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The Beginning of Temper Tantrums

I always thought that I had until our little one was at least 2 before I would have to deal with temper tantrums.  Boy was I wrong!  I suppose it comes with the independence that he is constantly seeking. Today has been one of those days and it's not even 11:00am, yet.  I'll cut him a little slack because he's had a cold and is teething, but my patience only goes so far.  He's starting to get more independent in eating, and I'm trying to embrace it and let him hold the spoon to feed himself.  I help him put some oatmeal on the spoon and then watch as he gets half of it into his mouth. After a few attempts, he decides he wants to hold the bowl of oatmeal himself, which I will not allow.  This results in screaming and flinging of the spoon with leftover oatmeal on it, and the signal of breakfast being done.  A little later, I put him in his outfit for the day and when I get his fleece coat zipped up, there is more screaming and trying to pull the fleece off right before flinging himself onto the hallway floor and screaming some more.  My two tactics at this point are trying to distract him or ignoring him.  Ignoring only works for so long, though, because he inevitably hits his head on something in his rolling/screaming fit of rage. Any tips on how to control these outbreaks before they get worse??