We are dealing with a bit of an issue with Fuller and his bedtime routine. Recently he will go to bed, but be awake for about thirty minutes to an hour. Usually he talks or sings to himself and he is fine. But suddenly he has started crying and telling us he his scared… of the smoke detector.

Tonight he went down and was still crying an hour later. When I went in (Damon had checked on him twice) he was sobbing and choking so much I almost started crying. I held him, rocked him, sang and read to him. It took quite a while to get him to calm down.

The smoke detector doesn’t have flashing lights, but we think it has gone off before (dirty oven) and he is worried it will go off again or something. It is a bit of a parenting dilemma, trying to give your child comfort and getting him or her to sleep for the night.

He is finally asleep, which means he is out for the night, but I really hope this passes quickly. When he doesn’t sleep well, he gets cranky. (And so does his Momma!)

Half of my day was spent outside the home today. We had a thing at the bank, I had to go get a tetanus shot, and then we all went to lunch. By the time Fuller and I returned to the house, it was almost 2.

These kinds of days are rare and make me feel a bit off kilter. And it isn’t like I hate leaving the house, but today’s activities were postponed activities (except the shot) so it felt like it was all crammed in and getting in the way.

But the neat thing was the time we got to spend with Damon having lunch as a family. We took off over the river to the new Greenlife and ate lunch from the deli.

When people stop and have lunch together, sometimes I think it is even more special than going out for dinner. You might have projects piled up or tasks waiting for you when you get back to the office, but taking the middle of the day to sit down and eat with others is special. It gives you a solid break but sends a message you really want to spend time with that person. (Maybe someone should do some market research about the difference between lunch out and dinner out with friends or family.)

Our little family had a good time sitting outside on the deck at Greenlife, the sun was warm enough to keep us comfortable. But the company was even better.

Two of our neighbors have put up their outdoor Christmas decorations and once again it leaves me wondering… should we even bother?

If the answer is yes, then I have some work to do tomorrow. If the answer is no, then cool.

When we travel for the holidays, the mood doesn’t alway strike for me to set up the tree and decorate. And this year we are leaving earlier than in years past (and staying longer) so it really seems silly to drag it all out. But there is a pile of wrapped presents in the corner that look out of place without a tree all lit up for the season.

It is a conundrum.

Maybe I can find a compromise somehow. Any suggestions?

Since my husband and I got married over 8 years ago, we have been remodeling our house.

Right before our son was born over 3 years ago, we have been maintaining a blog.

Recently I tried to remodel the blog. And unlike what I can do when remodeling the house, I decided to say, “SCREW IT” and move the blog. I have some building out to do before we can really move in (need a theme and plugins and stuff), but I think I’m going to like it here.

Our mailperson delivered a box of gifts today. They are actually for Fuller, books from my inlaws. I have to wrap them, so the box is still sealed on the front table.

Fuller is acutely aware that something is happening and whatever it is, has to do with presents, especially since there are several already wrapped and piled in our living room. He tried to get get into one of the wrapped one (which happened to be labeled “To: Alli”) and he turned on the big alligator tears when I told him “No.”

Then things got even worse when he was in my room and discovered something very neat and Fuller-ish on the floor of my bedroom. No, it wasn’t wrapped, and yes it is for him… but he has to wait until Christmas to get it! And yes, I am aware my bedroom floor isn’t a very good hiding place.

It is fun to see Fuller more aware what is coming up. He is begging to see “Ganpa Red” and is intently curious about the days of the week. With Christmas coming up, I think we will really see the magic through his eyes this year.

Which is why my prayer tonight is that we, Fuller’s parents, will be vigilant in showing Fuller there is so much more to Christmas than wrapped gifts and inflatable snowglobes. I want us to continually remind him of the ultimate gift and the life we have now and ever after because of that gift. In the end it will not matter what toys or books he got for Christmas, it will be about the reason we celebrate Christmas. And now that Fuller is showing awareness, the desire I have seems to burn even brighter.

It’s the reason for the season ya’ll. Let’s teach him that first. He can sneak peaks at his presents later.

As mentioned before, watching Fuller with his cousins was similar to conducting a sociological experiment. Who needs gorillas in the mist when you have cousins?

I enjoyed seeing them all and they often posed very nicely for Aunt Alli with the camera. I took these pictures outside, where the natural light was preferred to the home lighting inside. But really, it is easy to take pictures this great when you have such awesome subjects.

Happy Birthday to Sarah-Ginny! She’s my baby sister, Fuller’s Tia, and now she is a great mommy to Genevieve.

Let’s see, I’m 31 so that makes her 26. Pretty neat. She’s in her late twenties now.

We get to see her and her little family for Christmas, so I’m very excited about that.

I am rambling now, but just because I am trying to think of an embarrassing story to tell. Something family friendly.

Well, there was the one time she did some mud wrestling with my other sister, Austina. It’s not as sexy as it sounds, guys. My parents were digging a hole for a tree and it was full of water. Dirt, water, and two little girls who wanted to play. I think they were around 6 and 8. And it probably started as something small, sticking their fingers in the mud, and then it grew to something bigger, like full body immersion.

My baby sister is very special to me. And I love being her big sister and passing along my parenting advice in the terms of “we did this, so don’t do it.” Learn from our mistakes, kid.

Happy Birthday, Sarah-Ginny!

I’m still working on the new layout, but for now… I have to plow away with stories about my cute kid and family type stuff because this is a blog about our family, emphasis on the cute kid stories and a dusting about house remodeling and Damon’s projects.

Anyway! One cute kid story coming up:

This morning Fuller and I were playing with his train set and somewhere in his mind “play” turned into “tell Mommy what to do and say it louder and louder until she does it.” I finally said, “You are bossy!” To which Fuller replied, “No, I Foo-er.”

It felt good to have a belly laugh before breakfast.

Working on something, if it looks wonky then come back later.

Last Tuesday I packed up the car, buckled in the kid and dogs, and sat in the car waiting for Damon to get home from work.

While we were sitting in the car, Fuller started sneezing. And when he sneezes it is a snot explosion unlike anything I have ever seen. Each sneeze produces mucho mucus and when he sneezes several times in a row… yuck.

This continued until we got to the lake. And the next morning Fuller woke up coughing and congested. D and I had to head out to Wal-Mart, so we picked him up some Triaminic Thin Strips to help with his cold symptoms.

I guess it all helped, since he was running around with his cousins with all the gusto the youngest of the pack can bring (Olivia may be the youngest, but I don’t think of her as part of the pack yet). And I think Fuller is missing the pack- he has been lolling around, not really active, coughing, sniffing, and just bleah.

I hope he kicks this soon… we have to do some fun stuff before we leave!