1-3-12 Did I really throw a Transformer Birthday Party?

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this or not before, but when I was growing up and dreaming about being married and having kids, i always pictured myself with five kids and the first three were all girls. Luckily, before Conrad was born, I wrapped my mind around mothering a boy and once he was here, well, those visions of braiding hair, picking out frilly dresses, and throwing princess birthday parties were long forgotten. But I didn't automatically see myself throwing a Transformer birthday party, but my little boy lit up when he saw that I had made cupcakes with Transformer hologram toppers. I even used the word "autobot" for the little game we played. I'm not even sure what an autobot is. . .

It was a fun morning with lots of balloon playing, actually, lots of balloon popping! Caden has really taken to singing happy birthday and all three boys appreciate a yummy cupcake. The recipe I used is actually from the Deceptively Delicious cookbook. - so they had some nutrients in them.

I had to include a picture of my sweet little niece in with these even though it's blurry. Audrey would have liked to have seen a little more pink incorporated into this party. And I have to say, wouldn't it be adorable if she had a tiara on with that Transformer mask?? Pink or not, all of the kids loved the cousin time!

1-2-12 Christmas Take Down

The great Cheristmas decoration take down has begun. Here's a picture of my favorite Christmas decoration this year. This is the little tree that is decorated in Caden's room. It creates a very peaceful glow that makes Caden's room feel relaxing. When I turn it off at night, he often points to it and says "on". One night he pointed to it and said, "ho, ho, ho". That has been his comment to many things related to Christmas. Just like Caden started saying words one right after the other, he is stringing sentences just as quickly. Tonight's big sentence was, "I want a juice box." Read it without annunciating to get an idea of what is sounds like. i have had candles burning a lot this season. At first it was because I enjoyed the aroma. Now, it's because Caden begs, "Cand-o on". He's obsessed. I had to put our flame-fire-starter-thing on a high shelf because he started getting it out and bringing it to me insisting that I light the candle. I haven't picked out a Christmas ornament for him for this year yet (Yes, I know the date. I also know that I'm going to find ornaments for 75% off). I was going to get him a Lion King ornament because he LOVES that movie, but a candle ornament would be fitting too. Or a binky ornament. . .

Since this is only Caden's second Christmas, he only has a few ornaments on his tree; so the tree is mostly adorned by crocheted snowflakes that were made by my maternal grandmother. She passed away eight years ago and I still have times where I want to call her; mostly to talk about something "mommy-related". She loved being a mommy. She told me once that it was her greatest joy in life; especially because the doctors had told her that she wouldn't be able to have kids. It was beautiful the way she phrased it. She was a content woman and didn't yearn for anything that she didn't have. It may sound like she lived a life of privilege, but that wasn't the case in material regards. But she wasn't much concerned with things of a material nature. When I was in college she told me that as adults her children had given her everything she wanted. And that she was careful about saying things that she would like to do because she knew they would make it happen. She referenced a road trip across the country that she made with three of her five children. The destination was one of her granddaughters high school graduations.

Caden's little Christmas tree has more special meaning because it is the one that Joe's maternal grandmother decorated every year. There's also a small ornament on it that is a picture of Joe and his grandma in a small crocheted frame. It looks like Joe was about Caden's age when the picture was taken. Joe's grandma passed away about six weeks before my grandma passed. it was a sad Christmas throughout the season we watched both grandmas deteriorate with very different conditions. Now when I think about both of our grandmas at Christmas, it's not about the Christmas when we lost them. It's about all the Christmas's before that when we had them.

1-1-12 Bring on Another Year

Cheers to a Happy New Year! This morning we toasted to the new year and poppers popped and decorated our kitchen with streamers. Yes, we did this approximately eight hours after the rest of the country. It's hard for an active household to maintain a high level of energy all the way to midnight. Afterall, that is 18 hours after waking from the night before.

My brother and his family were here to celebrate with us, that brought our household to five kids five and under. When the kids' bedtime rolled around, a couple of parents dozed off too. I put my dessert in the oven at 9 and there was nobody around. Then Conrad appeared and asked if he could stay up for a while. In a very uncharacteristic of me moment, I said "yes". We snuggled up on my cozy chair and waited for the ball to drop on the Dick Clark special. In the meantime, we got out two crystal goblets and the sparkling grape juice and started our toasts. My favorite one was when Conrad toasted to our family being safe in the new year. It was a very sweet moment. Adults did resurface throughout the night and Conrad fell asleep before the clock struck 12. It was a nice way to end 2011.

Conrad, Max, and I have had many time-related conversations over the last week. They've mostly been spurred on by Max trying to figure out when Christmas will come again and Conrad trying to figure out how long it will take for him to turn 6. How can I clue them into how much they will change in the next 365 days? And I certainly can't guarantee what will or what won't happen within those same days. It leaves me with the realization that the beginning of the new year is just the start of another chapter in this adventure we're on.

12-28-11 Birthday Letter

Dear Conrad,

I joked about keeping you four years old and not letting you get any bigger. I was only partially joking because I love you just the way you are and part of my really does want to freeze time and keep you my little boy. But, the other part of me is excited about how much your changing as you get older and bigger. Honestly, you have to turn five because can do so much now and you know so much. You're a fixer, you take good care of your brothers, you can climb trees and you even show me how to work the IPAD. It would be terrible to pause you now.

This is a picture of us from when you were only a few months old. When I found out that I was pregnant with you, my heart instantly grew. I think it has been growing ever since. I'm so glad you made me a mommy. I'm so glad God gave me you.

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mommy

12-10-11 About that Snow

Ok, yesterday I was prematurely excited about the snow. Before sunrise it looked like we had gotten a lot of snow. It turned out it didn't even cover all of the grass. . . However, my boys were still thrilled to see the white stuff. Max said, "Now it's Christmas!" Conrad couldn't wait to get outside and play. Caden said "snow" for the first time. When his brothers put their mittens on, Caden insisted on wearing his -- for about two seconds. When we were outside, Conrad and Max spent most of their time shoveling the snow.

Today began blissfully with all four of us snuggling on the couch after a full night's sleep (i.e., nobody woke up in the middle of the night or climbed into my bed. Yea!!). We've all been under the weather for the past couple of days. Yesterday I took Caden to the doctor and he had an eye infection. Today I went to the doctor and i have a sinus infection. Max and Conrad have coughs. I slept for a nice long stretch this afternoon and now the day is ending in the same blissful way that it began. I'm on the couch with my laptop and my three boys are playing on the living room floor. I pulled out the toy farm set, ALL of their tractors and the Mega Blocks and they've been playing "Dairy Farm" for almost an hour.

It's funny how their play has changed so much. How playing TOGETHER has changed so much. Conrad and Max really feed each other's imaginations and show Caden new ways to play with the toys. Tonight I'm getting milk butter deliveries to my "house! I don't have to be a part of their play the way I used to be. Earlier I responded to Max while he was playing police and then I was surprised when he wasn't talk to TO ME. He was talking to his partner, Conrad.

Oh boy, now one of the tractors can fly and is taking milk to Uncle Jason, Trevor and Auntie Kristina in England!

I don't have a picture of the boys playing tonight, but it reminds me of them playing with the Little People nativity a couple of weeks ago. I'll post a pic from that.

12-9-11 A Real Snow

I cannot wait until the boys wake up. It snowed!! A real ground-covering snow! There was great excitement at our house in October on the morning of the first frost. This is going to be sheer delight. I may as well match up the mittens now!

9-20-11 Interesting Conversation of the Day

Conrad: "Mom, can you read minds?"
Me: "No."
Conrad: "Good."
Me: "Why?"
Conrad: "Oh, no reason."