More Random Pictures

Todd, Rolo and Norrin just chillin'

My happy lil boy

The basement...almost looks like a room now :).

The other side of the room with my new closet door.

The front of the house- where the garage door used to be is now a big, beautiful window.

Our Christmas Story

So, Todd and I have a tradition of spending Christmas Eve together. We've done it pretty much since we started dating ten years ago. Its the quiet time before we're running around all day on Christmas. Since Norrin is only 14 months old...we continued our tradition and had a delicious dinner followed by the opening of all our gifts. Norrin had no concept of how to open a gift so we only wrapped four of his gifts. The girls from Todd's work got him a pony that he loves to bounce on. It interacts with the TV, but he's content to bounce, so we hooked it up once and deemed it an unnecessary hassle. Todd and I did not get him anything electronic this year (despite his love of Elmo Live). The most electronic thing he got was a magna doodle...which Todd and I play with more than Norrin does. Other than that, he got books, finger puppets and a lil portable stage, a wooden truck, a wooden puzzle and wooden sandwich maker, a bath towel shaped like a frog and Wall-E (which also was kind of a gift for the parents). The sandwich maker has been the best so far. Todd has taught him how to stick the pieces together and how to say "mmmm" before he takes a pretend bite. Other than that, he love, love, loves the stinkin' pony. He bounces on it all the time in various states of dress...I even fed him breakfast on it the day after Christmas. So much for our boring wooden toys :). On Christmas, we went to Rita and Joseph's...Norrin spent a cranky couple of hours with them before he took a nap. After his nap, he was ready to be a lil bit more friendly. Norrin is learning to kiss. He comes at you with a wide open mouth and then you just have to wait and see if you're going to get licked or bitten. If I remember correctly, Mommy and Uncle Jim were the only two people he was handing out kisses to. Other than that, when he's done at his grandparents', he raises his hand, waves it at himself (he hasn't grasped the idea that waves are palm out) and sings "ba-bye". We had pancakes followed by a delicious dinner then it was out the door and on to Uncle Steve and Aunt Anne Marie's house. I was looking forward to this because I thought the cousins would chase Norrin, wrestle him to the ground and ultimately wear him out. I underestimated the power of their new Christmas gifts. Both Maddie and Stevie Joe had their faces glued to some small electronic thingamajigs. Joe and Peggy's kids didn't make it and Conor and Declan found Norrin to be annoying (he kept pulling their electric trains off the tracks). So, it wasn't until 30 minutes before the Buffardis left that Maddie got sucked into a game of tag, which means Norrin runs all over the place and you spend more time trying to protect his head than you do trying to catch him. I wish I could say that this wore him out, but he was still up until about 11 pm. Norrin and I fell asleep on a couch while Todd, Steve Milligan and Steve Buffardi stayed up talking. I had told Todd it was time to go around 10 pm, so you see how much power I have in this situation. Needless to say, Norrin became very disoriented after being ripped from our warm snuggle and put into a cold carseat. He cried almost the entire ride home. Part of me was angry...why didn't we just leave when I suggested it?...and the other part of me thought, well, its not too often that Todd gets to hang out with everyone. Norrin woke up the next morning full of energy and ready to play, play, play...so, I guess there were no permanent scars :). And that is our Christmas story. Right now Norrin is napping and I just got dinner in the slow cooker- Spicy Red Bean and Sweet Potato Chili. I never realized how much I would love my slow cooker...if I did, I wouldn't have left it in the cabinets for two years. The guys are here working on our basement. After they leave for the day, I'll take some pictures...just for you, Steve Milligan :). Other than that, my brother is visiting tomorrow night and staying until Friday night. I have to work Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, so I'll get to see him about half the time he's here. Norrin loves his Uncle Holden (AKA Thom) and I'm looking forward to seeing them interact with each other...its very sweet...and it should be a really nice way to start off the new year.

Norrin's Second Christmas

Watching Ice Age with his Bounce-n-Learn Pony.

A new book from Mommy.

Mommy just doesn't open those packages fast enough.

Yay! A truck!

