Bad Santa

Ryan had the absolute pleasure of meeting "mall Santa" yesterday.  It was an impromptu visit with Santa.  We had planned to go this weekend with Josh, but I was at the mall with some girlfriends yesterday and one of them was taking her daughter to see Santa, Ryan was dressed in somewhat Christmasy attire, we were waiting in line with them anyway, and Josh said go for it.  Soooo we did.

The result:

I felt pretty bad for poor Santa.  The second I put her on his lap, she completely lost it.  I let it go on for oh....7 seconds or so before I questioned whether she was going to do her holding breath/passing out routine (which hasn't happened again since early October) and decided that Ryan passing out on Santa was definitely NOT the memory I wanted to create for the day.  No need to make headlines on the 5 o'clock news, "Child Sees Santa and Passes Out From Fear," so I quickly saved her.   I'm convinced seeing Santa Claus is a form of toddler torture because I assure you she was not the only one screaming in the 15 or so minutes we were there.  Mean Mommies of the world unite!

I once said in a post that I'd never want to be a pediatric dentist, well you can add being Santa to that list as well.  I mean besides the obvious having to be a man, be fat, and have facial hair part, he has to deal with screaming, snotty nose kids all day.  Poor old man.  He really was a sweet Santa but Ryan couldn't get past the big white beard and red coat I guess.  Maybe next year?  When she's 2 and a half?  Hmmm maybe not.

Christmas Prep

The countdown is on, one week left until Christmas Eve.  The month of December is flying, like Dasher, Dancer, Prancer style fast and so we've been trying to enjoy every minute so as not to loose one moment of Christmasy goodness.

Last night was Josh's work holiday party and I loved having a reason to dress up and enjoy a much needed night out sans toddler.  Not to mention, the food and sangria were great.  Especially the sangria. :)

Grammy sent Ryan the Little People Nativity set a couple of weeks ago and she just loves playing with it.  It is super cute with lots of animals and a manger that sings "Away In A Manger" which Ryan then lifts over her head and dances with on an almost hourly basis.  I've had a lot of fun telling her the Christmas Story of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and the three Wise Men and Angel.  I know she doesn't really get it at this point, but I like to think I'm planting a seed, even at 17 months old.  I plan to put it away at the end of the holidays and bring it out again next year so that it's exciting and new again.

Ryan has been surprisingly great with the tree so far.  I was a tad nervous about her pulling down ornaments or, God forbid, somehow pulling down the whole tree, but she has been pretty content just looking at the lights and pointing at the ornaments.  I especially love the early mornings, in her pjs, when she seems most in awe of her tree.

She's also loving the advent calendar that my Mom sent us.  We had one very similar in my house growing up (still do) and as children, we used to fight over who got to put the stuffed toy in the pocket every day.  My Mom quickly put us four kids on a rotating schedule.  In fact, once we were all  in college, Mom sent out a list of all the choices via email and we would email in our pick for the day every 4th day.  Talk about not being able to let go of traditions....do they have professional help for that?

For now, Ryan doesn't have to fight with any other siblings.  But, I will say this, she chooses the teddy bear or the snowman (or both) EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  Apparently she doesn't take after me because my favorite was always the candy cane.

My Christmas cards went out in a VERY timely manner by Scurlock standards and I've been receiving some in the mail daily.  It may or may not be the highlight of my day most days.

The snow from Thanksgiving is all but gone and though I'm pretty much 100% okay with that, I might be not so secretly holding out hope for a "White Christmas."  Snow or not, Ryan and I have been watching Christmas movies almost every day.  Her favorite is "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," where as I have a list so long of favorites that it takes the whole month of December to watch them all, but "Home Alone," "Christmas Vacation," and "White Christmas" are at the top.

We're planning to take Ryan to see Santa Claus this weekend since Josh is actually off work all weekend.  We'll see how well that goes, but I am looking forward to the pictures whether she is smiling or screaming. :)

Pajama Playdate

Yesterday I hosted a pajama playdate for all of our Mommy/Baby Toddler friends.  Side note: Seriously, when did our babies become toddlers!?!? I had 9 kids over here and it's just crazy to me that the majority are now walking instead of crawling, or rolling like they were when we met them 6 months ago.

Anyway, I wanted to have everyone over for a Christmas PJ playdate complete with a hot chocolate bar and a cookie exchange.  It really was very simple to prepare for, well other than the fact that my apartment needed a really good cleaning beforehand. :)  I just bought some hot chocolate mix, milk, and a few fixins, dressed up a few mason jars, baked some Christmas cookies, turned on Elf, and called it a day!

