What the hey?

One more week until Christmas break and then after that it's only 2 more weeks until my last day of work. Excited but days like today kinda put the fear in me. Cole was great this morning but he was a little terror this evening. He keeps getting on top of the dining table because there used to be Christmas ornaments (balls) up there. After a week of this I finally had had enough so I moved them into the laundry room. I know what you're thinking, why aren't they in storage or on the tree? The reason is because Cole gets them off the tree so it looks hideous now. All the ornaments from the bottom half have been removed and there are some on the top. I don't even want to take a picture of it but I probably should so he will always remember.
Anyway, back to the point:
So now on the table were Cole's Christmas gifts and now he's been getting up there to get those. I know, were not very bright! So I got smart and decided to wrap gifts in the living room as my mom was there distracting Cole. Did I mention he loves wrapping paper? So he comes into the living room and sees the paper and as I look away he grabs it. What is it with the freaking wrapping papper?
So we get mad at him for that and put him in time out, he cries. Then my mom leaves, he cries. Then he wants milk but he keeps tilting his sippy cup upside down and it starts dripping. We can't find the leak and after about 5 times of dripping milk on the couch, we decide to take it away from him. He cries. So we have movie time and Cole starts getting restless, pointing to and naming my glasses, ears, eyes, no (nose) face, etc....We threaten him with putiting him the crib. He says, "moo-y time" (translation: movie time) very matter of factly, like it's his right! So we think it's cute and don't really want to battle him crying so we let him stay up a little longer. He keeps messing around, asking for milk and his "vrooms" and finally I say to him, "kiss daddy and mommy". So he does and I take him to his room and put him in his crib. Nothing. I tell him goodnight and give him a kiss and tell him I am going to turn the fan on. Nothing. I turn the fan on, walk out, and close the door. Nothing. I walk away, sit down, and we continue watching the movie. 30 minutes later, still nothing. He's out without a battle. What the hey just happened?

Ho! Ho!

Even big boys beleive in Santa! Here we have Santa 1 and Santa 2:

Oh my, what a whirlwind of a weekend! It was so much fun! You wouldn't believe the beautiful questions the littles asked the Santas. Some questions and requests:

Is it cold in the North Pole?

What do you feed the reindeer? (Santa replied "Candy, of course!")

One little boy told Santa that all he wanted for Christmas was to have a happy Christmas. Santa asked him if he wanted anything else and he said, "just a happy Christmas". Melted our hearts.

Some of the greatest pictures were of the parents trying to get their kids to smile for the camera. They were pulling tricks out of their hats left and right. It was so cute to see so much enthusiasm.

Now I have to say Thank You Thank You to my Santas, Will and Blaine. Dad didn't have to be Santa at all because these super troopers did it all. Dad was happy about that:)

Especially a big thank you to Drs. Blaine and Jana Hendrick! They worked almost 15 hours this weekend and all volunteer. We tried to slip some money in their pockets but it ended back up in mine. What we would have done without you? Santa Blaine even had a tough time because he was Santa during the Tea with Santa and those little girls are demanding! They started dancing and they wanted funky or techno music. The beat was too slow with the Christmas songs. Santa Blaine had to dance and he was awesome. A natural Santa, so jolly and friendly. Thanks guys, we owe you big: looks like we'll be laying some tile in your house here soon!Clare Bear, a good friend of my sister's, also helped out all day Saturday and Sunday. She was the photographer and sharp on her toes. She kept me grounded during the crazy times, and there were some when the line was backing up and all I had to do was look at her all calm and collected and it soothed me. Thank you Clare and John Paul (for giving up your mommy for the weekend).

Santa Will was excited about the ladies wanting to take pictures with him. He assured me that he was Santa and as his duty, he had to let them sit on their lap. I agreed and some pretty hot chicks got to take pictures with Santa Will. Can you guess if she was naughty or nice?Then of course we got some family pictures of is. Cole was not at all scared of Santa. That was probably because Santa's suit was laying all over the house the last two days. He would walk by it and say, "Ho Ho" with a deep voice. He refuses to call him Santa, just "Ho Ho".

Cole with Santa Daddy:


Cole with Santa Blaine:

Blast

We had a blast today! More pics to come!

Guess what?

It's been a busy week at work and at home. I have Dias Festivos starting for me tomorrow and it has been so relaxing this time around. I am actually enjoying it. Last year was crazy because we were out of town until the day of and there was a lot of last minute scrambling.

I didn't go to work today nor will I go tomorrow trying to help out Junior League with the event. I also have some news that I have been waiting for weeks to announce. No it's not that:(

My last day of work will be January 16. I had originally planned on not returning after the holidays but the semester ends for us in the new year so I decided to stay until then. I had to wait to say anything because I had to tell the school first and I needed to make sure they would release me from my contract.

I will be staying home with Cole. I'll continue to do the etiquette consulting and the designing part time from home.

Oh even better news: my mom is retiring December 19! I am sooo excited for her, and me! That woman has worked herself to the core, she needs a break. Just when I thought she could relax, she decided to get a job doing taxes during tax season. That woman just does not rest! I am amazed by her energy. We are excited to maybe get to travel a bit. I just can't believe my mom is going to retire and be home. Now she has more time for me:) I can't wait!

