Party Party Party

Our weekend was one Christmas party, after another Christmas party, after another Christmas party! 

Friday night was round one at Benihana with PPT where I treat kiddos in a clinic setting.  (Thank you, Vanessa and Phil for hanging with the Brodster! You guys are the best!)  PPT is a fairly young clinic so last year was the first Christmas party they hosted.  Even though I wasn't employed with them last year, Jonathan and I were graciously invited to celebrate with them at Benihana.  I interned there as a student, so I guess you could say they were hopeful I would join the team when I was ready to spend a short amount of time away from Brody and start bringing home some extra bacon. They were right.  I started working for them just 5 months later. So last night was our second annual PPT Benihana Christmas party and it was better than the first.  But, I guess you can't go wrong at an office Christmas party when you work with a BFF. ;)

Speaking of that special friend, round two was at her house on Saturday night where her and her hubs invited close friends to their beautiful home.  Brody had to tag along since our babysitter came down with the flu and cancelled on us earlier that afternoon.  It turned out alright though.  He was very well-behaved and was entertainment for many of the guests...mainly the guys! :)  And who do you think he spotted as soon as we walked in?  Their Elf on the Shelf.  Within 15 seconds of walking through their front door he was pointing and exclaiming proudly, "Alf! Alf!" 

Round three was Sunday afternoon brunch with BPeds, the other company I work for treating kiddos out of their homes, school, and day cares.  It was held at a gorgeous country club on the lake and was an all we could eat upscale buffet.  We each had to bring an ornament that we had personally hand-made (including the guys).  Since we had such short notice of the party (we got the text late Friday night while we were at Benihana), I quickly googled some ideas for homemade ornaments using materials we had around the house.  Jonathan made this from twigs in our backyard and some raffia...

And I made this...

In fact, I made it T.H.R.E.E. times!!!  The first one I didn't bake long enough and it broke when I set it down on the counter.  The second one I baked for too long and it broke when it fell off our Christmas tree as I was trying to take a picture it. The third one I watched closely in the oven (and I hot-glued it together before baking it...but don't tell anyone!)

The directions seemed easy enough that I shouldn't have screwed it up.  (Just place the candies on a baking sheet in the shape you desire.  Bake at 250 for 5 minutes.)  Oh well! So I brought a back-up ornament for the lucky new owner of my hand-made ornament. 

Twas the night before Christmas

and all through the house

not a creature was stirring,

EXCEPT for this mouse!

Again, I was blessed enough to work with another good friend (Nicole, far right) from grad school so that made the party even better! It's so great to work with friends!

I took some cute photos of Brody and all the other BPeds therapists' kids but I decided not to post them due to privacy.  You're missing out though! ;) 

So for now, the hubby and I are fighting to keep our eyelids open.  We don't want to miss the lunar eclipse/winter solstice tonight.  Is anyone else crazy enough to stay up all night and wait?  I'm not sure I'm gonna make it.  One eyelid is closing as I type...

I FINALLY finished making our Christmas/New Year card

Spoiler alert: Do not read this post if you think you will be receiving a Christmas card in the mail from us and you don't want to see it on our blog before it arrives in the mail. :)   

We opted out of taking professional pictures for our Christmas cards this year. BIG MISTAKE!  It took me forever to find good pics that were suitable for our card. Then, by the time I made our Christmas card, we decided it was too late to send out a "Christmas only" card and I spent several more hours creating our Christmas/New Year card. UGH!  Jonathan is happy with the end product though...and I'm just happy it is d.o.n.e.!

Top Ten Moments Christmas Card

Create modern Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Here is a closer look (please excuse the poor quality of the copy I saved):

Curious about the original Christmas card?  Here it is:

I'm not sure if I really want to know the answer to this, but do you think we chose the right one???

Tonight's Precious Moment

As I laid Brody down in his crib tonight I said, "Okay, Brody, let's pray."  He closed his eyes and I began to pray with him as either Jonathan or I do every night.  Tonight's prayer lasted longer though as I got caught up in thanking God for the sweet boy he gave us and asking Him to keep Jonathan safe as he is out of town.  Brody laid there still and quiet throughout the whole long-winded prayer (his eyes already open again).  As I started to wrap up the prayer with "We love you, Lord..." as I always do, Brody shouted "Amen!"  He's been saying "Amen!" for quite some time when we pray (always at inappropriate times), but I think he finally caught on to how my prayers sound as I am about to finish with my own "Amen."  It was so cute that he just laid there still until the right moment.  Then, I leaned down to give him a goodnight kiss and he gave me a kiss right back, followed by a smile and repeated kissing noises as I left the room.  As I closed the door, I could still hear him in there making kissing sounds.  My cup overfloweth!