The kids totally ran a muck the whole time and us moms sipped hot cocoa and coffee, ate way too many cookies, watched the snow fall outside, and had a great time.  In fact, I think we should make it necessary to wear pajamas to every play date from now on.  And a CHRISTMAS MIRACLE occurred, we got all the kids to basically look at the camera and not be crying!  Just sing "If you're happy and you know it," works every time.

Yes, little Phil on the right is the ONLY boy! Quite a lucky little guy.

Ryan needed to make sure her baby was seen!

Moms and Kids: PJ's and all.

This playdate definitely put me in the Christmas spirit and I'm excited for more Christmas festivities coming up soon!

Oh Christmas Tree

On Saturday afternoon, we headed off to Ellsworth Tree Farm in Northborough, MA.  Josh finished up his week of nights on Saturday morning and had to work Sunday so Ryan and I forced him out of bed around 2pm and out to the tree farm.  He doesn't really have a weekend off until just before Christmas so we had to take advantage of the couple hours of family time that were available because God knows I have to have my Christmas tree.

It's been a Fairman family tradition ever since I can remember to cut down a Christmas tree, but I've never experienced a more beautiful tree farm in my life.  I may dislike shoveling snow and driving in snow, but walking through a Christmas tree forest filled with beautiful white snow was pretty spectacular.

However, I have a confession to make.  We didn't actually cut down a tree.  We bought a pre-cut one from the farm.  I know, I know, BLASPHEMY!  But, despite the fact that we live in Massachusetts where there are about a zillion tree farms, tons of trees, and tons of water, the "cut your own" Christmas trees were outrageously expensive compared to California.  So, a decision had to be made, big slightly cheaper pre-cut tree or small expensive cut your own tree.  I ALWAYS want big trees, so to get the most bang for our buck, we went for the big one.  In the Ellsworth barn, they also had beautiful wreaths in all sizes that you could have decorated any way you prefer for relatively little cost which I thought was really fun.

Overall, it was a really fun experience and should we end up elsewhere for Josh's job next year, I'll always remember our snow filled Christmas tree getting adventure.  I'm not sure it could have been any more perfect unless we hiked out in to the forest to chop one down "Christmas Vacation" style.

Thanksgiving 2014

I know I sometimes use this blog as a sounding board for my complaints, but I really do have so much to be thankful for and Thanksgiving is always the perfect time to acknowledge a lot of the things that God has blessed me with in this life.

I am thankful for a healthy family.  It's so easy to take your (and your loved ones) good health for granted, but as I hear stories from Josh about extremely sick patients in the hospital or hear from friends that their family members are ill, or even worse, up in heaven because they were sick, I can't help but be so thankful that Josh, Ryan, and I are all healthy.  Or that all of our parents and siblings and for the most part extended families are healthy too.

I am thankful for Josh's job.  I may complain on occasion all the time about his work hours. I may complain that he had to work on Thanksgiving and even though Ryan and I did drop him off a Thanksgiving meal in an attempt to see him, unfortunately, he was in surgery.  I may complain that I sometimes feel like a single parent and like Josh is missing lots of important moments in our lives.  But, ultimately, I am SO thankful that he has this job at UMass.  There was a time this year when we weren't sure he would have any job at all and the fact that this opportunity opened up is undoubtedly a huge blessing from God.

Ice is cold!!

I am thankful for all the close friends here in Massachusetts that I have made in the last six months.  Friends that offer to open their homes to Ryan and I on holidays so that we aren't alone.  Friends that make us feel like family despite that fact that our family is 3,000 miles away.  Friends that check in on you when it's snowing because they know that you are freaking out about leaving the house in the snow.  Friends that listen to your fears, celebrate your successes, and always seem to be there when you need them.

Ryan and I celebrated with our friend Brooke's family on Thanksgiving.  We were so thankful that we didn't have to stay home alone despite Josh being at work on Thanksgiving.  Ryan and Brooke's daughter Reagan always have such a great time together.  They even had their own little Thanksgiving table all to themselves and while I'm not sure how much food was actually eaten by the two of them, they were fully entertained while us adults ate.  And, I'm fairly certain at one point I turned my head and saw Ryan feeding Reagan pie with her fork.  Toddlers.

My Mom said that when she saw these pictures, she thought the two of them looked like a little Indian and a Pilgrim.  Not planned at all, but too funny!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you were able to reflect on some of the rings you are thankful for in your life.  Now, on to Christmas!!!