It's beginning to look a lot...

"Enough with the Christmas posts, Jessi."
"But... but, I can't help it, I'm in the spirit this year!"

Okay folks, I'm sorry. I know it gets repetitive. Perhaps even a touch annoying. So, if you find yourself rolling your eyes already, turn back now! It's another Christmas post. I can't help it. This is really the first year that our little dude gets the concept of Christmas; I'm just so excited. He has completely reinvented the holiday for me and I want to document every single second of it... and share it with my friends and family near and far!

Toby has basked in a couple of fun filled weeks kicking off Christmas. As I mentioned in previous posts, we're pretty much all ready to go; so we are just enjoying everything the season has to offer.

It all began just before Thanksgiving... We made a trip up to the farm and, on the way back to N.H., we stopped in Freeport to hit up L.L. Bean and Johnny Rockets. Have you been to Johnny Rockets? It's a cute old-school diner. The wait staff sing. It's the kind of place you unbutton your pants when you leave, and order a milkshake before your meal. It was awesome.

 

 

We went in the fish bubble at L.L. Bean. He loves it. He kept saying "Fisssssssss"

And L.L. Bean had their giant tree up.

The next weekend (December 1st [the night he got his Christmas box]) We went to story time at Barnes & Noble where they did a Christmas craft, and we heard the story of the Grinch.

 

Disregard the black spot on my cheek. I didn't get a face tattoo. I have something stuck IN the lens of my camera phone.

After story time, we were off to meet Santa!

 

He told Santa he wanted a rocking horse for Christmas. Gee, I sure hope he gets one ;)

The following weekend was the city parade. It was freezing, but we bundled up! Toby loves parades because of the marching bands. 

 

There were some interesting folks "dancing" around the area we were standing... wearing what looked like painted on clothes.

We were pretty chilly but, we warmed up at a local diner... Toby ate an entire basket of chicken fingers, fries, and a milkshake. Crazy.

 

Last Wednesday we brought him to the local school's Christmas concert. He loved it. He was so well behaved and sat mesmerized the entire time. (And we're talking about a busy toddler!)

 

Just this past Friday we decided to let him watch Rudolph (the movie we gave him in his Christmas box.) He wore his new Christmas pajamas/robe/slippers and we made a big batch of popcorn. I was really surprised at how well he sat through the movie. He got antsy a few times but we just let him get up and stretch. He ate more popcorn than I care to admit here... but it was a good night!

 

 

Saturday night we brought him to the "Lighted Wonderland" event at Charmingfare Farm. We went on a 25 minute sleigh ride through the farm and wound up at Santa's house where his reindeer live. Toby was beside himself. While it was really chilly, we ended up sticking it out for about an hour and then went home.

And finally, yesterday... Holy snow! Just the excuse we needed to get Toby's sled out of the cellar.

We promised Toby a snowman. Unfortunately, the snow didn't cooperate; it just wasn't snowman snow. We even (pathetically) took out a water bottle and sprayed down the snow. I was pretty bummed. But, on the bright side, we were able to make a snowman-duck. Totally by accident. We were still aiming for a snowman when it came out looking like a duck. So, I had Aaron make a quick beak out of some wood, and I dug out a seat in the back for Toby. He thought it was awesome.

And after dinner we went back outside, lit a fire, and made some s'mores.

I'm just loving the holiday season this year. While we have a couple more surprises for Toby before Christmas, I have to say I have enjoyed every second of the most wonderful time of the year. We are working really hard to make sure we incorporate a lot of activities into the entire season as I'm not really one to do a ton of gifts; I'm more of an "experience" person... and gifts isn't what Christmas is about. So, we are trying to spread things out over the month to really solidify "Family." Aaron and I are constantly keeping our eyes peeled for activities we can do as a family to make the season all the more meaningful.

Christmas Trees and "Gated" communities

I'm going to say it out loud: I very much dislike baby gates. Yes, they are a necessary evil but, I don't like them. In our house we have exactly 3 baby gates. One blocking off my craft-room, the other at the top of the stairs, and the final separating our kitchen with our dining/living room. And, quite frankly, I hate that we have that many. I get why people have them, obviously. But, I draw the line at the baby pens... or corrals... whatever you call them.

Recently I was thinking out loud about what we were going to do with our Christmas tree this year. I had already been dreading what I anticipated would be a "Toby vs. The Christmas Tree" battle. Finally, a coworker suggested I put a corral around it. Um, have you been to my house? A corral would go great with my décor. Not.

After giving it some thought and talking to Aaron (who is also anti-gate/pen) we decided we would have to help Toby learn that some things were off limits to touch. I mean, we do the same with stoves, phones, dog crap and litter, don't we? Why not a Christmas tree? Now, I'm not a miracle worker, or a magician so, it's a pretty tall order to assume I'm going to stop my curious toddler from wanting to touch a 7 foot tree that suddenly appears in our living room. But, we were going to try.

On Pinterest I found an idea for a felt tree. I thought, (channeling Kevin McAllister from Home Alone) "I'll give it a whirl." Over Thanksgiving, I painstakingly cut out little felt ornaments and a tree.

