Merry Christmas Week!

I am starting to think that blogging about the Christmas Pageant last week really took it out of me since I haven't actually been able to sit down and write about anything that has happened since then. And it's not that nothing has been going on either. Though it doesn't feel quite like the holidays I suppose I can blame that on the 60 degree rainy dreary awful weather that Atlanta is experiencing right now. I know that Christmas is coming because I have been wrapping gifts (exquisitely) and actively avoiding any place that is within a five mile radius of any mall in Buckhead (this is actually much harder to do than one would think normal). My parents live in an area of Atlanta where I could be at Lenox/Phipps mall in about 3 miles or at Perimeter Mall in about 4 miles. This does not make for the best holiday traffic. Atlanta finds it helpful to turn off all the traffic lights on main roads like Roswell and Peachtree and replace them with humans. Humans in the form of City of Atlanta Police Officers. The DOT clearly does not understand the concept of "human error", especially with Atlanta cops (please call to mind my ticketing incident back in September). SO, in summary, if you feel like going anywhere in Atlanta, inside the perimeter, at any time of day, I would urge you to think about just how badly you want to go there or just how badly you NEED to go there. It might not be worth it.

Deaner got into Atlanta on Sunday evening for the Christmas holidays. Evans was so excited to see him and has had no problem at all adjusting to Daddy being here. We have done a couple of things together including taking Evans to the aquarium yesterday. Evans has always loved the aquarium but I have to say that it might have lost it's magic for him this time. For some reason the child was way more interested in crawling around on the floor than looking at the fish. You won't be able to tell by the pictures but it just didn't hold his attention like it used to.My favorite pictures from the day are below. Evans looked at this gigantic ugly fish and said "HI" while waving at it. The fish did not return his enthusiasm.I am pretty sure it could have eaten Evans for breakfast. Of course there are no pictures of me because if it weren't for me, there would be no pictures AT ALL. I guess that is the way it goes being the Mom. Santa Claus was scuba diving in the tank while were watching the whale sharks, which was cool, but I think perhaps E will understand all of this a bit more next year.I believe we are going to take Evans to see Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and that ought to be interesting. I got nervous last year waiting until the last second but it wasn't crowded on Christmas Eve and we got right in. Something tells me that Evans will not be as happy to see him this year but it should make for a good story and picture! I hope that everyone is having a very merry Christmas week and that y'all are eating as much junk as I am. Seriously, stop bringing the toffee to my parent's house. I have very little will power at 10:00pm!! Happy Wednesday!

Coffee Drama 2011 Explained

So if y'all read the last pageant post, you know what I am referring to by the great coffee drama of 2011. I finally got an email back from Evans' teacher this weekend explaining the costume disaster of the much anticipated Christmas pageant. Apparently there were a ton of volunteers in and out of the Fellowship Hall while the stage for the pageant was being built (I can't understand exactly what needed to be "built") and a bunch of mother's helping keep the kids occupied while they were in the "holding area". Someone obviously left their coffee cup in a corner on the floor and thankfully, my son found it for them. The coffee was old and cold so Evans was fine. His costume didn't fair as well but really, what can I do? I mean, I've accidentally let Evans climb the stairs like 7 times today. I know how fast he can get away. It's just unfortunate that it was a WHITE angel that found the coffee. His teacher told me that she would be bringing the incident up in their year end meeting but I assured her that it was not necessary. What are they going to do? Finger print the cup and/or interrogate church volunteers? I think that I'm just going to have to let it go. I am going to choose to believe that none of the other mothers noticed that my child's costume was on backwards. Oh yeah, I can get his clothes back when school starts again. I wonder if they will have been washed?

We had a pretty uneventful weekend. The highlight for Evans was getting to have breakfast on Sunday morning at Waffle House. No where else does he get to eat sausage AND bacon in the same meal. As his entire meal. With a quarter or two of waffle. He didn't eat again until dinner. I wish everyone could have seen his face when the waitress put this plate of bacon down in front of him.We left wearing grease all over the Ole Miss sweatshirt (no big deal, Ole Miss sucks anyways) and smelling like grease. Evans took a three hour nap after his pig fest. To think that I considered giving him a hotdog for dinner is embarrassing. All and all it was a quiet weekend but we enjoyed ourselves. This week I need to focus on finishing my Christmas shopping and getting my gifts wrapped. Does anyone remember my wrapping paper obsession? I'm already stressing out how they will look this year. I picked out my paper last year after Christmas when it went on sale and now I'm second guessing myself. I guess there are worse things in life! Happy Monday!

