Christmas Card Photo Shoot

I was a tad late taking pics for our Christmas Card this year. I suppose it's a bit like the electrician's house having no lights or the BatGuys house having bats; the photographers kid is the last for a photo shoot! However, I picked a perfect moment for it, Kyle was cranky and tired and the dog was more excited about playing with a stick. The entire session lasted about 10 minutes and sounded a bit like this "Ky, smile, sit, come here, no here, out of the sun, don't sit in the snow, grab Loco, ok, cheese, wait right here, now smile, over here, let me wipe your nose, oh shit, no over here, KY, LOCO, KY, LOCO, KY, Mom will you grab Loco, Ky can you smile please, please don't sit in the water, don't touch the ice, no don't jump, hold on, almost done, one more minute, one more smile, right here baby,Ok, we're done, " (My Mom will concur I'm sure) That being said, he's still the most handsome little photographers subject I've ever seen :) Although, I could be a teeny tiny bit bias?!

Happy 1st Birthday Delaney!

Storage Unit needed?!

I am assuming this will be necessary as the years go on seeing where we are only 4 months into Kyle's school days and I'm already having a hard time storing his beautiful masterpieces; such as these. And lord knows I couldn't possibly throw them away!!!

"Christmas Pattern"

"Santa Handprint"

"Tearful Poem"

"Hand Turkey & my newest most beautiful piece of jewelry"

And Remember, you're only in a Furniture Store....

is the tag line to the Jordan's Furniture LITE show and we heard in twice in the past 2 weeks! Mammy, Kyle and I took a trip to The Christmas Shops late one night because Kyle had a nap that day and I knew we had to do something. While on our way there we remembered The Enchanted Village was a new thing going on at Jordan's and decided to stop in. It was 7 pm on a Monday night and it was perfect timing because there was no line at all. What a beautiful display of 192o's Christmas themes.

And while walking through and viewing the displays Christmas music plays and every so often when a Christmas song mentions snow....it snows! The lights come on and the snow shoots out from every corner of the room. I'm pretty sure I was one of the more excited parents oohing and ahhhing at that part, but I loved it!

Knowing that you are supposed to be 40inches to ride the MOM ride (we had been denied a few weeks back) I put Kyle in his big snow boots and we sneaked him onto the ride. It was worth in because they played a 1/2 condensed version of The Polar Express in 4D and it was incredible. Ky loved every minute of it (twice because we did the same thing on the following Thursday afternoon with Nana Cill)

We end the adventure with the LITE show, which is a laser show set to Christmas music. Both trips were great fun. We were equally lucky to go at slow times and avoid the 3 hour wait that I've heard some folks have had to endure. Oh and Santa is there too!

Bedtime stories

Kyle will actually sit with me to read not only 1 bedtime book, but a whole pile these days. We have a few favorites, the most popular as of today is "Good Dog Carl" given to us by one of Auntie Erin's teacher friends. This book though small, short and with only 2 pages that actually contain words bring so much laughter at bedtime that I giggle a bit as I write this. It's about a big dog named Carl that's left alone to watch the baby while Mamma runs some errands (I know right? Like Loco could handle that!). Carl and the baby have lots of fun from one page to the next dancing in the living room, swimming in the fish tank, sliding down the laundry chute and by the time Mamma returns the baby is safely in bed, bathed and Mamma say's "Good Dog Carl" Kyle makes a point to stand up and dance with Carl and the baby.

The next book in the evening line-up was given to Kyle from Aunite Annie and is called "The pigeon gets a hot dog" and its just as silly as it sounds. Again, very little content but a whole lotta laughs! A pigeon is getting ready to enjoy a "sensational" hot dog and is being pestered by a duckling who's curious about the hot dog because he's never had one. Kyle's favorite take-away lines are "for pete's sake, can you believe this guy?" and "hmmm, needs mustard"

The newest addition to our bedtime reading is a Dr. Seuss book called "The Sleep Book". I personally LOVE any and all Dr. Seuss books. I love hearing them, I love reading them and I love sharing them with my little man. Many of our Dr. Seuss collection are special because they've come from Mammy (once Matt's books) and Auntie Laura. The Sleep Book is quite long with a lot of content but the funniest thing about reading this book is the amount of yawning we do. I've learned that not only are yawns in real life contagious, but even a Who's yawn from the pages of a book send yawns our way. ( I literally just yawned writing this) Kyle and laugh and yawn the entire time. I know that reading to your child is an important part of development but I never realized just how much fun I would have doing it.

Maybe, just maybe it influences this wild imagination of his?!