Christmasy Things & Etc.

What? Christmas is this week? How did that happen?! The one problem with doing all your Christmas shopping online during the week of Thanksgiving is that removing yourself from the constant commercialization and stresses of holiday shopping kinda makes Christmas seem a little less imminent. That plus the regular chaos of having a new baby (and two other kids), has kind of let time slip away from me. I guess this is an appropriate time to also admit that my heart has been a little TOO busy preparing for the clinching of a Seahawks playoff spot and slightly less focused on preparing for the birth of Jesus. Ooops. My bad.

Jon in his football Sunday best...right down to the shoes!

But we have our Christmas tree and our decorations up. For the record, when you don't have a mantle, the TV is an appropriate place to hang your stocking. My Someday Dream Home will have a real mantle, with a real fireplace. Also a gigantic jetted tub. And a dishwasher. And a shower that rains liquid chocolate and an indoor swimming pool filled with chocolate bars. I really don't think I'm asking too much.

Stockings were hung by the TV with care:

Last week I made Jonathan's Christmas stocking. This might sound kind of lame, but once I found out we would be having another baby, one of my biggest worries was whether I would be able to make his stocking in time. You see, I'm a teeny bit lazy. I've been known to leave dry clothes in the drier for an entire week. Or turn my underwear inside out when I run out of clean ones (seriously, true story). Or use my socks to wipe up spilled milk instead of getting a towel. Also, up until last week and for the first two Christmases of his life, Ryan's stocking had been incorrectly labeled with the letter "M" - we were going to name him Marcus. And to top off examples of my laziness, I even tried to convince my husband to name Jonathan "Marcus" so that I wouldn't have to fix the stocking.

My babies. Pictures of the three of them together still take my breath away. I have three kids? That's crazy! Heart-splosion.

This little stinker reminds me so much of Jacob. Or at least how I remember Jacob looking when he was a baby. I stare at him sometimes and have to convince myself that I haven't been transported back into time or given birth to the same baby twice. But lately, Jonathan has been developing his own look. I can't wait to find out whether his eyes stay dark, dark blue or if they change brown. I (the super Aryan who is 3/4 German with blue eyes and dark blonde hair) have always wanted a brown-eyed baby).

On Wednesday, I accompanied my husband to an work event in Seattle for local nonprofits. We were kid-free for about five hours. I had two full glasses of wine. I wore something other than yoga pants. And no one talked about poop or baby farts. It was AMAZING. 

The event was held at the Seattle Art Museum. And for several hours, my husband and I wandered slightly tipsy throughout the museum chatting with real adults, sipping on alcoholic beverages, scratching our heads at the weird modern art (I could just frame Jacob's drawings and hang them on the wall and no one would be any wiser), nibbled on heavy appetizers, and enjoyed each other's company. 

Nine months of pregnancy plus two months of nursing has clearly made me out-of-shape for the modern sport of drinking. Two glasses of Pinot Gris and this is what happened on the ferry ride home (photo credit to my lovely husband, who is always there to capture my best moments):

Sexy, no?

Because Christmas came early for us exhausted, kid-overdosed adults, my husband and I got to go on another date on Saturday. We met up with two couples in Seattle for dinner and it was almost the best night of my life. No joke. Again, I had two glasses of Pinot Gris, which I've decided is my new favorite drink. The night was amazing for several reasons. For one, this happened:

Tipsy pose with ice snowman:

I may have taken a NSFW photo with the snowman's large carrot nose. But I think I'll spare you all (Merry Christmas). It was also amazing for the fun conversation and non-stop laughter and our attempts to turn all the menu items into something dirty. For example, there was a tuna poke, a cocktail called the Chimney Slip (when you slip and go in the wrong entrance and leave presents under someone's tree, wink, wink), and something called a beef cheek?

I love hanging out with this guy. And *sometimes* (when I'm not trying to make out with ice snowmen) he even likes hanging out with me too.

So now that we have all that good, clean adult fun out of the way, I am excited about facing this next week with a refreshed mindset. I can't wait to relive all the Christmas magic through my kids' eyes.  I have to admit that for as much as I despise the damn Elf on the Shelf trend, I really truly love how excited my kids are each morning to find their elf. I brought the elf out of the Christmas storage box only reluctantly this year. But the kids' excitement and wonder started to rub off on me and *shame face* I actually look forward to thinking up new elf ideas.

If they are this excited about a silly elf, I can't wait to see how excited they will be the morning after Santa arrives. Speaking of which, we have a teeny, little problem:

Hell no! No baby cats (aka: kittens) in this house for Christmas. I very rationally explained to Jacob that he didn't ask Santa for a baby cat when he sat on his lap the week before. I thought I was in the clear, until Jacob equally rationally responded: "Well, if Santa knows if I've been naughty or nice, he will know I want a baby cat." Um...... Maybe I can find a stuffed animal kitten and tell Jacob that he never specified that he wanted an ALIVE baby cat. Sorry dude, Santa's not a mind reader.

And now I will end this post with a Christmas miracle. Yesterday Ryan asked to hold Jonathan (Jacob and Ryan often fight over who gets to hold Jon). I set Jonathan on his lap and Ryan asked me to take a picture. I refused at first because 2 year olds and 2 month olds are not the best subjects even on the best of days. But Ryan was insistent that I take a picture and some battles you just don't need to fight. So I set up my phone, told Ryan to smile, and half-heartedly snapped the shot. It wasn't until I looked at the final product that I realized the miracle that I had captured. Not did Ryan actually smile, but JON smiled too! 

And now this is my new absolute favorite picture (thanks Ryan for being so stubborn).