Childcare & Chuckles

What happened to January? Seriously! It's like I blinked and suddenly it's no longer January? Good grief.

Despite my lack of blogging in January, it was a busy month for us. Our world was thrown into a bit of a tailspin when Snuggles' childcare provider (who is more like an adopted grandma to Jackson) gave us two weeks' notice due to some personal issues and health concerns.  It wasn't a big deal....  *cough*  Okay, so I completely broke down and panicked.  I'll let you guess which one of those is true.  Ahem.

The thing is, it's difficult to get into daycare centers in this area, especially the good ones.  Every church-based Christian childcare in the area has a waiting list. It's really insane.

But as He always does, God provided.  A friend of ours recommended a great, Christian childcare center near our house. They had a rare opening the week I called, and when they contacted the families ahead of us on the waiting list, none of them needed childcare.  It really was a miracle!  Looking back on everything, I'm convinced this transition is a good thing for Snuggles. He enjoys playing with his classmates, and I think it's time for him to have the added education and stimulation during the day. Not only that, he absolutely loves the playground! The bad news is that my biggest fears came true:  he is not sleeping well at the new place.  Please pray that Snuggles resumes his nap schedule because the screaming and whining and tantrums (normal for 2-year-olds) have ramped up from normal to nuclear. I told John this morning that someone is not going to survive this transition.

When he's not whining, crying and throwing fits, Snuggles continues to light up our world with his smiles. And he constantly makes us laugh.  Sometimes we laugh because we don't know what else to do!

I've never thought twice about getting out of the shower in front of Jackson.  Although it's not something I do often, sometimes I'm in my unmentionables in front of Jackson.  In fact, most of the literature I've read says it's best for children to learn about body parts at home. We've just been very nonchalant about it, and he really hasn't shown much interest. Until recently.

On a Sunday morning a few weeks ago, John had left for church, so I was alone with Jackson while trying to get ready for church.  I had just gotten out of the shower, and Jackson was playing with some toys on the bathroom floor while I went about my morning routine.  I hadn't dressed yet, and I was bending over the counter washing the cleanser off my face when it happened.  Suddenly, I felt a small finger poke my nether regions from behind, while loudly exclaiming, "Owwooooga!"  (This is the sound we make when we we're playing "honk" Snuggles' belly button.)  After peeling myself off the ceiling, I choked back expletives as I reached for a hand towel to wipe the soap out of my eyes.  Snuggles, of course, found my reaction hilarious, and he dissolved into a pile of giggles on the bathroom floor. I hid my laughter in the hand towel, as I told him that it wasn't nice to poke mama in the hoo hoo... And then I proceeded to have a brief, age-appropriate conversation about private parts, all the while making a mental note to always wear a protective layer of clothing in Snuggles' presence.

Not long after the bathroom "honking", we had another bathroom incident.  It was that time of the month, so I was in the bathroom (clothed this time) gathering the necessary feminine supplies I needed for the day.  Snuggles walked in, saw the tampons on the counter, and said, "Oohh! I wanna popsicle!"  Oh yeah, I had lots of fun trying to distract him from that "popsicle".

During the same week as the popsicle request, Snuggles barged into the bathroom while I was unwrapping a pantyliner. "Oh boy," I thought, "Here we go".  Sure enough, Snuggles was transfixed.

Snuggles:  (Pointing to the pantyliner)  Bandaid?  Mama have an ouchie?!
Me:  No, Mama's fine.  Where's Daddy?  Can you go find Daddy?
Snuggles:  (Pointing to the pantyliner)  Mama have a sticker?
Me:  No, Snuggles, this isn't a sticker.
Snuggles: I wanna stickerrrrrr!" 

Now, every time Snuggles walks into the bathroom, he asks for a "sticker".  Yep, time to childproof the bathroom door.

On the Road Again

We drove to Indiana yesterday to be with family. He finally fell asleep after 5 hours in the car. Made the last 3 hours of the trip much less stressful.

For a two year old, he really does very well in the car. Of course, it helped that he had new DVDs to watch.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

The Adventures of the Miller Family Christmas Tree

Assembly of the Miller Family Christmas tree used to be rather uneventful process.

 Not anymore.

You see, this is the first Christmas that Snuggles is old enough to "help" with putting up the tree. 

While this was going on, I was in the kitchen fixing supper. I came out briefly to find this...

"The tree looks great!" you say.  Yes. Yes it does... only it's the wrong tree!  This is the "skinny tree" we purchased several years ago when our living room was too small for our tree.  But the skinny tree looked very puny in our current space, so poor Guitarman had to put away the skinny tree, go back down to the basement, and pull out the big tree.  He was less than excited.

Miller Family Christmas Tree: Take Two
(Note: At 1:18 Snuggles says "Christmas tree!")

After Snuggles helped take the branches out of the box, he sat on them.

Snuggles was so excited about the Christmas tree assembly process
that he insisted on helping put each branch on the tree...

... which, of course, means the process of assembling the tree took forever!

So we managed to put the tree together, but that was the only thing we accomplished the first night. 

Miller Family Christmas Tree: Take Three

(The next night, we managed to get the lights on the tree.)

