Christmas Recap...

Suprise! Guess who's behind on blogging? Not me...check out my sister-in-law's blog- She hasn't blogged since July... haha! Okay, no I am a bit behind, so I'll try to recap our Christmas Vacation as brief as I can be.

This year Rob and I decided that we would stay home for Christmas Eve and morning just as a family. I'm glad we did, but I have to admit I found myself extremely depressed Christmas Eve day. Christmas Eve is supposed to be a big deal, cookies should be in the oven and being decorated, presents getting wrapped, lots of family bustling around and chatting it up getting ready for the Big Christmas Day. But this year...Rob and I spent Christmas Eve day alone (well Grayden and Riley were with us...but you know what I mean) and what did we do on our first Christmas Eve day in Tennessee?? We cleaned the garage. It was close to 60 degrees which is just a sin for someone who grew up off of Lake Erie where lake effect snow is absolutly gorgeous and perfect for Christmas eve and day!- but no....it was 60 degrees here in warm, sunny Tennessee, so instead of cozing up near a fireplace watching Christmas movies, drinking hot chocolate and cookies in the oven- we cleaned out our garage. Yay for us! We can finally park in the garage. But BOO for non-Christmasy like Christmas eve. I guess it's official....I'm officially an adult. Does the Christmas spirit really leave after you have a child and turn 26? It appears so. Anyway- the real joy was Christmas morning- watching Grayden's excitement as he stumbled into the living room that morning and saw that for some reason unknown to him, that there was huge John Deer Tractor and an awesome retro Kitchen set next to the tree. He loved opening gifts- I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Fast Forward: We drove to Louisville Christmas day for the Hartman Christmas at Danny and Jenna's. Glad to get to spend a little time with them- although time with the sisters and brothers is NEVER long enough. We've got to plan more sister/brother trips. Grayden got spoiled by his Nana and Papa with presents, kisses, hugs and attention. (And I got a sweet new camera! Thanks Phyllis!!)Drove to Dayton Saturday- 26th, for Mamaw's 80th birthday- so we could spoil the mess out of her...which we did and she deserved all of it. Drove back to Louisville to spend more sister/brother and nephew time with Danny and Jenna, and then returned home late Sunday night.  (Ps. I got a nasty GI bug Friday that continues to last until oh....Wednesday Dec 30th- GROSS).

Fast Forward: Wed Dec 30th--- GI bug forces me to MD where I get prescription. We are supposed to leave for Dayton, OH- but have to cancel because I'm on the toilet. Too much info? Yes. Thursday, New Year's Eve... Pack up car at 7:30-8:00...Start Road trip. Pit stop in Dayton 2-3:30 to see Rob's Grandpa and Grandma- (Pap and Great Nana), eat some snacks, change a few diapers and let Grayden run his legs. 6:15 arrive at Toledo Zoo for Lights "before" (actually it would be after) Christmas where we met my mom, her new husband...Bill, brothers and sister and neice- including the newbie stepbrothers and sister and nephew. Enjoyed the freezing cold and the lights... Highlight? Grayden dancing to the musical lights and his face when he saw the gianormous train set display. 11:30 pm- arrive in Grand Blanc, MI (mom's new digs)- just in time for the ball to drop. New Year's Day was actually our second Christmas day- complete with Christmas dinner, football, and presents. Sorry Mom and Bill for leaving the basement trashed with our boxes and torn up wrapping paper! Oopps! Mom was sick most of New Years Day (flu, strept throat= confinement) and the day following, so unfortunatly we didn't get to spend much time with her... But I did get lots of brother/sister niece time which was well needed. And I got to feel my sister's belly kick!! Yippee! Yep, Mandy's having another baby girl- due end of March (sorry I forgot the acutal due date). Jan 2nd: 5:00 pm- depart Grand Blanc 9:30 pm arrive in Dayton, OH, Mamaw's house. We spent Sunday morning with Mamaw and aunts, uncles, cousins; time well spent. :) And departed for home at 3:30 (eastern). Arrived at home 8:00 (central) after stopped traffic and detours north of Nasvhille. All in all- It was totally worth the exhaustation we are now suffering to see all our family. Now if you all would just move a little more south...I think we'd be all set!! Christmas pictures below... But I'll warn those who stalk my facebook- they are the same photos (it's just convenient that way...)

