Christmas Day 2009...

This was what our living room looked like after Santa came and went on Christmas Eve. Santa is so good to our children that the toys don't even fit under the tree... they are everywhere. :-) Ally's "pile" is close to the tree.. and you can see Luke's "loot" over on the other side of the room. Ally got a new dress for Felicity (one of her American Girl dolls). Santa brought back Kirsten, who was at the American Girl Doll Hospital. Wow how Santa rocks that he can do that. Santa also brought Mia's matching skirt for Ally, stands for all her dolls, two American Girl pets, Coconut and Licorice, a friendship bracelet making kit, books, a Bilibo and a bunch of other little items. We gave her some clothes, PJs and a Nintendo DS.



Santa brought Luke a Bilibo, a Mega Blocks table, a Sit and Spin, Chuck the Talking Truck (which he's afraid of) and a Little Tykes T-ball set (the fave!). His stocking was filled with books and little toys and candy... which he had to eat all of, first thing..... nothing like a sugar high first thing on Christmas morning! Smarties. Candy canes. Jelly Bellies. :-)


Santa is obviously a messy cookie eater. Scott says it's just cuz hes in such a hurry. He eats a cookie really fast... it crumbles all over... and he takes a gulp of the milk... not finishing it. :-)


Just a few short minutes later.... this is what comes of Santa's lovely "laying out of the toys." Nice..... Christmas destruction.... but... Ally did say over and over "This is the BEST Christmas ever!" So, it seems that Santa did good this year. :-)




We had Scott's parents over for Christmas breakfast, and made a breakfast quiche that turned out quite yummy.... then, we went over to his parents for dinner. We had cornish hens and it was really, really nice. Scott's brother, sister-in-law and kids were in from Kansas City and it was so nice to see them. Jane, Adam and Grace were there for a while too. We had a nice, low key day....




The kids were happy and gracious for their gifts. I was very pleased with how Ally acted. She can get a bit caught up in the gift portion of this season... and I feel like she was appropriately gracious. That can be so hard.....

Luke really got into the gift opening this year, which was nice! He was really more into just opening one gift and then giving that one all his attention.... it was adorable. I had to coax him to open other gifts. We gave him a Leap Frog toy that reads these books for him. No idea what it's called as Scott picked it out. He's not really that excited about it yet. But, that's okay. We are happy to put some stuff away and take it out over the next year. Between his birthday and Christmas, the boy has a lot of new stuff!!!!!!!!!!

So, yesterday, the kids and Scott cleaned out the playroom to make room for the new toys... and I am so freakin' happy to say that EIGHT bags of toys were taken out... and SEVEN big items.... NICE!!!!!!!!! The playroom is a bit more manageable now and definitely more organized thanks to my hubby!!! He has the patience for that stuff.... I am happy to start it... but would never actually finish..... :-)

Ally was really great about giving up some of her toys as well. Sure, some things were a battle... but then, she would say "Mommy, I don't play with this Barbie anymore and I'm sure some little girl who didn't get a new Barbie for Christmas would love her." Awe. Melt my heart Ally. What a sweetheart.....

She has her moments. I try to hold on to them. ;-)

A Christmas with Friends...

Each Christmas, or rather... around the Christmas season... we try to get together with our core group of college friends and families to celebrate together. Some years it works, others it doesn't. But, really... I can't think of too many years when we haven't made it work, some how, some way. Often, the troops gather at our house. One year we went to Chicago. But, it is always nice no matter where we are, or when we pull it together.

It started before we had kids. We gathered, exchanged adult gifts, had an actual "sit down" meal... and drank a whole lot more! This year, our group has grown by one, now that Kristen and Mark have Rhen, who is 9 months old. That's him, pictured above, enjoying his dinner. :-)

The fourth in our core group, Chelsea, was unable to make it from Chicago this year. Beth, Scott and their kids Isabel (6) and Eli (4) made the harrowing drive from Chicago. Kristen, Mark and Rhen live in Jackson. Times have changed. We had snacks and some meatloaf wherever we could find a spot to sit. Worked hard to feed the children something other than cookies and crap. We don't exchange gifts among us adults anymore... we buy for one another's kids. Way more fun anyway.... :-)

I did drink a decent amount. :-) Wine... of course....

It was just a nice evening... enjoying one eachother's company, laughing and watching our kids have so much fun together. Ally cried when Isabel had to leave. She enjoys spending time with her so much. It's so awesome for Beth and I to have little girls who are as close as we are... I hope it always stays that way. Luke and Rhen got into playing together as well... and as time passes, the months between them will shrink and they will be big boys playing together. Eli is not left out one bit, as you can see below... he loved playing dress up with the girls...

