It's really hard for me to believe that December has come. The last year has been a whirlwind, with days so busy I can hardly catch my breath before going to sleep. I have gone through such a spectrum of emotions with watching Hugo grow --- pride, excitement, nostalgia, happiness, tiredness, frustrated, sadness, overwhelmed, confident, scared out of my mind, and love. I can't believe it is possible to love another human being so much. I can't tell him enough how much I love him.
December 2nd, 2011
Busy night tonight. We've been waiting for the perfect time to get our Christmas tree and tonight was the night! We decided to maintain our "new" ritual of going to Coleman's, picking out a tree and then getting dinner at Los Amigos. We called the Aukers to join us - although they already ate, they met us for desert. This had to be our quickest trip to Coleman's ever --- they were just about to close and we knew Toni & Joe were waiting on us so I had to make a snap fast decision. I'm NOT good at decisions, especially making quick decisions. But I knew that we wanted something more modest than in previous years and we found it quickly - a 5-foot Fraser Fir that had perfect shape. I took one look at it, made a loop to make sure there wasn't anything else I was missing, and we headed out. Jaime couldn't believe how easy it was! Dinner was fun, catching up with Toni, Joe and Liam. By the time we got home, it was late so we decided t wait on tree decorating. Hugo looked so handsome today in his sweater.
December 3rd, 2011
Another part of our Christmas-season rituals include our annual trip to Bronners with the Dunns. Its surreal, really --- last year, I remember walking (waddling, as I was very pregnant at the time) into Bronners with them and Connor was about 9 months old and Shannon said "Next year when we come, you'll have your own baby too!". And now, fast forward one year (and it really does feel like fast forwarding) and here he is, my own little Christmas elf! We dressed Hugo up in his most Christmas-y sweater to feel the spirit. First stop, trying on all the ridiculous hats --- including elf hat, showman earmuffs and a Christmas fedora (of course!). He was so darn cute in the fedora I literally had to stop myself from buying it. I mean, who
really needs a Christmas fedora? Something tells me it would have ended up in the same bin as the red, white and blue cowboy hat I bought over the 4th of July!
Hugo posing in front of the fireplace with the massive snowman display. I remember a similar picture of Connor from last year. I love traditions....
Hugo lasted a long time in the stroller but started getting a little antsy so he ended up in the Baby Bjorn --- here he's getting up close and personal with a giant Christmas ornament!
The line to see Santa Claus at Bronners is unusually crazy --- you have to sign-up at the counter, get a sticker with your "group" on it and then spend hours walking the store until you hear your group being called. Normally, this is not something I would ever consider waiting for. But, we were spending a long time at Bronners, and its like directly linked to the North Pole, so we decided to put the boys' names on the list to see if they would get called before we left. And they did! While Shannon and I finished up our shopping, Jaime and Tim took the boys to see Santa. Hugo's first official meeting with the big guy went good - he checked him out but didn't freak. I'm a little surprised, however, at the crappy Santa display at Bronners - right next to the employee office! You'd think the biggest Christmas store in the world would have a Santa station that was, well, a little more, Christmas-y.
On our way home from Bronners, we stopped at Halo Burger for lunch. It was a busy day for families at Halo Burger and there weren't any high chairs available so the boys had to sit in booster seats. Both of them did so good, I was impressed!
December 4th, 2011
Lazy day at home watching football and putting up the Christmas tree! My little boy being cute in his Cowboys shirt while we actually got the tree in the house.
Today, while watching the Cowboys football game, Jaime slapped his knee in frustration at a crappy play and Hugo immediately mimicked him and did the same thing. It was so darn cute!
Putting up our Christmas tree with Hugo was fun. He was such a good boy - he dug all through the tub of Christmas stuff and watched while Jaime and I got everything up. Hugo, of course, had to do the honors hanging his "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament.
The most entertaining part of putting the tree up was watching Hugo go through the "build a snowman" kit which includes a scarf, hat, and pipe among other things. I remember both Gatlin and Cash being fascinated by the kit when they were little, so it was fun to see Hugo do the same. Amazing to me that he knew what to do with the pipe.