I don't have any pictures to show you from tonight but I thought I would leave you with pictures of Brody sleeping in his crib that we took this past summer...b.c. ;)

BIG boy!

Today Brody had his 18 month well check with Dr. Reisman and let me just tell you...our little boy just so happens to be a BIG BOY!  He is in the 90th percentile for height (don't know how) and head circumference (that's obviously from his Daddy and explains why it is so hard to get those tiny shirts over his head!).  His height wasn't a suprise to me since he has been in the 90th percentile for height just about every well check.  The suprise came when I found out he is now in the 50th percentile for weight.  So what? Big deal, right? Wrong! He has always ranged from the 3rd-10th percentile in weight. This was a huge jump for him.  He's a solid boy, that is for sure! The doctor was shocked because he said usually kids in the 90th percentile for height are rail thin.  He was pleased at how proportionate and healthy he looked.  I guess that's what happens when you are tall and LOVE to eat!

After a long morning at the doctor's office (a two hour visit, ugh!) I took Brody home for a nap with the babysitter while I snuck out and had some much needed girl time with my good friend Samantha.  She took me to lunch for my birthday (a tradition of ours) and I would have gone no matter where she took me because it's been a long time since we've been able to get together, just the two of us, and catch up.  We went over on our alotted time together (a bad habit of ours) but there is just always so much to talk about when I'm with her.  I love the girl and I am so thankful for her friendship, the giggles, and the good advice!  This picture was taken almost a year ago... b.c. (before my new camera) ;)

Check out her brand new cooking blog!

The Jolly Johnson Home

Today's post is a bit different.
I decided to take part in this year's Holly Jolly Blog Hop.

Welcome to our open house! Enjoy your stay. :)

I L.O.V.E. my Willow Tree Nativity Set.  And, I'm so excited because The Three Wise Men are on their way and will be here to join the rest of the group on Christmas night...How appropriate, right?
(Thanks again, Mom!)

 Our reindeer took his place on top of our China cabinet this year.

 Brody's early Christmas gift...his Christmas train set.

The lights at the train station turn on and Christmas songs play as the train passes by. So much fun!

He spends hours each day playing with his "choo-choo."

He's mezmerized by it.

Our tree. Pardon the crooked star.

 The stockings were hung with care.

Notice Brody STILL playing with the train set. :)

 Brody's Christmas picture from last year sits above our desk. 

 Our little sweet cheeks!

 An angel welcomes guests to their room.

 Our master bathroom got a little Christmas cheer too.

 We finally put this tacky fiber optic Santa to use this year in Brody's room. 

He loves watching it glow each night as he falls asleep.

Thanks for stopping by! Merry Christmas!

My New Toy

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*• ♫♪ Happy Birthday to me ♪•*•.¸¸♥¸.•**•♫ ♪ Happy Birthday to me ♪♫*¨•.¸¸♥ ¸¸• ♫♪ Happy Birthday to me ♪•** •.¸♥¸.•* ♪♫•* ¨*•¸¸♥ ¨*•♫ Happy Birthday to me! ♪♫• *¨ * •.¸¸♥ ,¸.•*¨*•♫♪

One guess what I got for my birthday!

WOO HOO! I'm so excited!

Okay, okay. I got a little ahead of myself.  Let me back this day up.  After working all day, I came home to shower for a date with my studly hubs.  He took me to a restaurant that, ha ha, we can't exactly remember the name of.  It's sad, I know, at such an early age too! What we do know is that it was in Historic Roswell.  We thought the name of it was Street, but when we googled it, we couldn't find it.  It was good though! Maybe when we go back we will take note of the name.

After dinner, we came home to eat my annual cookie cake and open presents.

Jess and Shane, who had been watching Brody for us, were there to celebrate too.

After opening 3 trick presents (Jonathan was trying to throw me off since I have awesome gift guessing skills), I finally got THE present.  I have been really wanting an SLR to capture more clearly and artistically all of the precious moments we share with Brody. Now I can, and you get to see the progress I make with my new camera here, on my blog! Yay for you! ;)

A special thanks to Jonathan, Mom, Dad, Jess, Shane, and Mom & Dad J for the best present ever!!!

 

To read about my birthday celebration with my good friend Vanessa, click here.  She did a great job documenting, so why should I reinvent the wheel? 

