...and a Happy New Year!

...and I'm being pestered about not hanging out with my family right now (by John, of course), so that's really all I have time for. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Okay, that's all I really wanted to say to whomever might be reading. Merry Christmas!

Time to go!

It's nearly time to head home for Christmas. Our bags are packed, and we're just waiting around for John to get off work this afternoon. I hate this part: the waiting. I usually end up loading the car by myself because I'm so antsy, but not today. We've got too much for me to try and do that this time. It'll be interesting to see how it all fits into the car...and to see where we end up putting Hank! Maybe I'll take a picture.

It's potty time!

Finally, finally, finally Aidan has shown an interest in using the potty. Last night as I was packing, he was in the bedroom with me watching cartoons. He got excited about something and did a little hop, and I noticed that he had major droopy drawers. I told him I wanted to change his diaper, and he whipped it off for me. (Thank goodness it was only wet!) On a whim, I decided to put him in underwear. I'm not really sure what came over me. I turned on the light in his bathroom, showed him where to go if he felt the urge, and went on with packing. Before I know it, he's in the bathroom sitting on the potty. I walked by to get something from another room and told him to call me if he needed any help. A few minutes later, he's calling. I go to help him, and he's trying to sit straight on the bit potty by himself, no kiddie seat. And once he's up there, he peed in the potty! I was so excited. He even went one more time before bed! We put him in a pullup to sleep, and he woke up with it dry and has used the potty all morning today! Of course, he picked the night before a road trip to start doing this, but I am so thrilled that he's finally decided to try! I'm not holding my breath for the number 2's yet, though. But we're finally getting somewhere.

Helper

Look what Aidan helped me do the other day! He wanted me to play with him, and I told him that I would once I'd unloaded the dishwasher. While I had my back turned, he started unloading the silverware for me. See that big scary knife? God was watching over his little hands. He'd already stashed it before I realized it was even in there!

Aack!

Packing is kicking my booty, so I'm taking a break. Our house literally looks like a tornado went through here. It's going to be terrible to come home to, but we've been in a whirlwind of laundry, wrapping, and packing all afternoon. I've paused to finally check my e-mail today, update my iPod for the road trip home, and warm my feet by the space heater. Ah...

Elf Yourself...It's baaack!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Shopping

I want to pause and reflect on the shopping experience I had this morning. I needed to pick up a few last-minute stocking stuffers, and I wanted to get everything done while Aidan was at Mom's Day Out today. I spent a little while at the mall. I always see little things that make me laugh and that I want to share.

For instance? The first thing that caught my eye was a Proactiv kiosk, with gift-wrapped sets of cleansers adorning it. Now, who wants to get a box of Proactiv for Christmas? Seriously. That kind of seems like an insult. "Here, I thought you might like to get a handle on that acne this year." No, thanks. That's not really a discreet way to help somebody out, now is it?

And of course, every store in the mall has a giant banner in the window, advertising what a great present something from their store makes. It amuses me to see the ones in places like GMC. I guess for some that would be an okay gift. I can only imagine if I got something like that. "Um...yay, vitamins!" I'd have trouble feigning gratitude for that one.

Then there's the fact that you can get just about anything with High School Musical on it or Hannah Montana. You can give a child a Hannah Montana pillow, calculator, umbrella, t-shirt, etc. If you gave them a regular calculator or umbrella, though, they would not be pleased. Unless they were me. I'm pretty sure I asked for an umbrella one year. {What a weirdo!) I think the one I ended up with was teal...or aqua. Regardless, it didn't have an exciting theme.

What else happened on my trip to the mall? There was the usual waiting in long lines for no apparent reason. In every store that I made a purchase, I was the second person in line. And in every store, I waited for at least 10 minutes before paying. Why? In the first shop, the woman in front of me appeared to be returning and then repurchasing a gift card. I really didn't understand why. In another place, I waited behind a woman who I think was purchasing gifts for everyone on her list at one time. She needed a gift receipt for each item separately. I listened to the cashier count them out as they printed..."16, 17, 18, 19..." It was insane.

All that to say, my shopping is done, and I am glad of it. Now it's time to start packing...

Kimba's Open House

P.S. I've linked up to this. I put an old post of mine up, but it's fun checking out everyone's Christmas decorations!

For my first gift of Christmas...

...my husband gave to me, a shiny new WiFi printer. Ain't it pretty? I know. I'm a dork. It's what I wanted, and John didn't want to wrap it when UPS delivered it yesterday. So now I have it all set up, ready to use. Hooray! Technology is fun!

Mittens, yea!

Aidan loves his new stripey pair.

Mr. C

On Saturday, we finally conceded to Aidan's fervent desire to visit Santa Claus. Seriously, ever since we got back home after Thanksgiving, he has asked daily to go see Santa. Saturday morning, as we're eating our pancakes, John and I calmly inform Aidan that we will be taking him to sit on Santa's lap today. He talked about it all day long...nonstop. "I want to see Santa. I want to see Santa. I want to see Santa!" Finally, afternoon naps were over, and it was time to load up in the car and go see Santa.

