Happy Hearts Day, the prequel

We celebrated Valentine's Day last Sunday night with the family. Laura, George, and the weenies came over for dinner.  We had onion-stuffed burgers, grilled veggies, and sweet potato fries.  For desert, mom made these little chocolate covered heart shaped cakes that were a pain in the you-know-what to make, and we were so stuffed from dinner that none of us could hardly enjoy them, they were so rich!

Bradley got some candy, a ton of stickers, a few little cars, some stamps, and Mary Poppins on dvd, among other little dollar store treats I managed to find.

He was probably most excited at the balloon from Laura & George, though.

 My goofy brother in law, and the weenies

 I'm holding up my candy from Bradley.  This was hardly a surprise as B had asked me numerous times leading up to Valentine's Day if we could have some of my candy before mom would shush him and remind him that it was a surprise!

Check out the chipmunk cheeks full of candy!

 I have finally learned the secret to getting Bradley to smile in pictures!!!  See here?  Let me let you in on a little secret:  It's called reverse psychology!

 "Don't you smile, Bradley!  Don't you dare smile!"

 I can't believe I look so crappy when I am finally getting him to smile with me in a picture!

The color-coordinated cheshire cats cheesin'

I enjoyed our little Valentine's celebration.  Bradley got me some candy, new brown socks which I have desperately needed, new pink pajamas, and a really pretty pink jeweled frame with a picture of me and him in it.  The boy can shop, I tell ya!

A Happy Hearts Day

I have to admit, I was dreading Valentine's Day.  Yes, I know, it's a pointless Hallmark holiday, but when you're single (again) it only serves to remind you of your own singleness.  For the past 3 years, I had a "Valentine."  And this year would be different. 

I came downstairs on Valentine's Day morning, and was wearing a bronze-colored headband. 

Mommy, is that your crown, Bradley asked.  Are you a princess?

Yes, yes I am, I happily replied, and you are mommy's little prince.

That innocent comment from my sweet boy just made my day, and helped me start off the day right.  I met Queen MAB for lunch and got a buy-one-get-one-free lunch at Qdoba for giving her, my "valentine," an air smooch.  (I believe they're called a bisou, Em?) And at work we were even given a small vase with pink roses and lilies that was a welcome addition to my desk this week.

So all in all, it really was a wonderful day.  And I came to realize that celebrating Valentine's doesn't have to be about spending money on a romantic partner (the Eros kind of love), but it can just be about embracing the day of Love (and PINK!) and celebrating it with those you love in a different way (the Agape, or Fileo).  And I also came to the realization that Valentine's Day really only matters if you're single, or in a brand new relationship.  The world wants you to think that it's a huge deal, and that if you're the husband that forgets Valentine's Day, you'll be in the dog house all year long, but the married couples that I know don't make a big deal about it all.  So I shouldn't either.

Side-Splittingly Funny

How do these things always happen to me?  I think that Jesus must know how much I love to write, and so he throws me some funny curve balls along the way for blog fodder.  Here's today's latest epic event:

I'm sure everyone has felt the horror at one time or another of looking down and realizing your barn door's open aka your pants are unzipped.  Well this morning at work, I looked down at my lap and noticed my inner thigh peeking up at me.  You're not supposed to look down at your pants and see skin!  I quickly realized that the inseam of my (new) pants had at least a 3 inch gaping hole in them!  As I continued to examine them, all the while glancing over my shoulder praying that no one else would notice my pious pants (they were holey... get it?), I had to laugh when I saw a 1 inch hole on the left leg inseam as well.  


Crap.  Who all have I come in contact with this morning that might have noticed my seams flapping in the wind, and what am I going to do to repair this?

Quickly, I went through my options in my head.  My inner monologue went something like this:

1.  There are no clothing stores close to where I work.
2.  I live too far away to run home and change.
3.  It is ten o'clock in the morning... this is going to be one long, awkward day!
4.  Should I send out an office-wide email asking if anyone has safety pins?
5.  No, because then I will have to explain myself, and even on the off chance that someone would have one safety pin, I would need multiple pins.
6.  Maybe I could run to Walgreens and buy a sewing kit and repair them myself in the bathroom.
7.  Ha ha- good one, Amanda, you don't sew!

