Christmas 2009

Ah yes! So here is the rundown of Christmas 2009!
We spent Christmas Eve with the Lacinas. The boys stayed in their pajamas as we drove to North Brunswick, opened gifts, made cookies for Santa, and relaxed in the house.
Oliver, however, had a wicked fever... We had to use Tylenol and Motrin all day long... he was pale, clammy, glassy... totally yucky! He took a very long nap in the afternoon. But, he totally loved the new gifts he got for Christmas ;)

Trenton and Grandma baking cookies for Santa. That Santa is a lucky guy. Fatty, but lucky.

Len and Tiff came down as soon as they were able to get off of work. Christmas is Tiffanie's birthday as well, so we not only had dinner together, but we sang Happy Birthday over cupcakes! The two of them were kind to bring back this AWESOME Superman cape for Trenton from their trip to Mexico. Totally was what he wanted-- mask, cape, perfect size!

The plan this year was to grab-bag it among the adults... which was hard for Grandma to stick to... but it all worked out. Above, Tiff shows off a new bamboo cutter. Below, Dad marvels at the Banana Holder. Seriously, he's going to get some good use out of it, and no more mushy bananas.

Ta-da!
And then it was Christmas morning at our house!
Ollie was still feverish, but Trenton did a fantastic job of helping him open his gifts.
There were quite a few that Santa had left for both of them. Trenton took his time opening each one, checking it out, and not rushing it at all.

Ollie's favorite gifts was this hammer-nail-smacker from Ikea.
The only thing Trenton asked for this year was a Superhero cape. And he got a Superman one as well as this Super Why outfit-- cape, mask, and Why Writer. Oh, and the red Lightning McQueen socks were in his stocking, which he got a MAJOR kick out of.
Naturally, you have to practice jumping around in your cape. To make sure it flows and all.
Check out the video here for more.


And then it was off to Great Grandma Wilson's for Christmas Dinner!

Some nice group shots. Oliver totally has the "say cheese!" face down pat. Trenton is making the most of his candy canes ;)

And more celebrating the weekend afterwards with the Konopacks!
Ollie looooves his Sophie Giraffe. Great teether toy!
Trenton scored with Transformers and pirate toys.
And the Giants lost. Big time.
Oliver's fever was gone by the day after Christmas, and he got a bit of a red bumpy rash all over his body. I remember T having the same thing some time back. Glad to say that he is now fine, except for the occasional whiny-ness associated with teething.
Mommy appreciates a good night's sleep, as well as a nap.

The Video Everyone Is Talking About...

Super Imma Be Dance from Sheryl Konopack on Vimeo.

Look Who's Talkin'

Okay, so I realize that I haven't posted in awhile. (And that the kid has noticeable boogers in each of these pictures...) We've been busy with holiday traveling and all the other things that come with the holidays... Most of you I actually saw face-to face! But I'm going to make it up to you and blog aplenty today!

First things first, guess who decided to make incredible advancements this week? Yup! Not only is he cutting two more teeth (bottom molars), he's figured out how to walk just a leeetle bit more. He took 15 steps at the Bluesteen's house this week. He's totally mastered several words, moreso in consistency than clarity, including:
all done, up, bird, ball, Momma, Dada, Ten-ten, no, woof-woof (for dog), Elmo, book, and ut-oh. He even said "block" after I gave him one and told him what it was. It is not uncommon to see him pulling a book off the shelf and reading it to himself. Or asking someone else to read it to him.

Thinking about giving him a haircut soon, as it is getting pretty long in the back, especially around collard shirts. But it is totally in-style now for boys to have longer hair, and lord knows I luuuv his hair... So we'll see. Maybe soon.

Oy, Jersey

Ranking #49 on the happiness scale in this study. Bah. A little grumbling is good, now and again... Besides, we all do it.

Producing towns where crazies such as these (note, they are NOT actually FROM Jersey) can find their 5 minutes of fame... Luckily, we were only in Seaside twice last year, and I don't think we saw the t-shirt shop they were working in (or the cameras) around...

I thank my lucky stars that I don't have to worry about raising a girl, although I do admit to letting my kids interact with more technology and screen-time than I'd like. Ollie can wiggle the mouse just as well as the next one-year-old, I'm sure... he is INSISTENT that he holds it whenever he is on my lap.

The next few days will be a blur, with Christmas Eve with the Lacinas, Christmas Day here and with the Wilsons/Konopacks, then further celebrations with the Konopacks, high-school friends of Jim, my college friends, and a trip to VA to see my oldest friends, Shairna and Cathy, and their families for New Year's. I'll post when I can! For now, you may enjoy watching this mindless, grainy video of what happens when Ollie wakes up from his nap early and Mommy is still finishing a blog post:

Waking Up from Sheryl Konopack on Vimeo.

T's School Christmas Party

Much like the Halloween party, T was NOT HAPPY to have to perform in front of the classroom and dozens of parents. Although he knew all the songs, he didn't want to leave my side, and only did so under threat of having to go home (bad Mommy, but it worked--- kinda).

Anyway, he sure perked up once the Big Guy in Red came in. See him sitting up front? Waited patiently until his present was pulled from the bag, too.

Afterward, we all ate waaaay too much junkfood for ten o'clock in the morning. ;)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dinner at Len and Tiff's

Tiffanie and Len invited up the family for dinner Sunday night. We dug the car out and made our way to Jersey City. I've never been to their place before and it was really nice and relaxing to spend time with them and our parents.
Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Tiff. But somehow, I got a lot of the dogs, Mabel and Tyrone. They kept the boys busy all night long.

Tiff: YOU ARE A GREAT COOK! We totally enjoyed the lasagna. And mom, thanks for the cookies. I have to work doubly hard today to burn those calories, somehow ;)



Trenton decided that the fish needed a name. So he called it Grub. Ha!

See you again on Christmas Eve, Uncle Len and Aunt Tiff!

Day Two of De BLiZzArD

Ahhh... so it snows all night long, after snowing all day long... didn't stop until about 8:30 on Sunday...
Here are some pictures taken when I got up. Around 5AM. Which is when we all get up now, thanks to Oliver.

Christmas lights were left on overnight.
All night long, all I kept hearing was the dang BEEP BEEP BEEP of some snow-moving-vehicle backing up. Actually, I'm still hearing it now, and we are a day removed from all of this.
The local kids had off of school today. Monmouth ran on a delayed start. Finals have to be rescheduled. Joy!
A view out the back window.
I had to fight back the snow as I opened the sliding door to take these, as it was crawling up the window thanks to all the wind.


Again, why wait to get out of pajamas?

Staying in, for now. You see, there was so much snow, it was significantly higher than Oliver. And I didn't want to lose him in it!
I'd say we got about 24 inches? Three feet? Hard to measure with the drifts...

Happy kid.

Face Full of Snow from Sheryl Konopack on Vimeo.

We kept piling up the snow from the cars and sidewalk onto the same spot. Therefore, it was about five feet high. T LOVED climbing up onto it.


Insisted we dig out the Santa Stars. And so we did.

As of now, it is 40 degrees and melting slightly. Thank god for 4 wheel drive. The roads are still a mess. Two lanes have become one. Slush has turned brown with salt. Kids are sledding down the big hill around the corner. And machines are still beeping...