Happy Turkey Day!

I love Thanksgiving. It's such a relaxed holiday. After the cooking, baking and dishes are done of course. Unlike Christmas you don't have all the chaos of shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts and opening of all the gifts. You just get to see and spend time with your family over a large and delicious meal.

One thing I'll always remember about Thanksgiving as a young child is the turkey coloring page that came in every Thanksgiving edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

If you have young children of your own who enjoy coloring or even if you enjoy it yourself click here and then get out a brand new box of crayons and enjoy! (Hint: Click on the image once to enlarge before you hit print.)

I hope you all have a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

How to Know When Your Errands Run Too Far Into Naptime

Birthday Wrap-Up

I already posted the pictures but thought I could give you a written report of the big b-day as well.

It was a great family weekend. William's cake took me all afternoon which is definitely more than I bargained for. I didn't realize making everything from scratch plus adding a second layer would take up so much time. Much of it was spent waiting for everything to cool before I could frost and decorate. But there's just something about a homemade cake that makes for good memories.

It was bitter cold the day of William's birthday which made me appreciate the coziness of a simple family birthday party all the more. We took our time with dinner, cleanup and presents. I even indulged a week early in a little Christmas music.

I think I'm always going to look back on William's 2nd birthday and cherish how innocent he is in all of it. He isn't self-absorbed in that it's his day yet. After singing Happy Birthday to him, he then wanted to sing to mommy and then to daddy. He had no idea why seven people called that day just to talk to him but he sure was loving it. And he didn't care how extravagant or expensive his gifts were. He was so excited to open up something unexpected for which he had no idea why he'd earned it.

I wish all birthdays could be like this but kids grow up, or so I've heard.

On Saturday we took William to his first movie at a theater. He did excellent. He got a little antsy in the middle when the storyline was a bit slower but he soon found my soda cup and started sucking that straw like it was pure heaven. He's never had soda before so you can imagine his surprise when all that sugar hit his lips. I'd say his favorite parts of the whole experience, in order, would be:

1. Popcorn
2. Sprite
3. The Marley & Me preview
4. The actual movie

I think that's pretty good for a just-turned-two-year-old.

In the evening on that same day we took William to a Christmas event at our local shopping center. Santa was there to greet all the kids and they even had live reindeer on display. But William's favorite part was Santa's ride. A sleigh? No no! Santa cruised in on a mighty fire truck. William thought he died and went to heaven. You couldn't force that kid to stop smiling. Here's a couple of photos I captured.

After the fire trucks had to depart we decided to scope out Santa. The line was much too long for William's patience and because Santa was outside, it was a little too cold to be standing that still so long anyway. So we compromised on standing just outside the rope so William could at least see Santa in the flesh.

For the past week we've been talking about Santa and who he is and what he's all about so William has some idea of what's behind this jolly old fellow. But for a two-year-old, you never know what information is going to stick. Apparently this Santa info stuck pretty well.

Brian was holding William and the two of them were looking on while the other children, who had more patience than the Nashes to stand in that line, slowly took their turns to have a seat on Santa's lap.

Brian called over to me, laughing, "Come here! You've got to hear this!"

William was waving his arm in Santa's direction and in the most confident voice he could muster was saying, "Um, Santa, please trucks?"

Translation: "I don't really want to stand in this ridiculously long line but I just wanted to get in my small request of a few trucks for Christmas please."

Brian and I were laughing so hard we had tears rolling down our cheeks. It was a wonderful moment to cap off the weekend.

Later, in December, we will be making our annual trip to Macy's Downtown to visit Santa. It appears that once again we will be dealing with a child who is the furthest thing from being scared of the man in the red suit.

Birthday Pictures!

Chocolate cake and Mickey Mouse, William's favorites.

Happy Birthday!

Where's William?

Peek!

Thanks for the markers, Grandma!

Ooooh...an airplane from mommy and daddy.

Coming down from the chocolate cake sugar high, ya think?

But a kiss for mommy!