Its so much fun to take apart.

Now we'll put it back together.

Happy lil boy.

The parents had more fun with some of Norrin's toys than he did :).

Norrin confiscated Mommy's new Sigg bottle.

Riding the pony naked...no comment.

Time To Get Back To Work

So, just three days of 12 hour shifts and I'm off for 10 days in a row. I can't say I'm feeling totally great about spending the next three days in work, but that's mostly because my week was so go, go, go. Every day at home was spent with a loud construction zone beneath our feet...but it looks great :). We have drywall up and I think I counted at least three new outlets. They also spackled, so I guess sanding will be next (hopefully my whole house won't be coated in a fine dust). Its really been coming along. Other than that, on Wednesday I tried to get Norrin's haircut, saw about six little kids close to his age at Wiggle Worms and decided we weren't going to make it through that waiting list. So, I decided to go to Target, but once I got Norrin in the stroller with a pretzel in hand and the diaper bag and his books and his sippy cup arranged just so, I realized I didn't have my wallet with me. I had him so comfortable that we just took a walk around Target, then we went home and I finished my Christmas shopping for Todd online...hope it all gets here on time. Yesterday I had a photographer come to the house for photos of Norrin and I. As Norrin is getting bigger and more independent, I'm realizing that things are changing, which is good, but I needed to capture these moments on film. So, I specifically asked her to take a few breastfeeding shots and then the rest were just fun candids. Desiree was so good with Norrin, he warmed up to her instantly. At one point, he ran up to me and hugged me, but turned in the direction of the camera, then he ran to her and gave her a hug, then he ran back to me...he did this four or five times hamming it up for the camera every time he got back to me. He liked Desiree so much that he even climbed into her lap with a book...it was very cute. We were able to get lots of shots of Norrin and I, as well as Rolo and Scout (because a hairless cat is like a car accident, you just can't look away :)) and she said the pictures should be available to look at online some time next week. I'm really happy that I arranged to do this...I wish I'd done more photos of my pregnancy and I'm so thrilled that she was able to get shots of Norrin nursing because that has been such a wonderful experience for me as a mom. And Norrin loved that he had a new face to show off in front of him. By the end of our session, she was ready to take him home with her. So, that's about it. I've been so good about posting new photos and little stories and now that will be coming to a screeching halt...keep your fingers crossed that my weekend will be uneventful. At least I have our bed delivery to look forward to on Saturday...if they bring the correct frame this time :).

Mommy Didn't Want To Brush Her Teeth Anyway

The two biggest hindrances to our morning routine...and yes, Norrin is trying to draw on Scout with eyeliner.

And here's a two second video...we like to cheer when Norrin forcefully pets Scout...just more for his file at PETA.

Ornaments Stay On The Tree

Just walking around the tree...la, la, la.

Please note the death grip on icicle ornament :).

For those of you wondering how my tree stays so beautifully symmetrical, I took the first picture in the morning...before Norrin got up. And actually, Norrin is very good at understanding that he can touch the ornaments, but they need to stay on the tree...most of the time. He likes to pull the teddy bear ornament that's Baby's First Christmas and its hard for my lil boy to resist the glittery balls. Although last night's fascination was with the icicles that I made from beads and wire. The part I find so funny is he sneaks around the tree and doesn't even look at the target (like a true pickpocket...has he found his calling?). In fact, he won't even look at me when he's up to no good...smart kid.

In other news, our bed wasn't delivered until almost 7 pm and they got half of it upstairs before we were told they didn't have the correct frame. Putting it on the floor would void the warranty, so Todd had them take it away until the proper frame was available...so close, yet so far away :(. Then I spent fifteen minutes after they left, running around the house looking for Rolo (he was hiding under the couch, thank God)...both our cats have been testing the weather outside since we have so many people coming and going and its a constant fear since its cold and they have no hair. Hopefully, they'll remedy the situation promptly so we can get to sleeping much more comfortably.

A Few More Pics

Our tree...the photo just doesn't do it justice.

Our renovation project...the window is where the garage door used to be.

The other side of the room and home of my future large storage closet.