Family Photos 2014

It was the middle of November and the trees were clinging to the last of their leaves. If we wanted to do it, it was now or never...

Welcome to the Nill family photo shoot. Fall 2014.

After seeing many different local ads for mini-sessions across September and October, I finally decided to splurge. I picked a photographer and we met at the Arnold Arboretum on a very chilly Sunday. It should be noted that I was the only person in our family interested in doing this. Jason wanted to build the fireplace, Ashton wanted to play with his cars, and Alex wanted to take a nap. The morning of, Ashton got a fresh haircut, I decided on everyone's outfits, washed them, made lunches, put myself together and packed the car up. Honestly, it took hours, and then Alex cried the entire way there (45 minutes) and we couldn't find our meeting spot. Then Ashton was whining, it was cold, and my stress level was about as high as it gets. We started off with a big "UGH" and I seriously contemplated just going home.

Which is why it is completely shocking how well the pictures came out. The deal we had was that the photographer would shoot for about 30 minutes, send us all the low-res files and we could pick roughly 10 of our favorites. She would edit them and send them back as high-res digital images and they were ours to do what we wanted with.

We had the folder of all the pictures the same night! It was easy to narrow them down: Ashton ruined 75% of them by grimacing and Alex was fussing in another 10%. I sent her my list and a couple of days later, we were the proud owners of these :)

And last but not least, the ones that went on our Christmas card. 

While the experience itself was a little tough, these pictures were worth every bit of the effort. One thing I wish I had been prepared for was to know which shots I wanted. For example, Jason and I don't have one of just us in the whole lot, we didn't take one of me and the boys, etc. But I really hope to do this every year - you can't go back in time to recapture these memories. It's the same reason, I suppose, that I maintain this blog. My posts don't seem like much at the moment, but I love to look back at certain things. Like Ashton at 9 months old, because my post tomorrow is going to be all about Alex at the same age. He hit 3/4 of a year old last week, like whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? :)

The world's next pop star

Perhaps not "pop" star, but "popcorn" star for sure! For your listening pleasure:



(For email recipients, click here.)

My particular kid is in the middle of the back row in a red vest.

As you can probably guess, this was his school's holiday concert last Friday. All the kids, the Pre-K 3's to the TK 5's, sang their little hearts out. There was a series of little girls in tutus that did a nutcracker dance, another group in Elsa dresses that belted out Let it Go, and a myriad of Christmas and Hannukah songs. And every parent in the room holding up their iPhones to capture it.

So my overall thoughts after Ashton's first "semester" at BNS. I think his Pre-K class is too big. He does have 3 teachers, but I've really struggled so far with some of the things that I've noticed when I pick him up. In the beginning, he frequently had a dirty diaper, which I said something about and ceased to be a problem. But there have been a lot of other small things, which I'm not sure I'm justified in mentioning? I know preschool is not daycare, and I can't expect the same level of attention, but on the other hand he is only 3 and can't do a lot of things for himself. So I have some big decisions to make in January as to if he will stay. They are going to do a parent-teacher conference after the break which I think will help me.

But the concert was very well done, all the kids behaved and watching Ashton up there was pretty surreal. I told him so many times how proud I was of him and he smiled and smiled. I will say, there's no sound quite like 30 children singing :)

What Christmas looks like so far this year

I know I follow a particular blogging style [make comment, insert picture, make comment, insert picture], but it's because most of the time, words can't fully illustrate what I'm dealing with. Like the other day. Ashton was running around and all of a sudden I see that there is this mysterious patch of green hair over his ear.

I think it was...marker? But he did not come home with any green crafts from school, and of all the things he has gotten into at home, nothing was that color. Odd. Maybe Pete put it there, kind of like how Elsa gave Anna that streak in Frozen when they were little. While I am on Pete...please meet him:

Pete is our elf. A lot of parents with kids of Santa-believing age are familiar with the much-loved holiday tradition Elf on the Shelf. Basically, you buy the kit that contains an elf and a book to be read to your child(ren). The book explains that Santa sends down little scout elves sometime after Thanksgiving to watch whether you are being good or bad. Every night until Christmas, he goes up to the North Pole to report back and then in the morning, he is resting in a different place back in the house. He is always watching! The elf is not a toy and could lose his magic if you touch him, so be careful. He is also under strict orders from Santa not to talk to you. But if he sees that you are being good, you will get lots of presents when Christmas comes.

