What Toby Really Wants for Christmas

I stumbled upon this hilarious blog post earlier today and had to share on Facebook just because of how true it is.  You can see the original post here.  Here’s Toby’s spin on the wishlist (but I’m sure he would want everything on the original, as well):

Dear Santa,

My Mommy comes up with a wishlist for me each year, but let’s be honest, she doesn’t know what I really want.  Flash cards?  I will crumple them in about three minutes or as soon as she turns her back.  Plastic food?  Why is it plastic?  Please give me real food to play with!  Here are some other ideas for you:

1. The remote

More specifically the one with the touch screen that I know Mommy and Daddy do not want me to have.  They seem to be okay with me playing with the other remotes so why can’t I put my greasy little hands all over this one?  

2. The bathroom door to be taken off the hinges

I despise the bathroom door being shut more than anything else.  What are they doing in there?!  Why can’t I come in the tiny room, too?!  I’m not sure what this room’s purpose is for yet, other than it’s fun to open and close that white seat and rip the soft paper into tiny shreds.  I want in this room, and I want in NOW.  I demand the door be taken off, this will save everyone in our house many tears.

3. The Swiffer

I love swinging this thing all around the house!  The long stick makes great banging noises on the walls and Mommy says I’ve been pretty close to breaking a few picture frames, but I’m not sure why that’s bad.  Mommy’s not a fan of me playing with this, but I will throw the biggest tantrum ever if she puts it away.  Cue big crocodile tears NOW.  Please give me one of my own that I can access any time I wish.

4. A couch

I’ve been put in something called “Time-Out” a few times for running all over the couch and it’s not fun.  Don’t they get that I need something to climb on like in my gym class?  Mommy always says “this isn’t Gymboree, Toby!”, but I want it to be Gymboree ALL THE TIME.  I would like a couch in my room, please, as the spare bed in there just won’t do.

5. Ellie’s Whiskers

The gray kitty is not a fan of me, I guess, and she really doesn’t like when I try to touch the funny white things coming out of her cheeks.  I’d like a few of my own so I can actually touch them for more than just a second before she runs away.  I will keep them in a wipes box for safe keeping.

6. What Mommy Drinks in the Morning

She always tells me she’s making “coffee” but I have no idea what this is.  All I know is that it’s “HOT, NO TOUCH, HOT!”.  I would like to try this drink because milk is getting a little boring.  Please also provide me with some mugs of my own.

7. Fissssh

Also known as Goldfish Crackers.  I love Fissssh, please make sure my Mommy has plenty of snack packs in the cabinet at all times.  And tell her I don’t want to share anymore.

8. More lotion containers

I’d like a few new containers as I enjoy taking them out of the baskets my Mommy carefully organizes and placing them in random spots all over my room (and my parents’ room).  Bonus points if the tops are easy for me to take off on my own before Mommy realizes what I’m attempting to do.

9. Extra wipes boxes

You can never have too many of these! 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Even if you are not a fan of the holiday, take some time to appreciate the little things in your life today!  Today I am loving Toby’s mischievous smiles, how patient Maggie was with him while playing in his room (see below pic), and how thoughtful my Hubby is. 

New Year Wishes

Starting a new tradition of creating New Year’s cards…figured it’s nice to receive a little something after the holidays are over! 

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Christmas Eve & Christmas Re-Cap

Toby was a trooper this year while traveling!  We started off by going down to CT the afternoon of the 23rd, celebrated Auntie’s birthday a day early, opened presents with CT family on Christmas Eve in the afternoon and early evening, and then on Christmas morning we traveled to MA to celebrate with Hubby’s family.  Even with all the naps in the car and interaction, Toby still did really well.  No meltdowns until we got home on Christmas evening.  So grateful he’s a fairly easy kid!

He received a ton of gifts this year and we’re really thankful for our family and friends giving him everything!  He’s seen everything he can play with at this point now and I’ll probably hide some things away and bring them back out in a couple weeks.  He always forgets about toys and gets all excited for them again. 

Here’s some pictures of our celebrations!

Ho Ho Ho!  Being silly with Daddy:

Looking cute with Auntie:

Christmas Jammies!  Little reindeer on his feet and one on his butt:

Sour puss…apparently not excited to open presents:

Four generations in this pic! :

Finally a smile!

Our big present to Toby…Radio Flyer Wagon.  Can’t wait to use it next summer!

