Confession - V Day Edition

So here's my confession: I'm a holiday junkie.  Not nearly as hardcore as my dear friend, Jill Daniel.  She puts Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny and any other holiday mascot to shame!  Nonetheless, give me a reason to celebrate a festive day, and I am all over that.

I have always loved Valentine's Day.  Even when I hated it.  (Single people, you know what I'm talking about.)  I love the colors and the hearts everywhere and the excuse to eat lots of chocolate and exchange presents less than two months after Christmas!  (Some time we'll talk about the fact that my love language is Gift Receiving.)

Now that I'm a mom, I just get all squishy inside and have to fight really hard not to overdo it.  So imagine how excited I was to learn that Collin's school was doing a whole week's worth of fun activities in celebration of V-Day?!

Monday was Pajama Day.
Tuesday was 80's Day.  (My kid had no idea what that means, but he was pumped!)

Wednesday was Hat Day.
Thursday was Crazy Dress Day.  Collin wore mismatched shoes, socks, comfy pants and his shirt inside-out. This was his "crazy" pose for Crazy Day!

Friday...wait for it...Wear Your Red, Pink and Valentine's Themed Outfits.

When it came to his Valentine's cards this year, I knew I wanted to do something different.  I wasn't impressed with the selection at the store last year, so I hit up Pinterest.  Let me just say, I often delude myself into thinking that most moms are like me, they peruse Pinterest occasionally and have the best of intentions regarding recreating all the cutesy stuff from their Craft or Holiday boards.  But no one really does any of that fancy, time-intensive stuff...do they?  Well, let me just tell you how wrong that thinking is!  Evidenced by the fact that I went two weeks before Valentine's Day to find card-stock for Collin's cards and there was none to be found.

Thus, I was forced to use what I already had on hand...hot pink card-stock.  Ta-da!

Mason jar print-outs with finger puppet insects.
Happy Valentine's Day, Love Bug !

Besides forcing myself to complete a Pinterest craft, Valentine's Day is also a good excuse to use my kid as a reason to give lots of nice people a Valentine!  His sweet babysitters, his daycare teachers and our friends...some of these people might not have received a Valentine otherwise.  It just makes me so happy, and it makes Jarrod roll his eyes!  A lot.

But most of all, I like to spoil Collin Henry.  We're making him wait until he gets home from school today to receive his Valentine from us.  He has already received sweet packages from his Nonne in Texas and cousins in Oklahoma, plus his party at school is today.  He'll be all loved out by the end of Valentine's Day!

Finish Strong

As if I wasn't already noticing on a daily basis how much Collin is growing, he decided this weekend to take up calling me, "Mama".  It's very obvious that he's doing it cautiously and watching for a response.  At first I just laughed at it and didn't make a big deal.  We asked him a few times where he picked it up, but he would just shrug his little boy shoulders.  It wasn't until yesterday afternoon when I realized it really bothers me!

We offered to pick up a friend from the airport yesterday evening, so we went to Little Rock early and made a Target run.  Collin had had a nap and a snack and apparently that made for a lethal combination because he was literally running through Target like it was the playground at his daycare.  I can't tell you how many times he was almost taken out by someone's cart as they came around an aisle...or a clothing rack.  He was a wild-child!  The store was pretty empty, because you know, SUPER BOWL XLVIII, plus there was this whole rainy, sleet thing going on outside.  But still, the kid was off his rocker with excess energy.  So it was during this time that he's running 50 feet ahead of me and then turning around to yell, "Hey!  Mama!!" when I realize I am NOT ready to be someone's "mama".

Some of you will totally get it, and some of you will think I'm ridiculous.  All I can say is that I may never get to do this again; I may never have anyone else to call me Mommy.

Well, on the way to school this morning, Collin declared that so-and-so (a little boy who is older than him but attends the same school and church as Collin) calls his mom "mama".  I knew he got it from somewhere!!

Besides trying to convince my kid to call me mommy again, we were also able to pick our friend up from the airport.  Collin held a cute little sign with her name on it, like he was her chauffeur.  She had to come down an escalator toward us, so she could see the sign the whole way down.  When she got off, Collin ran to her and gave her a big hug, and then he threw the sign at her and walked back toward Jarrod and me.  It was exactly like something out of a rom-com, until that last little bit!  Needless to say, everyone around us thought it was the most adorable thing ever.  I'm sure they thought she was our long lost friend/sister/what-have-you, rather than someone who lives here already and who we just happened to be picking up after a weekend trip to visit her boyfriend.  Fun times!

