Christmas Eve

We went over to my aunt's on Christmas Eve. All my aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and sister were there. It was great to see everyone.

Me and my daddy:

My cousin Jordan and his son, Jason.

A little family pic. Love this one. We all look so happy, even though Graham is more focused on his toy than Maria taking the pic.

Graham and Grandpa:

Maria, Jordan, Lane, and my Aunt Chris:

Here is Graham opening a gift that was NOT for him. I think he starting thinking everything was for him. He loves to rip tissue out of gift bags.

Graham had such fun with Aunt Nickey. Here he is holding a phone to her ear. Cute, cute!

Nickey applying 'the claw' to Graham and Jason.

Chillin' with daddy:

After leaving my aunts, we headed home. We have a Christmas Eve tradition of exchanging books.

I got Joel Rules for My Unborn Son.

Joel got me Dan Brown's latest, The Lost Symbol.


Graham's turn:

I love to read to Graham.

We got him Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Kate Toms.

I selected it first of all because Graham LOVES the song. When all else fails, I sing him that. It has gotten us through blood draws, shots, snuggles, and countless other situations. This is a whole book of new verses of the song. Additionally, I loved the illustrations. There is a page that has a cow jumping over the moon and that was his nursery theme. Also, there are several pages that talk about how all the stars in the sky are all around the world. Very fitting, I thought. It was the perfect book!

After our book exchange it was off to bed, not before kissing our elf good night. Those who do "Elf on the Shelf" know what I'm referring to. This elf sits of the shelf each night of December and flies back to Santa each night to report on naughty vs nice. So each morning the elf is in a new location for excited little children to find when they wake. The elf flies back on Christmas Eve not to return again to 'til the next year.

Since Graham was definitely a NICE boy this year, Santa visited as he was tucked away in bed.

Making the Cut

You may remember back in July when I talked about cutting my hair to donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. Well, I made the cut. A full foot of hair.

My hair grows so fast. I can't believe how much longer it is than July. Anyway, onto the pics.

Before:


After:

I like the cut, though I don't love these pics. But most importantly, I like contributing to a good cause.

Christmas Photo

Photo: Portrait Innovations

Safe and Sound!

Items of note:

Joel made it home safely. Hooray!!

I got lost at the airport, no big shocker there. Wrong terminal anyone? Who asks me to get them from the airport???!! Only my husband would do that I think. ;P

Joel has not shaved in weeks. He looks exactly like his dad who had a beard at Joel's age. I will post a pic soon.

It is so wonderful to have him home. AND seeing him with Grahamie is the best!

Goings On

What have we been up to?

Joel has been busy finalizing things at work. The great news is that GM passed their Environmental & Safety Audits at all properties. Joel was sent to South Africa to implement a more robust Environmental program and to prepare for these audits. So, he was successful! I wouldn't expect anything less. Joel is such a hard worker and amazing at what he does. I'm so proud of him!!!

He has also been busy preparing to move back to the US for good. Check-out inspections, bill paying, and the packing. Oh the packing. Our boat shipment shipped 12/1. Our air shipment went yesterday. And my love is on a plane to Paris en route to home as we speak!! Send your good vibes please! He arrives home tomorrow FOR GOOD!! :) And not a moment too soon because we miss him so very much!

As for me, I keep busy taking care of Graham of course. That itself is a full-time job. Especially when you consider that we have to start over on his health issues. So I have had an appointment for Graham nearly every day for the last few weeks. Phew!

Of course, as I blogged about last Friday, I spent some time house-hunting and found us a place. Yay!

Also, you may have heard, Christmas is coming up. I have done quite a bit of shopping. I'm done with everyone except Joel. I have some ideas though and sometimes that's the hardest part. Haven't done any wrapping yet, but I did buy the paper, so that's a start. ;P I have even worked on Graham's stocking a bit, though not nearly enough. I'm seriously losing hope on finishing it by Christmas. I will definitely have it done by next Christmas. Ha!!!

So, if we haven't seen you yet, I do apologize. Moving across the world is very busy. Can't wait to catch up with all our friends and family!! Love y'all!

Found a House!

Last Friday, Joel's mom, Graham and I went and checked out a few houses for rent. We have opted to rent for a year because it is less risky and there will still be tons of good deals out there in a year if we want to buy.

Anyway, back to the house hunting. The first one was a total dump, the second needed work, and the third was perfect. It is a three bedroom, 2.5 bath house with an open floor plan and a semi-finished basement (well finished enough for us to put an office down there anyway). It is impeccably cleaned and maintained, as well as nice decor. We'll be in Sterling Hts. Joel has only seen pictures, so I guess he trusts me. We move in January 15. Here's hopin' we have all our stuff by then...

Christmas PJ's

Is there anything cuter that a child in Christmas pajamas?? I THINK NOT!!

He may or may not have been getting tickled in this pic.

Now we can read those PJ's, "What Santa won't bring me, Grandma will!" Very true, and guess who picked these up? ;P

He loves his Mr. Potato Head. Good thing too as he was Mr. Potato Head a few months back!

And the hat goes on top, "Ta-Dah!"

Not Me! Monday

I’m participating in MckMama’s blog carnival again this week, confessing some things I did not do! To read more check out MckMama’s blog.