 

I will be totally honest in saying that I wasn’t a huge fan of Christmas in the past.  It’s stressful buying presents, budgeting enough money, doing endless mall trips, and then adding traveling on top of everything.  I was nervous of how Toby would act this year but he surprised me in doing so well and it made everything well worth it.  I’m a little sad we don’t celebrate Christmas in our own house but hopefully he won’t notice a difference as he gets older.  We’ll just have to fib a little about where Santa travels to instead!

Ho Ho Ho!

Found a little Santa hat and some mini bows at Target today…couldn’t resist doing a short photo session when we got home tonight (with some assistance from Auntie):

Very serious today – no smiles!  And lots of biting of the bottom lip so I’m not sure if more toothies are coming in. 

Ugh so not looking forward to gift wrapping tomorrow…such a waste of paper and time.  Even though we do mostly gift bags now, it’s still a pain in the butt!  It’d be nice if Christmas was more like Thanksgiving – lots of good food and no presents necessary!

Almost December

Now that November’s just about over, I think it’s time to officially put all the pumpkin themed stuff away and start decorating for Christmas!  Hopefully I’ll get some time this weekend to make the swap.  And do some more holiday shopping.  We actually got a decent amount done last Sunday, which was a huge change from last year.  I’ve learned pretty quickly that it takes 10 times longer to accomplish tasks when you have a child.  I almost considered making my own holiday cards again this year.  Yeah, don’t think that’s happening.

Speaking of Christmas, I giggled out loud when I saw this on Pinterest:

Source: sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net via Emily on Pinterest

 

On another note - there is a little tooth trying to poke its way through Toby’s bottom gums.  Of course this has to happen as soon as he starts sleeping straight through until 6 every morning.  He hasn’t been too fussy yet, we’ve just noticed he’s wanted to stick teethers, hands, fingers, etc in his mouth 24/7.  He was actually gnawing on my shoulder this morning.  Please send happy thoughts our way that we don’t have too many sleepless nights in the near future…

Happy Happy!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to me!  Not sure how I feel about officially being in my late 20’s now, but it is what it is. 

Source: facebook.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

 

My birthday has fallen on Thanksgiving a few times in my life and usually I despise it, especially when I don’t get birthday cake :(  This year I’m actually glad they fall on the same day…it’s nice to spend time with family and relax after a yummy meal. 

Lots to be thankful for this year!

Turkey Day Menu

I’m still in denial that Thanksgiving is this Thursday!  Ahhh!  At least the house is looking somewhat clean at this point.

We are hosting for 15 this year, so the recipes below I typically double.  I’m cutting back on appetizers and a couple side dishes, and making more of certain things based on what people ate more of last year (like we ran out of mashed potatoes).  Here’s our line-up:

Main Dish:

• Turkey (got a 21 pounder in the fridge!)…Hubby is in charge of this.  All I know is he uses a lot of celery, carrots, and onion to help season it.

Side Dishes:

• Sweet Potato Casserole – I love sweet potatoes on their own, but adding some milk to them with brown sugar and pecans on top is heavenly.  I usually make this the day prior and then put the topping on in the morning on Turkey Day.

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Slow Cooker Stuffing – this is another recipe Hubby is in charge of. He omits the mushrooms from this since we’re both not a fan. Love using the slow cooker since you can just leave this on all morning and not worry about it, and it also takes up less room in the oven.

Source: allrecipes.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Skinny Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes - I add some shredded cheddar cheese to these to make them even creamier so my version isn’t totally skinny.  This recipe is really easy to make so I do this the day of.

Source: skinnytaste.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Apple-Orange Cranberry Sauce…this is SO good and takes very little time.  I’ve always been a fan of the stuff in a can but this homemade version really is better.

Source: williams-sonoma.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Lightened Up Corn Casserole – so I made this last year and completely forgot that I left it in the oven while we were eating.  Thank God we had shut off the oven so it wasn’t too brown but at that point everyone was full so we just dumped it! 

Source: skinnytaste.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Salad (just a house salad with various dressings to choose from)
• Squash
• Carrots & Turnips
• Green Bean Casserole
• Rice Pilaf

Desserts:

• Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I made a version of these for a cookie swap last year but they were really flat and soggy so I’m trying this new recipe.  I figured it’s something I can make tonight as an extra something in case people don’t want lots of pie. 

Source: themessybakerblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

• Pumpkin Pie
• Pecan Pie
• Pumpkin Trifle (easy easy…alternating layers of butterscotch pudding, pumpkin spice pudding, french vanilla pudding, cool whip, and then some graham cracker crumbles in between and on top.  Love using my trifle bowl!)

Not sure why it doesn’t feel like it’s time for this holiday yet.  Maybe it’s just because this whole year has flown by :)