Santa Claus

We have been planning and talking about meeting Santa for weeks.  I think I have been the most excited about it as I dreamed about getting a few great photos of the boys with Santa Claus.  

When we first got to the mall last night, Santa was taking a short 10 minute break.  We waited patiently for him and I even snuck the boys into Santa's chair while we waited.

 For the life of me I could not get both boys to look at me at the same time or keep their hands our of their mouths and keep their eyes open.  My unphotogenic gene has been passed down to my boys.  And their father's dislike of getting pictures taken was passed down too.  Double whammy.

Finally we saw Santa walking down the long hallway.  And much to my disgust he was wearing a USU Aggie Football Jersey instead of his big red coat.  What in the world?  Now I am an Aggie fan like the rest of the town but I did not want Santa wearing one for the pictures.  My dreams of a great photo really went out the window.  And if it were any place but the small, local mall I would have complained!

Carter was actually really nervous to see Santa.  I pushed him towards Santa and he said "Let Jackson go first."  But with another gentle push and reassurance he jumped right up onto Santa's (or deranged Aggie Fan) lap.

 Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas and he told him a "Bucky Pirate Ship."  Phew!  Santa asked if there was anything else and he just said "And some other things."  That will be easy to take care of!

Finally a decent shot, although Carter is looking to the side of the camera and not me.

Now Jackson's turn.  I knew it would be ugly.  I knew it would get loud.  I knew my time was limited.

Jackson screamed bloody murder and tried his hardest to escape this stranger.  He has an extreme fear of strangers and crowded places these days.  Can you imagine how fun and successful nursery and the daycare at the gym have been!?!

Santa was a good sport though and smiled away as I snapped some pictures.  I didn't even try for a shot of the 4 of us together given the screaming baby and the weirdly dressed Santa.  I could get over the fact that his teeth and beard were the same color of weird yellow and that he was missing more teeth than I imagined Santa should be.....but the Aggie jersey was the biggest disappointment!

I can tell that Jackson and Carter are of the same mold as I look at this picture of Carter.  Taken at 18 months old as well.  He wasn't a fan of Santa either!

And look at this woman dressed up as Santa.  Come on Cache Valley Mall, surely there is someone better out there!

Dec 2011-Same Santa as this year.  The yellow beard and hair were a dead give away.  Although I didn't notice them when he's wearing the right clothing!

                                      
2010.  The 4 of us.  Jax is hiding.
I like comparing our photos of Santa year after year.  One year we will get a great one.  One great enough to use as a Christmas Card.  Until then, no Christmas cards!

November til Now

 November was a busy month.  So many things happening.

 Simon, our Elf on the Shelf showed up.  Carter is obsessed with him.  The first day he arrived Carter came screeching into our room first thing that morning and yelled "I have the best news!  Simon is finally here!"  Carter is very good about not touching the magic elf but kept waving his Christmas List in front of him so he'd be sure to tell Santa everything on his list.

The second day Simon brought matching Pajamas for the boys.  Carter is really taking this Elf thing seriously this year.  He is quick to do nice things for us and then asks "Did Simon see me do that?!"  He does not however, ask that when he's done something not so nice.  I guess he figures Simon misses those things!
 
Early November brought a new house for our family.  We packed and moved 7 miles up the road to Smithfield!  And we love it up here.  The best part of the move is the beautiful views we have of the valley.
                                       

                                         Sunsets are the best.
With the colder weather, we've been spending more time inside.  Jackson and Carter already know how to make each other mad............

 Jackson dancing on Carter's game of Candy Land.  Made Carter so mad!  I don't know why he loved to do this but he loved it!  (Pants are overrated!)

 Carter playing with his Monster Trucks.  He's been obsessed with them since he went to the Derby in September with Neil.  I believe this trucks name is Bone Crusher.  He often asks me if we can't put Jackson in crib or high chair so he can play in peace.  He even nicknamed Jackson "The Beast."  And it's kind of stuck.  And a little fitting.

When the boys aren't fighting over toys they play kind of nicely together.  Carter loves to hide on the stairs and jump up and scare Jackson.  The problem is that Carter doesn't know how to play a little softer with Jax.  But we're working on it.

Carter kept begging to set up our Christmas decorations and after just moving and spending days unpacking, the last thing I wanted to do was set up decorations but I couldn't be a scrooge forever.  He was a great helper and has rearranged the tree for me several times!  Who knew that all the ornaments clumped together, about 3 feet high could look so good?!

                                    
He was very particular on what stocking holder each person got and insisted on hanging each one.  Christmas is so fun with a little boy who is so excited.  Even though Santa isn't going to bring him a train with a remote control.  How many trains can one house hold?

 Jackson is obsessed with books.  He is great to read to himself but really enjoys being read to.  Books was one of his first words.

 He will let anyone read a book to him and soon to be Uncle George got the pleasure of reading to him one night.

                                       
 The boys love being outside and never feel how cold it is.  We like to go on family walks to the mailbox at the end of the subdivision at night.

My little Eskimo   He would prefer to walk the entire way to the mailbox instead of riding in his stroller.  He could walk forever and never get tired.  Walk was another of his first words and one of his most frequently used words.  He doesn't like being contained or being held for very long.  Grocery shopping is more like a wrestling match which ends in screaming.  I sure hope he learns how to cry someday instead of just only screaming!

