Mom and Craig made it up for Christmas! And thank the Lord, because I could not have gotten it all done with Patrick hanging on me all day. The snow has lost it's charm, as it is increasingly difficult to entertain my child out of the house. Everything is/was closed! 

I'm currently on location in Vancouver. I'm unable to post pictures from my Mom's house, but we have some great ones from the holidays. Patrick slept the WHOLE WAY DOWN. Over two hours. Poor buddy, he's totally overstimulated from the holidays. And this weekend won't be any better. We can detox on Monday. 

Best Laid Plans of Mice

I have to second Emily. While I like the snow, I'm frustrated with the crimp in our holiday plans. Not sure if my Mom will be able to come up, don't know if I'll be able to get down there, and Lord knows if our out-of-town/country family will be in this weekend. And today, I'm home sick. One of those sick days where I sort of feel like a wimp for calling into work (not to mention frustrated at using MORE time off than I already have), but I just feel a bit nauseated and achy. Luckily, Patrick is at daycare today. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow after a day of sleeping because he'll be home with me. Now I just have to figure out how to entertain a snowbound 18-month-old without my mom! If anybody is in town without holiday plans for Christmas Eve (during the daytime)....I'm available! Hopefully.

More pictures, but I also write stuff

I am love love loving! this weather. It's like a real Christmas, with this beautiful powdery snow. Patrick only lasts about 10 minutes before getting too cold. We'd talked about getting snow gear, but that stuff ain't cheap! Thanks to some hand-me-downs that will (hopefully) last through next year, we'll be better prepared. We did some sledding at Darin and Dana's house down the block. They have a great hill in their back yard. Kevin McGyver'ed a sled for us out of Danica's old crate. It was big enough for the grownups to take all the kids down at the same time. Later on I took Danica and Freya to the park to get their run out. Again, beautiful! It looks like a holiday movie set. They paid me back by being wonderfully behaved (that means tired) for the rest of the eveing.

After everybody went to bed, I wrapped some presents and watched Tim Allen's The Santa Clause. I love these movies, but Tim reminds me So Much of my Dad, that it's also bittersweet. But in his performances I feel like I get a glimpse of all the good stuff my Dad brought to the table. Good memories, no baggage. It's a good mix.

This is my future: watch and weep

Snow video

1. Patrick is having a good time, even though you can't see it because "somebody" didn't get close to Patrick's face. (must have been Freya)

2. I'm sorry my ass plays such a predominant role in this video.

Kevin thinks this is a good idea every time we have snow

Snow in pictures

Hair Cut

His hair was getting out of control. And there was NO WAY I was going to cut his hair. I didn't want some funny bowl cut, I wanted him cute. So off we went to the kiddo salon. When he's bigger, he can sit in the airplane. But for the first time, we needed restraints.

He always looks really cute in the second before I take the picture. God, I need a new camera. Such a little mop of hair. I'm ready for his big boy haircut.

We got some mileage out of combs to keep him entertained. They had lots of stuff. Very well planned out, this place. Look at how long it is over the ears!

Mom will think I was crazy for spending $20 to cut my 18 month old's hair, but I can't IMAGINE trying to wield scissors around my squirmy worm.

He sort of stayed still...

No, that's not a bald patch. But his hair is so light and fine that she couldn't cut it as short as I'd like. But the stylist said that too short would make his hair just stick up all the time. And no son of Kevin's could walk around like that. Kevin did ask if I would want to use product in his hair.

Uh, no.

We kept him still with a combination of dum-dums, animal crackers, books, toys, and whatever else I could find in the salon.

Look, no wings around his ears.

My big boy!

Patrick kissing

Kevin's folks popped in for a lovely visit after Thanksgiving. Patrick is just so sweet with them both, and they are fantastic with him.

Taking after his parents

Patrick got this book out all by himself, plopped down into the chair, and started "reading." Since he's 17 months old, we can safely say he wasn't doing any literary analysis of 10 Rubber Duckies, but he was flipping the pages!

Things I have cried about today

My toddler not wanting to have a diaper change.

My toddler not wanting to put clothes on.

My toddler not wanting to detach from my nipple.

My finances not adding up in the way I would wish.

My inability to purchase new shelves and boxes so my house doesn't feel out of control.

My house feeling out of control.

The endless drudge of "picking up."

My husband not realizing that he is part of my "picking up" package.

The lack of a full night's sleep in about two years. I think it's starting to catch up with me. Getting to sleep in until 7:30am once a week (after waking up at least once in the night with the baby and dogs) just isn't cutting it.

Yeah, it's been that kind of day.

A few lessons, from home and abroad

The child isn't ready to drink out of a big-boy cup unsupervised.

It's important to delete the history on your internet browser, or else we can all see what porn sites you like.

Asking direct questions will get you direct answers.

Nice things do happen to people I know, like winning a whole paid-for wedding (dress and all) because the fancy-pants resort wants to re-do their wedding advertisements.

In one month I'll start weaning, but I don't think I'm happy about it.

Sometimes your wife prancing around in panties is more interesting than Naturo. But sometimes not.

A good way to save money at Christmas? Buy less presents.