In the meantime I texted mom.  These were new, old Express pants that I bought several years ago, and meant to return because they were too big, but never did.  Well desperate times call for desperate measure, so even though the Express pants were still a little baggy, I had mom hem them so I could at least gain a new pair of work pants.

Via text message, mom swore she hadn't touched the inseams, and suggested tape or staples to keep the holes in check.

Staples- brilliant!  I think that would work, but I can't just take my stapler and walk into the bathroom.  People are going to think I'm crazy.  I'm sure they already do anyways, but let's not add fuel to the fire.

Once again, I checked my surroundings, waited til the coast was clear, and grabbed my purse and flung the stapler in there.  Off to the ladies room I went.  I turned the pants inside out in the stall and started to staple away when I realized there was someone else in the bathroom.  I felt like the sound of a stapler in a neighboring bathroom stall might have roused some suspicion, so I waited until she was gone, stapling once more for good measure during the loud flush, then setting to work once it was just me.

As horrific as the situation was, I had to laugh at myself.  Who staples their pants in a bathroom?  I was afraid the staples were going to cut up my legs, but they were surprisingly unobtrusive.  There was enough seam material to tack together that my row of staples held pretty well on both pants legs.

Later on in the afternoon, I did notice the right leg hole getting bigger, so back to the bathroom I went, purse and stapler in tow, to repair the now 6 inch gap, but all in all, I'd say things could have been much worse.  I changed pants the minute I hit the door tonight, though.

Snow Big Deal (oh yes it was!)

Yesterday's commute home will be one I won't forget.  I watched the snow start to fall downtown around 3 p.m., and within half an hour, the roads were starting to get white, and the tops of the roofs below were solid white.  I knew I was in for trouble and should have left at the first sign of bad weather.  Problem is, we've had so much snow this year already, that I was hesitant to leave early and miss more work for nothing.  As it turns out, yesterday was not "nothing."  I finished what I needed to do, including some crapy last minute stuff for an ungrateful person, and then I was out the door a little before 3:45 p.m.

After I hit the hour mark in my car, not even making it out of downtown Nashville, I settled in for a long evening.  The radio weather and traffic reports were so rushed and incomplete, that it only frustrated me, so I resolved myself to listening to cds to calm my nerves.  I made it through 3 cds during the drive home!

An hour and a half later, I made it onto the interstate.  At least then I started to crawl along at a steady pace.  5 miles per hour on the interstate, but at least it wasn't the gridlocked parking lot that downtown was.

Somewhere along I-65, and after nightfall, I hit the 2 hour mark.  The snow continued to fall, and I kept having to turn on my rear defrost to keep my back window clear.  I saw abandoned cars, and passed several wrecks along the way.

Pulling off I-65 around 6:30 p.m. was one of the happiest moments of my life!  It was then that I realized just how hungry I was, and just how bad I had to pee.  I think my nerves had kept both of those things in check til now.  It also hit me that I could have made it to Lexington, Kentucky in the time that it had taken me to get home today. 

Finally, at 7:15pm, 3 and 1/2 hours later, I made it home.  My friend Lisa wins the award for longest commute home yesterday, at 5.75 hours in her car, and Queen MAB went 3 miles in 3 hours.  Let's just say I made the executive decision to stay home today after dealing with that nightmare last night.

Not music to my ears

Anybody in America knows what today was- the 7th anual Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet, of course.  But it was also Superbowl 45 (who knew?!)  And as if watching the greatest football game in the land isn't enough entertainment bang for your $900-a-ticket buck, then they throw in some pre-game and half-time entertainment as well.  I admittedly missed the pre-game show (hey, the Puppy Bowl was still on!) but I did tune in in time for Lea Michelle to sing God Bless America, and Christina Augilera to sing a remix of the National Anthem.

