Christmas Eve Pillow Talk

Background info: I was busy all day on Monday cooking and cleaning the house for company (remember the lamb?). David spent the entire day with Reagan out of the house so that I could clean up.

It was my night to put Reagan to bed...which I did at about 11:00pm!!! Santa must have been circling our house waiting for the little guy to finally go to sleep.

Here is our conversation while we were laying in bed listening for reindeer bells.

Me: I missed you today. I was so busy that I didn't get to spend much time with you.

Reagan: What did I do today?

Me: You went to the park with Daddy.

Reagan: The sand park.

Me: Yes. Did you dig up dinosaur bones?

Reagan: Yes.

Me: What else did you do?

Reagan: Went to HEB to get a blue candle!! (um, this blue candle ended up being a gift to me...little guy can't keep a secret)

Me: And then you came home.

Reagan: To give you a hug.

Me: Aaaahhh! That's nice. And then you took a nap. And then Tita and Grandpa and Grant and Uncle Ricc and Victoria and Ale came over for dinner.

Reagan: Then what did we do?

Me: We opened presents.

Reagan: And I got a recycle truck!!!

Me: Yes, you did.

Reagan: This was the best day!

(How cute is that??)

Me: Just wait until tomorrow...

Thank God it isn't NaBloPoMo

I'd be in trouble if it were!

I'm getting very excited about Monday. On Christmas Eve, David and I are hosting lunch here at our house for his family. Well, it is my family, too~~the Babbitt's are all going to be here.

I'm getting a bit nervous about the meal. I am doing something other than the traditional turkey, and it is something that I have never made before. And just to give you a clear picture, I have only made ONE other big dinner before. Our first Christmas married, David and I had his family over and I made a turkey. So I'm thinking that if I can do that, I can do this, too.

The menu:
Leg of Lamb with Roasted Pear and Pine Nut Relish (from Cooking Light)
Mashed Potato Gratin (from Cooking Light)
Green Bean Casserole (a traditional favorite, but lightened up as much as possible)
Broccoli and Rice Casserole (not light at all...in fact, store bought...shhhhh!)
Crescent Rolls (it isn't Christmas at MY house without them)

I'm still thinking about what to do for dessert. And I'm also thinking of having a veggie tray out for when everyone arrives.

What I worry most about is when to cook everything. I have one oven, and I have 4 things that need to be in that oven at some point in time. I'm sure I can figure this out, though.

I am also on the hunt for 2 to 4 gold chargers. I found 4 at Linens n Things that I did not like. Then I found some at Pier One that I like, but they are a bit too big. I need to take them back. I think I saw some at Target yesterday, and I'll also look at Bed Bath and Beyond later. (I'm mostly excited about how the table will look!! I LOVE using my fun china!)

Yeah, I know. Lame post.

Happy Holidays!!!

My Grandaddy

December 30, 2006

After a relatively long process, my grandaddy passed away early Sunday morning. As you can see, the above picture was taken just about one year ago, which amazes me what can happen to a person in a short period of time.

As my mom said, we were all prepared, but we're never really ready for something like this. The GREAT news is that we know he is back with my grandmother right now~~and I'm sure she was getting very impatient!

Grandmother and Grandaddy had a wonderful love, and I always hope to mirror that in my relationship with David. At our wedding Grandmother gave us some great advice. After being married for years and years, she said the secret to a happy marriage is giving each other a kiss before bedtime every night. It is a warm image to think about Grandaddy leaning over to Grandmother every single night and giving her a gentle kiss and saying "goodnight".

I love my grandaddy very much. I have wonderful memories of him~~spending some time during the summers with him in DC; how tall he always seemed to me, especially when we hugged "hello"; the way he always wore a hat (mostly a baseball cap perched high on top of his head); his love of gardening (yummy cucumbers); his woodworking skills; the oldest Aggie in my family (WHOOP!); his quiet, yet very funny, sense of humor; the way everyone seemed to love him and think of him as their own grandaddy!

I love you, Grandaddy. Give Grandmother a hug for me and Reagan and David!

It IS All About You

I got this in my email, and it really explains the "reason for the season".

This is from my pastor's journal, and I just love how he describes how much God loves each and every single one of us. It is a short read. Please take a couple of minutes to take a breath and remember exactly what we are celebrating right now.