My Birthday Present from Brody

Brody learned to drink from a straw today! Finally! I think he decided it would be a nice early birthday present for me...and he was right!  I've been waiting for this day for awhile now.  It's so frustrating to be out running errands or out at a restaurant only to realize you forgot the sippy cup.  We have been trying to get him to drink from a straw for months now, but he just had no interest whatsoever.  But today, during his lunch, I decided to give it one more try.  I gave him an extra incentive by filling the cup with apple juice (50/50 with water, of course).  He very rarely gets juice.  He usually gets only milk or water.  But since there just happened to be a juice box in the fridge, I saw it as an opportunity.  I first gave it to him and simply told him it was apple juice.  He seemed intrigued, but after blowing into the straw and biting the straw, he quickly gave up.  That's when I began to pray. (Laugh all you want. God cares about all of our desires!)  After my plea to God, I decided to give him a literal taste of what he could have if he worked hard enough; then I screwed the lid back on and let him figure it out.  Sure, I showed him the motion, the noise, even the "ahh" moment of refreshment after getting a sip.  This was nothing new.  Jonathan and I have been showing him how we sip from straws for months now.  But today, it clicked.  All of a sudden he put the straw in his mouth and instead of blowing out he was sipping the juice up.

I jumped out of my chair, clapping, and singing his praise. He looked at me for a moment as though I was insane but quickly decided to soak it all up and bask in the glory!

Way to go Brody Boy!!!

Proud Parents

Note to all of you reading this: The following is just a memory I want to keep jotted down somewhere for Brody to read one day when he is older.  This may bore you.  You are excused. ;)

Tonight Jonathan and I attended a Christmas party at our church with our Sunday school class.  They had the nursery open for those of us with kids.  When we went to pick him up after the party, one of the women who watched him tonight said to us, "He is such a sweet boy.  If I had a checklist to make up the perfect child and went down the list, checking it all off, it would be Brody!"  Wow! That made us feel so good.  As a parent, not many things make you happier than knowing your child is a joy to be around for others as well.

Her comment reminded me of what his Sunday school teacher told me last week when I went to pick him up.  I shared it with Jonathan tonight on the drive home.  She said, "Brody is so sweet! We just love having him here each week."

And if I haven't bragged enough already...Jonathan reminded me just a few minutes ago what the nurses said about him this past September when we had to take him to the ED for a CT scan.  They were all talking amongst themselves and to us about how cute of a baby he is.  I laughed and told them that we think so but they probably just say that to all the babies they see.  That's when one of the nurses exclaimed, "Oh no! Honestly.  We have seen a lot of kids in here but he is definitely one of the cutest we have seen!" 

And though we love to hear how cute he is, nothing has warmed our hearts more than hearing what a sweet boy he is to others when we are not around.   

We love you, Brody!  You are such a precious gift to us!

This picture was taken almost a year ago to the day (Dec 4, 2009) when we dropped him off for the very first time while we attended the Christmas party.  Yes, I was the dorky mom who got out her camera to capture his first nursery experience.  I can remember Jonathan rolling his eyes and walking away as if he didn't know me! Ha ha!

The Elf on the Shelf

I first heard about Elf on the Shelf a few years ago (pre-Brody).  I thought it was a cute idea, but quite frankly the elf freaked me out a little and I didn't envision ever letting one hang around my house.  But, a couple of weeks ago my SIL told me about a friend of hers who had a little girl Brody's age.  She said her friend kept talking about how her little girl loved getting up every morning to find the elf.  So, the next day, I went to Borders and drove back home with an elf of our own.  Little did I know what a hit it would be with Brody at such a young age! 

I read him the book the day after Thanksgiving, before putting him to bed, and showed him the elf.  The book explained how you must name him once you adopt him, how he will come to your house around the holidays each year, how he watches you each day to see if you have been naughty or nice then reports to Santa each night.  He has magical powers which allow him to fly to the North Pole and back to your house in time to be in a new spot in your house each morning when you wake up.  You can't touch him though or he will lose his magical powers.  Children are encouraged to talk to him and tell him what they want for Christmas, but the elf is under strict ordes not to talk to children.  The game is to see if you can find his new spot in the house each morning after waking up. 

Brody paid close attention to the book, soaking up the pictures. 

The next morning, he woke up to find the elf in his very first hiding spot.  I couldn't believe Brody remembered what I was talking about when I said, "find the elf."  He looked and looked (with his hands in the air as if puzzled) before finding the elf on our shelf.

There he is!

Brody was so excited to find the elf.  He kept screaming "ELF! ELF! ELF!"  Though it sounded like he was saying, "ALF! ALF! ALF!"  So, we appropriately named him "Alf."

Each morning, Brody wakes up saying, "Alf! Alf!" and we walk around the house until he finds the elf.  This morning in particular was cute.  When he found Alf on top of our china cabinet he let out a huge gasp in excitement and pride for he had found the elf! 

***Disclaimer: We believe in Jesus Christ and that it is Christ who is the real reason for CHRISTmas.  We find this only to be fun and entertainment while Brody is so young! 

Do you have any fun Christmas traditions in your house?