It was a wonderful, peaceful night of friends and great times....

Christmas Eve 2009...

We had quite the eventful Christmas Eve this year!!! What we thought might just be a quiet day... a little church.... a little family... a little Santa... turned out to make for quite the story!

We did spend the day at home to start out with. I was feeling really, really tired. Uncharacteristically so actually, so I laid down when Luke did and ended up sleeping for quite some time. Scott picked up the house from the gathering we had the night before (will post on that next!) and Ally was being angelic (Santa was watching of course!) so I slept... When I got up, I showered and got ready for church, which was at 5:00. We had to get there a bit early though. We were meeting some of my aunts and uncle, grandma and cousin at mass as it was being said in honor of my grandpa who passed away years ago.

Luke is not feeling well. At. All. We have been battling diarrhea for days. DAYS!!!!!! Since the previous Sunday.... and he has the worst rash in the world. Is generally grumpy and clingy. We can already see that church is going to be a challenge. This really rang true, when we're trying to leave the house and he's just having the meltdown of a century. Won't wear a coat. Has a complete FIT about his sweater (tries to pull it off as I put it on). Just complete meltdown mode about anything and everything. Ugh.

Off to church we go..... we get there and he doesn't even make it to the pew. He's just freaking out. Scott immediately walks out to the back of the church.... then, he tries the cry room. I am sitting with Ally... who of course, won't sit still. I am having challenges of my own.... but nothing like what Scott is experiencing. He tries to take Luke to the cry room. Luke will have none of this. There are no other kids crying in the cry room. It's like the quiet room. Quieter than the church itself. So, he takes him outside... no other choices here at this point.

Now, it's December. And it's Michigan. And it's DAMN COLD outside. He goes to the car, knowing full well, I have the keys, but hoping against hope that we forgot to lock it. Or something. Ha. Right. It's like breathing. I get out, I lock the car. No chance.

He then tries the playground.... he places Luke on a ride on toy on the playground... Luke just sits there, stiff and looks up at him, crying... and says "cold Daddy." Ugh. What to do?????

So.... Scott takes Luke... and they walk about half a block down to the only warm place he figures he can get in at 5:00 on Christmas Eve. A bar. Duffy's Bar to be exact. :-)

He goes into the bar, in his church finery. He is also wearing a brand new Kenneth Cole coat (gorgeous wool coat) that I brought him back from NYC. So... into VERY smokey bar he goes with a brand new wool nice ass coat (that will soak up the smoke like a sponge!) with a TWO year old - on CHRISTMAS EVE!!!! Everyone and I mean, EVERYONE looks at him. He asks if it's okay to bring Luke in... orders a beer and a basket of fries....

He said Luke was INSTANTLY happy when they went in the bar. Turns out my son is more of a bar kind of guy... than a church kind of guy. :-) So, for about an hour, Scott sits there at the bar, drinks couple beers, eats french fries and caramel corn (that the bartenders gave Luke) and has a great ole time....

I know none of this is happening until I check my phone after mass cuz I can't find Scott and Luke. I drive down to get them - and Ally sees where they have been and just loses it. She is convinced that Luke got to do something more fun that she did. She yells at Scott when he gets in the car. "Daddy - you took Luke to a bar and I had to go to CHURCH!!!! It was like being in PRISON!!!!" Nice. Real nice Ally.....

Then, she yells at him for smelling so bad. I chuckle at this. It's true. He does. ;-) He is of course PISSED at me for not coming to help him with Luke. I am all the while trying to deal with Ally. I think he must have things under control or he would come get me. But, of course, he can't come get me because Luke is having such a fit... that it would disturb mass.

MERRY. FREAKIN'. CHRISTMAS!!!! He is pissed at me... things are a bit tense.... but somewhere in the evening, he gets over it. Maybe it was the beer... or the shots we did later at my Grandma's... and the additional beer he had there.... Whatever it was... he worked through his anger... and we had a nice Christmas Eve. And, a GREAT story to share for years to come....

After mass/Duffy's (depending on who you are talking about)... we went over to my Grandma's and got together with some of my side of the family over there. Ally and Eugene enjoyed dancing to a singing reindeer....






Scott continued to drink.... PBR....


And we did some shots of a fabulous Polish honey whiskey with my Uncle Joe...



We attempted some family pictures...




And eventually, Luke cheered up enough to enjoy the evening... and a Christmas cookie or three!!!