TOBY LOVED IT. We put the Christmas tree and felt tree up during one of his naps and, when he came down, he was amazed. It was really precious. He made for the Christmas tree once and we simply redirected him by saying, "No thank you. Toby's tree is over here." We let him pull off all of his ornaments and redecorate his tree.

That was last weekend; he has touched the Christmas tree about 6 times since then. Each time we say, "Toby's tree is over here." I'm really amazed that it was much easier than I thought it would be. My biggest fear is that he was going to destroy my Mom's tree when we go to the Farm for Christmas. Further, I can't stand myself when I feel like a "no machine" basically telling him over and over he can't do this or that. So, I like to give him another option. Hopefully, if we bring his felt one to the Farm, it will also serve as a distraction and I won't have to be a no machine.

The felt tree was super simple... and it cost me about $12 to make (but it took me a few days simply because I'm anal about everything.) It has kept Toby busy for hours. If you have that pesky curious toddler who wants to get into everything, I totally recommend making one.


***DISCLAIMER: Aaron and I collect ornaments. Every year he buys me one for Christmas and it's the keepsake we purchase when we travel. We have ornaments from NYC, Alaska, San Fran, Seattle... etc. That said, we did keep all our ornaments on the tree out of arms reach and left many of them off until Toby is older.***

 

 

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"



"Let's take a little looksy under the hood!"

(He was signing "tree" here)

"Mine! I'm GONNA TOUCH EVERYTHING!"

 

Christmas Traditions

I think traditions are important. In many ways, I'm a traditional type of girl. Y'all know I like order, consistency, and structure. Although I have become more "lax" since Mr. Mister came into the picture, in the chaos of raising a toddler, I certainly like to hang on to tradition as much as possible.

I love Christmas. I never get caught up in the commercialism of the holiday. I don't overspend, overextend, or overwork myself during the season. I'm an early shopper and planner so, by the time Baby Jesus is due to have a birthday, I've been decorated, wrapped, and "ready to go" for most of the month of December. This gives me much more time to reflect upon the season of giving.

Growing up, my family had a few Christmas traditions that I looked forward to every year:

Secret Santa: We would all pick a member of our household and secretly leave them a gift under their place mat; starting December 1st until Christmas. At the end of the run, we'd have to guess who our secret Santa was. Looking back, I feel really sorry for my parents who would leave us really neat little gifts, while my sister and I would give them handmade stuff... thinking we were going undetected. (Although, I'm sure I would LOVE it if Toby drew me a picture every day!) It was such an exciting feeling to get up in the morning and sneak out to the kitchen and see that tiny lump under our place mat.

A nightly reading of A Story a Day Til Christmas: This is one of my fondest memories as a child; getting into our new Christmas pajamas and listening to one of our parents read to us out of our most cherished book. The book, A Story a Day Til Christmas, was something my mother bought from Current Catalog back in the 1980s. It contains the most wonderful collection of Christmas stories. While my sister was given our family copy, last year she bought me my own copy. To continue the tradition, this year, I was able to track down a scarce copy and bought one for my brother. It means the world to me to know that all three of us are reading these stories to our children every night in December.

The Christmas tree fund/Cutting of the Christmas tree: My sister and I were pretty responsible with our allowance/paper route money. Somewhere around the time I was 8 years old, my parents started something called "The Christmas Tree Fund." It was simply an envelope my mother kept in her sock drawer every year, and we would all add $1 to the fund every month (or something along those lines, I forget, Nicki- help me out here.) Anyway, by the time early December rolled around we had plenty of money to go get any tree we wanted. We'd make a day of it and cut down a pretty tree, get cocoa and just be together.

As parents, Aaron and I wanted to incorporate some of these traditions into our life with Toby. While I decided long ago that I couldn't, in good conscience, cut down a tree every year (we have a beautiful fake tree) we are doing something similar to The Christmas Tree Fund.

A while back there was a post that went viral about a "Christmas Eve Box." I'm sure most everyone has seen the concept of a "Christmas Eve Box" on Pinterest or circulating the newfeeds of Facebook. We decided to adopt this tradition, with a slight twist and variation to make it our own.

 

This is the picture that has been circulating newsfeeds. It's called "The Christmas Eve Box."  While I think it's really cute in theory, I think giving all of this to a child (or at least my child) on Christmas Eve when they are so excited for Santa, is tough. Further, I can't rationalize feeding him popcorn and hot cocoa, having him sit through a movie, then reading T'was the Night Before Christmas, and adding in all the other Eve traditions (stockings.) My kid would be wound so tight and I would feel rushed!!

So, I figured, if it was something that we are going to do every year, well... Toby would need a proper "Christmas Box." So, I hatched an idea.

Just prior to my Pepe passing away in 2012, he made it known that the willow tree at camp "Had to come down." This tree, he thought, would someday fall into the camp, crushing it. Over the summer, my Mom and Dan took the old tree down. Being resourceful, Dan saved all the wood and gave us much of it (because he knew it would mean so much.) Aaron made Toby's Christmas Box out of the willow from camp. This means so much to me, obviously, because of the ties to my Pepe.

