Still waiting

Jorma heard from “potential job opportunity” last night. We were expecting a decision, but were told that it’s going to be Monday before they can let us know. They want to hire him… they just don’t know when/if they can make it happen. Is the suspense killing you? Are you tired of waiting? Yeah… we know.

RSS Feed Lives Again!

Yay! The RSS feed which was working, then wasn't, then was then wasn't has finally been fixed. Actually Jorma figured out due to a redirect on the site that the feed URL wasn't the one that Blogger said it should be in their, RSS for idiots help file.
So, if you'd like to link to my site with a feed here's the actual URL.
http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6054474/posts/default

And here's how:
On your Google Homepage choose Add Stuff >> over on the right hand side of the page. Next to the Search Homepage Content button choose “Add by URL” then put in, http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6054474/posts/default and tada! You’ll update whenever I do.
If you don’t have a Google homepage yet, because you are still dialing up on your Pentium 500, first you should get a new computer. Then you should get the Google homepage. It’s so sweet. Go to the Google site, click on Make Google Your Homepage and customize. You can even choose themes for the page that change with the time of day in your area. I’m so impressed by the Teahouse theme. It’s my fav.

Dear Connor - 3 Years, 2 Months

Dear Connor,
I am running a little behind schedule with your letter, but it’s been a busy holiday. This was the first Christmas when you were actually aware what Santa is and that he would be bringing you gifts. Christmas Eve we went to see PaPaw and Nana where you and your brother received a generous amount of presents. The favorite present was a chainsaw, which you carried around for most of the evening and played with a lot of the next day, despite the bundle of presents that Santa had left for you.

Speaking of Santa, I think he deserves an honorable mention here, as he was also most generous. I think PaPaw and Nana helped him out a great deal, providing a slew of presents to surprise you with. Your Dad and I were up late, untwisting plastic twist ties and assembling toys, (to help out Santa of course) and although we had hoped that you and your brother would give us a Christmas gift of sleeping in, you were both up bright and early at 7:00am.

In all honestly your Dad and I were dreading Christmas this year. We had no money for presents so we put you and your brother to work, creating painted flower pots, pine cone bird feeders and cookies for everyone’s gifts. We were ready to get the holiday over and done with, but once the holiday started, we enjoyed it so much that now we are sorry it’s over. You and your brother had a great time, with so many presents that it was overwhelming for you both.

You and your brother received a power tools bench, with a drill that actually screws and unscrews the screws in the pegboard table top. A couple of stuffed animals, pirate swords, a lion that can be ridden or pushed and roars when it’s nose is pressed, two little curvy Billbo seats for sitting or climbing, books, candy, clothes, bath toys, a Thomas the train aqua doodle, two dump trucks, and a backhoe and the list goes one and on. You and your brother must have been really good this year.

Since Christmas you’ve been asking, “Is TODAY Christmas?” in a hopeful voice. You love getting new toys and eating cookies for breakfast. And the joy of seeing PaPaw and Nana one day and then Grammie and Papa Chuck the very next day… AND getting cookies from both AND getting presents from both made your little toddler heart filled with joy.
Surprisingly you’ve not been beating your brother with the plastic hammer that came with your tool bench or trying to chop him up with your chainsaw. It seems that the Christmas spirit has affected you and you’ve been really good with sharing the toys you’ve both been given.

You didn’t sit on Santa’s lap this year, and I thought that you’d soon forget about the trauma of the last time you sat on his lap, but just out of the blue you announced that you didn’t like the Santa at the mall, you liked the Santa at the Mom’s Club Christmas Party, instead. You didn’t sit on Santa’s lap at the Christmas party although you were offered and politely declined. He gave you a gift and you were on your way. You liked the “no pressure” Santa.
I’m glad that you finally gotten some new toys. Your Dad and I seldom just randomly buy toys for you and your brother, but for the past year you’ve gotten nothing new in the way of toys, except for casual presents from doting Grandparents, your birthday and finally Christmas. It seems that Santa knew this and made up for lost time…
Merry Christmas Baby.
Love,
Mama

Connor's Santa List

Connor’s list to Santa as dictated to Mommy.

Dear Santa,
Bring me a sled and a reindeer. I want a bracelet and don’t forget I want a pogo stick. A big, big giant. Some chocolate coins and a peppermint stick. Train track Diego stuff. A bunny. A Dora book. A choo-choo train.
Please and Thank you,
Love,
Connor
PS And some spooky things and a pirate sword like Julian’s and a ghost pirate.

