Collin's Christmas Wishlist

I have learned a lot of lessons in the past year, but one of the most important is that there is plenty of time to go berserk when it comes to parties or presents for Collin Henry.  He is too little to care, and his grandparents are all so ga-ga over him that it doesn't matter what presents I buy, they will do it bigger and better.
 
So this year, we are subscribing to the less is more school of thought!  Here is what Santa Clause is bringing Collin... 

A Rody Horse!

Handcarved soapstone animals from Kenya !
(Courtesy of Come Together Trading in Tyler, Texas)

These are more of a stocking stuffer, but are sure to make bathtime even MORE fun than it already is!

And because I am Collin's mommy, Santa, who actually used to leave me "book money" under the tree, is also bringing books.

This book makes ME giggle so much!



For my boy who is rapidly learning to love all things big and motorized!

And this, just because it's sweet :)

I'm sure Collin will be thrilled to receive all of this.  Now, if we can just get him to actually like Santa!  He likes all things Christmas, so far.  He has his own Christmas tree in his room, decorated with "puppy" ornaments, per his request.  He loves the Christmas lights on our street.  He likes it when I use my "No-Man" coffee mug.  He likes his "baby dee-dus" books, but he does NOT like the fat man in a red suit!!  Maybe next year...


CHEESE!



Another form of "cheese".  This kid!



12-14-12

Friday was a day with mixed emotions.  It's funny how I still wake up on my birthday with a sense of excitement, even though the older I get the more birthdays become just another day.  I worked as usual, some sweet friends took me to lunch, and I worked some more that afternoon before picking Collin up from daycare.  And all the while, sweet babies were being taken away from their families.  Loved ones were suffering gut-wrenching loss.

Friday afternoon, I worked in my office setting up new files and talking to potential new clients on the phone while CNN was on in my living room, carrying news down the hall to me.  The media kept repeating the same things over and over, but I couldn't turn it off.  When it was time to stop working and go get Collin, I was incredibly grateful.  Grateful I could hold his sweet, tiny hand in mine on the way to the car and grateful I could hug him tightly before loading him in his carseat.  I actually made him look me in the eyes so I could tell him I loved him.  Grateful I could play freely with him in our driveway while talking on the phone to my mom that evening.  Grateful he is too young to know about the events in Newtown and too young to worry about going to school.

Jarrod took me to dinner Friday night, and we had a great time.  We visited with Collin's babysitter for a while once we got home, and then my birthday was over. 

Saturday was filled with busyness.  Jarrod working.  Collin and me prepping for a baby shower.  Saturday evening, when our day was nearing an end, I made myself sit down and look over the names and ages of the people who were killed.  Because while they are just a face and a name to me, they were someone else's entire world, and I owed them a few moments of respect. 

I mentioned in my last post my efforts to try and teach Collin about the Nativity...  I keep thinking about Mary and Joseph as we near Christmas; their story is so symbolic.  This world is scary and painful and messy.  I think about how scared Mary and Joseph must have been that night.  How painful it must have been for young Mary to endure labor and childbirth.  How messy it all must have been within that stable, bringing their child into the world.

And yet the juxtaposition of it all makes it so beautiful.  Frightening, messy, pain and Emmanuel.  Our God is with us.

Teaching Collin About the Nativity

Collin is constantly surprising us with the things that he seems to understand.  After I pick him up from school in the evenings, he knows that when we pull on to our street he is about to see Christmas lights.  He has started saying, "Ready....ready...ready...GO!" as we're about to turn the corner and then he yells, "Kick-Kick Lights - YAYYY!"

I asked him the other day who Tinsley's daddy was (Tinsley is his cousin) and he said, "Aww-Hen" (aka, my brother Austin).

If we pull into Sonic, or any fastfood restaurant with neon lights, he yells, "Yay, burger!"

So when I pulled out his Little People Nativity set a few weeks ago and he easily started referring to the baby as Baby Jesus, I melted.  We took it with us on a road trip, and now I can't find Baby Jesus!  I'm really hoping he is in the car somewhere...

Here are a few other ways we're teaching Collin about the Story of Christmas...


Who Is Coming to Our House?

This Is The Stable

Christmas in the Manger



I would really like to find a video for him to watch also.  Maybe a Veggie Tales one?  Ideas are welcome!

Tis the Season!

Every year I say I'm going to make Christmas cookies and Christmas candy and do cutesy Christmas crafts, and then it doesn't really happen.  I'm hopefull I will still make a few yummy things to eat before Christmas comes and goes.  But I already feel better about my Christmas To-Do list this year, because we crossed something off Saturday night!

We stopped at Starbucks, got a couple of Peppermint Mochas and took Collin over to Harding's campus to take in all the beautiful Christmas lights.  We meant to do it last year and somehow didn't, but we made it this year!

Collin loved it!  He ran around like a wild child and walked holding both of our hands, jumping randomly and telling us all about the "kick-kick lights". 

Daddy carrying Collin onto campus

I don't think either of them was ready for this picture!

