Sibling love

In my effort to be a better blogger, I often forget to post about things I really want to post about.   This actually happened a couple weeks ago, just before Christmas.

 

JJ and I were getting ready to leave to do a little shopping. Kathryn was upset that we were leaving so JJ got down to her level and told her that she was going to be OK and that we'd be right back (he is such a good big brother!).  Then he gave her a hug.  She walked away and turned around and walked right back into his arms.

 

ME: Oh, you guys are melting my heart!
JJ: No we aren't.  We are hugging. That makes your heart bigger.

 

Melting. Melting all over the place.

I won! I won! I won!

So, if you'll remember, last year was the first year I played Fantasy Football and I got 3rd place.

 

I played again this, in two leagues this time, and I got 1st and 2nd!  Can you even believe that?? First place!!

 

 

It's amazing how much you can learn about football just based on playing in a fantasy league. And watching the games helps too :0)  I love that this is something I can share with my husband now. He's always been into football and I never really cared much. Now, its another thing we can do together.

In this moment

  

Everyday you're on the go

Always some place to be

Another toy to play with

Another book to read

 

On the move.

 

Growing too fast, running from here to there

Gathering independence by the moment

You're laughter rings throughout the house

Lots of noise

Toys scattered everywhere.

 

But just for now you've stopped

You lay still, quiet in my arms

Calm

Listening to the sound of my heart beating for you

Hoping you're soaking up the moments the way I am.

Here comes Santa Claus

Every year, Culver City PD comes around the neighborhoods with Santa so all the kids can meet him and take pictures and such. It's a very cool thing our city does. 

Last night was our neighborhood's turn and right when we heard the sirens from the patrol cars, we took JJ over to meet Santa Claus. He was looking forward to it all day. Of course when it came time to do it, he completely freaked out. He didn't want to have anything to do with Santa. So we walked back home.

I asked JJ why he was so scared. I reminded him that he was excited earlier in the day and Santa is going to go back to the North Pole. His response? "Maybe I should try again. I don't want him to go back to the North Pole." 

So we walked back to the sleigh and he was a totally different kid. He was laughing and singing and really excited to talk to Santa. 

Since I went back by myself, one of the guys with Santa offered to take our picture. He took a ton. His finger was blocking every single one. Ugh. I'm glad I decided to take this selfie!

I told him I was proud of him for going back. He said he was proud of himself too. :0)

Jingle Bell Rock

So on Friday night, JJ had his first school Christmas program and it was as adorable as you would imagine. 

JJ's class sang Jingle Bell Rock, which has also been ringing throughout our house for the past couple weeks. 

We were supposed to stay for a spaghetti dinner afterwards (which we had already bought our tickets for), but the show started 30 minutes late so by the time the show was done, so was Kathryn. 

Hint to all preschool directors planning Christmas programs: don't plan for a bunch of 4 year olds to do a program starting at 6:00 the day after a full day of school. Also, do a sound check.

Other than that, it was pretty great and I'm a proud mama!

Blogging Anxiety

I started this blog almost 5 years ago and I've gone through spurts of consistent blogging. Then I've gone through spurts of not-so consistent blogging. I tell myself every year that I'm going to be better at keeping it up and every year I fall short. I start to feel anxious about the response.

The thing is, even if I think of something to write, my first thought is "no one cares about that." So I usually just let it go. The funny thing is, I follow a blog called The Sonia Show (I've written about it before). It is one of my favorite blogs and I really look forward to her posts. Is she writing anything earth shattering? No. Is she thought-provoking and controversial? Not really. She is just writing about her daily life in San Francisco with her husband, her adorable son, and dog named Homer. Reading her blog is like chatting with a friend. She's funny and sometimes makes stand-up comedian like observations, but when it comes down to it, she's just writing about daily life for her. And I eat up every word.

So why would I view myself any differently? Why would I assume that no one wants to read my blog about random things when I love reading someone elses? I think I am way too focused on the statistics page and how many people read each post. I know I will get about 2 readers for posts I don't share on Facebook and about 40ish for posts I do share. I rarely, if ever, get comments. But still, whenever I abandon a blog idea, I feel a little sad. So for you, my two readers, I will continue and try better to keep up the posts.

New bathroom!

This was a long and arduous process, but I am beyond happy to report our newly remodeled bathroom is finally done! 

We knew we wanted to redo this bathroom when we first bought the house and the fact that it's here now is still a bit hard to believe. We saved and saved for this so we are thoroughly enjoying it! 

We ended up knocking out our closet and building two new ones. It's a bit less closet space, but it's easier to use and much better! And besides, it's probably about time I got rid of some of my old clothes anyway!

It went from tiny, ugly, outdated, and inefficient:

To bigger and beautiful! (And my bedroom is more organized than it's ever been! Bonus!)