'Tis the Season

The past few weeks have been hectic as you can imagine. We feasted at our first Thanksgiving as a family of five, survived our first night away from the little guys and prepared for Christmas.

Relaxing isn't exactly a term I would use when describing my household, but this year we did our very best to keep things mellow. A certain three year old jumping on the coffee table in his skivvies shouting his own rendition of, "Santa Baby" comes to mind. Ok, so maybe mellow isn't the word either.

It's December and Reid and Landon are standing in an effort to swipe everything off of every surface they can reach. All candles and hot beverages have found new homes in higher elevations. Lately, the dynamic duo have been plotting their attack in regards to the staircase. Any chance they get, they begin their journey up the stairs, chuckling to each other all the while.

A fun fact about babies, is that they love to sit in their high chairs, look you in the eyes, and drop their food on the floor. Now in some households this may be taboo, but when you have a 75 pound dog, all is forgiven. However, I'm sad to say, restaurants hate us. We seemed to visit many this December and each time we go, we leave behind far more than a tip. Unfortunately we've created a monster by letting them feed ol' Jackie boy. Make that two monsters.

This Christmas was a very good one. It was the first year that Carter was really excited about Santa and the first year we were all together on Christmas morning, just me and my boys. All three boys sat on Santa's lap this year (and I'm sorry if you're reading this big guy, but you've really got to work on your act). Santa should not walk around socializing. Santa should know his place...ho ho ho should suffice. Carter asked him for a "bee pillow" and while a touch of last-minute panic set in, the boy received his wish.

One thing that really stuck with me this holiday season, was the day we were driving home from school and Carter innocently shouted up to me from the third row, "Mommy, I want to hear that reindeer song!" Suddenly it hit me. My kid knows every last word to "Dancing Queen" and doesn't even know "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". I felt like a twang of guilt.

The big boy also had a guest appearance in the church pageant on Christmas eve. I bet you didn't know there was a dove in the manger, did you? I tried to prepare Carter ahead of time by reading a children's book about the real meaning of Christmas. He, in turn, wanted to know if the baby Jesus then went outside to build a snowman. Hmm...maybe I'll try again next year.