Of course I love music, and of course I am very critical.  But I think both of these ladies have phenomenal voices, and I also think that both of these ladies phenomenaly sucked it up tonight.  Lea Michelle, aka Rachel on GLEE, butchered "God Bless America" with her belting Broadway vocal antics, basically screaming each line of the song.  And, well, by now we all know that the Genie is probably wishing she could shrink back into her bottle after botching the words of the Star Spangled Banner.  "What so proudly we watched..." yeah, we bet Francis Scott Key is rolling over in his grave right about now.  Perhaps Christina was battling a case of nerves tonight, but I have a different theory.  She's a seasoned veteran performer, and has amazing pipes to prove it.  I think a more likely explanation for her flub is that every superbowl national anthem singer is keenely aware that they are trying to one-up their predesessors, and let's face it, no one's come close to Whitney.  So here the Burlesque star was tonight, trying to impress with her vocal acobatics, and I think she sang the song so slowly, that she got lost.  It's easy to do, and the national anthem is honestly one of the hardest songs to sing when it's done straightforward.  Forget all the twists and turns, and just sing it, Christina!  As she went on, she got worse.  Okay, fine, you flubbed a line, but then she overcompensated and wiggled and wobbled all over the music staff, (and the pitch), and what resulted was a performance that people will be talking about for years to come for sure, but not in the way Ms. Augilera likely wishes they would.

Fast forward to halftime (oh yeah, a half of football was just played here).  The Black Eyed Peas' halftime show was a train wreck and a half(time).  I believe they have proved that no matter how much auto tune you use in the studio, and what a cool effect it can have on a track, it doesn't translate live, and the audience isn't dumb.  They know bad music when they hear it, and no amount of glowing dancers, fireworks, and flashing lights are going to fool the audience into thinking they're being entertained.  While I beebop along to the Black Eyed Peas in my car as much as the next person, I've realized now that they can't hold it together live, and so they had to pull stunts like bringing in Slash (Can we say, most random appearance ever) and Usher coming down from the sky (my favorite part about this was that producers felt we needed to see Usher's name in lights so we'd know who he was) in order to boost their own chart topping numbers.  I think my favorite halftime debacle of all though were the stage lights malfunctioning.  During the song, "Where is the Love?" the stage lights intended to spell LOVE actually read LOE.  Where is the LOE, indeed? 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch the last musical number of the superbowl, the new episode of GLEE!

Gaga for Gaga

What can I say?  My taste in music is bound to rub off on Bradley.  For the past 3 weeks, whenever we get in the car, he hollers for "Barnes!"  Aparently, B loves the first track on Dave Barnes' newest cd, "Little Lies," and asks for it by name.  I am also in the process of explaining that "Barnes" has more than just one song, and that all the other songs on the cd are also by Dave Barnes, when he hollers after track #1 has ended.

Bradley's also grown up listening to the Glee soundtracks, and has taken a strong liking to the Glee cast version of "Bad Romance."  (In fact, he asks for this song by name after he's gotten his Barnes fix.)  And this little gem of a video was taken while waiting in traffic on the exit ramp on our way to church last Sunday. 

You've got a friend in B

Holy Moly, where has the first month of 2011 gone?  The start of this year was marked with a new beginning for me, a lot of snow, Bradley's first school performance, George's birthday, uncle Jack's passing, and another trip to ER... all in one month!  Craziness. 

This month's blog title, You've Got a Friend in B, is of course a reference to the Toy Story song, which Bradley is still obsessed with the Toy Story movies (currently TS3), plus it's a play on all the pictures taken this month of various family members with Bradley.

Bradley and some crazy early morning bedhead

 Bradley & Papa

 Waiting for the daycare music program to start

 Bradley & aunt "Yaura."  The 'L's' aren't quite coming out clear just yet

Bradley & uncle George, in their matching shirts

 Me & Bradley in our matching homemade jammies from Mom.  Right here, B is pretending to be Woody, and I'm supposed to be Bullseye!