What else, what else? Oh I got this amazing photo printer. It prints out all sizes of photos borderless! It also prints onto CDs and DVDs but I haven't figured out how.

Cole is using two and three words together now. I was rocking him the other night and Yaya was in the bathroom and she moved something and it made a noise. Cole looked up at me and said, "Yaya doing". He wanted to know what Yaya was doing.

High School Girl

A few months ago I was hired to give the keynote speech to 180 young ladies at the country club. These ladies were Juniors and Seniors in high school and they were all taking part in Cotillion.

This is the 3rd year that I have had the distinguished honor to speak to such a fine group of ladies. It gets better every year! (Except for the whole texting under the table,... I totally saw you!)

Anyway, before my speeches I like to walk around and meet and greet everyone. I had just started, I was at the second table and I walked up to the girls and asked, "So where do you go to school?"

They were very polite and told me where they went to school. I always ask this question because every year, without fail, you can walk around and room and the girls seat themselves by school. It makes sense, I know,...but they should be mingling! That's the whole point of coming out.

We chatted a minute or so and as I was getting ready to leave, one of the girls asks me, "Where do you go to school?"

I probably turned beat red but then I told her I was the speaker. It was too funny. It has never occurred to me that they would think I am a high school student. I know, that makes sense too.

I made sure to mention it during the speech and that got a good laugh. Not to worry: I didn't point anyone out, that would have been rude.

Thankful

I was so busy trying to get a storyline with pictures of our Turkey day that by the time I got to saying what I was thankful for, I was sooo tired and went to bed.

I kept reminding myself in the middle of Cole's tantrums yesterday that despite this moment, I am blessed to have him in my life. I was thinking of life before baby. I almost can't remember. Then I think that I can look back at pictures but it seems that my interest in photography did not really show itself until I had Cole. Perhaps it's the subject, he is a cutie pie! (Says the mother, I know, I know.)

Anyway, back to the point ADD girl....

So I stumbled on my pictures of Christmas 2006 when I was huge: I was 7 months pregnant. Here's a pic in case you're wondering:
I was thankful that I had him. I was thankful that I nursed him. I was thankful that He chose us for him.

Today, though it's not Thanksgiving, I am thankful that Cole says "Sorry Mama" to me like 30 times a day. I have no clue if he knows what it means but if I have scolded him and after he has calmed down, he will sometimes come up to me and apologize.

I am also thankful for Will. What in the world would I do without him? Just now he bathed Cole and dressed him and put him to bed so I can work on some designs. Now, it just so happens that I got side-tracked and ended up blogging. But hey, this is for a good cause too.

Did you know that in November, Will and I celebrated our 6th year of marriage and our 13th year together? Crazy how time flies. In just a few short years I'll be able to say that I have been in love with him half my life. I would tell you the exact years but I failed math, a lot, so I decided that if it was important enough you'll tell me.

I am thankful for my family and for being able to live so close by. I love the chaos of family and friends. I love when my house is a mess: it just means there have been some busy bodies there. It's like that picture you see of yourself and you think it says so much about how you were really feeling. I mean the joy pictures, where the life and happiness jumps off the page at you. I remeber this day and I used to have this picture in a frame and everytime my sister saw she said I was glowing. I was thankful, and whoever took that picture captured that feeling.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

We started the day late, woke up about 10 am and Will left to Mimi's to help with the food. I stayed home to get dressed and bathe Cole.Then, he was upset that Yaya took him out of the shower and left his "tuck" (truck). He threw a fit and came back into the bathroom crying. "Down" he says patting the counter. He's still a little confused with the whole up versus down thing but wer'e working on it. So, in an attempt to make my life easier, I put him on the counter.
He was content and let me finish getting ready. We left for Thanksgiving lunch at Mimi's and Will was hard at work...

Delicious, as usual. Cole was so excited to see Uncle Mark and Uncle Darrin's "puppies" that he wanted nothing to do with Nana, or anyone else for that matter. Nana was not happy about that!
Nana will also not be very happy when she reads this post and sees this picture! I am Thankful mother that you don't get angry very much...

My dad invited Stan, an old family friend over for Thanksgiving. He's an older widowed man. This is the 2nd or 3rd year that he has spent the holiday with us. I always tease Will that he and Nanny might hook up and when he found out Stan was coming over he said "he better not get any ideas". Well, they hit it off! I wouldn't call it a "love connection" but they had a lot in common.
Meanwhile, in the living room, Cole was making a love connection with Tata. He was having a grand 'ol time playing with him and he kept giving him random hugs and kisses. It was too too cute!
Then he started loving on Mimi and Nana. He kept giving them kisses, one for Mimi, one for Nana, one for Mimi, one for Nana...Then, the rest of the time, we were yelling at Cole to get his finger out of his nose! This is the newest thing of his. He thinks it's hilarious. We kinda do too, but sh, don't tell him. We were trying to take a nice family picture and all the while he had his finger up his nose.
We kept pulling it out and he got fed up. No nice family picture if he could'nt poke his nose. No nice family picture it is! We gave up, called it a day and went home for a nap. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!