Now, you have to name your elf, and for a reason only Santa himself knows, Ashton said, "Pete" when I asked him what he should be called. You know, now that I think about it, Ashton might have said, "Pee". The potty humor is alive and thriving in our house and lately poop and pee are his favorite words. He thinks it is positively hysterical to run around saying "Poo poo in your face!" or "Eat this! A poo-poo sandwich with pee juice!!" and laugh and laugh.

Anyway, it might have been selective hearing but we are calling him Pete. I have to make sure to move him every night because it is the first thing Ashton mentions when his eyes pop open in the morning. It's a game to find his new spot.

Parents of older kids really have a problem with these elves (usually "damn elves" in that circle) because their kids aren't just content to find their elf in a new location each morning. They want notes! They want mischief! They want humor and creativity! Right now it's enough that Ashton just plays hide and seek, but I thought I would share what some of these elves get themselves into (as found across the interwebs). Some are innocent, some not so much.

It gets even more depraved out there than that last one, trust me.

So that's the story about the damn elves on the shelves. As for us, we are getting a lot of mileage out of Pete. As in "Ashton, stop that! Pete's watching!" or "Don't you want to go poop on the potty so Pete can tell Santa??" The answer is usually no but at least it gives me a new angle to try.

Anyway, let's do the title of this post some justice.

What Christmas looks like so far this year

(1) When it comes to crafts and decorations, I'm trying not to phone it in but it's very difficult when your kid wants to make a snowman, for example, but there is no snow outside. So we used old, mostly dried out marshmallows.

The face is frosting that I painstakingly extracted from Ashton's christmas wreath donut and re-pasted into eyes and a mouth, and the pretzel sticks were his snack at the time. Boom! Snowman.

(1) (a) Do you see the chips in the finish on my coffee table in that picture? Boys, that's who.

(2)  I had these really cute figurines with legs that dangled over the side of the counter or the mantel or wherever you put them.

Not anymore. If we had a dog I'm pretty sure Ashton would have blamed it, but the fact is, he yanked their legs off and hid one of them so I can't even make poor Santa whole again. 

(3) The other night we were all set to make sugar cookies. We mixed up egg-free dough, rolled it out and then I went to find my christmas cookie cutters. They were nowhere (did Pete take them? Revenge of the elves? Hmmm). So we made bunnies and hearts instead. Everyone likes a good christmas bunny.

We never even frosted them. Ashton seemed to like them sans-decorations so why would I go to all that extra sticky trouble? Exactly. 

(4) The boys and I are already stir-crazy in the house and it's only December. We've been making the best of it:

(4) (a) Because I have less than zero minutes to physically go shop, I order. The boxes have been piling up and bonus! Double as Alex's climbing wall.

(4) (b) Bath bubbles are snow

(4) (c) We make "christmas trees" out of magnatiles. 

Very Picasso. But see Ashton's blank expression? That's what this cold dark weather is doing to us! Alex, for his part, just sits at the window and stares.

So it's not pretty. 

(5) Neither is our house. 

Womp womp. Last year we had wreaths and icicle lights all over! Garlands! I 100% own that I'm the reason there's only a small string of lights around our porch pole. I couldn't decide how to decorate and now it's too late. Uh, I take that back. I wanted our front tree to look like this.

But I guess Jason said that would be too much work.

At this point, the only thing that would complete my list would be both boys hysterically crying on Santa's lap. I don't have that picture because we haven't visited him.

