Week in Review

Our Elf made its appearance last week. I'm not one of those parents that complains about people that go all out on the elf shenanigans, but I'm also not one of those parents who goes crazy making our elf do elaborate stunts. I'm just in the middle. Jake enjoys it, so we do it. Our elf doesn't come until a few weeks into Christmas season, so I only have to remember to move it 14 times verses 30 times. Also, our Elf does not create messes and is not a bad elf. Half the days, he just moves positions and Jake seems fine with that. One morning I thought I would be creative & made it look like the elf was pooping (using mini chocolate chips)  in a cup. I just knew Jake would think that was funny. Jake found the elf & then asked me why was there chocolate chips in the bottom of the cup elf was sitting in. I told him it was elf poop & he said no it wasn't, it was chocolate chips. Wasn't quite the reaction I was going for.

This is our 4th year to do the elf on the shelf and Jake still insists on calling it "Elf". At least it is better than the first year, when he named it "Elf on the Shelf". In the elf's letter, he even asked Jake to name him. Jake thought for a minute, and just said "but I want to name him Elf". So I guess I will just have to live with that being the elf's name. (I don't know what I was expecting. This is the child that named his puppy luvee "Puppy" and if he ever gets a fish, he wants to name it "Fishy".) Thinking of original names is not his strong point.

Our elf, 'Elf'

A lot of times Hollon falls asleep when we go get Jake from school, so I'll let her finish her nap in her carseat. On this particular day, she kept putting her luvee over her face. Hopefully Santa will bring her a sleep mask.

Winning parents of the year award by showing her a baby video

My mom got Jake some new Christmas pajamas

Showing off a book we got from the library by his favorite author Mo Willems

Look at those sweet baby cankles

Robbie & I took the day off Friday so we could knock out our Christmas shopping. Hollon went with us and was actually good the entire day. 

Chuck was picking Jake up from school & called to ask us if we knew anything about a fun run. (We didn't.) Evidently Jake's school was doing a family fun run that afternoon to promote good exercise. Jake had a meltdown insisting that we HAD to go. So we swung by the school to see if we could figure out what was going on. Hollon was melting down, so I took her on home and Robbie, Jake & Granddad stayed. 

Jake getting his run on

On Saturday, we took the kids to see Aubie Claus. I found it slightly humorous Hollon's unimpressed face at Aubie Claus.

On Sunday we went to church and Hollon stayed in the nursery for the first time. I get nervous leaving her with people that don't have to like us. Hollon has a Jekyll & Hyde personality. When she is happy, she is precious. She smiles, she cuddles, she giggles. She really does have a cute personality (And I'm not just saying that because I think everything she does is cute. She takes horribly awkward photos. But her giggly personality? So cute.) But when she is not in a good mood. Watch out. Especially if she is angry. She doesn't cry, she screams. And for long periods. She'll scream, then stop & look at you. You breath a sigh of relief because you think it is over, and then scrunches up her face and starts screaming again. Just mocking you. And you never know which mood you'll get. We took her into church with us, but knew we'd need to leave her in the nursery for Sunday School. When we dropped her off, she was sleeping. I left them a bottle I'd pumped earlier and told them they could give it to her whenever she woke up. When we went to pick her up after SS, they were changing her diaper and I could tell she had been crying. I prayed it had not been for the full hour. (We had a beeper, so if it had gotten too bad, hopefully they would have buzzed us.) They said that she had just woken up about 20 minutes ago. They tried feeding her the bottle, but after drinking an ounce of it, she got mad and started screaming. (Which is odd, because while bottles are not Hollon's favorite, ole girl doesn't ever turn down some food.) But evidently, she did not want to take the bottle from the nursery worker. They promised us that she had not been crying long and it wasn't too bad. Their ears were not bleeding yet, so I sorta believe them. All in all, I would consider it a successful trip to church.