Christmas Pageant Drama

Does anything around here ever just go smoothly? Like according to plan without any hitches? I don't think I really have to answer that question. So why should the Christmas pageant be any different? The early early morning came shortly after the late late night of hosting a Christmas Party with my Mom and sister for 100 of our closest friends. I probably should have reconsidered the 8:30am check up at the pediatricians office when I was already committed to having Evans at school for the pageant at 9:30am. Somehow Evans was measured, weighed, poked, prodded and given two shots in the leg AND we made it to school by 9:40am. When I dropped Evans off in his classroom I offered to go ahead and get him into his costume since I found both teachers on the floor wrestling with 1.5 year olds attempting to get them into the angel costumes. Plus, I knew just how "snug" Evans costume was to get onto his body. Surprisingly Evans was cool, calm and collected and he didn't even whimper (a vast improvement). There was a little boy who was screaming so loud that I'm pretty sure it scared Evans into silence. He was happy and didn't even notice when I left.

I'm not sure if I really stressed how great Evans' costume was. My sister worked on it for a week after it took my mom and I an equal amount of time to pick out the pattern at the fabric store. I spent something ridiculous like $32 on the materials when I thought it might cost like $7 or something. Aunt Mimi took measurements with a string and made us have TWO costume fittings. It was very comical. The final product was worth the wait and I was so excited to see Evans in his costume. I was SHOCKED to see Evans come out onto the altar and actually sit on the front step and shake his jingle bell in time with the music. He didn't cry, he didn't try and crawl away and he did what was expected of him. Amazing. When the performance was almost over I came down from the balcony to take a few pictures up close.I know that these pictures aren't the greatest but at least they prove that he is not crying, he is sitting and he is enjoying his jingle bell. Then I started to notice that something was a bit off. I was a little annoyed that his costume was hiked up over his pants because it was a long gown and should have covered him easily. Then I saw that the two blue ribbons that closed the outfit in the back were somehow now in in the front. What? I got Evans dressed. I certainly did not put his costume on backwards and I know he didn't do it himself. How could this have possibly happened? When I collected Evans from the altar I asked his teacher why his costume was on backwards. I was not prepared for her to answer that somehow Evans spilled COFFEE all over the front of the costume before the pageant started. I might as well say upfront that I still do not know the whole story and that I'm waiting on an email explanation from his teacher. I mean, was he just enjoying a midmorning cup of coffee? Was it hot when it poured over his entire front? I know this school is sophisticated but I don't even drink coffee and I'm the mom. So here is what the front looked like after the incident.I wondered how his white turtleneck was left unstained when I could see the stains on his khaki AND on his socks. It wasn't until I was getting him ready to take a nap this afternoon that I realized the turtleneck he was wearing wasn't his. Huh. My email to the teacher also included questions like 1. whose shirt is this? 2. Where should it be returned? 3. Where is my child's shirt? I'm just wondering after all!

So E's beautiful angel costume with the hand sewn sequins now smells like a starbucks. Oh well. You win some you lose some right? He was still the cutest angel on the altar.The whole program was so cute and it was awesome to watch these little kids having so much fun. Old Dad came to watch Evans and E jumped right into his arms.It was definitely the highlight of my week. I'll have more updates regarding the Coffee Incident 2011 when I hear back from his teacher. I do expect some sort of explanation since I do still need to know where his clothes are. Pictures from our Christmas party on Monday......Happy weekend!