And because it wouldn't be a blog post without a weather gripe from me, please note that yesterday it was freezing (literally) and sleeting.  However, one week ago it was so nice outside that we went for a walk with Collin, and he rode his tricycle further than either of us imagined possible.  I really hope that Punxsutawney Phil is wrong.

Heart-breaker in the making.

Ok, so this may have happened for a little bit, but we made Collin get back on once we were close to the car so he could "finish strong"!  He loved it.

Happenings

It's freezing.  Seriously.  I'm SO over winter  And you know what else?  I'm over Arkansas winters.  There's nothing like checking the weather app in the morning to see that it's going to be freezing here and oh wait, what's that?  In Texas it's 65 degrees!  Sick of it.

So now that I got that off my chest...
The nice thing about cold weather is that it forces you to be creative with your time indoors.  This becomes compounded when you have a toddler who refuses to nap at daycare and you punish him by taking away TV in the evenings and dessert after dinner.  No dessert and Dora/Bubble Guppies/etc. on in the background, means that the three of us have to interact with each other.  Not that we didn't in the first place, but it takes on a whole new meaning!

Observe: Silliness abounding, such as Hold Daddy Down and Kiss Him Like No Other...

Then wipe your face, because slobber is EVERYWHERE!

Thankfully, the kid has started taking his nap at daycare.  That means 1. We don't have to fight with an overly emotional and tired child at night and 2. I can eat sweets after dinner.  Because, let's face it, having to wait to eat my dessert until he went to bed was super trying for me!  Especially since I just discovered these babies and am totally addicted!

In other news...
Back before Christmas, my grandpa ordered a train set for Collin.  The general consensus is that he saw it, got all nostalgic for when he was a boy and wished for a cool train set, remembered he had a young, great-grandson and resolved that said young, great-grandson needed this train set.  It is a super neat gift to have received, and Collin has been over-the-moon for his choo-choo!

It came in three installments, with the final installment containing the actual power source.  We've had boxes stacking up for months now, but no power source to actually make the thing GO.  Poor Collin did not understand why we had a train set but he couldn't "play" with it.

The power source was waiting for us when we got back here from our New Years trip to Texas.  Last week we (and by we, I mean Jarrod...because, come on, I'm a girl) put the whole thing together and watched it GO!

Collin has a little train conductor's hat his Nonne gave him previously, so I dug it out and put it on his head.  He was just missing some overalls and one of those wooden train whistles!

And lastly, I have a friend who now comes to visit most days.  Some random cat from the neighborhood.  It (he or she??) scared me the first few times because it jumps up onto the ledge outside the window of my office and then walks around surveying our yard for a few minutes.  I'm used to him/her now and thinks it's sweet of him/her to make sure there aren't any unwanted rodents lingering around our house.

Also, one of its ears is messed up...not sure what that's about.

Playing Catch Up - Happy New Year!

We're finally starting to emerge from the holiday fog around our house.  A crazy ice-storm before Christmas that had Collin home from school for several days and then an ear infection causing him to miss his Christmas party at school, followed by two weeks off for Christmas break, and I never thought Monday would come!  But alas, he's back in school and I'm back at work.  All will be right with the world once we climb out from beneath the piles of laundry and new toys we brought back with us from our trip to Texas.

We had Christmas at our house for the first time...EVER.  Jarrod and I agreed that it was pretty refreshing to wake up in our own home and do Christmas morning stuff with just the three of us.  Plus, it meant Jarrod didn't have to stay up til midnight assembling a tricycle in someone else's home (a tricycle that we would have covertly hauled nonetheless).

Because our family members always go a little crazy for Collin, we tend to only buy him one "big" present and a few small items.  I felt a little self-conscious seeing everyone's pictures on Facebook with their barely visible Christmas trees and a literal toy store in their living room.  Here is what Collin woke up to on Christmas morning...