Oh and I'll also post some post-Christmas photos, since they are snow pictures and look like Christmas photos~(and I couldn't get these pictures in correct, sequential order, so here they are in random order!!)

The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All To Hear

I love Christmas. I love Christmas trees, stockings, red and green decor, and Elf. Perhaps, my favorite thing about Christmas is the fact that I can watch, rewatch, and watch Elf. As many times as I want.And I do. "Bye, Buddy, hope you find your dad." "Then who do they think put the presents under the tree, I suppose they think parent's do that too?"... Oh. I love it. "What's a Christmas Gram? I want one!" See, I've got you in the spirit now, too, don't I? Thought so.

Anyway, Christmas is 2 weeks away, and I still haven't posted about Thanksgiving...So here's the quick, yep, quick, (I promise) run-down. Rob's parent's came for Thanksgiving. It was the smallest Thanksgiving get-together I've ever been at. It was quiet, relaxing, and the food was great (thanks to my awesome cooking skills). So, there you have it. That was our Thanksgiving day. Ah, I couldn't let you off that easy. We really did have a great time with them, despite my horrible redbox movie picking skills. First, in my defense, there is nothing out. Second, it was Thanksgiving, so any movie worth renting was already gone. So here is my terrible, mortifying, red-box experience: So, Thanksgiving night...Rob and I head to redbox to get a movie for Dave and Phyllis (Rob's parents) and us to watch...We get to the Box: Skim through the movies, and nothing jumps out at us....I know that Rob's mom likes a good chick flick, so the movie dummy in me suggests "The Ugly Truth", Rob says, nah, probably not, And I say, oh why not? It looked like a good little chick flick....This was my first mistake, to ignore my husband's sound advice...He still disagrees with me, but says okay...I realize after we've checked it out, that it's rated R for S-E-X or related info. Oops. Mistake number 2, always check ratings first. So, we get home and I give the big disclaimer: "I may have made a poor choice....I didn't realize the rating". Phyllis asks what we got, tells us she already has seen it, but we can decide for ourselves...Mistake number 3: Letting mother in law convince you to watch R-rated movie with her and her husband in room!!!... Let's just say if you have not seen this movie; Don't. Unless you enjoy disgustingly, crude, horrible, mortifying sexual innuendos and awkward scenes. Rob's parent's were good sports like always....I believe Rob's dad stated "Well it could be violence...violence is much worse" Thank you David, for your kind words, but no violence is not worse than watching a gross, crude movie with your in-laws. The next day, I attempted to redeem myself with another Redbox...Let me just say I picked the most boring and dull movie ever...I accept the fact that I am now fired from EVER picking a movie. 

On a good note: My nephew Luke turned 1 last month and we got to celebrate his birthday with him the day after Thanksgiving... Pictures below. Funny story regarding Luke's party. Grayden had his own partay that day, when he decided to eat the icing of 3 (I'm guessing, I lost count here) cupcakes. The party that followed that party included several nasty smelling green and blue diapers. Note to self, blue and green icing in excess doesn't digest well- causes stinky poo, and can lead to diaper rash.

I'm also including a few pictures from the past few weeks, but another disclaimer: Grayden is a terrible picture taker. He refuses to be still for more than 5 seconds and my camera takes 20 seconds to take a picture. Problem? Yes?

And I'll leave you with another line of the best Christmas movie ever, "I'm singing...I'm in a store and I'm SINGING!".

Fall Recap: We've been Busy, Busy, Busy!

We've fallen off the blogging world again...But we're back with a quick, brief (ok, so when have my blogs ever been brief?) recap...