Gingerbread Man

Connor is sitting on the sofa eating a gingerbread man. I sit down next to him and he holds up his gingerbread man to show me and says, “Mommy, I ate both of his legs so he can’t run around in my tummy!”

Everything has a story

This came out of the China Cabinent before we moved it up to the attic and I've been meaning to try to get some information on it forever. We've checked the online databases of marks and such, but can't find any info on it.
OK, fess up... who has a friend that's an antique appraiser?

Still Holding my...

Jorma had his 9^th interview today, (that’s right. I said 9^th) with a company that he’s really hoping to work for. We were supposed to know today if he was officially hired or not, but it looks like due to whatever goes on behind the curtain in these corporate entities we aren’t going to know until after Christmas. Apparently it’s something that can’t be helped, but it’s harshing on the mellow of our holiday just the same. So, if you are tuning in to see if our life improved 100% or went into the shitter today, you’ll just have to keep tuning in.

And me… I’d just be happy to breathe again.

Dear Tristan - 15 Months

Dear Tristan,
It’s the first Christmas that you are really aware of what’s going on. You don’t know who Santa is, or that he will be bringing you presents, but you do know there is a huge Christmas tree in the banned from children, therefore glorious, office. A tree that has lights and shiny things that need to be touched. It’s the second year that our tree has only had ornaments on the top half, but that doesn’t stop your brother from pulling them down and handing them to you.

You and your brother are starting to pal around with each other and when you are upset, sometimes he announces that he needs to go and check on you and walks over to you and starts cooing, “It’s ok Tristan, it’s ok.” It rarely calms you down, probably because his version of cooing, it speaking in a very high pitched voice about three inches from your face. You’re not so much into that kind of thing.

You are starting to add a few new words to your vocabulary, words like Cookie – (Coo-KEEEY) and my personal favorite, Mommy (Mah-meee), you draw out the second syllable in sort of an Old South Southern Drawl... won’t Daddy be proud?! We've been trying to teach you sign language, although you don't seem very interested in it. I think that's probably because when you need to eat for example, you pull out your chair away from the table and crawl up into your booster seat, assuming the position, smiling while you wait for one of your slave-people to bring you a tray of food. You eat with gusto.

You are starting to ease into the separation anxiety phase, which means you need to be everywhere Mommy or Daddy are, that you are not. Solo bathroom trips have become something to be treasured. More often than not, it means that you follow me to the gate and if I go (sneak) into the office to check my email, you come barreling down the hallway and climb up on the gate like a monkey, screaming at the top of your lungs as if you’d just been abandoned forever.

You don’t however, seem to have stranger anxiety. I am positive that you will happily sit on Santa’s lap this year and might even smile for the camera. You walk up to strangers and beam at them adoringly, puffing out your chest and waddling away after they’ve been absorbed by the cuteness for a full 10 seconds. You don’t smile, you beam.

Love,
Mah-meeeee

Enlightened One

Happy Birthday to me!

Time for Peace

I keep meaning to post and then don’t because I’m still trying to get over the aftermath of the flu in our household and adjust to a non working schedule. We’ve started implementing something new in the household, that we are hoping will be the salvation of sanity. We are putting the kids on a schedule.
Now, you can’t help but be in a routine when you have kids. Lunches have to be eaten and naps must be taken, but the time in between is just a free for all. We are on our third day of the schedule and so far it’s working better than expected. Connor is getting used to his quiet time in the afternoons and Tristan is getting back on a sleeping schedule that isn’t torturous for us. For a while, he insisted on the morning nap, skipped the afternoon nap and was miserable from 4-7 making everyone else miserable too. If one of the kids starts to get into the fussy cycle, it starts a chain reaction through the household, which causes everything to become difficult to manage. It’s stressful.
As it turns out we have enough stress in our lives right now, which is just gasoline on the fire. So the schedule thing… it’s working.
The kids like to know what’s coming next. I feel like a walking alarm clock, but by the time dinner comes, we don’t have one running through the house screaming, while the other tries to climb the leg of the person making dinner, whining at a decibel level that would send a Nazgul into a jealous rage. But the very best thing about the schedule is that in the afternoon when Tristan naps, it’s quiet time. Which I’ve also explained to Connor is also known as Alone Time, a time that everyone needs a little bit of. And just that little bit during the day, is enough to make me feel like I’m coming closer to the surface.