Never Lose Sight

Of your child that is! Yesterday I think Evans really had it out for me. If I had to hear this train/bus/whatever it is blare it's music one more time, I was probably going to die. Why do toy manufacturers make them SO loud? And of course, Evans LOVES it. He dances, he sings and generally looks to die for cute so it is hard to take it away. Anyways. Yesterday afternoon we were at my Aunt's house watching the twins and Evans was sitting with the train (I really think it is a train even though I refer to it as a bus most of the time) in front of the TV in the kitchen. I have a major pet peeve of the television being too loud so the combination of both was really making me rethink wearing ear plugs. Evans was happy and I was playing with Molly on the couch. After a couple of minutes I realized that it was very quiet in the house. I don't follow Evans everywhere he goes because he normally stays between the kitchen and the den, where all the toys are. I started calling his name and instead of hearing rustling around like I normally do, there was silence. I got up to walk into the den, all while calling his name, but it was very clear he wasn't in the den either. I called his name much louder this time I heard the thuds of rapid crawling above my head. I ran to the bottom of the stairs and there was that train about 3/4ths of the way up the stairs while Evans rounded the corner from the top to grin down at me at the bottom of the stairs. I was stunned. I knew he could go up stairs but he doesn't normally pay too much attention to them so I don't ever block them. And this was a staircase of probably 15 stairs at least. AND I can see the staircase from where I was sitting on the couch and I STILL didn't see him go by. This could be a problem. My solution?Brilliant right? Well here was Evans' response as soon as I walked back into the kitchen.I think I am going to have to be a little bit more creative. I wedged this chair and stool in much tighter this morning and he still shimmied underneath the chair. I should probably come up with a better approach before I go wake him up from his nap in a little bit.

So tomorrow is the big day with the Christmas Pageant! It also happens to be Evans' 15 month checkup BEFORE school so I will be up at the crack of dawn. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my mom, sister and I are hosting a Christmas open house this evening for all our girlfriends. It promises to be a fun night with plenty of good stories to tell tomorrow! Happy Thursday!

Bleh....

I don't really have anything good to report today. It's sort of been a boring day. It's rainy and hot and humid. Go figure Atlanta. This morning upon turning into the school parking lot Evans was aware that something was afoot. He was so happy when we left the house but by the time we parked, he knew. He was going back to school. Sobbing crying at drop off. I'm sort of getting used to it. I was so anxious to hear how he did when I picked him up. But I can't tell you how his day went because when the teacher put him in the car and I asked how he did she replied, "Oh, I work in pre-k so I don't know". Hmmmm. Thanks, I'll just ask my 15 month old. There were no signs of crying, no runny nose and no red eyes. As you can see in this picture, our Christmas tree it up. My parents Christmas tree is dripping in ornaments. We even have a special tree in the other room with the expensive ornaments. All seems to be a recipe for disaster to me. For some reason Evans has really not shown any interest in the tree. Maybe he is scared of it, maybe not, as long as he doesn't bat the ornaments or knock it down, I don't care. I'm planning on taking many more pictures with him in front of this tree. It is hard to think that at this time last year, we would have a big fire in the fireplace and Evans would lie on a pallet in front of it, just staring. I cannot believe how big he is this year. Makes me wonder how it will be next Christmas.

Getting Ready For Our Pageant

Well, I cannot disclose a picture of the super awesome Angel costume that Aunt Mimi made for Evans for his Christmas pageant on Friday but we had the "final fitting" on Saturday during the Georgia game and this is what we were wearing for the game. Evans was pretty excited for the game and it was his first big disappointment of being a Dawg fan. I had to explain to him that it would probably be just the first of many if he is going to root for the Dawgs, the Rebels and/or the Hoos. He needed to learn this lesson early with that repertoire of teams to pull for. And the Dawgs are the best bet! Anyways, Aunt Mimi made us try on the angel costume and it is going to be great. It might be a little difficult to get on due to Mama not picking a very stretchy fabric but as long as you smash him in, it fits fine once on the body. I might have to stay on Friday morning and help him get into it and I suppose we can always cut him out if we have to. I really fell down on the job of angel wings and just bought some cheesy ones at the store and I'm not sure I will ever forgive myself but I have to get over it. I can't wait to see the performance and hope that at the very least, Evans will stay on the altar. On Friday Evans brought home a memo from school with a couple of tips for parents to keep in mind for the pageant. I feel like several of them are too good to not pass along.....

--All costumes must be received at school no later than Tuesday, December 6th. This is because they are having a full dress rehearsal on the 6th AND ON THE 7th. Really? Two full dress rehearsals? Do the teachers hate themselves?

--Costumes should be comfortable for your child to walk in (first problem), rather than fancy and dangerous. Again, really? Anyone who knows me knows that Evans costume will be fancy but even I draw the line at dangerous. I really can't help them with the walking issue.

--(picture this is bold writing) Please, do not use any cotton balls as part of your child's costume. Someone will have to enlighten me on this one.