All in all, it was a fun evening... and I like the Duffy's story. It cracks me up and rings so true of our life most of the time. Nothing ever quite turns out the way you think. It is not a picture perfect life... we don't have this fabulous easy going little family of four that can go to church together on Christmas Eve.... we have this crazy family of four that most days can't get our shit together... and we end up at the bar... and reeking of smoke... ;-) And, I am thankful for that craziness. Normalcy is so boring....... ;-)

Birthday Video...

Luke LOVED the dump truck from Aunt Christy and Uncle Daryl..... it made him hysterical.....

Luke is 2!!!

Yesterday, December 20... our baby boy turned 2!!!! Luke is 2 years old and I can hardly believe it. Where do two years go??? I swear to god it was just yesterday we were stuck in the hospital really concerned we weren't going to be home for Christmas! Since we came home to the pukes, maybe we SHOULD have stayed there. ;-)

We were so lucky to have lots of Luke's family come to his party to help him celebrate!!! We had a Maisy Mouse themed birthday party filled with pizza, cupcakes, streamers, balloons, party hats and little blowers (that were quite the hit with the two year olds). Aunty Christy and Uncle Daryl came from Taylor and brought him a Little People Dump Truck, which he absolutely LOVED!!!!! It made him giddy.... and we have a video of it that I will try to figure out how to post (haven't posted video here yet - yikes!). Great Aunt Pattie and Great Uncle Greg came and brought him The Snowman movie and a light up bear that made him grin ear to ear... this was especially helpful after he had opened Nana and Papa's gift of dinosaurs (and the Land Before Time movie), which roared and walked and scared the living crap out of him. :-)))))) It was quite comical. Nana was less than thrilled. But... he will grow into them and love them soon enough. We can put them away and pull them out another day.

Uncle Jane and Aunt Adam came and gave him a whole set of sports balls and a hat and gloves! Hopefully, a hat that he will keep on his head! Great Grandma Alberta (Baci) came and brought him a Deigo tent. Cousin Becky came and gave him pajamas (which he wore to bed that night) and an Elmo DVD. Great Uncle Joe and Great Aunt Cyndie and Eugene came and brought him a remote control fire truck!

He blew out the candles on his cupcakes like a PRO!!!! He loved that part and wanted to do it again. He really got into the gifts too... which I was wondering about. He got really into it and even performed for the group... to everyone's laughs. It's like it finally "hit him" that he could control a crowd of people. We have never seen him act like that before and it was really fun to see.

Mom, Dad and Ally gave him a Maisy themed gift. A stuffed Maisy Mouse, a couple books, a DVD, a Maisy Backpack and a dinner set. All-in-all, the kid made out like a bandit, and FIVE days before Christmas..... :-))))

Thank you to everyone for coming and enjoying Luke's big day with us. It was made so much more special by the people who were here!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Luke!! We love you!!!!!

Double Ugh...

WARNING: Graphic with a detailed discussion of bodily functions. Not for the weak...

I am home with Ally today. She was up ALL night, throwing up and, well.... having other issues too. :(

Yesterday at school, she got sick in the afternoon. Went to the nurse's office and didn't have a fever and didn't want to go home... so she obviously put her mind to it and forced herself well. She had her Christmas party yesterday and I think she would have been heart broken if she missed a minute of it. I can understand that. So.... she made it through the day and the evening. She really did seem fine yesterday at home. I still fed her dinner. We still had hot chocolate like I had promised her we would (with extra marshmallows!). And, she went to bed, no problems....

Then, like it always seems to happen... she started throwing up somewhere around 2 am. First time, she made it to the bathroom... then, I gave her a "barf bowl".... but, then, it started coming out the other end and she had no idea this was happening..... until it was happening! So... we had quite the mess on our hands... not once, not twice, but THREE times in a row. This incident required a complete change of clothing, bedding and in the end I finally forced her to wear a diaper! So, she's in one of Luke's diapers. Good thing she's a skinny girl! She was mortified, but after three accidents, even SHE said she wanted to wear it....

My heart breaks for her cuz she just gets so sad when she's sick. But, better NOW than this weekend or next week!!!!!!!!! We have a big McIntosh family Christmas party tomorrow. Sunday is Luke's birthday... then, next week is one thing after another......

Luke appears to have it as well... as the reports come in from my in-law's. Ugh. He felt warm this morning but I can't find my freakin' thermometer anywhere! Scott is also sick. I am the only healthy one. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! Let it stay that way. PLEASE GOD let it stay that way! Cannot afford to have this for the weekend..... let me enjoy my baby boy's birthday!

White Christmas...

