Christmas Season 2012

There are some things about Christmas that I absolutely love. For certain I love the food but I also love going to parties, seeing friends, drinking wine!, decorating the house and getting caught up in the  joyful spirit that seems to emanate from everyone - at least when they're not at the mall.

This year I was truly inspired to grab a hold of the Christmas spirit as Brandon started to become aware of Santa Claus, presents, lights, trees, gingerbread etc. I delighted in his wonder and so this year, we had a really beautiful Christmas.

The season began with our usual trip to see Santa (a huge hit thank goodness). We followed it up by going to my AESO Christmas party at the Calgary Zoo. The zoolights were really well done and did not disappoint. Next was Jamie's company party down at Spruce Meadows. The Shaw party is always second-to-none with pony rides, bouncy castles, face painting, crafts and even real reindeer. 

Unfortunately Brandon was starting to get sick with an ear infection - we had no idea - and he didn't have the best time but Jamie and I still enjoyed it. For the next couple of weeks it was more parties and more visits with Santa and before we knew it, the big day had arrived.

On Christmas Eve Brandon set out the milk and the cookies and I helped him write a note to Santa. I kissed him goodnight and he slept until about 8:20 on Christmas morning. When he woke up, he was most surprised to see the cookies were gone. "Mommy! The cookies are all gone!" He was so concerned about the cookies that he didn't notice the huge firetruck waiting for him under the tree. 

The rest of the morning was sort of chaos as Brandon frantically tried to open gifts. He had a great time and received some wonderful presents like Spiderman pyjamas and Hot Wheels cars. 

For dinner we went to our friends Steven and Jenyfer's house. Their little girl Kahlan is Brandon's birthday party partner and one of his best friends. They served us Turducken and it was wonderful! Brandon mostly ate cheese and crackers but he had a really good time playing with Kahlan while we were there.

With Christmas behind us it was time to head to the mountains for a little fun in the snow. We booked two nights at the Delta Kananaskis Lodge - a hotel famous for it's family friendly fun and activities. I have to admit that it lived up to its advertising. While we were there we tried the indoor pool, the outdoor hot tub, the bouncy castle and the indoor play center. We had really great weather so we also hit the sledding slopes and sent Brandon sailing down the hill all on his own. He loved every minute of it and would say "more, more" when he got to the bottom.

Our family getaway was over all too soon and we headed home to prepare for the New Year. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and I'm sure I'll post something about that but for now I'd just like to reflect on all the fun and love that was our Christmas Season 2012 :-)

Turning 3

Well here it is, the day before Christmas and I'm finally getting the chance now to write about Brandon's third birthday. Like my Bucket List post suggested, I don't have much time these days but there was no way I was going to forget about this post.
Brandon's birthday fell on a Saturday this year. I decided to do a real birthday party with all of his friends as I haven't actually hosted one of those yet. I booked a Bouncy Castle venue at the Cochrane Sawmill Lake Family Recreation Center for 11:00am. Brandon's little friend Kahlan has her birthday on Nov 5th and her Mom asked if we could do a "joint" birthday party. I thought this was a great idea considering Brandon and Kahlan have the same friends and honestly, birthday parties are bloody expensive so I was grateful for the financial help.
  

We landed on a "Mickey and Minney Mouse" theme and after the kids jumped in the private bouncy castle room for an hour, we headed upstairs to the party room for lunch. The kids chowed down on sandwiches, fruit and veggies followed by (the much coveted) birthday cupcakes.

Both Brandon and Kahlan had a great time so I would consider my first kids birthday party a success! Thank goodness it was only two hours total because I was exhausted when it was over.
After the party we went home to relax, open birthday presents and spend time as a family. Some of Brandon's favourite gifts included a Mack truck that could store all of his Hot Wheels cars, a Spiderman action figurine, a puzzle of Lightning McQueen and a "Cars" tent for his bed. He was also spoiled with books, clothes, stickers and toy cars. This year Brandon really enjoyed opening presents and had tons of fun just ripping the paper off the packages.

As he played with his new toys, I felt blessed by the wonderful friends we have and how lucky we are that we could spend his third birthday with them. I hope all little boys have the same kind of sweet friends that Brandon is fortunate enough to have.
Speaking of Brandon (who else?), on his third birthday he was just over three feet tall. He weighs about 32 lbs and has a very full head of soft brown hair. He's lost all his baby fat and has leaned out quite a bit. He talks non-stop about everything and nothing. He loves cars, monster trucks, quads, "Angry Birds", "Cars", "Cars 2" and the"Hi-Pad". He eats fairly well for a toddler. You never know what he's going to like from one day to the next but he always seems to like cheese sandwiches, pickles, broccoli, ham, crackers, yoghurt and cookies. He still gets milk when he wakes up and again before he goes to bed. He loves the cats but especially Finch. He likes to play outside, swim, ride his bike and jump in bouncy castles. He's very social and his best friend in the whole world is Dakota.

His manners are good and he'll almost always give you a hug and a kiss when you ask for one. He likes to go to the zoo and to the Science Center. He can be a bit shy in new situations but give him some time to warm up and he'll eventually get in there with the best of them. He laughs often and it's very contagious. Admittedly he's very cute and he stops old ladies in their tracks. He is, in every way, the light of our lives :-)

Career Ambitions

This one was too cute not to record.

Brandon: "Mommy"
Me: "Yes Brandon?"
Brandon: "When I grow up I want to be Spiderman".

This is the first time he's told me what he wants to be when he grows up. So precious!