Pretty much the only toys Bradley will play with:  Buzz & Woody 

Reading with Grandma B

 Bradley with aunt Vicki & uncle Rusell

B in his Buzz Lightyear raincoat.  Can you tell that he loves when it rains and he gets to wear this jacket???

So long, January!
*As of January 31, 2011, make that 2 cases of strep throat during the month of January*

Shoe Stories

My uncle Jack was married to my aunt Peggy for almost 50 years before his passing last week.  He was hard of hearing, and so he talked abnormally loud, and if you were ever around Jack, you know he was always talking, and always telling a story!  He was such an animated and gifted storyteller.  He was also a gifted salesmen, and made his living selling shoes. 

Right around the time I started high school, those awful Birkenstock moccasins had come in style, and so one summer during a visit with Peggy and Jack, we went to the mall, to the Parisians where Jack worked at the time, and he was able to get Laura and I each a pair of those Birkenstocks for a great discounted price.  Up til now, I had a knock-off pair of the Birkenstock "Jesus sandals" that had been popular, but now I was the proud owner of these new Birkenstock moccasins.  I wore these shoes out!  My good friend Bethany and I even had an inside joke where we referred to our moccasins as "Mat Hollis' shoes."  These shoes absolutely define my high school years.

With uncle Jack's passing, it made me think about shoes, and how a particular style can mark an era in your life.  For me, these would be:

• Jellies (which I wore out playing in the backyard during my young Tennessee summers)
• Keds (reminiscent of my years at Lakeview Elementary)
• Mary Janes (Oh, the awkward middle school Cameron years!)
• The Birkenstock moccasins (high school)
• New Balance tennis shoes (the college years... On, On, U of K!)
• Clark's Wallabies (My casual twenties)

I would love to hear from you readers about your own significant shoe-style-eras!  I believe a pair of shoes can embody so many memories, and say so much about a person.  Ready, set, Go!

mid year update

It's been a while since I've done an update with Bradley.  Well past the two-and-a-half mark, Bradley weighs a healthy 34 pounds.  I have no idea how tall he is but he is slowly slimming down, losing his "buddah belly," and getting taller.  He has adjusted to daycare very well and loves his teachers Ms. Nikki and Ms. Gena.  We have a lot of made up games we play that I wanted to make sure I documented.

• "You're Not Going to Chase Me Are You?"  Bradley will say this and then laugh as he runs away.  It's the game of chase we play around the downstairs of the house.
• "Tackle" Bradley will ask me to tackle him, which then turns into tickling
• "The Snake Game" I take the big stuffed snake that Bradley got from the zoo, and sing the snake charmer song to him, and just when he least expects it, I throw the snake at him and scare him, to his sheer delight.
• "Hey!"- This is a game Grandma B plays with Bradley.  She lays on his bed, Bradley steals her pillow, and then she shouts "Heyyyy!" and takes the pillow back.  (Wash.  Rinse.  Repeat.)

I'm sure we have more games, but they escape me now.  Bradley still likes Toy Story, doesn't care much for Elmo or Sesame Street any more, and also likes Super Why and Little Einsteins.  As far as toys go, he plays with Buzz, Woody, and Jessie, but doesn't seem to have much of a preference for any other toys.  Potty training is slow and steady.  Bradley is stubborn and will only go on the potty when he wants to.  He is often moody, but very smart, and constantly makes us laugh.

Operation Three Amigos

Lately Bradley has been an extremely restless sleeper.  He's waking up several times a night, and in the process, waking up everybody else in the house too.  It was this restlessness that prompted Operation Three Amigos.

Ever since Christmas, Bradley has been inseparable from Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Jessie, or I have fondly begun to refer to them, the Three Amigos.  These action figures are not your typical cuddly stuffed animals that you'd want to snuggle with in bed- except that Bradley has insisted on sleeping with them ever since he got them.  Convinced that these hard plastic toys were contributing to the sleep problems of my son, I did what any sensible parent would do... I hid them!!!