There have been two rays of sunshine: first, early Christmas presents from Uncle Bob (of course, Ashton likes Alex's and Alex likes Ashton's) and second, Ashton's newfound Christmas love. He climbs into Alex's crib in the morning and gives him hugs before bounding off in search of Pete. This is very cute as long as Alex is already awake ;)

Overall, it's not a perfect Christmas season so far but then, it doesn't have to be. Ashton is super excited for Santa and his school concert is today. I will be sure and post video footage of what is sure to be an incredibly off-key performance. Christmas cards are out, the tree is twinkling, and Jason and I have spent a couple of nights watching our favorite movies of the season. Life is good :)

No Loitering (9 months)

Alex is nine (NINE!) months old and mainly just doing a whole lot of standing around :)

He pulls up on everything he can get his hands on and also crawls at warp speed. I think he has resigned himself to the "If you can't beat'em, join'em" rule when it comes to Ashton.

These two boys are thick as thieves and I can honestly say, when I watch my older one help my younger one, when Ashton talks to Alex, encourages him, brings him something, etc...well they are my most favorite moments I've had as a mom so far. It's indescribable. I remember when I was pregnant with Alex, wondering how I could possibly love another baby as much as I loved Ashton, and everyone said "Your love, kind of, just, well...grows."And it's true, I look at these two boys in amazement every day. They more or less even shared the same expression when we (finally) saw Santa this past Saturday.

Back to 9 months. I went back and read where Ashton was at this age and he wasn't even crawling! Alex is beating Ashton at just about everything, but I know that's because Ashton is paving the way. We had the pedi appointment this morning and here are the latest stats:

Height: 29.5 inches (88th)
Weight: 22 pounds 12 ounces (91st)
Head: 18 inches (70th)

Shots: last Hep B

Clothes: 12-18 month or 18 month
Diapers: size 4
Teeth: two on the bottom and one on the top has cut through
Eyes: blue
Hair: blonde

Foods: all his fruits and veggies, cheese, yogurt, pasta, chicken, etc. It's funny because I was so measured about Ashton's foods, introducing everything properly and generally at a much slower rate. Now, whatever I am making for Ashton, I cut up small and that's what Alex gets. He particularly likes macaroni and cheese (which, praise be this age, I can mix in veggies or meat and he doesn't say boo), and the other day at breakfast Ashton was having toast so I thought, what the heck, and Alex got small pieces too. Who doesn't like toast though. He also drinks water from a sippy. One main difference is that Alex isn't into purees at all (no spoons in his face please). He's really good at feeding himself and I often leave him alone to have at it.

Milk: I am basically exclusively pumping at this point. I nurse him before bed and during the night as he wakes up, but that's it. We hit a very particular sort of perfect storm right around 6.5-7 months, where he was getting super distractible but also getting bottles 5 days a week, and nursing went out the window. I don't have time for it in the morning anyway :-/ So he gets roughly three 6-ounce bottles during the day, at 8 am (breakfast at 8:30 am), 11:30 am (lunch around 12:30 pm) and 3:30-4 pm (dinner around 5:45 -6 pm) and bedtime by 7 pm.

Sleeping: Two naps every day, roughly 9:15-10:30 and 1:30-3:30 on average. He definitely does not sleep through the night. He's usually up twice but for some reason, I am not intent on sleep training him like I was with Ashton. I think maybe it's because he still truly eats and I'm worried about taking those ounces of milk away from him. Also, as many moms with babies this age know, it's the only time I get to hold him! He's otherwise squiggling out of my arms to go explore. Also, we've dropped his crib all the way down to offset all his pulling up.

Toys: He is out of the Merry Muscles and only goes in the Einstein jumper when he is not being directly supervised. Right now he and Ashton are really into Magnatiles and of course, the Christmas tree. But Alex doesn't have anything he truly loves to play with besides the vacuum cleaner hose and various power cords. Those are both guaranteed hits.

Other miscellaneous items. I am going to be moving Alex out of his infant car seat and into the convertible seat that Ashton rides around in. Which means I need to get Ashton a booster now. I tell you, the list of stuff that kids need finds a way to go on and on and ON!

Happy nine months to my fluffy haired little baby!

It's not about the height...right?