(I know our tree looks small, but it's not really! We don't have a lot of floor space in our living room, and when Collin was younger we didn't want him to mess with the ornaments so we put it on a small, side table and it works for us.)

Despite one exclamation that Santa painted his bike red and NOT blue, I think he loves it :)

I'm over my Facebook induced Christmas insecurities now though, since we almost had to rent a U-Haul to get back from Texas with all of the presents we received.

We left a few days after Christmas to head to Texas to see my family.  We opened presents and had amazing food together.  Collin enjoyed playing with his cousins, and I enjoyed seeing my grandpa who flew down from Illinois to be with us all.  Jarrod and I also enjoyed some time spent in the middle of nowhere.  My dad is building a tree-house for everyone to enjoy, so Jarrod and I marveled at the beginning stages of it.  Sadly, I don't think anything will come of my demands that a hot-tub be included in the plans.

My favorite munchkins!  Tinsley & Collin

All the cousins.  Aren't they adorable in their matching jammies?!

After a couple of days, we loaded up and left for Jarrod's parents' house about an hour away from my parents.  We spent time meeting my sister-in-law's boyfriend, enjoying a fancy New Year's Eve in Fort Worth and taking advantage of some big city amenities.  Shopping, eating, seeing ICE at the Gaylord Texan as a family and visiting an aquarium with Collin.  It was a lot of activity packed into a week, but we loved it all.

Aunt KiKi and her boyfriend, Audley @ ICE

Nonne & Collin at ICE

Fancy Schmancy New Year's Eve 2013 @ The Bass Hall in Ft. Worth

Those crazy kids these days, taking selfies in The Bass Hall

The cutest blonde girl you ever did see!  Landry Paige enjoyed lots of attention.

We capped it off with a wedding.  Jarrod was a groomsman for a fraternity brother and former roommate of his, William T. Cherry.  Will was the best man at our wedding, and it was such a sweet sight to see him marry the girl of his dreams.

Brothers - Sigma Delta Sigma

Our cute family!

It was also a sweet time to introduce Collin to several of our college friends who had never met him, and to catch up with everyone and their families.

Fun with new friends

And now we're back in Arkansas.  Jarrod starts class next Tuesday.  Collin has discovered Ninja Turtles, and I've already been bitten by the Spring cleaning bug.  (It's because I'm in denial that it is -2 degrees outside.)

It's all downhill from here

So, it's official.  I am in the last year of my *gasp* twenties.

But before I discuss that nonsense, let me first just say I would never make it as a northerner.  AR experienced an ice-apocalypse last week, and it was terrible!  We expected it Friday, and I figured it would nix the ability to do anything for most of the weekend.  However, I did not count on it sticking around for so long.  Collin went back to school last Wednesday.  FINALLY! 

And here's why I say that, because my office in Texas did not receive any ice and was still operating at full capacity.  That meant I was stuck trying to work during Collin's naptime.  The rest of the day was spent preparing to bundle up, actually bundling up and then un-bundling so we could play in stuff that resembled snow but wasn't actually snow.  Try explaining that to a 3 year old.  Also, being on house arrest with a 3 year old would be so much more enjoyable if he appreciated a good Hallmark Christmas movie like I do.  But alas, he does not find them amusing and so it is that I have only managed to finish one this season.  You'll find me on the couch one night in March watching one, I'm sure.

SNOW!!! (But not really...really it's just ice.)

And now...

I celebrated my 29th birthday on Saturday.  I told Jarrod to get used to celebrating that year because we will be doing it several more times!

I don't even know how this is possible.  I don't feel a day over 22.  Except for the fact that I think bedtime is a firm 10:00 pm.  Going to a midnight movie is for hooligans.  Really, going to any movie that starts after 7:30  pm is for hooligans.  Short-shorts and tube tops are for hussies.  Lip-gloss is only for extremely special occasions.  Vegetables are delicious.  And if I won the lottery, I would probably blow it all at Baby Gap instead of Forever 21.

Whether I want to admit it or not, I have changed a lot in the past ten years.  I'm a wife and a mom, not a college freshman.  Even if it does feel like that was just yesterday.

So to celebrate, Jarrod saved up and surprised me with a "big girl" purse.  Something that did not come from Target.  I also upgraded my phone, (but that was a long time coming).  