 Miller Family Christmas Tree: Take Four
(The next night, we got the decorations on the tree.)



Right after I finished recording the video, Snuggles threw an ornament, and this happened.

 So we decided to put Snuggles to bed, and finish decorating the tree without him.
(I know, I know. We're party poopers. But we wanted to get the tree up before Christmas!)

Miller Family Christmas Tree: Take Five

When Snuggles woke up the next morning, we let him put the star on top of the tree.

[Yes, Guitarman is wearing Elmo pajama pants. Snuggles loves to be matchy-matchy with Daddy.]

And for the final touch...  Guitarman hung Taco's collar on the tree.

 I find it fitting (and surprisingly comforting)
that a little part of Taco will be with us this Christmas.

After 10 years...

This is why I still love my husband...

He holds my purse for me when I've got my hands full.  (Yes, he is purposely striking a "girly" pose.)

Hey, I said he holds my purse. I didn't say he was thrilled to do it.  *smile*

Sneak Peak

Here's a Sneak Peak of our 2011 Christmas Card... coming your way soon!

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

10 Years

Well, the past year month has been so busy, that I've barely had enough time to think, let alone blog about what I've been thinking.  Great ideas went unshared.  Funny stories were left untold.  TSS (Things Snuggles Says) went unpublished.  But rather than trying to catch you up on the insanitythatismylife, I'll just list the things I've missed blogging about, at least what I can remember:

• Guitarman went to Honduras.
• I injured my back while Guitarman was out of the country, and I walked around moaning like an old lady for several weeks.
• We visited the pumpkin patch, where Snuggles enjoyed carrying around (and throwing!) pumpkins. Unlike his usual obsession with animals, Snuggles showed no interest in the petting zoo at the patch, preferring instead to ride in the pink car. (Much to Guitarman's shagrin.) Snuggles also refused to pose for photos. He might be smiling in like 2 of the 100 photos I shot.
• We broke up with our former landlord (who was a major jerk!), and moved to a new-to-us (read: smaller, older, more affordable) house owned by kind home-owner-landlords who care more about people than they do about doing being a millionaire real estate investor. (Seriously, folks, he was a real prime-time jerk!)
• My parents came to Tennessee to help us move.
• Snuggles visited the pediatrician for his 2-year-old check-up. Aside from allergies, asthma, and truck-sized adenoids that face almost-certain-removal, he is healthy. (Thank you, Lord!)  Snuggles now weighs.... wait for it... 27 pounds!  No wonder my back hurts all the time.  He is only in the 34th percentile for height and 40th for weight, but he feels incredibly heavy compared to how small he looks.
• Snuggles continues to impress the pediatrician (and everyone else) with his words and sentences. Basically he's a short little motor mouth. I have no idea where he gets that.  Ahem.
• Mother-in-law moved out of our house into a retirement home!!!
• We had some Fall portraits taken by an amazing photographer-friend.
• Snuggles turned 2 years old. (Yes, people, he is two years old! And yes, we're experiencing The Terrible Two's, which, as luck would have it, started around 18 months for us.)
• We observed the one-year-anniversary of when we moved from Idaho to Tennessee. (Can't believe we've been here a year. Time flew by!)
• I celebrated my 36th b-day.
• Mother-in-law moved out of our house!
• Clumsy me sprained my ankle, which resulted in an over-priced x-ray, and me hobbling around and moaning like an old lady. (Again!)
• We travelled to Indiana to celebrate Thanksgiving with family! Snuggles enjoyed time with his aunts, uncle, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-aunts and great-uncles and his cousins! He did not, however, enjoy the car ride back to Tennessee.
• While in Indiana, Snuggles learned how to ride the battery-operated tractor by himself. (Well, almost by himself. He needed help steering.)
• Did I mention mother-in-law moved out of our house?!  (I really do love her.)
• I spoke in the employee chapel at work a couple of weeks ago, and shared what I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving: My God, who gave me so many blessings in life, and who has always had His hand on my heart and life.  Of course, a shared that gratitude in the context of a funny story about how my parents drove me to college in our car, pulling an aluminum bass boat with all my stuff in it. I'll have to tell that truly humiliating story later.
• I switched from Android to iPhone. (This is a major step for me because I'm not a fan of Apple for a number of reasons.) I finally caved to Apple's obviously superior product, despite my misgivings with their business strategies, simply because I refused to replace my Droid phone for the 5th time.

Last but definitely not least, Guitarman and I celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary today!  (Guitarman and Melinda, sittin' in a tree.... )   Well... we're not actually going to celebrate our anniversary today because 1) We have dress rehearsal for our church Christmas Program this evening;  2)  Because I have a nasty cold/cough that limits our.... marital festivities (cough) to a card exchange, cyber kisses and "hubba-hubba" heckling from across the room.

I'm blessed to have Guitarman as my partner, my best friend, my live-in comedian, my cheerleader, my counselor, my hot date, my pastor, and the fabulous father of our sweet son, Snuggles. After all these years, Guitarman still makes me laugh and he still laughs at my stories.  Thanks for all the memories, Guitarman!  By God's grace, I hope we have many more happy years ahead of us!  I love you!