 Carter was/is excited with each snowfall to be able to do some shoveling.  This is not a chore to him, it is play.  I really wish he could shovel the driveway for us!  He came in this afternoon and told me "Don't worry mom, I saved some for dad."  He assumes that Neil thinks shoveling is a treat just like he does:)

Monday we invited the cousins and Grandma over for some Christmas tree decorating and sugar cookie decorating.  There was a lot of sugar consumed this evening and sprinkles everywhere!  I attempted a new VEGAN sugar cookie recipe and it was delicious!  Couldn't even tell a difference.  Sometimes I am really proud of my vegan cooking....

Carter with his Christmas Tree.

Carter actually quit eating this night on his own accord.  Rich frosting can even be enough for Carter I guess. Can't wait for Christmas.  Carter and I plan to make Santa our new sugar cookies and I am guessing he will eat the entire plate!
(Side note: this blue shirt Carter is wearing was a gift from his Grandma and it has a big monster truck on it.  He loves it and wants to wear it each day.  He even decided to name this shirt.  The name he chose is "I will crush you shirt."  The bad part is that Grandma got the wrong size and it is borderline too small.  I guess we can make it a lounge around the house shirt because I doubt he will ever let me get rid of it!)

Our not so Happy Halloween

It's almost Christmas and I still haven't blogged about Halloween.  I kept telling myself I'm too busy to blog about it but the truth is, Halloween wasn't so happy at our house this year.  It didn't bring warm fuzzies and I still look back at the pictures and feel sad.  If you are against depressing blog posts, please skip this one.  

Some pictures do make me smile though.  Like Carter dressed up in his cute Fireman costume.  He was so excited about Halloween and between a church party, preschool and actual Halloween, he got to wear his costume 3 times!  I had plans to dress the boys up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 and we talked about his for months.  Then a friend gave Carter their son's hand-me-down toys and that included an old fireman costume.  So we reached a compromise and Carter agreed to wear the fireman costume to party and preschool and be Thing 1 for Halloween.  When it came time to put on his red one piece and spray his hair blue, he broke down and sobbed.  For some reason he was sooooo embarrassed to have painted hair and be Thing 1.  He wouldn't even come out of his room to let Neil look at him.  I tried every bribe in the world but they were just met with more sobbing.  I didn't want Carter's Halloween ruined so I let him be the fireman again.  And he was the cutest fireman I had ever seen.  (Truth be told, I remember being about 9 or 10 and being dressed up for Halloween and feeling so silly in my costume and wishing I were at home instead of out trick or treating.  Carter and I are a bit a like I guess...)

This picture pretty much sums up the rest of the evening.  Jax had a horrible stomachache and didn't feel well.  I dressed him up anyways and we headed out.

Traumatized ex-Thing 1 Carter and sick Jax didn't make for any good shots of them together.  And by this point, after many many tears and crying I was done trying.  

 His stomach ache subsided a bit after a while and he managed to be a bit happy while out trick or treating.

My 3 favorite boys.  Neil and I were actually going to dress up this year but after melt-down city 2012 earlier, it left no time.  

This is where the night got even harder, and sadder.  Jackson cannot have sugar.  And surprisingly at this young age he knew he was being left out and wanted candy.  I felt like Trick or Treating was a bit cruel because I take him out and he gets to watch everyone else eat and get candy.  And he gets nothing.  As he watched Carter unload his bag his whining turned to sobbing.  I finally felt so bad that I gave him a dum-dum.

 He was all smiles as he ate this tiny piece of candy.  Since he already had an upset stomach I didn't dare let him eat the whole sucker.  Once I took it away from him he sobbed and threw himself onto the floor over and over.  He cried for an hour straight.  I felt horrible.  I was angry, at the world.  At everyone who gets to Trick or Treat and not think anything of it.  I don't see this problem getting any better as he gets older either. Will he be alienated?  Will he come to hate Holidays?  I am torn between keeping a fair balance between my boys.  I was at the point that night to swear off Halloween forever.  But I can't do that to Carter.....I can't take away candy just because his brother can't have it.  I'm already brainstorming ideas for next Halloween on how to make it less traumatic for someone who can't eat candy.  I'm already dreading future Christmas', Easters, Valentines Day etc for the same reason.  I feel like I handle Jackson's condition with a little class most of the time but Halloween was really hard on me.  It reminds me of how much Short Gut has taken from us, and will continue to take.  I wasn't kidding when I said this post was depressing eh?!

 After I finally got Jackson to bed we let Carter go through his stash and he was in heaven.  Amazingly about 90% of his candy was "Carter Safe" and that left very few pieces for Neil and I to steal:(  Here's to a happier Next Halloween!

A few days earlier we celebrated my 3?st birthday(a lady never reveals her true age!).  And once again we ate sugar and treats in front of poor Jackson.  I'm really trying my hardest to come up with something that kind of resembles cake/sweets.  At least with Carter, even if he can't have exactly what others are having we can come pretty close or give him something sweet, but not Jax.  A steak and potato don't really come close to cake and ice cream.  It was fun to celebrate with my little family and watch how excited Carter got about everything.  He was very sweet to pick out a birthday present for me, all by himself.  Usually he wants to buy something for the birthday person that he enjoys..aka cars, trucks, skittles, etc.  But this year he picked out 2 big boxes of Hot Tamales for me.  For some reason he thinks they are my favorite(I like them but they aren't' my fav).  The biggest thing is that he does not like them so it truly was a thoughtful gift from him.  Each morning when he came into my room he'd grab the boxes off my dresser and ask "Mom don't you want some tamales right now?  I bought them for you because I love you!"  And so with my morning breath I would eat a few tamales at 7 am!  What a sweet boy he is!

Now to get caught up before Christmas is here and over!