And all the rest

Here are the last of the pictures from our Christmas visit to Chicago, in no particular order.  I’m feeling extra lazy tonight. We took Brendan sledding but unfortunately it was –10 degrees with the wind chill so it wasn’t as enjoyable as we hoped.

This is how we got through our flight- SpongeBob on the dvd player. Brendan was so well-behaved it was shocking.

Getting to open presents for the second time that day was super exciting for Brendan, especially since he got more Thomas trains and tracks. He was in toddler heaven.

This was a small miracle- the only other time that Brendan has willingly laid down on our laps was when he was extremely sick, so we were shocked when he snuggled up to Chris. That’s how tired her was after chasing Sam the cat around the house all day.

In other cat news, my parents found out that their other cat, Oso, has anxiety problems that was most likely caused by Brendan’s visit. No joke. The poor cat and my poor parents. I just hope Oso doesn’t have to go on medication for it (seriously).

It just wouldn’t be Christmas without baking with Grandma.

 

The best was getting sample the goods before they baked, except that Brendan proceeded to put that spoonful on the baking sheet after licking it.

And of course we had to have an early birthday celebration. Brendan had a hard time blowing out the candle and it was so funny to watch him try so hard.

He couldn’t wait to dig into the cake.

At least he shared though.

And he even helped with the dishes. Playing in the sink is still one of Brendan’s favorite activities.

Since our trip, I’ve taken my camera out of its case exactly one time, so I don’t really have anything new to share. I seem to have lost my drive to take lots of photos and blog about them but I’m sure that will change once the weather warms up and we can head outdoors again. I’m so ready for winter to be over!

Poor Sam

My childhood cat Sam deserves the Cat of the Year award because 1. He’s really old, 2. He’ll curl up next to you under a blanket and purr, and 3. He put up with Brendan for 5 days straight.

Brendan was just a tad obsessed with Sam while we were in Illinois. I knew he would be. The boy loves cats. I put a small book about kittens in his stocking and he likes to carry it around with him all the time. This is nothing new though. I just wasn’t sure if Sam would be up to dealing with a toddler but Sam was an angel in cat form and let Brendan chase him, pull his tail, brush his fur, hide his cat food, pull him around in a basket, and even try to smother him.

Wherever Sam was, Brendan was sure to be as well. Brendan just couldn’t stay away and he was often wandering the halls of my parents’ house, calling “Sammy!” to try to lure him out of his napping spots.

Brendan was so sweet with Sam sometimes that it just melted my heart. He could be gentle and soft and he even freely gave him kisses. He even got a piece of bread and brought it to Sam for a treat as he was sleeping under the Christmas tree.  He didn’t quite understand that cats don’t eat bread.

Poor, poor Sam.

Brendan thought it was the funniest thing ever to stick a duster in Sam’s face. I think Sam was having fun too.

Brendan and Sam are now BFF’s and Brendan can’t wait to go back to see his buddy soon.

Why we didn’t give out Christmas goodies this year

I really did have every intention of making some treats to take to friends and neighbors but after a few mishaps, it didn’t happen. I would recommend that you stay away from the Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix since I thought that buying a mix would save me some time but the cookies were flavorless and hard as a rock so I ended up wasting my money.

Cupcakes were going to be a nice solution so I got everything together for Brendan to help me decorate them. It started out quite promising.

He was very enthusiastic about it and even managed to not stick his fingers in the frosting (after I told him a few times to quit trying to eat the frosting off the cupcakes). The only problem was that he got a little overzealous with the sprinkles.

He had to bury the cupcakes in sprinkles. It wasn’t enough to just have a smattering of red and green on them. No, the cupcakes had to have mountains of sprinkles.

Looks good, doesn’t it?

I even had these adorable little Christmas tree toppers for the cupcakes. I had such high hopes of having cute treats to give out.

But as you can see, the sprinkles were piled on so high that the trees barely stuck out. So I decided that these probably weren’t the best things to give to our friends and instead we ate them. And the best part- Brendan doesn’t even like sprinkles. He refuses to eat them. So we had to scrape off all the sprinkles and frosting before he would eat it. All that hard work for nothing!