Swinging with my sugar-plum!


And yes, Collin insisted on wearing that hat on his head.  Even though he's not wearing a jacket...  Boys! 

I can't get this photo to turn right side up, but if you turn your head, you might be able to get an inkling of how beautiful these lights were!

Need a Redo

There was crying this morning.  Crying and stomping and throwing things.  Collin wanted a snack right as it was time to leave the house.  And he wanted to pick out another sippy cup from the cabinet.  I found myself rushing over to the cabinet, about to tell him to quickly pick out a cup (even though there is no such thing as quick picking with him), and then I realized that this was not ok.  No, he could not pick out a cup just because he wanted to stall leaving for daycare.  So I told him no and headed for the door.  When I looked back, he was standing - staring up at me with his adorable, brown eyes and his jacket on the floor.  He had ripped it off, thrown it on the floor and was waiting for my reaction. 

I put it back on him, picked him up and headed for the door, again.  This time he reached for the pantry and asked for a "bar".  I told him he couldn't have a cereal bar because he makes too much of a mess with them in the car, and he started howling.

I made it out the door, locking it behind me and had started for the car when guilt flooded me.  What if he really is hungry?  What if you're sending your child off to daycare hungry?  He is SO skinny, it won't hurt him to eat something more this morning.  Turn around, boy on hip, unlock door, enter house and open pantry.

He wasn't satisfied with the cereal bar, he also wanted a fruit pouch.  Now I'm thinking he will make a huge mess in the car, not to mention that the ride from our house to daycare isn't long enough to eat each of these.  I say no.  Choose one or the other.  He starts howling.

Now I'm thinking I am failing.  If another mother were witnessing this she would certainly think I'm an idiot.  I'm ruining him.  I am failing my baby.

I grab a cereal bar and a fruit pouch, carry them and him to the car again.  Buckle him in his carseat and open the cereal bar.  He starts to eat it.  I get into my seat, start the car and begin backing down the driveway.  He asks me for the fruit pouch.  I tell him to eat his cereal bar first, and he can have the fruit next.  He starts crying and tells me, "NO!"  I put the fruit pouch in my purse and tell him he's not getting it at all.  He starts howling with a mouthful of cereal bar.  I am such a failure right now.

On the way out of our neighborhood, he's crying, "Daddy!  Daddy, hold you!  Daddy, hold you!!!"  I tell him Daddy is at work.

And I'm thinking, Father!  Hold me.  What do I do?

A few minutes pass, the crying stops and suddenly Collin says, "Airpane, Mommy!"

I make a turn, and he says, "Where it go?  Where airpane, Mommy?"

I say, "Did you see an airplane?"

He says, "Shhyeah!!"

Thank you, Lord.  Thank you for grace and for provision.  Thank you for airplanes, and thank you for tomorrow, when we can both try it all over again.

December

It's December!!  I can't believe it.  But I love it!

December means my birthday, and while I am really starting to dislike the getting older part, I do love me some presents :)

It also means Christmas parties, Christmas cards, Christmas cookies, Christmas decorations, and Christmas vacation!  This year my boss has chosen to be extremely gracious and allow us extra time off from work.  We still don't know what days Jarrod is going to get off yet, but just knowing that I won't have to worry about my office, and can focus on taking care of Collin for a week, is such a relief.  For a few days, while his daycare and my office are closed, I will get to experience being a stay-at-home mom.  I'm already trying to plan cute activities for us, so we'll see how that goes!

We received our first Christmas card last week.  I love this time of year and checking the mailbox daily!  However, I hate how stressed out choosing/creating a Christmas card can make me!  I definitely texted Jarrod while he was at work last week and sent him 7 different versions of our card so he could help me narrow it down.  Surprisingly, we agreed on one and I'm hoping to get them all out this week.  Please don't judge me when you receive it because the photo is from April!  Sadly, that was the last time we had a family photo taken.

Collin is obsessed with Christmas lights right now.  He rides in the car and exclaims, "Yaaaaayyy!  Kick-kick Lights!" every time he sees them.  Even if it's from one house to the next going down our street, he will yell out the same thing each time.  It's so precious! 

We took him for a wagon ride last night after dark to see all the lights in our neighborhood, and I was thinking how wonderful it would be to be that age again.  He was just chilling in his wagon, being pulled along by his daddy and having his mommy point out each house to him.  How blessed we are to give him memories like that.

Another thing Collin is obsessed with - cupcakes!  We went to Little Rock on Saturday to run a plethora of errands, but I made sure that between Ozark Outdoor Supply (for Daddy) and Babies R Us (for Mommy) we stopped at Cupcakes on Kavanaugh (for Collin!).  We ate our cupcakes and when it was time to leave, Collin ran to the display case and starting banging on the glass front, yelling "This cuhcake" and then he'd move down the display and yell, "This cuhcake".  He wanted ALL the CUPCAKES!  I have no idea what the poor girls working in there thought.


Look how happy he is to eat that icing!



CHEESE!