Elf on the Shelf

As I've stated before Santa doesn't come to our house.  Ace of course knows who he is, he's seen him in the mall, he squeals when he sees giant inflatable ones on Christmas tree lots.  We just never informed him that Santa delivers him presents.  Ace knows that presents come from mom and dad.   So we haven't specifically spelled out to him that Santa is a fictional character, etc.. so really Santa still remains a part of Christmas and exists still about the same as Mickey Mouse.  With that said that also means that we do not participate in leaving milk and cookies out for Santa, or writing Santa letters, or other traditions that go along with him (which does make this mommy a tiny bit sad, because I have fond memories of those things.)   However, I still wanted him and Mae to have some festive fun and merriment that comes when one believes and that's where I thought of the elf on the shelf.   If you're unfamiliar here is a good synopsis.

I decided that I didn't want to lie to him and give the elf magical powers - saying that the elf moves in the night like the story says.  Since there is no reason for the elf to report back to Santa since Santa is not a factor in Ace's motivation to stay naught or nice. Ace has been taught Jesus is the reason we should stay nice and not be naughty and Jesus doesn't need a elf to help Him establish that fact or not.     So we just make it an exciting game of hide and seek each morning.   Every night when he goes to bed, I go and hid the elf in some new place.  In the morning when he wakes up he gets to go find the elf, but he's not allowed to touch it until mom or dad find it with him later.  Mostly because I didn't want him scaling great heights when I put the elf on the fridge or something.  He absolutely loves it - and very excitedly comes in each morning saying he's found the elf.  Or one morning, very disturbed being unable to locate the elf anywhere! (She was hanging from the shower curtain... that sounds more dark than the actual situation, see picture below.) 

Now of course Ace's imagination is a good one and so it's still fun to make it seem like the little elf has been busy playing, reading, or having fun while everyone sleeps.   We let Ace's imagination dictate what he observes, rather than us telling him. So while I don't see anything wrong with others telling the tales and creating the magic in Christmas, we simply go a different route. I do know Ace is approaching an age where we're going to have to explain to him that other kids believe something different and he won't be able to spoil it for them.   At this point he doesn't realize there is anything to spoil.   I suspect that conundrum will be coming next holiday season.   :)   For now - we are happily making memories of hiding a silly elf that we picked up at Target on November 30th and that we named Holly.  Here's a few places that she's been.

Black Friday - 2011

Another year is here and I have conquered another Black Friday  Thursday.   Yes around 10:30pm Vanessa, Mae, and I ventured out.   Yes due to the late -middle of the night- hours that I was going to be gone.  Mae had to join us on our adventure.  Seem backwards?  Perhaps in most families, but my child at 10.5 months does NOT sleep through the night and we figured only doom would come if she woke in the middle of the night to find her food source decidedly absent!   So she joined us.

We headed out to Toys R Us first, with the primary mission to obtain Mae's Christmas present - one of those little foam chairs that they have for 50% off on Black Friday.   TRU had been open since 9pm and we had to wait outside for about 15-20 minutes to allow for other people to leave the store, because of course they were at max capacity inside.  Mae was wide awake and happily cuddled against me in the Ergo, wondering what was going on!  We get inside and were on the hunt for the chair to make sure we grabbed them, mostly concerned they'd been to complicated to grab if we had other stuff.   Glad we went that route first because upon finding the chairs - I was sadly disappointed in their quality this holiday season.  2010 models were GREAT, Ace got one last year and it's of good quality and holding up well.  This year they were super cheap!   I passed.   Vanessa went looking for the one thing that was a "worth it" item and came up with nothing and so we looked at the rest of our lists, assessed the mad line and said "let's bail!"  

Our next stops were Baby Gap and The Disney Store.   Sadly Baby Gap's sales weren't as great as last year (50% off the whole store) but I still was able to snag a few deals and was the first people in line, so no waiting.  Next we headed over to the Disney Store and acquired all the good loot that was on our lists.   Mae was still wide awake and taking it all in.   We finished up and headed out.   We were done by 1am. 

Myself not having had a huge stuffing of a meal, requested a stop at the drive thru for a 'midnight' snack and then we headed home.    Vanessa and I chatted in the driveway for nearly an hour - with M sleeping cozy in the back.   I went in and M and I went to sleep until a little after 9am.    I then quickly got dressed, leaving Mae with her dad and brother and went to Fred Meyer to get their 50% off socks!   All in all it was a successful and far more muted out as compared to our all nighter last year.

Upon coming home - one would have bet that it was time to deck the halls of our house in festive merriment - but honestly I just wasn't feeling it.   I had no desire to set up the tree, I was just kind of in a funk.   I finally pulled myself out of it by Sunday and on Sunday evening we set up the tree and placed the first ornament on the tree as a family.  And we kicked off the holidays and Morgan's first Christmas season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday we took the time as a family to trace all of our hands and then Ace and I spent sometime writing down what he was thankful for.   The first thing out of his mouth was excitedly "Jesus!" Next up were things like: toys and movies and then he was 'done' - and I said what are you most thankful for and that confused him.   I asked him to think if he were to sleep and woke up with only what he had thanked Jesus for the night before and everything else was gone what would he thank Jesus for and he promptly smiled and said 'everything!'   Smart boy.   I prompted again with a little more specifics and asked what people he was thankful for and the names started to pour out.

As he named each of them their names were written on the hands that I had cut out and placed together.   The project really was going to be a turkeys, but it evolved into something more simplistic and meaningful: thanksgiving.   He continue to elaborate and include things that surprised me like: love and blankets;  and things that didn't surprise me like: Disneyland, his tiger, and books.   Overall, I thought it was a very memorable event and a good way to kick of Thanksgiving.