Thoughts on Brendan now being 3

It seems that Brendan has gained a newfound sense of attitude with being 3 years old. We now have church at 1:30 so we get home quite late in the afternoon, and Brendan was ready to eat his cake as soon as we walked in the door. Unfortunately Chris wasn’t home from his meetings yet so we had to wait and I told Brendan so. As soon as I turned my back, he grabbed a handful of cake right out of the pan. This seems to be a trend lately, where I tell him not to do something and he waits for me to be distracted before he does it anyway. I’ll be grateful when this phase is over and we’ve had many talks about his behavior.

But the cake turned out okay. A little bit of frosting to fill in the gaping hole and it looked as good as new. I had high  hopes of creating some amazing cake design but when it came down to it, I just didn’t have the time (or the skill). So Brendan had to settle for a Hot Wheels fire truck on his cake as his decoration- and you know what? He loved it.

Along with Brendan’s new attitude, he’s also developed a very stubborn streak. He knows what he wants and refuses to budge. Take the cake for example. He got to pick out the flavor and for some bizarre reason, he picked out a spice cake. I tried to persuade him to pick chocolate or vanilla but he had to have the spice cake. And he loved it.

Brendan has also decided he’s old enough to call Chris by his first name now. It’s hilarious but I should probably try to curb this before it turns into a habit. I just can’t help but start laughing hysterically when Brendan shouts “CHRIS” from the other room, which is probably why Brendan does it so much.

And last but not least, after opening all his presents Brendan turned to Chris and plainly said, “More presents.” After having two Christmases (one with just our family and one with my parents), an early birthday party with my parents, and then finally a birthday celebration at our home, the boy has been on present overload. It seemed like everyday he was getting a gift and he didn’t want it to stop.

My little munchkin is developing quite the personality and it’s so funny to watch him act so grown up. And fun. And fulfilling. I’m a very lucky mom.

Easy as 1, 2, 3

It all started with this, when we found out we were having a boy and when Brendan finally decided to enter the world after a long labor, we we entirely smitten.

Along the way, we’ve dried lots of tears,

 

Had lots of laughs,

And enjoyed spoiling Brendan rotten

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Happy Birthday to my sweet boy, my buddy and the giver of the best kisses on this planet.

Are You Ready for This?

Okay, I know I haven’t done any Christmas posts yet. There will be a giant post(s) about Christmas and all of our holiday activities but I’m not nearly done editing all the photos so that will have to wait. We recently got back from some vacation time in Chicago with my family and I’m procrastinating just a tiny bit.  Instead, I’ve been reminiscing about 2009. The past year was quite a wild ride for us and it’s amazing where life has taken us and how we’ve been able to grown and learn. Looking back, we’ve had many ups and downs but we’re still happily plugging along and I have the best two guys to get me through the tough times. Here are some of my favorite photographic mementos of 2009.

Our first month in New Hampshire was filled with lots of snow and Brendan couldn’t have been more thrilled.

The night the house across the street from us went up in flames.

Taking lots of road trips.

And fun hotel stays while on those road trips.

Having grandparents come to visit us. We really wish we lived closer to family.

Fulfilling Brendan’s life long dream of meeting Thomas the Tank Engine and enjoy a “Day Out with Thomas.” It was worth the outrageous price for tickets to see Brendan’s face.

Getting so hyped up on sugary fried dough at the local fair that Brendan could not stop running.

Enjoying fun summer activities…

…which includes trying to stick your head in a fountain and drink the water.

Climbing New England’s tallest mountain, Mt Washington. Okay, we drove up the mountain but still, it was a very exhausting drive.

Being surprised at how silly and funny my son is.

Trying to get Brendan to be still and smile in a picture for me, which almost always ended in tears.

And being so happy to have my wonderful little family. 2009 wasn’t so bad after all.

Here’s the best 2010 possible.