Twas the night before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas (in our house at least)

We ate all our veggies, we carved a roast beast.

We decorated cookies for Santa and T

He said, "One cookie for him, and then a few for me!"

We read Christmas stories, we sang Christmas songs

And then it was bedtime, yep bedtime 'fore long.

And then in the morning the magic was found

Santa had come and left presents; a mound!

Mr. T was in heaven, he squealed with delight

The train table, the bikes all lit by Christmas lights.

He opened the gifts and each brought a new smile

And that smile it stayed, for a very long while.

Our house was a mess for at least a few days

But it was all worth it in so many ways.

Our first Christmas this year was a wonderful time,

And we are sure looking forward to Christmases two through nine.

Merry Christmas to you, from the Wiggy Three

Hope you enjoy the total picture spree!

MIRACULOUS on 34th Street

With only 12 days until Christmas, T and I decided to head downtown to Macy's, board the Polar Express, land in the North Pole and spend an afternoon dancing with bears, oohing and ahing over toy trains and whispering secrets in Santa's ear. It was such a blast and my heart was bursting with holiday cheer. AND, more importantly, Mr. Talmage LOVED it. It was so fun to watch the magic in his eyes!

He is beyond obsessed with trains, and couldn't take his eyes off of them the whole time we were in Santa Land (not even for a picture...and this was after multiple attempts!) There were big trains, little trains, real trains, murals of trains and T yelled, no, YELLED "Yamas! Yamas!" (Translation: Thomas! Thomas!) We were surrounded by older children who started our adventure not quite in the holiday spirit, but quickly started pointing out trains to T and laughing with him in excitement. It was beautiful.


The place was swarming with Santa's elves, and Talmage made sure that everyone of them was pointed out! He would point and scream "ELF!" He loved it, and all the elves loved him! He was picked up, hugged and talked to by all of 'em!

Entering the North Pole. Talmage was mostly excited, but kind of dissapointed that we had to get off the train...of course!!!

LOVE<> LOVE this mural.

Santa's sleigh was getting prepped by elves for the big day. It was full of toys, candy and everything fun and magical you can think of. Of course, T saw a car on top of the pile and grabbed it before I could grab him! We put it back, of course!

It wasn't long before T had the honor of meeting Santa himself. He tightened up when I first put him on Santa's lap, but he quickly warmed up. He made everyone laugh out loud (including Santa) when he started screaming "Duck! Duck!" as loud as he could. We looked around the room, and it was Santa who finally realized he was talking about a penguin! He told Santa Merry Christmas (we've been working on it) and we left the North Pole.

We ended the adventure with an ice cream cone and french fries from McDonald's. Even that was magical to the little mister, especially because there were pictures of Santa EVERYWHERE! He pointed them all out to me...and everyone else in the restaurant! He also discovered that dipping fries in ice cream is delicious. He is so my child!

I loved spending such quality time with Talmage. It was magical for him, and it was magical for me. As I watched his eyes dance at every new sight, sound and taste I realized that I was, in a small part, helping Christmas become alive for him. I was, in some ways, responsible for the magic of his Christmas. And in that realization, Christmas became more joyful, more exciting, and more magical for me than it has been in a long time. Being a Mom is the best, especially to a kid as cute, crazy and hilarious as mine ;)

Another Bathtime Post

Last week T's cupcake-consuming got a little out of hand and before we knew it he was a head-to-toe disaster! I turned on the bath water, went to grab some of his favorite toys for the occasion and told him to get ready.



His definition of getting ready is obviously a little different from mine. I went into the bathroom and found him, fully dressed, already enjoying his swim! Good thing his clothes needed a good wash anyway!

And the reason we had cupcakes in the first place? I made this birthday cake for a girl in our building. She was having a Hawaiian-themed book club at her house and I thought this would fit right in! It was fun.

Talmage Squared

Talmage meet Talmage. Talmage meet Talmage.

Yes, these boys are BOTH named Talmage.

And they were both born in March 2009.

And their moms just happened to be college roommates.