We also decided that we were going to give Toby his box on December 1st, so he could enjoy the spoils of it up until Christmas.

 

 



(GAP) Beaver Pajamas, new (GAP) slippers-- I found the SAME slippers he had as an infant (!!) and a fleece (L.L.Bean) robe.

A new cup, a few new Christmas books, some cocoa, Rudolph, popcorn (for our popcorn machine) and a chocolate Advent calendar. The calendar was something Aaron really wanted to incorporate because it was a tradition from his childhood.

 

The stuffed box, ready to be looted by Mr. Mister!

 

This was when we told him we had a "prize" for him.



He couldn't get there fast enough!

He was just so appreciative.

Now, I know it looks like we spent a good chunk of change on this box but, we didn't. A (not so) little not known fact about me is that I am incredibly (incredibly) frugal. (Almost) everything I purchased was with a coupon. Remember, I had the luxury of time on my side (I started collecting things for this box in early September, so I was able to find good deals on everything.) Whereas, had I waited until last minute, I would have had to pay through the nose. Further, I planned everything I wanted to have in this box so, I was able to search for deals. Nothing was an impulse buy... down to the hardware we used on the box!

With everything said and done (including handles, letters, and hardware for the box) we came in just under $52 for EVERYTHING. Yes, you read it right. My biggest score was the L.L Bean robe. Normally this is $39. But, I bought it on clearance, had a $10 gift card I received as a bonus when I purchased his winter jacket, and then had an additional 10% off coupon + free shipping. The robe was $8.96. Score!

So, we have set that as our limit for Toby's Christmas Box every year-- $52. Which helped us to incorporate the last of our traditions: The Christmas Box Fund. Every week we'll squirrel away $1, which will give me about $52 to spend next year.


Christmas is a special time; made even more precious because of our son. I look so forward to him learning about generosity and kindness but, I also can't wait to see his excitement on Christmas morning.

A huge shout-out to my husband who spent, literally, hours making this box perfect for our son. Toby loved everything and it was a great start to a fun family tradition.

 

Bah-Humbug!

Wednesday, Oui? My Man-flu

We all know what a "man-flu" is. But, in case you live under a rock, or somehow escaped having a partner who often succumbs to this debilitating illness, the man-flu is when a woman and a man end up with the same exact flu bug BUT... the dude is down for the count. He's the sickest he has ever been. He's actually the sickest person in the world. It hurts him to blink.

Yes, it's annoying.

Over the weekend I caught a disgusting flu bug and was down.for.the.count. It's times like that when you really realize what kind of a person your spouse is. When you are at your most disgusting, wheezy, snotty, needy, coughy, and miserable.

It doesn't take a monumental moment or event to make me realize how lucky I am to have married Aaron. He's the best husband ever. Like whoa. I know I've sung Aaron's praises a MILLION times on this blog but, I think there are just some things that need to be said over and over again.

Now, those who know me (well) know that I am, by no stretch of the imagination, the kind of person who will hold up a sign advertising free hugs. I'm quite content with the obligatory holiday hug. I don't need to be fawned over, waited on, or spoiled.

Unless I'm sick. Then drop everything. Hold me, rub me, massage me, pet my hair, and make me toast. I get the full on "man flu." Yes, yes, it's true. I'm not afraid to admit it. I become a baby when I'm sick... and only when I'm sick. Remember, this is coming from the girl who gave birth without so much as a Tylenol.

Aaron eats this up. He loves to be needed and he loves to take care of me. While I love to soak up the spoils when I feel like death, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that, not only does Aaron anticipate my needs but, he goes above and beyond. The proof?

J: (said with a stuffy nose- after waking up in the middle of the night) "Babe?"
A: (sleeping)
J: (scratching at his leg with my toe-talon) "Babe?"
A: "Yeah, love?"
J: "Can I have a popsicle?"
A: "Sure." (gets out bed and goes downstairs to the freezer and comes back empty handed.)
J: "Where's my popsicle?"
A: (settling back into bed) "We don't have any... and it's 1:30. Hannaford is closed."
J: "CVS is open 24 hours."
A: (gets up and gets dressed.)


Yes, my husband drove to CVS to get me popsicles at 1:30 in the morning when he had to go to work in just a few hours. That's love.

And before he left for work that morning he said, "Would you like for me to put in one of your sick movies?"

On Monday I stayed home from work (my Nanny came in, thankfully.) I pretty much slept all day and into the evening. When he came home from work and sent Nanny home he totally took care of everything. I don't even know what he and Toby did but, I didn't hear from either of them until about 6:30 when Aaron came into the bedroom and said "Hun, we're about to do the second day of his Advent Calendar. I figured you'd want to see that. Do you want to come down, or do you want me to go ahead without you?"

I mean really? Really? I must have done something in a previous life to deserve this guy.

So, it must be said:
Aaron, love of my life, thank you for putting up with my WhoaMan flu. You're a trooper. Oui?