A Very Merry Christmas

Disclaimer: This is not our Christmas tree. Our Tannenbaum is maybe three feet high, perfect for Tommy to pull as he eats the lights.

I must admit that the past few years Christmas has lost a lot of that magic that existed when I was younger. This year with Tommy the magic of Christmas has started to return. Granted, Tommy really had no idea what was going on except that he had to get to the pieces of wrapping paper faster than his mommy could grab them. He did find something he likes almost as much as paper, bows. All the colors and textures are yummy to eat.

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Tommy's first gifts from Santa this year in his stocking were a BYU football and t-shirt. He LOVES the football. The 2030 starting BYU quarterback has started training.

Tommy got a handful of gifts for Christmas. He got several more books and balls not pictured here. As you can see from this picture, one of his favorite gifts was some shoes from Aunt Stephanie. Except he likes them more to eat then to wear. Who am I to tell him what to do with his Christmas gift?

Also seen here in this picture is a magic set. The bunny comes out of the hat, there is a magic wand with a "magic" sound, and a fish that hides in a cup. John loves to do magic and Tommy doesn't like to be left out. I think Tommy needs a little more dexterity before he attempts any card tricks though. Oh, and coins are out of the picture, I'd rather not have to find them in his diaper.

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Overall it was a very Merry Christmas. I am very grateful for our little family. We are blessed. Every year I like to read the Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans, which I am sad to say hasn't happened yet this year, but I still have another week. Stop reading here if you haven't read it yet, go read it then continue reading. The premise of the book is that the first gift of Christmas is the Christ Child. The love that Heavenly Father has for each one of us that He would send His Son to atone for our sins. I can understand a little more the importance of that gift now. I love Tommy more than I could ever have imagined. He is the best gift I could have ever recieved.

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I look forward to the new year and the many blessings and grand adventures we will have.

Fashion Disabled

Tommy was very lucky to have two boy cousins born the same time of year as him. That means that he has many, many cute clothes to wear. I picked up Tommy from his grandparent's after work/school today and saw what he was wearing.

Tommy is too young to have picked out his own clothes, that excuse doesn't work yet. Apparently the sandals matched the pants and my guess is that the tan in the shirt matched the tan in the camouflage.

I guess it's time to do the laundry.

Caught Red Handed

A few months ago while John was in the shower, Tommy decided to feast upon the word of God. He ate through the front cover of the General Conference Ensign. Today, again during John's shower, Tommy decided that he was a little hungry.

He's not eating the plant, just the dirt. John quickly snapped the first picture and then said, "Tommy, what are you doing?" That's when the guilt started and he cried. John's mother saw these pictures and said it reminded her of John when he was a baby. John apparently felt the need to share the experience with me and left me the dirt to clean up after I got home from work.

And so the fun begins...

Busy Life

I keep telling myself that I'll do all these things when life slows down. Unfortunately I've been saying that for at least the last 5 years. Between work, school, husband and baby, I don't think that's ever going to happen. Harmony has so lovingly reminded me that I've really slacked off on posting up pictures of Tommy. This blog is dedicated to her.

In August Tommy and I took a trip to Cincinnati. He got to play with his cousins, Grandma Paulson, Uncle Ben and Aunt Kelly all day while I was at a Cooling Tower Conference. He definitely had a better time than I did! Still, it was wonderful to see Colter and his family. We appreciated their hospitality and loved that Grandma and Ben came down to babysit.

Tommy has been drooling non-stop for about a month now. John will often hold Tommy high over his head and sing "Oh I'm just a little white rain cloud hovering over my daddy dear..." Tommy just laughs and rains on you.

Tommy is now at home with his daddy all day while mom works. As you can see he's still alive and happy, so I guess things are going all right. Now that we've been in our home since June, I'm finally starting to feel like it's coming together. I even had book group at my home on Thursday. Tommy enjoyed the ladies and even gave them several laughs. Now that the inside is almost all put together, just organization of the office is left, we're able to work outside the house. I had a fight with some long grass, Persian grass I think, on Friday and fortunately I won! I did come away with horrible looking scratches all over my arms, but the grass is a stub waiting to be dug out.

This next picture I adore! My two boys were hard at work all morning trying to clean up the back yard. Tommy is even wearing his Mr. Fix It overalls.

Tommy is rolling over at night, which means he won't always sleep through the night anymore. Often I'll go in there flip him over and hold my hand on his butt for about 5 minutes before he stops trying to roll over. I just need to teach him to roll back over so that he can fall asleep himself. He smiles and laughs almost constantly. What a joy he is to have around! I can't imagine our life without him.

End of an Era

Ever since John and I were married (3 years, 8 months, 3 weeks and 5 days ago, thanks to my counter!) we have either been in classes together or working together. Today marks the official end of that era. Next Thursday John is quitting Energy Northwest to pursue his MBA. Unfortunately, during his last week I am in Cincinnati at a Cooling Tower conference. Thus today was the last day that we were together almost 24/7.

We were very lucky to be able to carpool to work together each morning and eat lunch together. Often when I was bored or just needed a quick break I'd hop over to his office to say hello. For about a year our cubicles were kitty corner from each other!

Almost 4 years we've been together basically all day every day and we're still not sick of each other. In fact I wish it didn't have to end.

Now I'm going to be the sugar mama and John will be with Tommy during the day and classes at night. What an adventure this will be...

Blessing Dance

After Tommy's mishap with his blessing outfit I took some pictures of him. I guess I went a little overboard because he was so happy and having fun. John while flipping through the pictures thought it looked like he was dancing. Here is the result:

Back to Work

Tomorrow I go back to work. I have mixed feelings about this. Right now though I'm not excited. This was Tommy's visit out to the plant a couple weeks ago. He got to see the place while outside my belly rather than just inside. Apparently the thought of going back there outside the womb was so terrifying that he pooped his pants on the way there. Or should I say pooped up his onesie. It was the worst blow out up to that time, mind you this was before his blessing day blowout. While pregnant I spent a lot of time in the bathroom out at work so it was fitting to spend the first 15 minutes in the bathroom scrubbing out his onesie.

Either way he charmed everyone he met while there. Now I go back without him tomorrow...