It's All About You


~~~~~~~~~~~

Tag--Christmas Style

I was tagged by Suzi.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper with a few gift bags.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Artificial. I have never had a real tree, but I think I would like one someday.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually on the Sunday after Thanksgiving while David watches football. However, this year we put it up on the day before~~Saturday.

4.When do you take the tree down?
On the day after our last "Christmas" is. I'm usually ready to have my house back to normal.

5. Do you like eggnog?
yes

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
A Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader jacket. I wore it all day. I also took the tag off of it and strung a ribbon through it so I could wear it as a necklace. The tag was a picture of a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
No. Not unless you count Reagan's Fisher Price Little People nativity scene. I'm still looking for the perfect one for us.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
My two sisters.

9. Hardest person to buy for?
The men in my life--my brother, brother-in-law, dad, father-in-law, and David.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I can't think of anything really horrible.

11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards?
Mail

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
A Christmas Carol~~The one with Patrick Stewart, or the one with the Muppets. :)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Right after Thanksgiving. But this year I've had a very slow start.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Fudge and crescent rolls.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear

17. Favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night! Reagan's favorite this year is The 12 Dogs of Christmas (really cute book).

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We will always wake up in our house on Christmas morning. But we usually switch up the traveling/staying at home thing yearly.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Yes because I have a 3 year old that loves Santa's reindeer. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph. And Olive the other reindeer.

20. Angel on the tree top, or a star?
A star which I really, really love. It is handmade from one of our friends. I LOVE it!!!

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Christmas morning and day and night and the day after

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The cat trying to eat our artificial tree. And the lights falling off our windows.

23. What I love most about Christmas?
Seeing the excitement and magic through Reagan's eyes, and remembering my Christmas's from when I was little.

I tag: Emily, Ali, Tina, (her first tag!) and Becky (you can finish your finals first)!!! You're it!!!!

Thankful for the Little Things

It was my night to put Reagan to bed tonight. I was guiding him through his prayer tonight. It went something like this:

Me: Dear, God. Thank you for Daddy. Thank you for our family and friends. Thank you for helping Reagan feel better. Reagan, what do you want to thank God for?

Reagan: White.

Me: Thank you, God, for light.

Reagan: No. White the color.

Me: Oh. Thank you, God, for white.

Reagan: And yellow.

Me: And yellow.

Reagan (talking very quickly): And thank you for red. Red is like a monster. A monster with one eye. A triangle monster with snappy fingers. (He begins to snap his hands like crab claws.)

Me: Thank you, God, for red.

Reagan: Amen.

Um, ok. (I think God may have said "Um, ok" too.)

Elfin' Fun

This is just too silly, but I love it. Go check us out:

The Babbitt Elves

Please share if you decide to elf your family too!!!

A contest

I didn't win a prize for doing NaBloPoMo.

Hey!! You know what? I can't say that. I may not have won a prize that was listed on the NaBloPoMo website, but I did "win" something. I enjoyed blogging everyday in November. I LOVED reading everyone else's posts. And I learned more about my blogging friends.

Anyways, I thought I'd enter this contest that Emily told us about. (next I'm going to try and elf my family)

Visit Teeny Manolo. That's all you have to do.

Man of the House

David is away tonight on business. I'm in charge, but Reagan is the man of the house.

However, the man is not himself this week. He has had a wonderful attitude all week (the 3 days so far), but he hasn't napped. This is driving me nutty. I LIVE for those 3 to 3 1/2 hours of "alone" time. But lately I have been spending 2 hours in the afternoon listening to banging and laughing and screaming coming from the front room of our house.

I know some of you may be thinking "maybe he's ready to give up his nap". I don't think so. Maybe I'm in denial, but I don't think a kid can go from napping 3 1/2 hours daily to napping 0 hours.

So the man had to be taken care of this evening (instead of taking care of the rest of us) because he was exhausted. And on top of that, the man has a cough. The cough doesn't seem to be bothering him all that much because he's happy and playful, but he coughed so much today that I think it wore his little man body out.

By the way, a tired man of the house equals an exhausted mommy in charge.

Crazy, strange, weird

Background info: Reagan had a busy day filled with playgroup, spending time at Barnes and Noble (which involved lots of reading and playing with the train table), and playing at home with me. But he didn't nap for some reason. He decided that nap time today would be better spent playing loudly in his room. So that made for one crazy kiddo this evening. Funny thing about kids...they seem to have 10x the energy while they are exhausted rather than when they are well rested. (David and I have already had our "adult" eggnog this evening due to this phenomena.)

More background info: After his bath, I needed to comb Reagan's hair. I said, "I need to fix your hair so it doesn't dry funky." He asked what that meant, and I told him "crazy, strange, or weird". Then I told him in a whisper, "Go tell Daddy he's funky." And he did.

And he did it again. And again. And again. And over and over. Remember~~10x the energy.

So this video is only 1/2 as cute as Reagan was the first 8 times he did this. But you get the idea.