And they're both super cute and love to see dinosaurs and fish (which was perfect since we met up in the Natural History Museum).

And this was their very first meeting.
And I think they were instant friends.

And I'm pretty sure they are totally future BYU roomies!

Marcelle and her family came to NYC for Thanksgiving week and T and I were lucky enough to steal some time from their busy schedule to play and catch-up. It was so fun Celle, Scott and "de oder Tommage" as T called him. We love you guys. Come again soon!

Cheese

One of T's new favorite games.

Posing for the camera.

Saying cheese.

Admiring his work and then asking for "mo" pictures.

He doesn't have to ask me twice. I LOVE this game!

Thanksgiving With Some Extra Catch-Up

I've totally been in a funk. A blogging-funk. It all started when I tried three times to upload a super cute video of T pointing out all of our family members by name. Three times I tried, three times I failed. And the funk began. But now I'm paying for it because I have major catching-up to do! Oh well, here are some highlights of our Thanksgiving.

The boys took a walk to the park and the forest while I spent some me-time at the house. I'm SO beyond, ridiculously thankful for such a sweet, smart, studly husband. I sure am thankful the law school gives Jim Thanksgiving off of school. And I'm thankful that he took T out to run, jump and play. And I'm kind of grateful that I didn't have to be the one chasing him ;)

And T, how could I not be thankful for him? He is the funniest, silliest, craziest little kid. I think he spent most of their morning adventure so grateful for the coolest dad ever (until the end when he arched his back so far that his head and feet were both touching the ground and started screaming!)

Jim took great pictures of T exploring the forest. I love his yellow coat. I love his frog boots. And I'm thankful for such beautiful fall foliage.

We had dinner with a family in our ward. They made TONS of delicious food and five different desserts. I was in heaven, and a food coma, by the time we left. And the kids all played together perfectly so we didn't have to worry about watching T like a hawk...so nice! Thanks Donna and Seth. We are so thankful for amazing family and friends.

We had a HAPPY Thanksgiving. Hope you did too!

A few little randoms...

Jim saw this at the law school and may or may not have stolen it from the bulletin board because he knew how much I would love it. He was right. It made me majorly smile!

My friend Diana is having a baby so I brought her dinner and these baby cupcakes on Friday. At first I thought they were going to be cute, then I thought they looked like reindeer, but Jim said that they instantly knew they were babies when he dropped them off. Score!

My Dad is SO thoughtful and amazing. He called me up and said, "Hey, you have plans for dinner?" It was 3 pm and I still had no idea what I'd be cooking. He said, "I got it covered. It'll be there at 5!" He ordered chinese food...and LOTS of it. He knew all of my favorite items and you would not believe how happy I was ;) I couldn't even be bothered to take a civilized picture, I was to busy eating, eating, eating. Heaven!

When I said there was a lot of food, I meant A LOT of food. They included nine fortune cookies because they thought we must be having a party...and they were SHOCKED that it was just the two, well, three of us. I love the way my Dad works. Leftovers are the best. Thanks Dad. Loves!

The Remedy to Almost Any Meltdown

We've been going just a wee-bit stir-crazy since fall made it's grand entrance last week. We are such California kids and the cold weather (which everyone warns us hasn't even arrived yet) is enough to keep us warm and cozy indoors. BUT...with a little New York apartment sometimes we are at a loss for things to do. One day last week it was particularly bad and I had a little chipmunk following me from room to room, sobbing and pulling on my pant leg (mostly, I think, because he couldn't think of anything more entertaining to do).

Finally I said, "T, enough! How 'bout we go swimming. Do you want to take a bath?"


He ran off, and seconds later I found him still crying, but very anxious for his swimming pool to be filled to the brim! He sure was ready for his bath.
And within seconds of turning the water on the tears were gone and he was all smiles. I think he may be taking a whole lot of baths this winter!

Orange-ya glad you know this kid?

Yeah, me too.

cold weather is on the horizon

Bring It!

Noah's Ark

Bathtime is getting more fun, and interesting, and messy, and nerve-racking by the day.