Imagine This

Today Addie was coloring at the table while I fed Jack a yummy vegetable medley with rice. She held up a piece of pink construction paper with brown scribbles all over it and said, "Mom, look what I did!"

Then, in my most mommy-supportive voice, I said, "Wow, that looks really nice! Is it a bear or a dog?"

Silence.

"A mountain?"

"Mom, it's a color. It's brown."

She gets her imagination from her dad.

Getting What You Want 101

Addie: Mommy, I want to go home.

Me: After we go to the phone store and get Mommy a new phone.

Addie: I need to go potty.

Me: Addie, you just went. You're fine.

Addie: My pee pee is coming out.

Me: No it's not.

Addie: It's getting on my chair. I'm getting my car seat all wet.

Me: Okay, we're going home.

Dry as a bone. Little stinker! Sorry, but if I talk to any of you in the next few days you will still be on speaker phone since I did not get a new one today!

P.S. Jack cut his first tooth! Much much worse with him than Addie. He must have the pain tolerance of a man. :)

Photo Shoot While Jack Sleeps

Happy Monday!

Daily Dose of Laughter from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Yesterday at church I while I was trying to keep Addie quiet, I pulled her onto my lap and whispered to her that it was time to be quiet and think about Jesus. Her response? "Jesus Tinkerbell?"

"Anybody Can Be President"

Anthony says that people don't really want to hear what I have to say today...they're just egging me on for fun. I'll be short, and sweet as ever. Just some highlights of the day really.

Please note the theme du jour as my title. I didn't come up with it, though I think it is brilliant on so many levels. It was truly the theme of much of the news coverage I was able to take in today in between taking care of my kiddos. Everybody was talking about how great it was that someone who wasn't "elite" could be President of the United States (Weird on so many levels...when did Harvard Law become non-elite?), but I think it is strikingly odd that somehow we've arrived at a point in history when it is wrong for the leader of the free world to come from an elite group of people.

I almost laughed out loud when a journalist described the "street event" feel of the inauguration. Was he doing that thing people do when their acting polite, but really delivering a terrible insult or was that really a compliment to the day?

I saw Megyn Kelly out in front of an insane crowd at the inauguration. They were going CRAZY like it was a rock concert or something. She pointed out one lady that she said was particularly energetic and gave her time on the mic to say, "Wooooo, woooo, thank you Obama, thank you!!" Then Megyn added that this woman had been shouting this same phrase over and over for hours.

And finally, who could ever forget the poignant words of Reverend Lowery's benediction today:

"Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen."

In an effort to "embrace what is right" I think I'm gonna just throw a little party tonight in celebration of the new world we live in now. I'm gonna be an Obama mamma and he's gonna take care of everything for me. It's gonna be wow! :)

In all fairness, Obama is president and that's no small feat even for a non-elitist. He is now the leader of the country I love and I will be praying for the Lord to guide him as he shapes the future of our country. Unlike some of the classless people in the crowd today who booed President Bush, I would never boo Obama because he is the President and that commands some respect.

(Disclaimer - if this sounds angry it's only because Anthony won't give me five seconds to think straight with out messing with me, reading over my shoulder, or talking about something random and distracting.)

Seven Months Old

Jack is seven months old tomorrow! I may do everyone a favor and avoid blogging tomorrow so that I don't accidentally spout off any crazy political opinions. :)

Here he is in all his cuteness.



I have a feeling this boy will be keeping me on my toes for many, many years to come. He would be very happy to skip sitting completely and go straight to crawling. He has already mastered a decent scoot that makes him look like a little inch worm. All he needs is to see something exciting (like one of Addie's toys) and it's pretty amazing how fast he gets there. Whole new ballgame from Addie, who was content to sit from months 6 to 10 and really only bothered crawling and walking because of all the praise it won her. This picture is a little blurry because he was in motion and my camera wasn't set for that. At least I got the camera out, right?



I'm glad I could take the time to mark at least ONE month of this boy's growth. It seems like I've missed most of them. I love having Jack in my life. He's just the happiest little baby. I'm such a lucky mom!

Potty Party 2009

I'm hearing complaints about my blogging vacation, so here ya go...you asked for it!!!