--Cameras, camcorders, etc are allowed. Are there really schools that don't allow cameras at their pageants?

--Please bring a try of "goodies" to share after the performance. I call not bringing fruit!

--As in years past, we would like to give a token of our appreciation to our two custodians. If you can, please send a small cash donation in an envelope with your child so we can buy them each a necklace from Tiffany. Ha ha! Just kidding! (I will be doing this happily so no one get mad).

After this list, is there anyone that is NOT excited for Evans' pageant on Friday? I didn't think so. Even Evans was very excited when I told him about it this weekend. He celebrated by eating ALL his bacon and NONE of his eggs.We are trying to get into the holiday spirit by wearing Christmas pajamas every night. Tomorrow is a school day and I'll be sure to give an update. We have a fancy new Christmas longall that Evans is hot to ruin. Off to bed, I must mentally prepare for tomorrow.

You Win Some, You Lose Some

This morning I was pretty sure that we would be losing again. While looking very cute for school I think that Evans is starting to learn that if I wake him up in the morning and then get him dressed immediately that he has a reason to be suspicious. We loaded up and went on our way. I have to mention something off topic here but Evans doesn't really like to ride in the car anymore unless he is holding this turquoise matchbox truck. I don't know what it is about the truck but he is obsessed. It used to be the green Percy tank engine but he snubs Percy now for the turquoise truck. Evans held onto the truck all the way to school and when we got there and I pulled into a parking space I looked back at him. I watched his face as it rapidly dawned on him that we were back at school. His eyes narrowed, he glared at me, slung that truck on the floor and started bawling. Loud rage crying only this time with big fat tears rolling down his face. Gosh, I felt so bad but we trekked on in. Evans' teacher is great and I let her know that if he had another bad day like Tuesday that I could come pick him up at anytime because maybe it was too much for him. And then I left my wailing child in the arms of someone else while he was reaching out to come with me. Pain. Then I got over it because I realized I would probably get a call in an hour to come get him. My phone was silent all morning and I was the first person in the carpool line at 1:30 to fetch him. When the teacher brought him out she paused on the steps and pointed to me in the car saying "there's Mama" and Evans gave me a little nonchalant wave like he was thinking "oh, YOU AGAIN"? There was no emergency binky clipped to his outfit and no puffy red eyes. They told me that Evans had a GREAT day and he didn't cry at all! VICTORY! I was so happy. I wish he could talk and tell me everything he did but since he can't even walk I realize this is a long shot. I will feel much better about dropping him off on Tuesday, along with his angel costume for the Christmas pageant, and will hope for another good day!

Nighttime Snuggles

Evans has never lacked in the department of stuffed animals or bed time snuggle buddies. His crib is filled with a stuffed frog, a monkey, an orange dog and a white lamb. One of which is actually featured in this picture of E while we were in the hospital after he was born. I always make sure to have a couple animals in the crib with him at night when he goes to sleep just in case he wants to take a liking to one of them in particular. We have winnie the pooh luvies, lamb luvies, giraffe luvies and a rabbit luvie. On top of the furry friends we have four blankets. Cotton blankets, cashmere blankets and satin blankets. And binkeys. OH we have binkeys GALORE. Now, one would think, given all these obscenely nice choices, that Evans would have taken to one of these. However, when we go to bed at night, there are three things that we must have.

1. A binkey in his mouth.

2. A binkey in his hand.

3. And this in his other hand.Hmmm, are you thinking that this doesn't look like a very comfortable item to sleep with? That is because it is a plastic rock. That's right. A plastic boulder that came with his Thomas the Train "Rock Quarry" set. I'm sure it was a $75 train set and with as much as he loves this rock, I guess it was worth it? Here is my problem. He also wants to play with it during the day. Rocks, especially ones that are round, roll. They roll under couches, under beds, under cribs, under tables and basically anything that sits more than three inches off the floor. And we only have one. One two inch rock and over 4,500 square feet of house. Let's be honest, the odds are not in my favor. I see disaster in my near future. So, for now, I try to encourage that the rock be left in the crib every morning. Just so it can offer its warm comfort every night.

In other news, tomorrow is a school day. Grrrrreat. Everything is ready to go and tomorrow I am feeling positive will be a better day. At least it will be a great outfit. It is December after all and we can move on to our Christmas longalls! (Evans chose them)