musings of Mother Hood

Merry Christmas!

Cue Christmas

Last week we made our annual, obligatory visit to the Santa who lives in the Northwest Arkansas Mall. Last year, if you recall, it was relatively uneventful. In fact, Santa's camera was broken so we got to play paparazzi and take all our own photos. We had no idea what a lucky break THAT was until this year, when Santa's camera was indeed functioning and we got to pay full price like the rest of the world. Needless to say, we bought ONE photo with plans to scan it in and illegally duplicate it, if necessary. Sorry Santa.

As Colt has grown and become more independent and wiggly and generally impatient, Jeff and I have become slightly better planners. We schedule around naptime, we don't go to popular restaurants on Friday nights, and we do grocery shopping ANY OTHER TIME than Saturday mornings. The 2009 Santa Visit was no exception. We had a plan. Monday. Dinner time. The rest of the world is home with their Hamburger Helper, homework, and football. We were counting on waltzing straight to the front of the line, saying hello to Santa and being home in plenty of time for Big Bang Theory. 

Monday. Dinner time. Evidently, we were a little TOO good at picking the least crowded night for Santa. And we inadvertently coincided with Bring Your DOG Night! Yep. Dogs. Big dogs. EVERYWHERE. IN the MALL. Eye to eye with my baby. Awesome.

Lest you think I am being dramatic, and, let's be honest - it happens. Feast your eyes on this little menagerie.

 

No camera tricks, you guys. That is a Saint Bernard, a Newfoundland and FOUR adult Boxers. And those were just the dogs within a five foot radius of Colt's stroller. It was a zoo! Dogs everywhere, yapping at each other, straining against their leashes for a better sniff of the fresh toddler meat in the polka dot stroller. 

There were dogs dressed like Rudolph, dogs dressed like Santa - dogs with no visible dignity left. The whole thing was a riot. The good news is Colt really likes dogs so it helped pass the time in line. The Boxers were in line directly behind us and they took turns being sweet to Colt - letting him touch their little wet noses. He LOVED it.

I wish I had better pictures of just what a mess of dogs it was, but oddly enough I felt a little funny taking pictures of it. I felt like the people in line with their dogs could sense my subtle mocking with every flash of my camera. So I stopped. But dogs as far as the eye could see. Trust me.

As we approached Santa's chair (throne?) we noticed The Big Guy is taking all proper precautions this year.

The sign reads: Dear Boys & Girls, Please sanitize your hands so that we can make sure that Santa takes no germs back to the NorthPole. We want to make sure that Rudolph and all the other reindeer are healthy and strong so that they can pull Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve. Thank You.

Sadly, the worst typo in the whole thing is "NorthPole" as one word.

So after lubing up with some Purell so as not to give Santa our Arkansas cooties, it was go time. Colt was ok at first, no crying or gnashing of teeth. But his grip on my neck got a little tighter with each step toward Santa. And after a few attempts at talking him down from the ledge, we resorted to this: 

That Santa. Such a good sport. He scooted over and let me sit down, and we got a not-smiling, but not-crying photo with Santa. Success!

*** 

Last Friday we went to a Christmas party with a few friends you might recognize. I completely forgot about taking pictures until we were leaving so this photo is at the very end of the night when everyone else had left. I really need to get better at that. But LOOK! Friends! ADULTS! They do exist!

L to R: Matt, Nancy, Autumn, Jeff and Sarah. This should put a face with a name for some of you. Autumn is a very good friend (and coworker of Jeff's) who babysits for us sometimes. And Matt and Nancy are our Mom/Dad confidantes.

***

I abandoned my "buy EVERYTHING online policy" of Christmas shopping this year and have regretted every second of it. I finally finished my shopping yesterday. Ugh. Cyber Monday 2010 - here I come!

***

We leave for Arkadelphia today and the beginning of Christmas. I am excited to spend the next few weeks with family, and I hope Colt's second Christmas is as memorable as his first.

Keep warm. Have some eggnog. 

Unsung Heroes

December 20. Who is your unsung hero of 2009?

I've officially been a Mom since the afternoon of June 18, 2008 and I like to think I learn a little more each day about what that even means. I am responsible for this thing - my family. Sometimes it's fun and rewarding. Sometimes it's hard. Being a Mom is everything everyone told me it would be - and more. And at the same time, it's nothing like what I expected. Sometimes I sit cross-legged on the floor in the den, Colt in my lap pretending to read an upside down book, and just smile at myself. How did I get so lucky to have this special little guy - who wants nothing more than to be as close to me as humanly possible, whether I'm eating or washing dishes or attempting to get a moment's peace in the bathroom - to call my own? 

Being a Mom is a funny thing. You suddenly feel this camaraderie with other mothers - the strongest of empathies. And you are shamelessly able to discuss ANYTHING regarding pregnancy, babies, and children. Good. Bad. Ugly. It's all there. 

