Pray Hard.

Tonight there are people suffering through an unspeakable nightmare. Pray for them. Pray hard.

Breakfast with the Big Guy

On Saturday we had breakfast with Santa! I was really hoping that I would be able to snap one great picture and then maybe, just maybe, we could skip the mall Santa this year. HA.

First, I take full responsibility for the fact that the picture is slightly out of focus. I thought I would have more time considering I had paid 21 dollars for a continental breakfast. I cannot however take responsibly for Ben's vacant stare, Lily's fake smile (which is always accompanied by the squinty eyes), or the fact that Santa was 19.  

I didn't even take the time to crop out the plastic cup to Lily's left. 

See you at the mall! 

The Witching Hour

There isn't a mommy out there who doesn't know what I mean when I use the phrase "witching hour". Around here we celebrate this most joyous of occasions nightly from 4:59 to 6:30, and yes I am acutely aware that this is more than an hour. 

Last night was no exception. Matt was still working in the dining room, Lily was refusing to eat the dinner I had made her, and Ben was up to his usual high chair shenanigans. I had started dinner, and I was probably trying to get too many things done at once. I was feeding Ben a delicious blend of squash, applesauce, oatmeal, and breast milk when the oven timer dinged. I set Ben's dish down on the counter, turned my back toward the oven, and the next thing I knew...this had happened. 

I do not have hardwood floors in the kitchen. The above splatter...in the sun room...8 ft from Ben's highchair. 

There are no words to explain the trajectory. 

At first I was impressed by the height. The under side of this cabinet is about 5 1/2 feet off the ground. 

AND THEN I LOOKED UP.

This is the top of our cabinets and the crown molding. I didn't take any pictures once I was perched over the sink, standing on the counter and trying to wipe squash off the woodwork, so you will just have to take my word for it but you guys, there was squash ABOVE the cabinets in the 6 inch space between the molding and the ceiling. 

More splatter in the sun room, we kept finding these blobs even hours after I thought I had cleaned it all up. 

Daddy volunteered to finish feeding Ben so that I could clean up. What a swell guy. The first thing I did was grab a bottle of champagne from the fridge and take a few sips straight from the bottle, then I laughed, and then I cleaned up while Lily serenaded me with her very own rendition of Jingle Bells.  

Aaaahhhh, the witching hour. Good times. 

Tis the Season

Christmas is in full swing around here. With two shining little faces this year it is impossible not to get caught up in the holiday spirit. It is hard to believe that this will be Lily's third Christmas. Wow. 

Last year Lily was so thrilled by all of the simple and magical things that make this time of year so awesome. Without getting so sappy that you actually gag, she really was so innocent, and I hope I never forget just how sweet she was. Did you gag? Sorry. Anyway, this time last year she didn't really understand presents or Santa, but as far as she was concerned twinkle lights were a gift sent straight from heaven. I was pregnant with Ben, and Matt was working an obscene number of hours (read: we were both exhausted), so we kept things simple and didn't really go all out when it came to decorating. Lily was so easily impressed by lights that I didn't really feel all that guilty that we didn't even put ornaments on the tree. 

This year, we really decked the halls...because Lily LOVED everything she came across. Every do-dad and trinket was her new favorite and she just had to display them all. It was such a treat to watch her little expression change when she came across something she had never seen. Fear not, we have more surprises for next year!

For some reason I only took pictures of the tree so you'll have to take my word for it that we did put out many other decorations! 

(Side note about the tree: It stopped drinking water approximately 30 seconds after entering our house - awesome. It should look excellent a few weeks from now. Nothing like taking the tree out of the house one vacuum cleaner canister at a time!) 

 

So much holiday fun coming up in the next few weeks. This year I scored coveted tickets to "Breakfast with Santa"!! I can hardly contain my squealing. We are heading to Edaville to ride the Christmas train. Cookies will be decorated, carols will be sung, The Grinch will be watched repeatedly, and reindeer jammies will be worn. I might just be too excited to sleep! 

Growing Up Fancy Pants

My friend Julia recently updated her little corner of the internet, and I have been having some serious blog envy ever since! You should definitely check out her blog as she is totally fabulous. I would also like to welcome new readers who have ventured over from her blog! If you promise to come by once in awhile, I promise to drink cheap champagne and blog late into the night when I should be sleeping.

In a few days my little blog, which now gets as many page views daily as I used to get a month, will be turning TWO! Don't get me wrong, I by no means think I am a big potato. A fair number of my page views are probably my sister repeatedly refreshing the page to see if I have posted anything in the last five minutes. Hi Kate! But it is exciting to think my readership is growing alongside my family. 

To celebrate Growing Up's birthday I tricked my husband into hours and hours of tedious discussion about font color and CSS customization...whatever the hell that is. Luckily for me my husband learned a little something about computers at some fancy pants college back in the day. (Did I mention he hates it when I tell people he went to MIT. Don't worry Dingle, everyone still thinks you are cool and not at all dorky.) Also luckily for me, said husband owes me a few favors. 

I added a new tab about myself (here), changed the name of a few things, and added a signature to my posts. Matt updated and customized a few things here and there. And lo, we have a new look! Nothing major but I think it looks pretty sharp, as my dad would say. We are still working on adding a few features I have seen around and admired from afar. So definitely stayed tuned for more upgrades in the next few days. 

Take a look around and definitely let me know what you think!