Recap: Halloween
Grayden settled on the pirate costume. It was just too cute and his Gr'ma got it for him so it had special meaning... He did great with the trick or treating, although he did have a lot of practice between "Ghouls at Grassmere" (trick or treating at the zoo for those who don't live in Nashville), "Trunk or Treating" at the church, and of course the random trick or treating we did in our living room. A friend I work with invited us over to Leiper's Fork for a hayride, bonfire, hotdogs (only 4 a year! Okay, so it was probably my 6th...) and "trick or treating" in downtown Leiper's Fork. Grayden did well on the hayride...he almost seemed frozen the entire ride...expressionless. As far as the "trick or treating" Grayden would march up to the front stoop or door with his pumpkin basket and start stomping his feet. It was like he was doing a little jig. Once the candy was dropped in the basket, he would look at it, and start doing the jig again. So, the person with the candy would put another piece in, and he'd start jigging again. We finally realized that he wanted us to actually take the candy out and let him eat it.... he didn't quite get the concept that you are actually supposed to take your candy home and save it for the rest of the year... (yes this is the dietitian in me, who believes that all little boys and girls understand moderation and only eat 1 piece of their halloween candy after dinner each day). Overall, he did well and I was quite proud of how brave he was to walk up to the door all by himself- he's such a big boy. Oh- and I almost forgot to mention our Halloween morning visitors that stopped by! Sisters, Jenna and Lynsi, and my sweet nephew Luke (Jenna's mom tagged along too) came by for a quick visit. The boys were so cute together, and I really enjoyed the Hartman sister reunion...it doesn't happen enough... The both of them truly are blessings in my life!!

Recap: Wedding #1

So....for those of you who may not know the story of a woman who was widowed for 5 years and swore she'd never find anyone who would marry her....My mom got engaged in August and is now MARRIED. Yep, Mom met someone who WOULD marry her (like, who wouldn't? She's awesome.) Mom got married on November 7th up in cold Michigan, although it was kinda warm there that weekend (thank goodness, my new nashville bones don't like cold...although I do miss snow). Mom's wedding was gorgeous; and she's happy. And the guy she married, (Bill, for those who are still saying, what!?)- well Bill, he's not so bad, (hehe) and I'm glad she's found someone to make her happy... I decided not to comment on how weird, surreal, strange, did I say weird? it is to stand up behind your mom as she says I do, and then the kiss the bride thing....yeah, we won't talk about that.

                                                                 

Recap: Wedding #2

Grayden learned to breakdance and do the cupid shuffle the next weekend at our second wedding of the month. My BFF (haha)- Christa got married on Nov 14th...and it was one of the most fun weddings I've been to. First, it was in Florida...beautiful, sunny Florida. Second, the bridesmaids were awesome, I didn't know 3 of them beforehand so I was sure it would be a little awkward, but no- they were incredible, like I totatlly think we're all BFF now. :) All in all, it was a perfect and gorgeous wedding and I felt so honored to be a part of it!

I think that's enough recapping for now: I'll try to do better and I'm only posting limited pics because that's all I have (my camera blows...it doesn't really work)- so these are all hijacked pics. I'll post more soon...or at least I'll intend to.

Halloween Costumes = Traumatized Grayden

Rob and I bought Grayden a pirate costume for Halloween only to find out that he hated it. He refused to wear the hat, cried uncontrollably when we attempted to put on the jacket, and ran away everytime the costume came into view. Yesterday, a friend from work gave me a Mickey Mouse costume to try, just in case the Pirate wouldn't work. So last night, we attempted the Mouse costume. He hated it too.





For a little while anyway....after several minutes of Rob and I cheering, he finally started to enjoy it.







Rob was extremely weary of the Mouse costume...our son is a boy; a warrior, a fighter, a TRUE boy. But we both had to admit he looked pretty awesome. Since Grayden seemed to get over his fear of the Mouse costume, I thought it would be a good idea to try the Pirate costume again. I laid him on the bed, took of his sweatpants, and put on his brown pirate pants... SUCCESS! No crying yet; so I preceded to put on the jacket...okay a little whimpering, but no crocodile tears yet. And then the hat, Nothing! Not a tear, not a cry...no screaming. SUCCESS! I put him on the ground... and Oh no! And they came: the biggest crocodile tears I have ever seen. And the screaming... it hurt my ears.