At our lovely outdoor mall, there are two Santas. One is in the Bass Pro Shop, and the other I knew nothing about, other than that he was there. We tried to see non-Bass Pro Santa first. I'm sorry. I just didn't want my daughter's first time to be with redneck Santa. It's just too Louisiana. As it turns out, non-Bass Pro Santa is mobile home Santa. Ironic, isn't it? The whole thing is set up where you have to walk through one of the homes and talk to a salesperson before you get to see Santa, so we did not go see this Santa. I kind of snuck in without the saleswoman seeing me to figure out what the deal was and scurried away when I realized it was a trap!

We headed off to see Bass Pro Santa after all. When we got there, at the opposite end of the mall, of course, Santa Claus and his elves were leaving for their dinner break. We told Aidan that we'd go eat dinner and come back when Santa returned. We ate at IHOP, and it was our most miserable dining experience to date. Neely decided she needed to eat too, so I had my first-ever public nursing experience. Not public like those women who will raise their shirt anywhere, no matter who is looking. Public as in safely hidden under a thick, fleece blanket, but people give you dirty looks nonetheless. While this is happening, Aidan is throwing fits, because he doesn't want to sit by John, he doesn't want to eat his food, he wants to wallow under the table, etc. Finally, the nightmare ended, and we went back to see Santa Claus.

We waited in a long-ish line to see Santa Claus, and I thought John was going to put an elbow into the child behind us. The kid was everywhere. I believe the straw that nearly broke the camel's back was when he started trying to push Neely's stroller in the opposite direction from where John wanted to go. I don't think his mother ever reprimanded him. John got out of line with the stroller and left me with the two kids at this point...I think to avoid doing/saying anything he'd regret.

At last, it was our turn!...and Aidan wouldn't budge. His earlier taunts of "I want to see Santa!" turned into "I don't want to see Santa! I don't want to sit on his lap!" So Neely did, and Aidan got to watch from John's arms, on the sidelines. He couldn't even be forced into the photo with John or I there this year. Sorry, grandma's and grandpa's, no picture of Aidan with Mr. Claus this year. But look at Neely...she looks so happy. It must be all that tickly fuzz.

Overnight visitor

Barksdale got a very cool overnight visitor yesterday...the space shuttle! We took Aidan to go see it. He thought it was pretty cool. I can't lie, so did I.

Just one more!

I can't leave Neely out! Here she is, smiling with her tongue sticking out again. I love those little half-moon eyes!

Aidan also likes...

...eating icing straight off the beaters. Can't say that I blame him.

I love hot chocolate.

I have recently introduced Aidan to hot chocolate. He is a fan.

More from Thanksgiving

I just discovered a few more photos from Thanksgiving on my backup camera. Don't laugh at me. Yes, I have a backup camera. It's one of those tiny ones that fits in my purse/diaper bag/whatever I happen to be carrying that day, instead of lugging around a giant camera case.
Here's Aidan building with Coke cans.

And I believe this little episode was called "Ab Attack." They did this AFTER dinner, the bunch of crazies. Papaw looks like he's working the hardest, doesn't he?

Everybody loves a sleeping baby.

Ooh...

We used our fireplace for the first time last night. Love it.

My prize!

I went to my first Christmas party of the season last night, our squadron wives' group's ornament exchange, and I came home with the door prize! This is the most beautiful gingerbread house I've ever seen! A lady in Haughton, Louisiana has a little shop behind her house where she makes these. She's having an open house next weekend with a house-making demo. I may have to go watch. We're going to wait a few weeks, of course, but we're definitely eating this baby before Christmas is over.

Haunted House

She probably didn't know photos of this would end up on the internet, but here's the funniest Thanksgiving story ever. Okay, maybe not THE funniest, but it's pretty good.

This year, my family celebrated Thanksgiving at Jasmine Hill, an old plantation home in Mississippi that my father's family owns. Rumor is the place is haunted. The first night we were all there, my dad and a couple others thought they heard something in the middle of the night. Dad said it sounded like chains dragging on the wood floor. He got out of bed to see what it was, but it was gone by the time he got there.

The second night, a few more said they heard the same noise in the middle of the night. Again, whatever it was had disappeared by the time anyone made it out of bed to check things out.

The last night of our stay, I woke up around 3:00am hearing all kinds of racket going up and down the stairs, and I'm thinking, "No way a ghost makes that much noise." So I get out of bed to see what's going on. By the time I make it to the stairs, I hear my dad and my aunt Cheryl laughing. Here's what we found at the bottom of the stairs:

My grandmother, wearing a white nightgown over her clothes, underpants on her head, and dragging a chain attached to a length of rope behind her. It was hilarious. She must've wanted to get caught that last night. If she'd done it the same as every other night, she probably would've gotten away with it. Anyway, it's a good story to tell, and it was definitely memorable. If he didn't before, John definitely thinks my family's crazy now.

A Smiley Lil' Turkey

This is a photo of Neely on Thanksgiving day in her lil' turkey outfit. I'd have one of Aidan here too, but he wasn't nearly as cooperative. Neely Caroline is the happiest, most generous baby I've ever seen when it comes to smiling...and her smiles always involve that cute little tongue you see sticking out there. Precious! I have some video of her playing and smiling that I will post just as soon as I unearth the cord that connects my video camera to the computer.