When we're getting ready for bed at night, I sneak Buzz, Woody, and Jessie into Bradley's stuffed animal bin, and bury them, so they're out of sight, out of mind.  And guess what?  Coincidence or not, it's worked!  Bradley's been sleeping better, and he hasn't even noticed that the Three Amigos are mysteriously absent from his bed.

Confession:  okay, so once in the middle of the night this week he woke up hollering for Buzz and Woody.  In an effort to get Bradley to be quiet and go back to bed, I did fish the cowboy and the space ranger out of the toy bin rather quickly- flung them onto the bed is probably more like it- and this sleep-deprived mama went right back to bed.  But for the most part, Operation Three Amigos has been wildly successful!

Bradley's First Music Program

You all know I was a born performer.  I have no shame about the fact that I've been giddy for months, ever since the daycare director told me they would be putting on a "Winter Gala" music program in January.  Each class would perform 2 numbers, and Bradley's class, the Two Year Olds would grace us with astonishing renditions of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," and "Shoe Fly, Don't Bother Me."  (That second one was a new one for me.)  They sent home a song sheet wth the 2 songs his class would be singing, and I have been intentional about singing those songs with Bradley to make sure he knew them.  The date's been on my calendar for forever, and tonight was finally the big night.

Me, mom, dad, Laura, & George went over to daycare tonight, claimed our seats, and braced ourselves for the performance of a lifetime.  I was ready with my camera to take pictures, and mom recorded the video.  I know Bradley likes music, and likes to sing.  But I also know that he is not the DIVA that I am.  He is shy around groups of people he doesn't know, and normally won't perform on the spot when asked to, even if it's just for a family member, so although I was a teensy bit disapointed, I wasn't surprised when my son looked like this the entire time:

The Vietnamese lady on the far left is his teacher Ms. Gena.  She's in mid-song right here, singing away while the kids stare at the audience!

 He clasped his hands nervously, and didn't utter a peep of one of those songs.  Apparently a sea full of staring faces was just too much for him and his classmates, because most of them wouldn't sing either!

Once we got home, I got an encore performance of "Shoe Fly, Don't Bother Me" on video. 

 Of course I am still a proud mama, and look forward to many more performances!

Snow Day

I awoke this morning to a winter wonderland, and was in shock that for once, the weathermen got it right!  Nashville got 3", we had 4" in Franklin, and Laura & George got 5".  Since southerners and snow do not mix, I decided to wait out the rush hour, and go play in the snow for a while instead. 

Bradley watched in fascination as Papa cleaned the snow off the cars and shoveled the driveway.  He's wearing his new Buzz Lightyear housecoat that was a homemade Christmas present from Grandma B.

B and I, getting ready to go outside

Chateau Bradley with 4 inches of snow

Bradley's first-ever sled ride

Sledding down the hill after a big push from Papa. "It's not scary," Bradley kept repeating,

Bradley and I in our first big snow together

I tried to sled down the hill on our street, but there was too much powdery snow, and not packed down enough yet. I don't think I've been sledding since that random evening in college where a guy went down the William T. Young library hill naked and on skis, so this made me feel like a kid again for two seconds, until I remembered that I am an adult, and would eventually have to go in to work today. Boo.

Oscar, the wonder sleigh dog!

I did eventually end up going to work, but enjoyed delaying it for a while by enjoying the rare winter wonderland. 

Catching up with Christmas, part 1

I got so behind in blogging before and during Christmas, that I'm trying to go back now and post a few short updates with pictures.  In the week leading up to Christmas, Laura & George came over one Sunday afternoon and we finally celebrated a belated St. Nick's Day with them.  One of the gifts Laura got from St. Nick was a "Christmas Ween," pictured below with the other two Murdoch weenies, Julius and Max.