Joel's parents have beautiful, new kitchen cabinets. Graham loves to admire them. He would never dream of opening the doors and slamming them closed, over and over. Mommy definitely doesn't chase around the kitchen saying, " No Grahamie." "Mommy said no." "Please don't touch the cabinets." "Did you hear mommy?" "Let's go play in the living room."

There is one cabinet with a lazy Susan in it. The door closes on a pivot and has to be closed just right to avoid damage. Perfect for a one and half year old, right? So, that wouldn't be his favorite!

SO, I most certainly, absolutely did not say "Graham-it!" when he slammed this cabinet AGAIN. As in, thinking "Damnit," meaning to say," Graham." It was not in front of my inlaws either. No way!

No Expensive Christmas Gifts Required!

For some reason, Graham likes to put this bowl on his head and hang out. He will put it on, giggle, walk around, giggle some more,

then he'll take it off,

giggle some more,

and REPEAT! Forget those expensive Christmas presents. All bowls for this kid!

Christmas is less than 3 weeks away!

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it. Spending time with friends and family. Carols that make me all warm and fuzzy inside. Christmas movies. Twinkling lights. Guilt free indulgences. Seeing people light up when you give a gift picked with care. I love it.

It snuck up on me, I must say. I WAS doing great. I had done lots of early shopping and had been working tirelessly on Graham's stocking. THEN, I moved across the world and this gal hasn't done anything to prepare since. Arghh!

I saw this on Stef's blog, and figured I'd join in.

1. Have you started your Christmas shopping? I finished all friends and family in early November. All friends and family besides my most important 2: Joel and Graham. Haven't really gotten ANYTHING for either of them. Will get started. ANY. DAY. NOW. It might be easier when Joel's gets back into town, so he can look after our little darling while I'm out treasure hunting. Nothing like last minute deals too, right?

2. Tell me about one of your special traditions. We exchange books on Christmas Eve. I try to pick out a special book, especially for Graham. Inside the book, I write a Christmas letter to our boy. Hopefully, he'll keep them forever and be able to read his letters from mom and dad and know how much he's loved. Also on Christmas Eve, after Graham went to bed last year, Joel and I watched The Grinch (the Jim Carrey version...love that movie) in bed while eating warm chocolate cake. I'll never forget how blessed I felt to have an angel in his crib awaiting Christmas morning and my loving husband by my side. I'm thinking this should be an annual tradition too!

3. When do you put up your Tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving. Though not this year. I'll be helping Joel's parents put up the tree next week.

4. Are you a Black Friday shopper? I hate crowds, so I have never ventured out on Black Friday. I do like to scoop up online deals...if I even have the energy for that the day after Thanksgiving or Cyber Monday.

5. Do you travel at Christmas or stay home? We stay home. Well, we stay in the area, often heading out to visit various friends and family.

6. What is your funniest Christmas memory? Pre-prelit-Christmas tree days, Joel was sitting on an ottoman putting lights on the Christmas tree. The poor ottoman collapsed under his tremendous girth..and it was hysterical, to me anyway.

7. What is your favorite Christmas movie of all time? I love so many, but I will have to go with A Christmas Story. I am the person that will watch it 10x on TBS every Christmas Eve. Joel is like, "We just saw this, PLEASE turn on something else!" But we don't because I beg and plead until he relents. :)

8. Do you do your own Christmas baking, what’s your favorite treat? Yes. I usually do tons of baking around the holidays. I like to make something different each year, but people usually request my soft, ginger cookies. Funny thing is, they're not my favorite, but everyone LOVES them. I guess I'm not a ginger cookie kind of girl, but they are festive and well-received.

9. Fake or Real Tree? I prefer the term artificial.

10. What day (as a mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done? I'll stay cool as a cucumber until 12/20 or so.

11. Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve? Guilty. Part of the fun, I think. :)

12. What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas? I cannot pick, sorry. The Christmas Eve traditions mentioned above. Seeing family and friends. Christmas movies, Wrapping. A child on Christmas morning. It's all fun...I simply refuse to pick!

13. What Christmas craft do you like the best? Hmmm, I don't really do many Christmas crafts. I guess I'll go with making Christmas stockings. If anything is stressing me this Christmas, it's this. I want to finish it by Christmas so badly, but there aren't enough hours in the day!

14. Christmas music? (Yes or No) If yes, what is your favorite song? I love Christmas music. My favorites are the classics. O Holy Night is my favorite...preferably sung by Josh Groban!

15. When do you plan to finish all of your shopping? By Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you're all feeling festive. :)

A few thoughts while looking through pics...

Holiday sweaters look much cuter on children than adults...

It annoys me that many good pictures are spoiled due to glare or flash off of Graham's glasses, as if it's not hard enough to take a good picture of an on-the-move toddler...

It annoys Graham that I take so many pictures of him...

Puzzles are fun...

So precious...

GM Vehicle Discount

***Blog hijacking in progress****

If anyone out there (in the USA) needs a new vehicle and is not currently driving a GM vehicle, I am allowed to share my employee discount with anyone during the month of December. Just give me a shout if you are interested.

Immediate family still fall under the old discount program..... you know, the one where you must make me dinner in exchange for a discount. :)

Cheers everyone,
Joel

***You can now return to the blogs regularly scheduled baby spam***