Merry Christmas! Including the Blooper Footage!

In hopes of getting the perfect Christmas picture of JD, we spent most of this morning taking pictures. When they get to be around 20 months old, they don't want to sit still...EVER.

We tried his favorite Christmas toy - Santa - to try and keep at least near the tree.



Not bad, but not looking at the camera!!

We tried the firetruck (most of our pictures involve the firetruck).


JD kept looking for the escape route.

We tried a present.


JD just wanted to open it. I can't blame him for that one.

We tried reason and logic.

Ha ha! With a 20 month old?? What a joke!

We tried bribery with gummy Lifesavers candies.

Hmm...can't get a smile with a mouth full of gummies.

And we finally ended with me holding the laptop over Jon's head as it was playing "Hot Hot Hot Chocolate" from the Polar Express movie.

Success!! And it only took us 180 pictures to get the shot! Thank goodness we don't have to do this for another year!!

Cat Says "Mow" (Rhymes with Cow)

JD learned all his animal noises awhile back and there are a couple that he loves to say with lots of exuberance. He says them really loudly and with a huge smile on his face.

His favorites are:

Horse - "NAY!"
Frog - "Bibbet"
Cat - "Mow" (like cow)

If we have a picture book with any of these objects, JD tells us loudly and many times over what they say. It doesn't matter where we are - church, a wedding, in the car, at a restaurant - he will tell us what they say!

On the way home from church yesterday, JD had a lot of fun with animal noises. It is a little long, but worth the wait if you can get to the halfway point where he starts in on the cat noises again.

In the Spirit of Christmas

Here are a few photos of JD getting into the holiday spirit with a Santa hat.

This one is kind of cool with the blurry tree background!

We also took JD to visit Santa and his reindeer near our house a couple of weeks ago. JD wasn't really impressed with Santa (been there, done that already Mom), but he liked the reindeer!

We can't wait for Santa to visit our house this year!

Madeline Kate has Arrived!

My brother Ryan and his wife Cara went in to the hospital today for the birth of their second daughter, Madeline Kate! She arrived at 3:16 pm, weighing 7lbs 9 oz. This is my 4th niece on my side and my 5th niece overall! Poor JD is a little outnumbered by the female persuasion (at least on my side).

And this is my fourth niece or nephew born this year!! 2008 was a fruitful year for our families!

As you might remember, their first daughter Marin Clare is 5 weeks younger than JD so Cara and I experienced our pregnancies together and all of the first time baby fun together!

I'm going to visit in a little bit to do my own evaluation of this cutie pie. I'll take more pictures!

Dara turned Madeline into a little Christmas baby, so I took some pictures when I got to the hospital.

Proud big cousin Emma loved holding Maddy!

My Two Sick Boys

I took my guys into the doctor today because they were both feeling bad. Apparently the doctor agreed - Jon has bronchitis and JD has an almost double ear infection (one is totally infected and the other is on its way) and a respiratory infection of some variety.

I have a little bit of the crud too, but nothing like my two boys. Usually I am not a big fan of antibiotics and taking tons of medicine, but this time I am all for it so they will get healthy before Christmas!!

The doctor mentioned that most grown men would have come in to the office on their knees from the pain that this ear infection was probably causing JD. So it is a true testimony to my son's pain tolerance and bravery that he was only mildly fussy (and falling down quite a bit from balance issues).

I have been giving in to JD's requests to watch Polar Express the past couple of days, since he has been feeling so poorly. Here he is in his conductor hat and t-shirt with his train whistle and choo-choo while watching Polar Express.

I love my boys and hope they are feeling better soon!!

Relay Racing 'Round the Rock

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my Baby Boot Camp class decided to get some runners together for the White Rock Marathon to run the relay.


The relay is broken up into a 6 mile, 4 mile, 5 mile, 5 mile and 6.2 mile run to complete the entire marathon course. I volunteered for the 4 mile course!

Prior to today, the farthest that I have run is about 3.8 miles, but that was during training runs. I have done a few 5Ks, but today marked the longest distance that I have run.

Logistically, it is kind of a pain to drive around for the exchange points for the runners. But overall, it was a pretty exciting experience to run amongst the marathon runners and be part of all the energy and excitement.

I had a little disappointment after the first mile of my run - my iPod battery died! My running playlist was the tool I used to keep me on a 10 minute mile pace, so I had a hard time keeping on the right time.

My sweet husband came out to root me on and took a couple of pictures of me in the race. Considering he (and a lot of his family) has run this marathon, a relay isn't quite as big of a deal. But he still says he was plenty proud!






I ended up finishing my 4 miles at around 43 minutes, which was a little under a 11 minute mile pace. I figured this was still pretty good considering I really missed having my running songs!!

The girls who ran the 2nd leg of 4 miles!

A bunch of the girls at the finish line! Our 4 relay teams all finished in the top half of our division and we weren't even trying to be competitive! Guess you don't mess with moms who run!

The teams had a great time and I'm so glad I had the chance to participate this year! Maybe someday I'll have to consider doing a half marathon! But don't hold your breath.

Pictures with Santa

I know that everyone is expecting a story about JD screaming his head off while sitting on Santa's lap. I was expecting it too, so I didn't dress him up to go the mall and pay $30 for a picture of my kid screaming on Santa's lap. But every mom needs a picture of their child crying on Santa's lap for the scrapbook, right?

So instead, I took him over to our city's recreation center and paid $5 for pictures with Santa. We stood in a line that was about 5 kids deep and waited our turn patiently.

Every kid in front of us started to cry as they were seated on Santa's lap. I started to get visions of "The Christmas Story" Santa when Ralphie's brother Randy starts to cry.

Let's just say my expectations were low as I walked JD over to Santa. JD gave Santa a five and said "ho ho ho," in case Santa forgot that this is what he is supposed to say. Then I put him on Santa's lap and waited.

JD kept smiling at Santa but then would get super serious for the camera. But no screams or cries whatsoever! I didn't get any great shots, but at least it was a pleasant experience!

I thought this one was sweet as Santa is asking JD what he wants for Christmas.

A couple of my Baby Boot Camp classmates were there with their kids and I can't say they had the same experience! Their kids seemed genuinely terrified of good ole Santa Claus.

Maybe next year I'll get a smile.