On this day I choose to reflect on what I am most thankful for:  I am thankful for a loving God, for my husband, my two children, my expansive family of blood and 'adopted' individuals... because some of my friends that I have known for decades are a part of my family and are so much more than friends to me.   I am thankful for my friends, the military and the opportunities it has afforded my family.   I am thankful for the job(s) my husband has.   I am thankful that I am able to be a SAHM.    I am thankful for the ability to dabble in many hobbies including sewing, crafting, and photography and I am very thankful that Loving Husband puts up with all of them and funds them.  ;-)  

I took the opportunity the other day to indulge in a little photography.   Christmas is coming and I needed to get some photo-related gifts ordered while the deal was still good and so I needed to get some Christmas photos done of the kids.  So I broke out the studio, lighting, and props and got to work.  The kids were mostly compliant and afterwards I had (and still am having) fun editing the selection of photos that I gathered of the kids.    Enjoy a brief glimpse into our holiday selection of photos - more to come!

Thankful

During this week leading up to Thanksgiving it is easy to be reminded to be thankful for what we have.   We can only hope that those holiday reminders course through our veins and truly helps keep our perspective on what we should be thankful for all year long.   My friend Katie is not only someone that I am thankful is in my life, but I am thankful that I get to witness her inspirational attitude on life.
 
If you are a follower of this blog, you know her story.  Today marks her second scan in her battle against stage 4 colon cancer.   I will be praying for good progress and continued signs that the chemotherapy is working for her.   On Wednesday she will also start another round of chemo which will continue over the holiday break.  While some would be upset and lament to the vast audience (and completely justified!) over the crummy timing on top of the crummy curveball life has thrown at her, Katie does neither.  She simply says 'oh well, I can't eat most of those foods anyway' and went shopping this weekend with her daughter.  There are lessons to be learned here and I love Katie's attitude.    

In honor of today and to reflect on a happy moment, I provide you with a thematically tinted picture from Dana's baby shower last year, where all three of us ladies were pregnant with now: Kennedy, Ethan, Kaylee & Mae.  :)

30 weeks (with one), 28 weeks (with two), 9 weeks (with one)

A Professional Cut

Ace has had several haircuts in his short existence.  In fact his first came far to early in this mommy's opinion - but we're past that.   For a long time I just used the little manicure scissors and that did the trick for a while.   Last winter I invested in a pair of haircutting scissors and that was good.   I'm not too bad at the job.  However, in the last few months haircutting became an extreme exercise in patience for both mom and boy.   Him asking every 2 seconds "Are we done yet?"  wore on my nerves and on his ability to sit still.  That's when I decided that it was time to hand over the job to a professional! 

I took Ace to a small shop that is designed for kids and after some explanation of how it would all work out - he was excited and set.  He got to choose the seat, a movie, and away he went!  

He wasn't a huge fan of the clippers and the noise they made near his ears, but aside from needing a bit of reminding to sit of straight a few times - he did great.  

Sides are done, now onto the top!

All done! 

Overall he did very well and I think we'll return - although probably not every month.   I think I'll do some maintenance with the haircutting scissors and go in when he needs the clippers :)

Ten Months Old

Double digits!!!   They've arrived!   ::whimper::   I'm so proud of how well she is doing! 

Firsts for the latest month:  first steps! A new state visited: AZ, Disneyland with Dad, waving and clapping

Mae took her first steps at 9 months and 15 days old - she is up to 5 steps in a row, but still very much prefers to crawl all over the place.  She also enjoys climbing up and onto things.   She's taken a few spills this months as a result, but she recovers pretty quickly.

Mae in the way of communicating is going well - she hasn't added any more vocabulary but she's becoming more deliberate with her words.  'Mama'  has officially morphed into her want for milk.  Which at least she knows what she wants and since I'm the only one that can give it to her, I'll take it to mean she wants me.  ;-)    She also says "up" when she wants up - but often only if we prompt her to.  'Dada' is also in the vocab and 'baba' still is around as well.   She also is waving - which is more sticking her hand straight up in the air at you.  :)   It's pretty cute!

Our little girl did very well on the second road trip.  She enjoyed the trip to Disneyland as well.   She did exercise her screaming a little bit, boy can she get loud, but overall she did great.    Mae has a bit of a fiery personality.  She certainly voices her opinion and lack of satisfaction with a situation.  She's in a state of hating to be seated.  She prefers to spin in circles while someone holds her.   This makes going to restaurants particularly complicated and we are looking forward to when she moves past this phase.

Solid food has been reintroduced and better received lately.   Some days she ravenous for it, and other days she's content to just drink milk.    She is getting better biting and chewing even though she still only has the two bottom teeth.  Mae does have 2 top teeth that are nearly in.  

Mae Mae is certainly a smiley giggly girl who likes to play with everyone in the family.  Her and her dad have a fun game of bopping her hand on her mouth and making fun sounds - which is really cute to watch her try and do on her own.  :)    She loves to climb all over her brother and smiles really big at just about anyone that smiles at her.   However, she isn't fond of going to anyone else right now.  Separation anxiety has fully set in, which is ok.  I'll enjoy the clinging baby while she lasts! 

Can't wait to celebrate the upcoming holidays and more fun firsts for Mae!

She's seconds away from pushing herself up into the standing position.

Ten on Ten - November

Surveying our delivered produce!

Yummy apples!

Bath time!

I'm 10 months old today!  Hooray!

"Where did all the other fish go, mom?"

Pretty cool to get to do the pumping himself!

I love fall here!

Mae Mae took a very long snooze after the doctor's appointment

Let's go pick up dad from work!

Beautiful sunset!

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