We celebrated on Saturday morning by attending the birthday of a sweet 2 year old.  Collin has not stopped talking about how we didn't have cake for my birthday, and I just keep telling him it's okay because we had cake at Amelia's party.  (See, doesn't that sound like the logic of a grown woman and not a college co-ed?!)

Collin was also sweet enough to spend the morning of my birthday singing to me pretty much non-stop.  It alternated between Happy Birthday to You! and DMB Where are you Going?

After Amelia's party, Collin went to play at the house of our Community Group leaders and it turned into a mini vacation for him.  Jarrod and I went to Little Rock for the day and didn't get home until Collin had gone to bed, so I tearfully agreed that it made sense to leave Collin where he was until the morning.  I didn't have to go through Collin's bedtime routine, and the next morning when it was time to get ready for church I only had myself to worry about.  Craziness!

It was fun to have a night out on the town and to try to remember what it's like to flirt with my husband, but we both agreed that we missed the routines with our little guy.

And now, for a freebie today... 

We've been talking a lot about the Christmas story around our house.  Collin can put a mean Nativity scene together and explain to you who everyone is.  I've spent a lot of time the last week or two thinking about Advent, and this song gets me every time...  I think it's the fact that I'm the mom of a little boy.  I can't help but put myself in Mary's shoes and think what it must have been like to hold that tiny, helpless baby - wondering at what must be ahead for Him.

You're Here - Francesca Battistelli

Thanksgiving 2013

We spent Thanksgiving in Texas with my family, and for the first time in a long while I was actually ready when it came time to leave.  I know my parents were certainly ready to have their house back!  But for the first time, we got to spend enough time with my niece that we were okay when it was time to part.  I had forgotten how much tattling takes place between little people, and the energy/noise level is insane.

We arrived late Tuesday night and had Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday in order to accommodate my brother who had to fly out on Thursday.  We soaked up as much of baby Weston as we could!

Collin is always petting Weston's head, like a puppy :)

Because we did "Thanksgiving" on Wednesday, Jarrod and I were able to take Collin to see Santa on Thursday.  We have taken Collin to the Gaylord Texan every year since he was a baby just three months old, and every year he has gotten his picture made with the same wonderful Santa.  The first year, he was too young to know what was going on, but when he was one and two, he decided that sitting on Santa's lap was not for him.  So I have pictures of him screaming, crying and reaching out for me from the past two years.  I feel like it's something we will all laugh about in the future!

This year, Collin took note and realized that most other kids seem to like Santa.  He decided he would be a big boy and smile pretty on Santa's lap, and that's exactly what he did.

Since we went on Thanksgiving day, there wasn't any traffic getting there, we got right into the parking garage and parked on the bottom level.  Best of all, when it was time to leave, the parking attendant waived us out and told us not to worry about the $13 parking fee!  We declared it all a Thanksgiving miracle.  We had enough time to let Collin see some of the Christmas decorations.

And then it was slightly overshadowed by the crazies waiting at Walmart for Black Friday to begin.  We had to run in on our way home to pick up a few things...  I really thought since we were only getting a few food items, we would be fine.  The sales hadn't even begun yet, but I'm still baffled by what we saw.  People sitting in lawn chairs in the aisles, people standing with their hands on the items they were waiting for and refusing to make any room in the aisles so we could get through to the groceries. Insane in the membrane.

So most of our visit was spent hanging out and watching Collin play with his cousins.  Tinsley called me Aunt Nicki without having to be reminded of who I was.  One night when we were about to fall asleep, I said to Jarrod with a gooshy smile on my face, "Tinsley called me Aunt Nicki today".  And then he said, "Yeah, somebody tried to call me Aunt Jarrod today."

Don't be deceived by these angelic faces; the only way we could get them to smile was by shouting donkey poop!

Who doesn't love playing in a leaf pile?

These two monkeys had to "talk" to each other on two different cell phones.

Jarrod and I did sneak away Friday night to go see Hunger Games.  We both really enjoyed the movie, probably more than the first one.  What was more fun though, was the two of us trying to remember how to act when we are without a 3 year old.

And here's a freebie...I found Collin like this early one morning.  Apparently he rolled off of his bed and decided staying on the floor to sleep was a good idea.