What I've been up to:


Untitled from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Rolling off of Christmas I went straight into my first resolution for 2009 - to potty train Addie. I read the book multiple times, bought the potty doll, planned the "party", and taught Anthony what to do with Jack for an entire Saturday while I spent the day indoctrinating Addie in the use of a beautiful pink potty of her choosing. I had my reservations about this program as well as the work I put into throwing my kid a party in the name of potty training, but I think it was worth the trouble.

She and I spent the first half of last Saturday teaching her new doll, Emma, how to use the potty. Emma had 12 pair of pretty purple TinkerBell panties, made by yours truly, that were used to simulate accidents all morning while we "taught" the doll to stay dry. TinkerBell herself, aka Aunt Emily, called to congratulate Addie on her success in potty training Emma. (Addie is still talking about this phenomenon.) In the afternoon, Addie got her own TinkerBells to wear and the diapers were given away to Jack. Many, many treats were given for every level of success and at the end of the day we had a Grand Celebration in Addie's honor complete with gifts, pizza, cake, ice cream, and dancing. She was one tired girl!

We're rolling out of day 6 and I must say I'm very happy with the results - so I recommend the program. It's not potty perfection in one day, but the major teaching and ground work was accomplished in one day so that each day she gets a little better. Today she was even dry in the morning and right after her nap, which was way beyond my expectations. On to my next goal...keep Jack from learning to crawl this week. :)

Aren't you glad you asked?

Christmas Threads

Buttons are hard!

Christmas 2008

Untitled from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

Christmas Eve

I've really enjoyed getting in the Christmas Spirit by sharing various Christmas memories this month. It's been so fun to hear from my friends and family members as you have shared your own memories too!

This year has already been so fun getting ready for Christmas and seeing Addie enjoy the season. Christmas Day could be a total bust and I would still consider the holiday a success. I'm already looking forward to next year and we haven't even finished enjoying this one!

Some highlights of Addie this month:

She's obsessed with jingle bells. She has several different jingle bells that we've collected and she plays with them all day long.

She likes to shake all of the presents. She thinks the ones that don't make noise are empty.

She believes that Santa lives at the mall. We were watching Polar Express on ABC Family and a little Santa popped into the bottom corner of the screen and waved. She got so excited. Then when he left she said, "Bye Santa! He's going back to the mall!"

Even though most of the presents under our tree are for her, she only thinks she has one - the smallest box of course. She's been talking a lot lately about being big and little. Tonight even, she was explaining that she and Jack are little, and that Mommy and Daddy are big. It only makes sense that her present would be little.

I made a little movie using all of the video clips and photos from this month as well as photos from past Christmases that I didn't get the chance to use in other blogs. Since I've blogged about Christmas past, there's been little about the present!


Christmas Past, Present, and Future from Julie Berg on Vimeo.

The song on the video is one of my all time favorite Christmas songs. As a kid I would turn off all the lights in the living room, except for the Christmas tree of course, and play the Amy Grant version of this song over and over again. I find it really funny now that I'm a parent to consider how often I thought nobody was watching me.

Merry Christmas!

The Gift of Christmas

There is a story behind this goofy picture of me with this sad, sad snowman. It's a Texas snowman, they have lots of grass mixed in with the snow. The story relates to the coat I'm wearing.

I found this coat in my Mamaw's guest room closet when I was a junior in high school and I fell in love with it. She, of course, gave it to me freely. For whatever reason, I thought this coat was really cool and I wore it until it started to fall apart. I loved knowing that it had been hers before it was mine.

Christmas Eve 1997 was Mamaw's funeral. I don't share this to put a damper on the holiday. Every year as I remember her, I feel like I focus a little more on the gift of Christmas. Richard Paul Evans described it well in The Christmas Box through the words of his character Mary as she wrote to her lost child, "And in this there is hope, my love. Hope of embracing you again...And this because of the great gift of Christmas. Because He came. The first Christmas offering from a parent to His children, because He loved them and wanted them back."

Almost everyone I know has lost someone. I'm grateful that intertwined in the meaning of this holiday all about being with family is the greater message that we can be with all of our loved ones again some day. There is joy in the present, and hope for joy in the future which I'm grateful for.