No, really, thanks for the markers, Grandma...

At his first movie enjoying his bucket of popcorn.

Happy Birthday, William!

Jenny Nash and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yesterday wasn't my favorite day. It was cold. I went to the gym and my workout was cut short when William pooped. They don't do diapers in the kids club. And stupid me forgot to bring an extra one with us. What kind of a mom am I?

After that we went to Target. I didn't care if William had dirty pants. I needed to get my errands done. And then I bought a curtain rod in the wrong size. Not my fault. It was on the wrong rack. So now I have go back and return it. And did I mention it's cold?

After lunch I was so tired I couldn't even stand it so I took a nap. Which means I got nothing done while William was napping. The bedrooms need dusting, the floors need vacuuming and the laundry needs laundering. But it all just sat because I was too tired.

When I woke up I decided to bake some corn bread muffins to cheer me up. I left them in the oven too long and they ended up dry and when you peeled off the muffin liner only half the muffin came out.

When it was time for dinner my stomach started to churn and suddenly I didn't feel good. And then Brian called and said he was going to be home late. Really late. But it wasn't his fault. These things just happen when you work in corporate America and it's the end of a sales quarter.

So I threw some leftovers on William's plate and silently apologized to him for not having a sit-down family dinner like we strive to do every night.

And then he looked up at me with those big blue eyes and asked, "Father, Son?"

He started to do the sign of the cross like we've taught him to do every other night before dinner. And this night, in my ugly mood because of my not-so-fun day, I forgot about prayers. But this kid, he remembered. He remembered even when every other night he protests because he's too hungry to take the time.

So I sat down at the table with him even though my stomach couldn't handle any food and together we prayed before he ate. And then suddenly my day wasn't so bad after all.

I Did It. Would You?

So I have a bit of a situational question/dilemma/predicament to ask all you mamas out there.

It's cold here. This morning my car thermometer read 28 degrees. But it's November and it's Minnesota so what's new. It is what it is and we deal.

But the real killer isn't the cold. It's leaving the house and all the stuff that goes with you. The hats, the mittens and the big bulky coats. I bet if they ever measured stress levels of moms who live in cold climates they would find that they are at least 50% more stressed out during the winter than moms in warmer climates. And if your lowest temp in a calendar year is 40 degrees, no, you don't count. We Minnesotans would BEG for 40 degrees in January. I'm talking the can't-feel-your-fingers-my-nose-boogers-are-frozen kind of cold.

And then you add a pregnant belly to the mix and, well, now we're talking extreme stress. My back is already breaking just thinking about trying to pick up a bulked-up William, get him in his carseat and trying to get that seatbelt tight enough through all that puff. It sucks. There's no better way to describe it.

So you can imagine how much I dread running errands with William right? And where did I find myself this 28-degree morning? Running errands with William.

My last errand was to the Post Office to drop off an already-stamped package and a yet-to-be stamped package. William was on his last leg of patience and frankly, so was I. It was nearing naptime and he was the definition of a crabbypants.

I was on my cellphone with Brian as I pulled into the Post Office and I was telling him how much I was dreading getting William out of his carseat for a 1-minute task and then back in again.

"So lock the doors and leave him in the car then," he said.

This idea never even entered my mind. You hear stories like this all the time.

But I wasn't going to leave the car running. I was going to lock it, run in, stamp and mail my packages and run out. One minute. Two minutes top. Doors locked.

What would you do?

Well I did it. And I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

Obviously this isn't something that I would ever do if my errand was going to last more than a couple of minutes. And I definitely wouldn't do it if I couldn't see my car from wherever I was going.

I think this is something my parents took for granted when we were children. In the days before they had pay-at-pump gas stations. (Can you imagine?!) But in today's world you really have to stop and think about it. I applaud Brian for being so matter-of-fact about what I should do because in all honesty I was more worried what other people would think of me than I was worried about William's safety.

So what say you? Within the confines of my situation (cold weather, crabby kid, locked doors, 1-minute task, car within view) would you have done it?