The Gift

Although this post sounds like a family-only one, if you relish my embarrassment, then read on. You will enjoy it, I promise.

Last Thursday, we celebrated Christmas with Rob's parents. It was early this year because Chris and Sonya came in from Tampa and have to return before Christmas.

After all the presents had been opened, Cindy announced that she had one special gift left. She said it was something of Big Mama's, and there was only one, so we had to draw for the gift. However, it wasn't a one-time thing. The girls were supposed to regift to one another during the year, or at the very least by next Christmas. Since Julie was at home trying not to go into labor with the twins, it was just between Sonya and me.

I'm thinking a purse or some other personal item.

Maybe a beautiful piece of jewelry.

Perhaps a special photo album with lots of memories throughout Big Mama's life.

And I'm thinking... I want this gift. I looked at Sonya and sized her up. I could tell she wanted it too. Did she know what it was? I couldn't tell. But I knew by looking at her face that she would be willing to fight for the gift. Sure, she looked innocent--but that was the game plan. Then I thought, well thank goodness Julie is on bedrest, so I don't have to fight with both sisters-in-law. One relationship might make it through this "special" gift. Did Cindy really think about this before she decided to pit us against one another? Don't think so...

Then, I decided that if I were lucky enough to win, I was keeping this thing--whatever it was--all the way until next Christmas. And if Sonya was gracious when I won it, I might give it to her first. Sounded fair to me.

And the winner is....

Oh yes, I am the owner of a pair of red and black-lace panties and some sort of a bonnet. No, they are not super-sized boy shorts--these are granny panties. Where does one find red and black panties this size? I don't want to know. Apparently, Cindy found them in Big Mama's drawer. And apparently, Cindy thought they would be a very sentimental gift. What?!

I do like to win competitions, but I'm not really sure if I am the winner here.

Since opening the gift, I have adjusted my plans to keep this special gift for an entire year until next Christmas. If they are around this house another week, I'll be surprised. Heads-up Julie and Sonya!

Gingerbread House

I don't really remember making a Gingerbread house as a kid. (If we did--sorry Mom, my memory fails.) But, I thought it would be fun this Christmas. Maybe we could start a new tradition. Well, I think we did a pretty good job. Check out the pics below, and keep in mind that a 2-year-old decorated.

The beginning--note the concentration. John was very serious about this project.

As we went along, we stopped every 5 minutes or so to clean up. John didn't want the icing on his hands or his clothes. Building houses is a messy job, but someone has to do it.

I would say he definitely got the hang of lining up the gum drops along the edge. Yes, that would be my anal tendencies coming through in the next generation. Poor John. Poor John's-future-wife.

The finished project. No, it's not perfect, but close enough.

As soon as he finished, John didn't hesitate to begin eating. I don't think I've ever seen him on a sugar rush like that. Whew! We now limit him to a few pieces at a time.

And finally, the end. This is the part that my entire family gets backward (both Mom's and Dad's sides). You read the directions after you are done to see if what you did comes close. I can't vouch for Rob's entire family, but he apparently gets this gene from somewhere on his side too, because he only looks at directions after there is a problem. John has no hope. In the end, I think he concluded that winging it was better--he clearly liked his version better than the one on the box. Me too, buddy.

Behind the Times

Well, only in the area of Christmas cards. I've gotten at least 5 requests for our new address. And I expected this, since we have moved since last Christmas. My problem is that we haven't even taken our Christmas picture yet, much less put it on a jump drive and take it to the store. And then addressing all of them... Geez! Y'all will be lucky to get them by Valentines.

This is a short FYI post. Seriously, it will be a while before you get your cards. I'll try not to hold a grudge against all of you "on the ball" people.

Anyone else behind? (I don't want to hear from you if you've already sent them out. That would definitely turn me into Scrooge.)

Have you ever forgotten...?

Diapers.

See I was caught off-guard today. I had a hair appt scheduled while John was at school. About an hour before the appt, they called and asked if I could move it to 2. Um, no--that's nap time. How about 1:15? Suuuuurrre.

So I...
1. called Mema to have her meet me at school to pick John up (so he wouldn't flip when I wasn't there).
2. Prayed he would go happily with her. Yeah, I'm sure prayers weren't needed--he hopped in the car and said "Bye, Mommy!"
3. Realized when I put him in her car that he only had the diapers in his backpack. That should be 2, if he didn't have a surprise #2 while at school. Luckily, he hadn't and there were 2 diapers.
4. Vowed to run back home after the appt to get diapers.

Then...
5. After appt, I completely forgot the necessity for diapers in my rush to get to Mema's to put John down for a nap (it was 2:10).
6. After changing John's diaper, I put him down at the GP's house because we were going to eat with them. Note: this means 1 diaper left.
7. After dinner, John got a bath and I used the last diaper.
8. No prob, or so I thought--we were going home shortly.

Remember the #2 he didn't have at school? Yeah, it happened. No diaper. It was glue-poo, the kind you can't not clean up because it will leave a hefty rash (especially after the fruit he devoured at lunch).

So, clever Mema and Kacky decided we would use pins and a dish towel (no one seemed to have cloth diapers laying around, but somehow found 2 diaper pins). I left the mess of toys, got everything together, and got home as quickly as possible.

Just in time, because he was in the process of drenching the make-shift diaper. I so wanted a picture, but he was about to drench his pants as well, so I had to quickly change him.

Anybody else ever forgotten something and brought about a similar, panicky situation? The last time I felt so Mommy-incompetent was when we went to the Vandy/Bama B-ball game in 2007, and I brought a bottle, pumped in the car, and noticed I had forgotten a bottle-nipple.

Today's grade in Mommyology: F

Roll Tide!

After the domination at Bryant-Denny Stadium this past Saturday, I just have to tell you all how close we are to one of the greatest Bama traditions... Big Al. He and John party all the time. See the picture below-this is after they got "high" on Dippin Dots.

Yes, this is from a game we went to in September, BB or Before Blog--I would not let my child wear shorts in this freezing cold weather! And yes, I am excited about being able to hold up 7 fingers instead of Auburn (this is their 7th loss of the season instead of them beating us for the 7th year). And yes, that is the lame excuse I'm using to post one of my favorite pictures.

Shout out to my boys.