While the guys watched football, mom, Laura, and I spent the day baking in the kitchen.  We made all sorts of Christmas cookies that we ended up eating in mass quantities or giving away to neighbors and co-workers. 

Bradley helped out with the sugar cookies.  I was expecting this to be an entertaining experience for him.  Instead it turned out more of an obligation for a photo op, as he didn't have the want or the patience to cut out the cookies or even to decorate them.  So maybe next year he will have more fun with this.  Also, Bradley was fighting a nasty cold and he didn't feel well, so that explains why he looks so sickly in all of these pictures!

I was quite pleased with my cookie tray that I took in to work: 

A goofy shot of me, George, and Laura in our Santa hats

Dad and Stockwell catching a cat nap.  Somebody should really tell Stockwell that he weighs sixty-something pounds and is not a lap dog!

We got too busy on Christmas day to get another picture of us all in front of the tree, so this serves as our Christmas photo of the year. 

 

And of course we had to get one shot with all of us!

Merry Christmas from the Bradley-Vilendrer-Murdochs!

Purse pouting

I recall back in my early twenties I acquired a growing purse collection.  I would actually change purses daily to match the season and my outfit.  Those days are long gone!  When Bradley came along, gone were the days of buying and carrying new bags.  I kept the same purse for months at a time, and added a diaper bag to tote.  I told myself it wasn't forever- that soon Bradley would be out of diapers, and I wouldn't have to haul an extra bag wherever I went.  But just like that sneaky half-truth they tell you about drinking alcohol when you're pregnant ("it's just for 9 months!"  Well, NO, it's not... not if you plan on nursing for a year!), the elusive promise of ditching the diaper bag is a bunch of crap.  I'm just trying to prepare you future moms, and tell it like it is, because after the days of the diaper bag, you are still hauling in sippy cups, toddler-sized silverware to restaurants (do any restaurants provide this?  I've yet to find any that do), plus toys, books, games, snacks- anything to keep your little one occupied while you shop, eat, run errands, or what have you.  And you can just forget about clutches or any bag without a strap big enough to sling over your shoulder.  When you're carrying a kid, and all their stuff, you need all hands on deck.  And on deck ain't on that stylish clutch purse!

A Repurposed Frame of Mind

This week Brian and I had mediation where we signed all the papers, and settled our divorce.  In a few weeks, it will be final.  As a new year has come I am filled with questions of how this new year will go, and how different it will be.  Right now I'm picking up the pieces of my old life and trying to start a new one.

I have this silver frame that we got as a wedding present.  I really love this frame.  In it used to showcase one of my favorite wedding photos of me and Brian.  Tonight I have symbolically taken out the wedding picture, and in its place I plan to frame one of my 30th birthday cards- one that has a cartoon picture of a beauty queen on it that proclaims "Viva La Diva!"  But as poetic justice would have it, when I took the old wedding photo out of the frame, a large piece of the photo paper has been residually left behind.  So tonight I got out the Goo Gone, and set out to clean the glass so that I could re-use the frame.

How appropriate, I thought ironically as I scrubbed the paper shards off the glass, that I am replacing the old wedding picture with a proclamation of my singledom.  As I scraped the glass with the Goo Gone and a paint scraper I was also reminded of a conversation Brian and I had with our pastor Brother Dennis in what seems like ages ago.  He was talking to us about the importance of the vows of marriage, and how when two people marry, their lives are glued together.  He analogized that when they get divorced, the two pieces of wood are torn apart, but the wood doesn't split neatly.  It splinters.  And some of your life is irrevocably connected to theirs, and little pieces of their life are irrevocably connected to yours.  And the splintering of the wood is painful.

Just like my picture frame; I can take the wedding photo out, and put in a new picture, but pieces of the old photo are stuck on the glass of the frame.  So with a little elbow grease, I will clean the glass, and perhaps in the right light you still might be able to see the outline of the old picture, but that's okay with me.  Or maybe there will be faint scratches on the glass from the paint scraper- evidence of the scars left behind, but it won't take away from the cheerfulness of the Diva birthday card encased in that silver frame now.