Hugo is growing up so fast - every day he's doing something new (or old) that just amazes me. For example, today he started doing to nose-snorting thing again. He mimicked Jaime by slapping his leg. He plays "catch" with his football, he said mama today to get my attention, not just because he was upset. Most amazing to me is that he's starting to associated things with their purpose. He knows his shoes go on his feet and that a comb is for your hair. It blows my mind to see him grow-up.
Hugo was kind of fussy tonight after dinner - wasn't really hungry and seemed to be bothered by teething pain. So, like the sign in his bedroom says "When they are crabby, put them in water" so I did as it said and gave him a tubby and some Tylenol and he was back to normal. Just in time for some Christmas jammies and some pictures of my Christmas baby in front of our Christmas tree.
Play time before bed and some bananas for a snack.
Combing his hair - see, he knows what to do with it!!
After dinner, I started wrapping some Christmas presents, including one for Hugo. Something about writing from "Mom and Dad" on the tag gave me chills and I had to take a picture. I love being Hugo's mom.
December 5th, 2011
Tonight we went to Sears to get Hugo's Christmas/Birthday pictures taken. I knew it was adventurous, but I was really hoping to get everything done in one sitting so that I could buy all of the pictures on CD and get everything at once. I had it all planned out --- an adorable Christmas sweater for Hugo and his "swampers" for the holiday pictures and some balloons, a cake, and his Birthday Boy t-shirt for the birthday pictures. Well, as it turns out, we got half lucky. His Christmas pictures turned out absolutely adorable - I love them. But the family holiday picture and his birthday pictures weren't so cute. The way we were posed for the family picture made me look about 5 inches taller than Jaime and in the birthday pictures, the balloons were cut out of the frame and he wasn't into the cake at all. Oh well, we'll try again another day. What it did mean, though, was that we had balloons for Hugo (and Vern) to play with, and he LOVES balloons.
I love the look of wonder on kids' faces when they have a balloon.
December 11th, 2011
Sunday - Daddy's day to sleep in. When it was time for him to get up, Hugo went in for some cuddles.
Hugo's hair is getting really long - so long that he is getting legitimate bed head in the mornings. On days when he's going to day care I actually have to wet it down with a spray bottle and comb it!
December 12th, 2011
Sears photo-op Take 2 for family and birthday pictures. This time, we decided to just try the balloons and skip the cake since Hugo didn't seem to be that into it. We ended up with a great photographer who literally got us in and out and didn't make us listen to her schpeel for the zillionth time. I think they all turned out really cute!
After pictures, we met the Dunn's at Holidays for dinner. While I love their breakfast any time of day, Jaime and Tim indulged in their all you can eat ribs and nearly put them out of business! I think they had four refills each!
December 16th, 2011
Ever since we found out we were pregnant, customers at Panera have literally showered us with amazing gifts for our baby. I am so touched by the generosity of strangers who don't know me or Hugo, and I think it must speak volumes about the kind of customer service Jaime provides to his customers. I'm very proud of him to know that he treats people so well that they feel compelled to bring gifts for his son. This year, Hugo received several birthday/Christmas presents from Panera customers. Since the holiday season will surely be filled with many gifts, we decided to let him go ahead and open them up now. Hugo's first 1st birthday presents!
December 17th, 2011
The holiday season has officially arrived! My dad flew down on Thursday to hang out with us for a couple of days and then to accompany Hugo and I on the drive to the UP for Christmas. Jaime has to work for another week, so he'll ride up with Chris and Kristina when they come. Before heading North, we had a little celebrating to do ---- our annual Christmas party and Hugo's birthday party with our friends!
When I was a kid, I remember my mom always making these awesome cakes that were in molded cake pans and then decorated with hundreds of individual stars of frosting. While I am not particularly artistic at all, I figured this was something I might be able to do myself, so she got me a #1 cake pan to try for Hugo's birthday. My dad and I spent all night baking the cake, cooling it properly and getting it all assembled. I think it turned out pretty darn good!
