Pajamas are Clothes: January 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

Worst.Tooth.Fairy.Ever.

Apparently I have supremely failed at one area of parenting, and I thought it best to come clean about it now. I suck at being the tooth fairy. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have forgotten, and seen poor Emerson come downstairs with a baggy containing one slightly bloody tooth, and a look of sheer disappointment.
Oh, I have been able to cover my mistakes before...
The first tooth he lost, when I forgot for the SECOND night in a row, I thought quick on my feet, and said, "Are you sure you looked good? Maybe the money got lost under all those dogs you sleep with!" Sure enough after a carefully planted dollar bill, and telling him he probably got to keep the tooth as a bonus for having to wait, he was all good. There have been similar incidents since, including one where Em lost two teeth in one week. I remembered the first one, but forgot the second. I told him I was pretty sure the Tooth Fairy would never think a kid would lose TWO teeth in one week, and to try again the next night. Yep. Mother of the Year right here baby.

Well, this week... the magic ran out. He lost a tooth Friday at school. He waited to put it under his pillow until Saturday night, and yep... you guessed it. The Worst Tooth Fairy EVER forgot. Again. So... he dutifully put it under again last night. I am guessing he just thinks the Tooth Fairy is one supreme slacker. So, at roughly 545am, I leapt from the bed and said, "Oh crap! Tooth Fairy!"
I grabbed a dollar and sneaked upstairs, made the exchange and snuggled back into my warm bed beside my Micah. I patted myself on the back for my ability to salvage another forgotten tooth, and the possible scarring effects it would have on my middle child. (in case you are wondering, Lincoln never for a moment believed in the tooth fairy. He thumbed that first-tooth-money and said, "Dad, are you the tooth fairy? Tell me the truth!" It was a fun 12 hours in the world of make believe...)

Enter Emerson, this morning, all wrapped up in a blanket, and peeking around the corner at me.
Me: Did the Tooth Fairy leave come last night?
Em: No YOU did.
Me: Huh? I, I...
Em: I saw your hand Mom.
Me: What do you mean?

He then went on to explain that he he knew it was me, because a friend had recently told him that he found out the tooth fairy was his own mom. I thought I was off the hook, since it was not technically my fault, until he said, "I knew that was at his house, but I thought at our house the real one still came. Until I saw your hand." Dangit.
So I asked him if he was sad about it, and as only Emerson can do he proclaimed, "Well, you lied to me this whole time..." Nice. Well played Em. Parent guilt level through the roof. I am pretty sure he will get a nice first car based on this situation alone.
Hopefully by the time Alden loses any teeth The Worst Tooth Fairy EVER will get her act together and not scar her child permanently.

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Year in Review - GTs

GTs... "Good times" if you aren't up on the lingo. This was a very hard one to pick photos for. I mean, our whole vacation was GTs... our girls weekend mountain trip was GTs... all of the daily funny things these wild boys do are GTs... but alas, the list had to be pared down. I also refused to use iPhone pics, that is a whole post of its own. So, if I missed a GT with you, don't be mad at me forever. Thanks.
Apparently, we did not have GTs in January. And also, those are on my backup already, so it is a pain to get to them and resize them for the blog. So, sorry January, you get dissed.

February GTs:
The Albright Knox Art Gallery and trip to the B-Lo. The full story on this is HERE.

March GTs:
Made with the help of a book for boys called "Weapons of Mass Destruction." That's right, that is the title. You know we are rolling out some real gentle lads here at the casa...

April GTs:
I had to ask for this hug for my birthday. I may get a punch this year for posting this photo. xoxo Sarah! ;)

This was a hike with friends. I just love this shot because it shows how my boys just go with my pals families like they are theirs...♥

May GTs:

June GTs:

July GTs:

Rootbeer Float Night.

Making Tie-Dyes.

Celebrating Hadji with his NY cousins. A big treat for him.

August GTs:

Pop Rocks.

September GTs:

October GTs:

Goin' Dancin'...

November GTs:

The arrival of the Christmas Toy catalog...

December GTs:
Wrapping a gift for his teddy bear.

Our yard was "gifted". Much better than being rolled...

The end.

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Year in Review - Other People

From time to time I take photos. You may realize this. Sometimes I take them of other people. Here are some of my favorite shots of other people that I took this year.

(circa: February)
This is Miles. I actually helped my dear friend Kerry through labor and delivery. Hands down, amazing. I was crying. And, maybe trying to convince Kerry's husband that they should name the baby Jude. :)

(circa: March)
And then a few weeks later, we took some more photos of baby ~~Jude~~ Miles. He is so cute. I call myself his Aunt. Is that wrong?

This is Kessler. He is ridiculously cool for one so young. He was playing at my house one day, and found the mud. Muddy boy = photo op.

(circa: April)

These are my neighbor's kids. She called me the night before Easter and said, "Ummm, my kids are all dressed in their Easter clothes, and I went to take some photos, only... my camera battery died." I grabbed my camera and ran down the road for an impromptu photo-shoot with her cutie kiddos. Yes, there are FOUR boys and then ONE girl.

(Circa: May)
These are from my pal Sarah's little girls first birthday party. We all heart the Anna-baby. Look at her, how could we not?

and some of the party goers, my pal Heather's girls, and below them is pal Jessica's daughter, Graelyn. (we call hers "toddlers behind bars" Aren't they all just the cutest!?!?

And here is Molly. Angelic, no? This was the day after she was born whilst I visited her in the hospital.

This is Jessica's (mom of the jailed girl above) sweet, sweet, sweet little boy Daniel. I didn't help deliver him, Jess is not comfortable with me doing her c-sections. Geesh, some people! ;) This boy's eyes are killer blue. Did I mention how sweet he is?

(Circa: June)
This one is intensely special to me. This is my amazing nephew Franklin. My sister and her husband deal with his autism with incredible love and patience. He rarely makes eye contact with the camera, and getting a smile is hard. You gotta' click fast. I was thrilled when I managed to snag this one, poolside, at his house this summer. When my sister saw it on the LCD screen, she was very happy, which made me happy. If this was the only photo my camera ever captured, it would be worth every penny. ♥

and Truman, the sweetest brother ever to Franklin.

Remember Anna-Baby? This is her cool big brother Ike. Ike as a ringbearer to be exact. Our friends Adam and Leah got married, they are cool, hence the ring-bearer got to wear converse. I heart them.

(Circa: July)
Meet Tru, and her mom and dad. Could there be a cuter family? No, I think not.

(circa:August)
Here is Micah being all "pastory". No, really, this family was super sweet and had a HUGE dinner to celebrate their three sons baptisms. It was awesome. Oh, and none of the wild boys jumped in the pool. A true miracle.

(circa: October)
Bud. My girl Martha's little man. A-dor-a-ble.

Maya... sometimes she just makes you smile. Isn't that a wonderful thing to be able to do for others? I think so.

(circa: december)
This "shoot" was fraught with the wild boys scaling walls, me yelling "Micah! Get them out of my shot!" and my nieces who actually smile and pose. Girls are SO different than boys... or at least, my wild boys. Aren't they so pretty?

You have no clue how many little butts I had to photoshop out of this shot... they were all climbing behind the scenes, and it was the end of the day, and wow... but a good shot of a sweet couple :)