It's going to take some hard work and scrubbing, even now the Goo Gone is soaking on the glass, but I believe I can repurpose that frame, and make it house something beautiful once again. So that's what I plan on doing, both with that frame, and with my own life.

Christmas week recap

I have gotten so far behind in blogging that I fear I will never catch up.  The week of Christmas, here was my agenda:

Tuesday- Garth Brooks concert with former Penthouse Pets, Rhonda Lu and Emmy Sue

Wednesday- work a half day and pick Conley up from the airport.  Lunch at Chuy's, the beginning of mutant virus aka hoarseness and a severe sore throat

Thursday- drive up to Clarksville and have lunch with Conley and her parents, and said goodbye to her.

Friday- Christmas Eve- Christmas Eve service at church.  I bribed Bradley with the promise of getting to open a present when we got home in exchange for good behavior at church.  I was so hoarse I literally couldn't get any notes out, forcing me to sit and listen to everyone else sing Christmas carols.  Bradley got to open a present at home- a Jessie doll from Toy Story.  They've been inseperable since.

Christmas Eve night- Heather, Jacob, Angie, and Clarinda came over for dinner.  Laura and mom cooked a fabulous dinner- filet, green bean casserole, potatoes, and salad.  Heather & Jacob were responsible for bringing the communion:  bread and wine!  We also had an amazing dessert spread of homemade cookies and cookie bars.  We ended the evening with a $5 Dirty Santa gift exchange.  The Poolar Bear will go down in Dirty Santa history, thanks to Jacob.

Christmas Day- Bradley was super excited to open his door and see the toys from Santa under the tree.  His favorite toys that he's carried around nonstop since Christmas are the Jessie, Buzz Lightyear, and Woody dolls from Toy Story.  We spent a relaxing day at home, playing with toys, and lounging around.  Christmas breakfast was noteworthy- I made monkey bread, Laura made a spinach and bacon quiche, and mom made a hashbrown casserole.  It was just enough food, and great mix between sweet and savory.  George got a toy helicopter that Oscar enjoyed chasing and barking at, and George enjoyed flying.

The 26th and 27th we went to Indiana, and the 28th and 29th were spent in Florida.

I went back to work on the 30th, and so I opted to stay in for new year's eve last night, and was in bed snuggling with Bradley by 10:30 p.m.  No use in staying up to midnight when you've got a little one who's up at 6 a.m.

So there's the fastest recap ever.  I got a new camera so I now need to upload all the pictures and catch up there.  Happy 2011!

December Snapshot

The lazy girl's guide to a blog post: a collage of pictures from the past few weeks: enjoy!

Two and a half

On Tuesday, December 7th, Bradley was officially halfway through the terrible twos!  I have a 2 1/2 year old now.  This really hit home for me when I realized last night that on his next birthday he will be 3.  A 3 year old??  Where has the time gone?

Well, on Tuesday, my little two-and-a-half year old did something that melted my heart.  As I was giving him his hug at daycare and about to leave to go to work, he said, "I love you mommy."  Of course he has said this to me before, repeating it after me, but he has never said it to me out of the blue like that and on his own accord.  He said it again to me tonight, so it wasn't just a fluke.

When they're babies you wait so long for them to finally be able to say "mama" and then you secretly cannot wait until the day they tell you they love you.  That day has finally come for me, and I am over the moon about it.

St. Nick's Day

To the 2% of the population who know what this holiday is and celebrate it, Hope you've had a wonderful St. Nicholas Day.  I tried explaining what St. Nick's Day was to Bradley on our way to daycare this morning, and he thought we would be going to Nicholas' house!  I think maybe he got the hang of it tonight when we discovered what St. Nick had left in each of our stockings.  This was his face as we brought him his stocking tonight!

 Showing Mommy his new Elmo ornament

 Even the dogs know they get something on their stockings on St. Nick's Day- here they are waiting for their treats to be unwrapped.