Christmas Rappers

Like many elementary schools, back before Christmas became politically incorrect, Woodrow Wilson Elementary School had an annual Christmas play before school let out for the holiday. It was put on by the fifth and sixth graders in choir which consisted of pretty much everyone I think...so, no I don't have singing skills I've been hiding.

The sixth graders got the "premier" roles, so naturally my friends and I thought we were super cool when we landed the quartet role of the "Christmas Rappers." It was me, Jamie Garner, Andrea Smith, and Mindy Thaten. So funny to think about now! Jamie was in charge of the beat box, since the other three of us couldn't do it.

I don't know how many times I washed one pair of jeans in bleach trying to get them to look right for the part. My mother was probably really annoyed at what I was doing to a perfectly good pair of pants. I also cut holes in the knees and frayed them so they'd be really "cool." Two of us wore black spandex pants under our holey jeans and the other two wore red. We alternated black and red shirts, socks, and scrunchies. I'm pretty sure there were some dangle earrings with Christmas presents involved too...ahh the memories!

I don't remember my lines, but I do recall that I was first and the rhyming words "fool" and "cool" were involved as I addressed my "rap" to Santa. I actually have a lead on a photo of this, but you all may have to wait for your laugh until after Christmas. I promise, when I get it...I'll post it. No matter how hideous it is. :)

Christmas Stories

In high school I started my own tradition of reading a Christmas themed book over the holiday. The first book I read was The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans. I think I actually read that one a few years in a row before I branched out to his other works Timepiece and The Letter. I think they've all become Hallmark movies now.

Others I've enjoyed include The Christmas Shoes (also made into a movie!) by Donna VanLiere, Esther's Gift by Jan Karon, and The Forgotten Carols by Michael McLean. There have been a few others that I didn't care for, so they are not noteworthy.

This year I read The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck and really enjoyed it. I guess I feel like actually reading one story each year makes up for the abundance of sappy Christmas movies I watch on ABC Family and Hallmark. I can totally see The Christmas Sweater going Hallmark one of these days. The books and movies are at times pretty cheesy, but they really do help me keep my mind on more important things than shopping for Christmas presents.

Any great suggestions for next year?

You Kill It, I'll Cook It

When Anthony and I were engaged, he spent Christmas with our family in Denton and got the full Wilson experience! There were at least four laptops in the living room at any time for playing Collapse! when we weren't playing PlayStation. The highlight was Christmas Day when the kids opened their presents from my parents. All of the females in the family received KitchenAid mixers while all the males were given guns. I wish I had a picture of the expression on Anthony's face when he turned to me and said, "Your parents got me a gun?"

Iowa Christmas Party(s)

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, yet not a terribly Silent Night. Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer was dreaming of a White Christmas. Not a Blue Christmas, or even a Hard Candy Christmas, but a Still Still Still night where only the sound of Jingle Bells would be heard. He thought to himself, "If only Twas the Night Before Christmas...then I might be doing a few of My Favorite Things, like Walking in a Winter Wonderland or taking a Sleigh Ride." when suddenly before him were Three Kings. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! You don't have to wait until Santa Claus is Coming to Town to hear those Sleigh Bells Ring! In fact, While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks you could be Rockin Around the Christmas Tree!" So come Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas with all the Jingle Bell Rock and Joy to the World that friends, food and fun can provide! We'll leave A Candle in the Window for you.

This was the text on the front of the invitation to our Christmas party the first year we were in Iowa. I was really proud of my cleverness.

We had some great times throwing parties there and consider ourselves very blessed to have such good friends. We hope to start up our party throwing days again once we're settled down somewhere...hopefully we'll find people there who are as willing to play my silly Christmas games as these folks were! The games were silly, but the company was great and there were always plenty of smiles so I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Here's a little slideshow I put together with the pictures I have. I had some incriminating videos too...but this seemed the safer route. If you are missing from the slide show, but remember being at the party - don't be offended. I might have done you a favor by not posting your video. :)

I have to mention that there were some insanely funny White Elephant gifts traded around here. My favorite is probably the autographed and framed self portrait that Brent Gardner brought to the party. It hung in our garage for the last two years we were in Iowa...now it's in the basement. One of these days I'll post it on eBay and make a ton of money off of it.