This past Sunday afternoon, Ally and I put on our red and went to see White Christmas at the Wharton Center! Ally had been seeing advertisements on TV for the show and begging to go. I had also been wanting to take her to some sort of Christmas show, a LIVE show, this season as well. When I first checked for tickets though, they didn't have anything too great. We would have been up in the balcony... which was fine.... it's just for 60-some bucks a piece, I was hoping for something more....

So, I held out on the recommendation of a co-worker and sure enough... the week of the show, they released some tickets and we got Row D!!!! The seats were GREAT... and we were right up front for all the action... but not too close that you didn't appreciate all the big dance numbers!

Ally was in awe most of the show. When we first got there, she was just in awe of being in the theater. I just so love to see her excited for live shows like that. I will NEVER forget my first real theater experience with my mom! We went to see Les Miserables at Wharton and she too got GREAT last minute seats.... that show changed my life.... that sounds dramatic, but it's true! It made me LOVE the theater! I went on to see Les Mis at least four or five more times.... and start traveling all over to see shows. I've been lucky enough to see shows on Broadway a few times. LOVE IT!

I allowed Ally to pick out whatever she wanted at the "souvenir" table... and she chose a stuffed bear. Ugh. Okay. $25 for a bear. :-) But, she loves that damn bear. She hugged him all through the show........

We got chocolate at intermission.... and she was so glad that it wasn't "over yet!" She would get al ittle antsy at times, but for the most part, sat throught he show and enjoyed every minute. She would light up during the big dance scenes and just look over at me and smile. It was awesome.........

The hightlight by far though, was at the very end when the cast sings "White Christmas" and it actually "snowed" on us inside the theater!!!!!! At first it was snowing on the stage and Ally was in awe... and then, it started to snow on us. She just beamed.... it was worth every penny for that one moment............ so cool.................

She and I went to Mitchells afterwards for an early dinner. She loves shrimp. I have created a monster. Some of Ally's favorite foods are salmon and shrimp. The girl's got taste, what can I say? So... I enjoyed a glass of wine and some sea bass.... she enjoyed her grilled shrimp and the waiter gushed over how gorgeous she was and made her a special sundae. It was quite the perfect girl's day out!!!!!!!!

Ally must have thoroughly enjoyed it too... to the point of exhaustion... cuz she passed out cold on the way home!!!!

Fed Ex...

Today, I had a Fed Ex delivery at my doorstep when I got home. The Fed Ex man obviously has no issues with me. Has no hatred toward my porch. Is HAPPY to bring a package to my door.

I love the Fed Ex man.... what a good man...

Oh Christmas Tree...

Better late than never!!!!

Last Sunday we went and got our Christmas tree at Glei's... where we have gone each year that we have lived here in Concord. And that has been SEVEN YEARS! Holy cow! When did THAT happen!? Our "five year" house turned into seven. I would imagine many people are saying that these days....

At any rate. We took a look at our calendar and realized if we didn't go get the tree that day, we would have no time at all. The week that week was full of evening events for one or both of us, each night. The weekend was full. Then, it was the week before Christmas and that was just too late! So... we bundled up and loaded up the kids... and drove to Glei's...

It was absolutely freezing that Sunday!!!!!! Cold, cold, cold!!!!! We arrived and looked at all the freshly cut trees. Last year, we had such a debacle... that we decided to downsize our tree this year. We got a very nicely shaped little Douglas Fir. Let them know which one we wanted. We took the tag off the tree... and went inside to choose a poinsettia. While we had that wrapped and paid for them both, the fabulous customer service that is Glei's wrapped up our tree and strapped it to the top of our car!!!!! It was awesome!

We got it home and set it up in the house, but had to let it sit for a day before decorating it. "To let the branches fall" or some such thing. :-) This is Scott's "rule". It's hard on Ally cuz she's just so excited to get it and decorate it all... and since I am with her, it's hard one me too. :-) Our personalities are similar, her and I. Scott can wait. What crap! ;-)

So, we actually decorated the tree on Monday evening........ I already shared my Luke story. He was so funny with the "ball"... I love that kid! What follows is a series of pictures in complete REVERSE order of how they actually occurred. For some reason all my pictures uploaded backwards and I can't move them around. Frustrating....

So, I recommend scrolling down to the bottom and working your way up to enjoy the photo portion of this story! :-)

Luke loved to dance to the Christmas music and turn it up loud!

Luke loves to help!

Such helpers!

The kids being silly

Our adorable little man

The kids are very helpful putting up the lights!

The tree all strapped to the car!

A rare shot of mom and Luke!

Luke, Daddy and Ally

Luke all bundled up to get the tree! He can barely move in there!