Time to party! While I was sooo looking forward to this party, the day of was really quite stressful. The day prior, Hugo started tugging on his right ear. I really didn't want him to get sick while we were at my parent's house and away from his pediatrician, so I was able to get him a Saturday morning appointment to be checked out before we left. As luck would have it, he did end up having an ear infection in his right ear. I'm so glad we were able to catch it before we left and get him some antibiotics! While we were at the doctor's office, I began feeling very nauseous --- my stomach was gurgling, I felt like I had to go to the bathroom and I just felt awful. My worst nightmare - I had the flu! My dad and I ran a few errands for stuff before the party but I only continued to feel worse and worse. When we got home, I immediately went to lay down and fell asleep. Jaime woke me up as the first guests were arriving and I had to drag myself out of bed to be presentable. I was so disappointed - I can't believe I have a full houseful of people here to celebrate my son's first birthday and I have the flu! I tried my best to put on a happy face (because I really was happy to be around so many that love us so) and discretely snuck to the bathroom to vomit every once in awhile.
Nevertheless - it was a wonderful birthday party! It was very crazy and hectic with all of the kiddos ---- Hugo, Connor, Vinnie, Eleanor --- plus all of the adults but it was a great time.
Hugo "blowing out" his candle after everyone sung happy birthday to him!
His first tastes of birthday cake! He really liked it. I thought he would totally go for the ice cream instead, but he seemed to like the birthday cake most of all! I think this may be my new thing!
I love our little family. The past year has been an amazing whirlwind of life. There is nothing I love more than watching Hugo grow, learn new things, understand the world around him. We are so blessed to have an amazing group of friends to support us and join us in this adventure and to be there to celebrate the good times. Thank you to everyone for joining us to help celebrate my son's first birthday. And thank you to my dad - Grandpa - for being a great Grandpa and dad. I'm so glad you were here to join us.
After the birthday festivities, we launched into a pretty heated game of Christmas gift exchange. The rules this year were that everything had to be "consumable". The highly sought after item this year was a bottle of liquor brought by Charlie (he always has the most desired gifts). Craig ended up with it, but it was finished quickly by all of the guys.
December 18th-20th
We headed out on Sunday and were UP-bound. I was still feeling pretty crappy when we left, so luckily my dad volunteered to drive most of the way. We made a few stops, Hugo was an angel, and by the time we stopped for dinner in St. Ignace I was feeling nearly back to normal.
Hugo was instantly glad to be at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Even with all of the toys there (and there are LOTS thanks to Gatlin and Cash), Hugo was most interested in playing with the dials on the stereo. He figured out how to turn it on and change the volume!
December 24th, 2011
Christmas Eve! Gatlin and Cash arrive in full costume, of course. Our Christmas tradition has always been that we order pizza and then everyone is allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve. The boys were soo excited to open presents! They have been waiting for this all year!
Gatlin in his new Columbia jacket - he's so cool! Crazy, though that a 7-year-old already cares about the brand name of his clothes! What a little AJ!
The tree after Santa came!
My little elf, sound asleep on Christmas Eve --- resting up for his big day tomorrow - 2nd Christmas and 1st birthday!
December 25th, 2011 ---- MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Despite the fact that I was really hoping Hugo would get a good nights rest so that he could gear up for his big day, the boys had other ideas. They were up, rip, roaring and ready to go at 6 AM prompt. There is no way to tell them to "wait" on Christmas morning, so I told them instead that they had to very nicely wake Hugo up. Funny how when we're little and older we'd rather have sleep over an early start to Christmas morning! Its the in-between that is painful.
After a bit of coaxing (he REALLY did not want to get up, even for Santa), Hugo finally woke up and we headed down stairs to see if Santa had come. He did! All my boys on Christmas morning.
Christmas morning was
crazy. Gatlin and Cash went hog-wild, opening presents up faster than you can imagine, many times not even checking if the presents were for them. Hugo was into it, but didn't seem to get the rhythm to the morning - he wanted to play, wander and cuddle. But at least he was awake for it --- last year, he slept through all of our present opening!
Cash told me he wanted a red Power Ranger costume for Christmas. I had to search the Internet to find one, but I finally did. I'm so glad, because he really liked it and put it on immediately!