My unsung heroes of 2009 are Moms. My Mom. Her Mom. Jeff's Mom. All of the "Moms" I've had in my life. You know who you are. Love you.  

***

In response to daily (December) prompts, reflecting back on 2009, provided at gwenbell.com.

On travel.

December 19 Car ride. What did you see? How did it smell? Did you eat anything as you drove there? Who were you with? 

(Also: 

December 1 Trip. What was your best trip in 2009?
December 9 Challenge. Something that really made you grow this year. That made you go to your edge and then some. What made it the best challenge of the year for you?)

So the actual prompt for today is the Car Ride one at the top, but since I've missed half the month, and I consider the 12/1 and 12/9 prompts relevant to the discussion, I thought I'd give myself credit for them. 

It seems odd that we did so much traveling in 2009 with such a young kid, but after making a quick mental list, and conferring with Jeff as I forget things in record time these days, I realized the Hoods really made the rounds this year. Between the two of us Jeff and I have hit several major US cities: Orlando, San Diego, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Nashville, San Antonio, Seattle, and Las Vegas. All this year! And that doesn't even count my recent international jaunt to Africa during which Laura and I visited five countries in 8 days. Wow. 

Colt didn't make it to all those places with us, but my account of our trip to Seattle got picked up by a site called Pitstops for Kids!. He is totally famous - check it out RIGHT HERE.  

So - let's see. 

Car ride? We took a few. Branson. Little Rock/Arkadelphia/Smackover. Tulsa/Muskogee/Tahlequah. Probably others. The little guy tolerates the car pretty well and we try to time things with his nap and dinner time and such so that the ride is more bearable for everyone. We didn't take any major car ride across the country or anything - though I'm sure we'll lose our minds and attempt it one of these days. Honestly, my favorite car ride is the one I take at 5:00 every day when I pick up the munchkin from school. 

Best Trip of 2009. This is a pretty easy one. My trip to Africa will be hard to top. So many cool, once-in-a-lifetime experiences during that week. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to go. And glad my sweet husband made me get serious about going and buy my ticket. 

Challenge. Something that really made you grow. Again with the traveling. It was really tough on all three of us to be away from each other during various trips this year. With one of us gone, the other has to fill both roles and gains a new appreciation for how much the other one really does help around the house and with Colt. We've relied on Grandparents to help us a couple of times, and I know that's something that helps Colt be more flexible and get used to a little different routine. I love it when we're together all the time, but coming home after being gone is pretty good, too.

***

In response to daily prompts, reflecting back on 2009, provided at gwenbell.com. Join me, won't you?

The Best of 2009. Blog Challenge.

What is the challenge?

A look back on your year. A time for reflection. A chance to make new friends.

__________

Sign. Me. Up.

I live for that stuff.

So I recently found a website called gwenbell.com. And though I am 18 days late, I LOVE the idea of taking time during each day in December to look back and highlight all of my 2009 notables. There is a prompt listed for each day, but since I didn't get in on the ground floor, I'll be taking some liberties so that I can fit it all in.

*** 

December 18. Shop. Online or offline, where did you spend most of your mad money this year?

My name is Sarah Hood. And I am addicted to Shutterfly. I honestly can't imagine that you haven't heard of it, but I suppose stranger things have happened. From Shutterfly's About Us page: We are a leading Internet-based social expression and personal publishing service that enables consumers to share, print and preserve their memories by leveraging our technology-based platform and manufacturing processes.

Translation: A big pile of awesomeness.

I think I knew of Shutterfly before but I experienced my first Shutterfly project last Christmas when my sister-in-law Lynn made Jeff a photo book of his trip to Washington to climb Mt. Rainier. It is really cool and something we still look through from time to time. I loved that you could put journaling and photos together in a professionally bound book - and putting it together is SO easy. Everything is online so there are no scrapbooking supplies to buy/store/sort, you can make endless adjustments until you order, and you can work on multiple projects at once -- I currently have 6 open projects!

So. It's my new favorite thing. I did our Christmas cards with them this year and several Christmas presents for family. And! My most favorite! Colt's baby book. It starts the day I found out I was pregnant - October 1, 2007 - and runs through his entire first year. Shutterfly photo books start at 20 pages and max out at 100. His book is every bit of 100 pages and holds several hundred photographs. But honestly, if they had an option for a 700 page book...

I started it over six months ago. And working on it the last several months has all but permanently shifted my bedtime from around 10 to around midnight. I have stayed up after the boys are asleep, playing with backgrounds and fonts and cropping/editing photos until I just can't keep my eyes open. And I'm almost sad that it's all done. Though - never fear - I have already started his Second Year book!