 Bradley and I with our stockings

 Bradley with Grandma B & Papa...

ps- the secret to getting him to smile in these pictures? He has candy in his mouth!!!

I am on track to making this a good Christmas for us this year.  I can't spend a ton of money, but I'm making sure the gifts I do buy are thoughtful and not just haphazard purchases.  Bradley can sing most of Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and he knows who all the characters of the manger scene are.  Even though he's little, I'm trying to make sure he understands that while Santa Claus is fun, it's not what Christmas is all about.  Plus when I have my down days during this holiday season I remember the true meaning of Christmas myself, and realize I have so much to be thankful for.

Bye Bye Obligatory Blogging

In the past 30 days I have blogged every single day (except one).  I've turned 30, seen the 7th Harry Potter movie twice, celebrated Thanksgiving, read Hp7, read the books of Acts, Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and tonight will be Colossians, as part of the Daily Walk challenge.  Bradley had his first trip to Chuckie Cheese, and saw Santa Claus, and fellow Brentwood High alums mourned the passing of the great history teacher, Sarah Bayrd, We've laughed, we've cried, it was better than Cats- but now it's over!  I am looking forward to spending my evenings doing Internet shopping or wrapping Christmas presents instead of blogging every single night.  I am still bothered by the fact that I missed that one Friday evening that Rhonda Lu and I went out, but this has been a great exercise for me in discipline of writing.  Now if only I could blog for a living, I would be set!

The Penultimate Post of NaBloPoMo

One of my favorite words I learned in college was the word penultimate, or, in plain English, second-to-last.  Being a music major, we were always discussing the penultimate measure in a piece of music, usually to try and pinpoint the cadence chord that ended the piece.  But technical speak aside, this is my second-to-last, or penultimate post for the month of November- Hooray!

I have really strived to find a variety of topics about which to blog, but tonight, I'll come back to an old standard of mine:  what's Bradley up to these days???

Physically:  He's a solid 34 pounds, but don't ask me how many inches tall he is- I forget.  The Buddah belly is still very much in place, and he wears a size 6-7 shoe, and a 2T in clothing. 

Mentally- the kid is smart.  Yes, I know, every mom thinks that about her child, well, so do I.  He recalls songs we sang a month ago, or hears a Bible story one time at church, and then is able to summarize it for me albeit very shortly, when we get home.  I get a sheet sent home that has the Bible story on it, so I know if he's on target or not.  He has several books "memorized" and can repeat verbatim phrases of the pages to me, and what he doesn't know word for word, he's pretty darn close.  He knows his numbers and shapes and colors, and recognizes most of his letters.  We have taught him the answers to such questions as, "Who was the first president of the United States?" "How do you pronounce the capital of Kentucky- is it Loo-uh-vul or Loo-ee-ville?" (it's Frankfurt), and my favorite, "Who is the president right now?"  (His answer:  Barack O-Mama!!!!!!)

Verbally- he talks very clearly, has a large vocabulary, and sings songs all the time.  He comes home singing songs he learned at daycare, and just recently he has even started making his own songs up.  This makes Songbird Mama happy.

What he's into: Toy Story 2 right now- especially Buzz Light Year and Jessie.  He still has the attention span of a fruit fly, so he's constantly moving from thing to thing, and is resisting our nightly reading time right now (please, Lord, let this be a phase!). 

Favorite phrases:  "I can't!"  "What's that sound?"  "I want to go to Target to buy some Nerds."   Also recently he has cracked us up telling us he's "ready to rock and roll," and referring to anyone else in the room as "guys."

As we approach 2 1/2 I can see the ebb and flow of the terrible twos.  One week will be awful, the next will be fine.  Right now Bradley is whining and crying over the slightest thing that doesn't go his way (again, please Lord, let this phase pass quickly), but also for the longest time over the past few months his sleeping pattern was erratic, and that has calmed down over the past month, so for that I'm grateful.  I continue to chant the mantra "everything is a phase," and try to hang on and enjoy the ride.