After a few minutes of uncontrolable sobbing, a hug from Dad, and a excitable rascal named Riley, the tears and screams subsided and came laughter! He likes it! He does like being a Pirate!


So now here's our dilema... Pirate or Mickey?

It's been suggested that we take him trick or treating twice... once in each outfit. And I think I may be leaning towards that decision the more I consider that we would be getting TWICE the candy! More for me! (Ok- I'll share with Rob too...)

A MUCH Needed Vacation: Destin 2009

I realize this post is a little overdue, but I couldn't not(double negative) post about our fantastic and wonderful vacation we took back in August. So here's a short (maybe long) commentary of our much needed relaxing vacation.


We got invited to tag along with our friends Adam and Kaleigh Crow and their kids (Reagan, 3, and Brayden, 1) to spend a long 7 days at a condo right off the beach at a resort near Destin. We hesitated to go, contemplating costs and time off- but with the condo/resort price being split 3 ways (I forgot to mention that Adam's hilarious and outgoing parents were going to be tagging along), it seemed to good of a deal to pass up. So we agreed, and we are so glad we did.

We left early on a Saturday morning. We had to take three vehicles, since our family of 3, the Crow family of 4, and the senior Crow family of 2 wouldn't all fit in a single vehicle (yet alone, any of our sedans). It was about an 8 hour drive and we left early enough to get to Destin around 2:00 (for the 80 mile hour club) and 3:00 (for the 65-70 mile hour club). We headed to the beach that afternoon, and I don't think we ever left. Okay, we didn't actually spend the entire 7 days on the beach the whole time, but it sure felt like it. Here's a few pictures from the first day at the beach:

Rob and Reagan could hardly wait to get in the water...who needs swimsuits?



Grayden loved it!

Overall, we had great weather, minus the tropical storm that hit Sunday evening. Luckily we only lost one beach day, and there wasn't any major damage. I did get to see my friend Christa while we were there; she drove up from Pensacola to spend the rainy Monday (following the tropical storm on Sunday) with us. It was a perfect day for outlet shopping.


Each morning (minus the 1 rainy) day started with Tommy and Susanna (Adams' hilarious and outgoing parents) making a fantastic breakfast, everyone scrambling to pack up every sand toy, towel, beach chair, coolers filled with drinks, tents, etc. and head to the beach. (we got smart by day 2, and smarter on day 3, and extremely smart by day 5- our load began to shrink each day.) We'd spend a good 2 hours at the beach, come back to a fantastic lunch (again usually prepared by the fabulous Tommy and Susanna), and then head to the pool. Adam and Rob are sissies and don't love to be out in the sun all day, so it worked out great for Kaleigh and I, because we'd leave the kids at the condo with the boys, and head to the pool to layout. We were definetly spoiled, and I got to read 3-4 books on the trip. (Yes I finished the Twilights...don't judge). Sometimes it's good to have sissy husbands who don't like the sun.

Each evening, we'd pick a different restaurant to try (I had some terrific seafood- Mahi Mahi may be my new favorite food), and close out our evenings with late night game night and stuff your face with leftovers, cookies, ice cream, and goldfish - or what we called the evening munchies. It was ridiculous, but oh so worth the 4# I gained. And yes I am a dietitian, back off. I like to eat too. And "IT WAS VACATION!"


The week was also filled with some go carts and putt putt. But overall, it was one of the most relaxing weeks I've had. It was a much needed vacation for all of us and I appreciated the stress-free company we had. We may need to make it an annual event...Crow, Senior Crow, and Hartman vacation 2010, here we come!

Pictures below:

The outrageous, hilarious, and fantastic Tommy Crow


Rob and Grayden at Gator Beach. yep, free gators for our viewing pleasure.


On the pier




Pineapple Willies. Yum.

Grayden loved the beach.


The Crows

The Hartmans

Grayden and Brayden in their matching floaties.

Reagan and Jen go carting!

Okay...sorry it was a long commentary. I'm not known for being very brief about anything, yet alone story telling.