Shutterfly is definitely a favorite new hobby - and not free (what is?!) - but it has truly been therapeutic. Looking through old photos, reading through old blog entries. I can't get enough. Jeff has been teasing me - saying I actually made the book for Colt's (someday) wife, which is probably somewhat true! But I hope that Colt and his family enjoy it someday, reading through his first year of life and getting a strong sense of where he came from.

I thought about posting the link here so you can see my handiwork, but I don't want to spoil the surprise for grandparents and family when they see it next week at Christmas. I promise to post a link after that. And as a consolation prize - and so you can see the photo book concept in action - you can feast your eyes on another recently completed project - my Africa trip.

Click here to view this photo book.

And if that doesn't work, try THIS LINK.

Tuesday Grab Bag

I received the following email from my sister Laura today. I laugh out loud every time I read it and decided I must share it with the masses.

Ok, I have officially taken pictures of mr. willy for you. But haven't quite gotten around to putting them on a stick and bringing them to the office. So I'm close. Very close.
 
But I have a more pressing issue. A funny one. I had a dream last night, and it involved you, and crazy baby names. Both things I know you love.  :)  So I dreamt that we had a baby. Meaning: one of us gave birth (not sure which), but we planned on "sharing it." In the dream it made total sense... So I was over with the nursery people filling out the birth certificate, and I decided to name him "Keikeipa." And in the dream, I LOVED that name. But when you saw it, you absolutely FLIPPED and demanded that it be changed. So you went off and did a whole new birth certificate with your preferred name: "Husker." Yes- you named our child after the Nebraska mascot. Way to go, co-Mom.
 
And that was it.  :)

***

Couple things. First, Mr. Willy is a topic for a later post. Trust me, he's worth the wait. Second, I would NEVER name a child Husker. Just so that's on the record. Though I would obviously prefer "Husker" to "Keikeipa" - whatever that means.

Now then. A coworker sent me this video today and I just had to pass it along. "Kid" stuff like this never really amused me before I had my own, but now I think things like this are hysterical.  (Also - testing the new video posting feature on the blog for the first time, so let me know if it's crappy.)

 

Checking In

As always, the boy is busy busy. He is inching his way closer to 18 months and taking no prisoners.

 

First, I'm proud to announce that we are done with bottles! It was far less dramatic than I anticipated and it took us all of 24 hours to go from two bottles to NONE! No biggie for Colt - except that the transition from bottle to full-on sippy cup was accompanied by a bit of a schedule change. Instead of getting a warm bottle at 6 and then snoozing until 7 -- he now gets to snooze til at least 6:30, then get up to a cold cup of milk and a tray of Cheerios. It took a few mornings to get it down, but so far so good. Both mornings this past weekend we had to go wake up his lazy bones so he could eat breakfast! And I'm fairly certain this kid could eat his weight in Cheerios if we let him!

So yes. Goodbye, old friends. Hello, reclaimed counter space! No more bottle warmer and no more drying rack. Woo hoo!

The second announcement is this:

 

Yep. We woke up last Saturday morning to knocking on the inside of his bedroom door. "Is that what I think it is?" "Yep, pretty sure." He hasn't climbed out again - yet, so we haven't made a move for a toddler bed, but we're hoping Santa brings him one because it isn't too far off.

This past weekend brought the 110th annual Army-Navy game and the little guy showed up for his team. 

 

Tom sent me that hat for my 19th birthday. I loved that it was just like the one he always wore.

But Navy got us again... what a bummer. But, like a true Razorback fan, Colt is already "looking forward to next year".

Yesterday was reasonably warm, so we took advantage and spent most of the afternoon outside. Here are some pics of our day in the backyard and our neighborhood park:

 

 

So we had fun at the park. As you can see. I am always amazed at how fearless Colt is. He doesn't hesitate at the top of the tallest slides and doesn't even flinch when his little feet get tangled up and he lands on his face. He's got an independent streak a mile wide and it is really starting to crack us up. 

18 months - here we come!

Africa - 2009

I've finally finished compiling photos, videos and journaling from my trip and you can find it all RIGHT HERE. 

For future reference, it's listed in the bottom left hand corner of this page - called "Africa - 2009" and photos are all in a photo album listed along the right hand side of this page - called, you guessed it, "Africa - 2009".

I hope you enjoy the stories and photos as much as I enjoyed the trip.

Tease

I'm back home, safe and sound, having just spent 10 days traveling to see my sister Laura in Botswana. SO much fun and I have 6 zillion pictures to prove it. I am currently writing everything up and will be posting about my trip before the end of the week. Maybe sooner if my technology will cooperate... I'm having some technical difficulties with my photos - my hard drive seems to have eaten several of them for lunch today.

So - checking in. No pictures yet. No Africa blog yet. But it's coming. I swear.