For some reason, my to-do list this year is off the charts. Make sugar cookies, do a gingerbread house, decorate the banister and mantel, put lights up, get stockings embroidered, buy those things to hang them up, impress Alex's feet into some clay for his first christmas ornament, find a Santa whose lap we can sit on, order santa jammies for the boys, do a special holiday grandparents craft project, get stamps and mail Christmas cards...that is legitimately a *part* of my real list.

There is one thing on my list that I am proud to say is crossed off. Our tree. We hit Home Depot last Sunday and Jason went as his alter ego, Clark Griswold.

Our ceilings are regular height but apparently only the trees in the 10-foot section would do.

Ashton was very excited about the nice sharp stake he had picked up and all he wanted to do was stab everything with it. Watch him murder this tree like no one is watching.

He did some climbing, found a string, and finally he and Clark had a winner.

Because I love a good last year/this year, this was 2013 in the same spot:

But of course now we have Alex :)

All in all, tree-shopping was easy this year. We found it on our first trip which is soooo not always the case. In fact, it almost never is. We have to get one that comes within an inch of our ceiling height (or has the potential with a little off the trunk), be full but not TOO full, be a nice triangle shape with no weird holes, and not have a straggly bottom or a straggly top. Preferably a Balsam Fir.

The good news is, the boys made it super easy for Jason to get it in the stand when we got home. 

Alex was mesmerized by the lights.

Ashton chipped in with some stellar hanging work

and the finishing touch.

Photo-bomb of Pete the Elf in the upper right hand corner...another story for another post ;)

To Jason, who perhaps would have liked to have a taller presentation:

"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall."
                                                                                                                                    Larry Wilde

Thanksgiving 2014

I've been dragging my feet around here. I wanted to tie in our Thanksgiving with the grand opening of the dining room but don't have the pictures for it yet. And I likely won't until after the piles of what is now Christmas are gone from the table. But that doesn't mean I can't talk about our turkey in the meantime! It was a monster 27 pounds and Jason cooked it in a roasting bag (with champagne!) after some kind of spiced juniper-berry cider brining process. Honestly I don't pay much attention to poultry or any protein for that matter. I'm usually in charge of the side dishes. But here's Jason getting our turkey toasted.

The turkey got the bubbly, we got the whiskey sours. I've heard these are making a comeback, but in our house, they've never gone anywhere! The key is in this little bottle:

Now surely they could have named this something else. But it does what egg-whites do and simply makes the drink what it is! It's available on Amazon, but perhaps on some adults-only websites as well.

From left to right clockwise: Grandma, Uncle Chris, Berg, Karen (and their baby-to-be!! YAY! Arriving May 2015 so poor Karen had just a sour, no whiskey ;) ), me, Grandpa, and Jason. Not pictured: Katie and GG, I don't know where they were. Also not pictured, Ashton and Alex, who by the grace of God were napping.

The cooking overall went very well. We had turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, balsamic pearl onions, green bean casserole, roasted beets, rolls and Ashton and I made a chipotle sweet potato dish:

I'll tell you what, it was freaking fantastic. I always make the same stuffing (Ina Garten - who else?) but decided to take a chance on Bobby Flay this year for something new. I wanted to do a not-your-usual sweet potato dish and the smoked chipotle cream recipe was a total hit. And totally easy, so maybe you could try it sometime. Tell Bobby I sent you.

I tried to get a good picture of my table all pre-set (Lynn, if you are reading, I nestled the candlesticks you got us for our wedding into some leaves for the centerpiece- they looked gorgeous! I love them so much :) )

And here we all are, looking blurry and fabulous from the end of Jason's arm.

I'm afraid I don't have much else for you as it pertains to Thanksgiving. It was a great start to the season where we all get fatter (and paler - ugh). Tomorrow we are supposed to be getting some kind of Noreaster; I don't have the heart to look at the forecast for the details. But Christmas is in full swing, we have our tree and lights up so I'll be back soon with those fun updates. I'll leave you with a free Thanksgiving concert.

p.s  I have Trisha to thank for bringing to my attention that it had been nearly 2 weeks since I had updated A New Nill. I believe her exact words were, "Where was your Thanksgiving blog post, dammit!" at Katie's party last Saturday. So this one's for you ;)