Spritzer Cookies

When Anthony got home tonight, right around dinner time, the kitchen was pretty much a disaster...but Addie and I were making memories (and unfortunately, not dinner.) That's okay right? I'll remember. She probably won't. We had a great time today making spritzer cookies, which I always enjoyed making with my mother for Christmas. These cookies turn out so pretty, even with 2 year old hands involved.



Addie helped mix up the dough, then she pushed on the lever to make the cookie press "click" and, of course, she added plenty of sprinkles!



She really liked our poinsettias.



I had to take a picture of my tin for her school party. It's my first time taking cookies to school and I'm pretty excited!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Christmas trees are so fun. I love seeing how other people decorate their tree. I especially love going to friends' homes who have kids old enough to make ornaments and decorate the tree. The character of those trees is totally different than my current one with all store bought ornaments. Hopefully next year we can start a tradition of making some ornaments and Addie can help decorate the tree...or maybe I'll get her a little one of her own so I can still have control over mine...or maybe I'll see a professional about my need to control...

Anyway, when we were little, we had a real Christmas tree. Maybe artificial ones didn't even exist for a long time? I really don't know. Seems like whenever EVERYONE started getting fake ones, we did. It was a good fit, since we were all allergic to real trees and generally spent the holidays sick because of our tree. It was also a good safety precaution for us - there was no need for my dad to light the tree on fire in the front yard after Christmas as his contribution to the clean up. There was a nice "X" from one tree on our sidewalk for at least a year. Clark Griswold who?

Back to decorations...We had some of these:



and these:



In addition to the annual school photo ornaments, we also had a complete set of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs homemade dough ornaments. Those were unique enough that even the all-knowing internet did not have a picture for me to steal.

The internet DID have a picture of these:



and we had something very similar. Maybe I'll let my kids get some crazy colored lights for "their" tree, since they're getting their own now. :)

This tree was eventually scrapped for some themed trees...the teddy bear tree (little teddy bears, baby's breath, red velvet bows), the burgundy/gold/hunter green tree, and the latest sugared fruit tree. All beautiful in their own ways.

Buy More and Save?

Just the other night Anthony was telling me, in "bah humbug" fashion, how certain stores exist for the sole purpose of giving people a place to check gifts off of their list at Christmastime. Bath and Body Works was number one on the list. I contested that while that may be true, I still like their stuff and always enjoy a gift that helps me smell sweeter. However, even though I value them and the gifts that they supply, I do take issue with their sales techniques. Particularly at Christmas when they double their staff just for the holidays. It is nearly impossible to pick up my product of choice (which is almost always from the front of the store) and walk all the way to the register at the back without at least two people telling me that if I'd just buy ten more I could get one free. Seriously.

This brought to mind a cute Christmas memory! One Christmas when Dan and I were teenagers, he gave me five, yes 5, bottles of Victoria's Secret lotion.



I actually remember hauling all of my lotions off to college and eventually I had to concede that there was probably something growing in them so I tossed them. While I really liked the gift, and all of the selected scents were to my liking, it is funny to think about now. I can just picture my teenage brother in Victoria's Secret doing his shopping, getting attacked by the pretty sales ladies in black...probably hoping no one would catch him in there. What a good brother. :)

"Before" Christmas

The Christmas of 2005 was our last without kids. We gave our parents framed pictures of Addie's seven week sonogram. We were so excited to finally be expecting! We had a cozy Christmas dinner with Sarah and Damion Spilman (Sarah was about to pop with Zane!), Brent and Holly Gardner, my parents, and my grandparents. It was a very exciting time for us and we were so lucky to have loved ones to share it with!

Brent and Anthony were so excited that they wore matching sweaters. :) Holly and I might have done some of our shopping together...



And Simon...well, he had no clue what was happening. If you are new to my blog and wonder who Simon is, well...he is part of our "before children" life. For Christmas of 2006, Simon got a new home in Texas. At least we were kind enough to get him out of the Iowa winters!

Smiles for Monday!

If you are having any trouble smiling on this Monday morning...just watch this. It's a sure fire cure!

Shake What Your Momma Gave Ya from Julie Berg on Vimeo.