Given his early wake-up call today, Hugo was ready for an early nap. Jaime and I went upstairs to put him bed and were watching the clock so that we could appropriately commemorate his "official" 1-year birthday - Christmas Day at 10:17 AM. He was so tired and fell asleep just about that time, so I spent that time cuddling him tight and remembering back to one year ago today. I had no idea how drastically my life was going to change, and the range of emotions that this year would bring. Just like a cheesy Christmas ornament I bought at Bronners reads "Love was born on Christmas morn". I know its in reference to Jesus, but it holds so true for us. Hugo is love to me, a love like no other, a love like I had never imagined. I'm so glad he was born on Christmas day because it will always be extra-special, my little miracle arriving just for us. He's the best thing to ever happen to me.
My dad's hair is getting so long that he got hair ties in his Christmas stocking this year! My mom tried out a french braid on him!
Once again, Hugo slept through most of Christmas dinner (as he did for Thanksgiving dinner), but there was still a lot of food for him when he woke up. He tried it all - turkey, mashed potatoes, bread, beans.
With dinner, he tried out his new sippy cups and did great. He didn't even seem to have a problem adjusting at all! Just picked it up and started drinking!
I had to get some pictures of my Christmas baby in his reindeer horns. He wasn't too happy at first....but then put on a smiley face for the camera.
One of the things Hugo got for Christmas was a sled. Unfortunately (believe it or not!) there really wasn't enough snow yet on Christmas to use it, so he pulled it around inside to try it out.
He looks so grown up here to me!
After all of the Christmas stuff was over, we moved into birthday celebration mode. Tonya and the boys came back over and Tina, Carolyn and John stopped by to help us celebrate Hugo's birthday. Since I was feeling so good about my cake skills, my mom and I made a Santa cake for Hugo's birthday.
Birthday boy!
Again, he liked the cake!
Cash was a good big cousin and "helped" Hugo open his birthday presents.
Happy, happy birthday to my wonderful boy Hugo and Merry Christmas to the best present ever. I've truly enjoyed every step of the past year and look forward to each morning waking up with you to see what the new day has in store. I love you as much as there is much.
December 26th, 2011
Finally! We have enough snow to go sledding! We got Hugo all bundled up in his "Yoooper" outfit (bibs and a flannel shirt) and put on his snow suit for our trip to Boarder Grill for lunch.
Hugo loves being outside but he seemed to especially LOVE being on the sled ---- he didn't fuss or squirm one bit. He sat back and enjoyed the ride.
There was definitely some novelty in sledding for Jaime and he enjoyed getting a good belly laugh out of Hugo while pulling him.
Yum! Lunch at Boarder Grill - our favorite! Hugo ate a lot of cheese, black beans, avocado.
By the time we headed back home, Hugo was wiped out....a full belly and being bundled up all cozy made it too much for Hugo to stay awake and he slept like this all the way home!
December 29th, 2011
Today was our first day of hitting the stores looking for good after-Christmas bargains. Hugo wasn't much for shopping, but did love the rides at the mall. Trust me, despite the blank look on his face, he was having fun! His other favorite part was the kalmata olive bread samples from Huron Mountain Bread Co --- olive bread --- he definitely is my child!
Getting crazy splashing around during tubby time.
December 30th, 2011
Another trip out on the sled! We had to go to the Post Office to mail something out to Baby Calvin, Amanda and Chris' new baby, so we decided to walk and take Hugo for another sled trip. While downtown, we stopped at Midtown Bakery for some treats - a cookie and hot cocoa for my mom and a blueberry muffin for Hugo and I.
Hugo loves playing with spoons at restaurants, and putting them on his nose, apparently.
LOVING the sled! Look at that toothy smile! What a lover.
For Christmas, Huggies made some "Santa" diapers, and so of course, I had to get some for my Santa baby. I only got one pack, but they made me smile every time, especially the big 'buckle' in front.
December 31st, 2011
Happy New Year!! To ring in 2012, we had a fun evening in with all of the boys. My mom got some noisemakers and confetti guns for Cash and Gatlin. While the noise makers really weren't that cool, they each came with a paper hat inside, so we all donned our New Years Eve crowns for the occasion.
Hugo was snacking on his cheetos --- and sliding waaay down in his high chair. He didn't even fuss - I think he was enjoying the cheetos too much!
The confetti guns were very cool (except for the clean-up).
My dad made this rocking horse for AJ and I when we were kids and it has certainly been well-used by all of us kids. Here, Hugo is taking it out for his inaugural ride.
