Christmas Time!

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas at the Vose house! We went to the Christmas Eve candle lit service at the Evangelical Free Church, where we were married and where Brent's parents attend. I think I heard some of the service, and got to sing most of the songs (difficult to concentrate with rugrats!). We then had dinner as a family, and came home to put the boys to bed. Then we had FUN being Santa, transforming the tree from just a Christmas tree, to a tree that had been visited by the Clause! The next morning we all slept until 8 (that's our kids' gift to us, right there) and then Brent asked Ayden, 'do you think Santa came last night?' Ayden said 'No!' but went to investigate regardless, and was astonished when he saw our tree. They started with their stockings and didn't stop all day! They were so excited and lit up, it was amazing.

We popped the turkey in the oven (who am I kidding, BRENT popped the turkey in the oven) around 10:30, and lo and behold, it and a vast array of traditional side dishes were ready at 3! The dinner was a big hit, no one fainted (Sharon came close but we opened a window), everyone was spoiled by Santa and the relatives, and the ladies went to see a movie that night at 7. A rousing success. Have I mentioned how this makes me feel old? So old. Grown all the way up, no pretending. 18 more days and I really will be old (29)...or is that next year? 30 is when you are definately old.

late night

I have this problem with my heart (the real one, not the emotional one). Most of the time, it is not noticeable, but sometimes it keeps me up at night. Tonight is such a night, so I decided after trying a few tricks to get myself to sleep--reading, milk, tossing and turning, sneaking into Ayden's room to curl around his warm sleeping self with hair that smells indescribably good (I don't try this with Matthew because he's apt to wake up startled when I do, and cry)--that I would post something on my blog. Forgive me if I attempt humour and fail, for it is the wee hours of the a.m.

Brent planned a small surprise for me tonight, after the kids were in bed. He had rented me a movie I have been wanting to see for several months, and had bought some nice red wine and five kinds of really good cheese, and some grapes. I think all the calories may have contributed to my current wakeful state. So yummy! My husband is very, very good at surprises. And food. The movie was "Little Miss Sunshine," a film festival winner, independant, artsy type movie, now a 'cult classic' with a cult of one (me), and currently my favourite movie (other favourites include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Crash, and Blood Diamond, which I saw yesterday, and which was my #1 favourite until tonight). I highly recommend Little Miss Sunshine, if you can get your hands on it. It's real, hilarious, slightly tragic, and cracks open some interesting facets of our society. If you get it, don't watch the alternate endings in the special features (though now that I've said it, everyone will)--they're not that great. They kind of mess with the state of mind the movie leaves you in. Anyways, it is very good and I'm very glad my sweetie surprised me with it; he enjoyed it too, and may even join my cult at some time in the future. Also, a good soundtrack for the music lovers, all original score.

Playtime

Brent has been home on holidays this week (hard earned holidays--he had a busy fall at work), so we've had some fun family time. I (Meliss) have been able to run/go to aerobics/go shopping during the day, and leave the boys at home--what a treat! Plus, we've been able to divide and conquer; this morning Ayden and Brent went to McGavin's and did some errands, and Matthew and I played choo-choos, and then this afternoon while Matthew slept, Ayden and I went swimming at the public pool. We had the place to ourselves! Yesterday Ayden was bouncing off the walls all day so I decided he needs somewhere to expend some energy over the holidays; the pool was perfect. Ayden enjoyed the undivided mommy time.

I have heard before that just before reaching a new developmental milestone, toddlers/preschoolers tend to have challenging behaviour for a few weeks, so for the past 9 or 10 months I have been a hopeful, optimistic spectator at Ayden's temper tantrums or crabby days, reassuring myself that THIS time, in the next few weeks, Ayden will toilet train. I discovered that, in fact, Ayden reaches a new milestone and THEN freiks out--and three weeks ago he finally, finally became comfortable with toileting...and subsequently transmogrified into a child I recognize only by his voice; his face purple and distorted, punching people, pinching me, and challenging EVERYthing, many, many times a day! Yesterday and today have been much improved, so hopefully we have left that behind us. I don't have a picture to post of Angry Child; I didn't think a camera in his face would improve his mood on any of the aforementioned friek out occasions. Despite challenging behaviour, we are VERY HAPPY to celebrate this milestone in Ayden's life; it was a difficult one for him emotionally. He just really wanted to stick with diapers! Matthew is the opposite; pretty soon he will be out of diapers, too! :)

Does anyone have tips on how to spend individual time with each child? I've heard this is important for developing individual relationships with your children, but have found it difficult to do for Matthew, because his brother doesn't nap, goes to bed at the same time as him, and is always around during the day. I try to get down on the floor and play with them quite a bit and they love that, but it would be nice to have more individual time with just Matthew. If Ayden is around, Matthew is following him around like a puppy. The dinner hour is off limits (yes, Brent cooks, but this is my only time to exercise). I could wake him up at 6:30 a.m. and force him to spend quality time with mommy?!!?

My friend and I took our kids to the aquarium in Stanley Park last Friday. The traffic was aweful, which we figured out once we got into Vancouver and discovered that the traffic lights were not working due to the Thursday night wind storm. Two and a half hours after we left our place, we finally reached Stanley Park, which was closed. The wind had blown down a number of trees in the park, so even the causeway and the Lion's Gate Bridge were closed! We decided we had to at least get out of the vehicle before we battled traffic to get home, so we went out for lunch and then to Jericho Beach. The sun was shining and the waves were terrific, but the wind was SO COLD and so strong; 60-90 km/hr was reported on the news that night. The boys lasted about 15 minutes before we had to head home. We had a wonderful lunch at a Greek restaurant and we enjoyed 15 minutes of sun and sand; my friend's son Bodhi was in the water up to his knees on several occasions, so we considered the day thoroughly salvaged and had fun. We will visit the aquarium another day. Here are some pix!

The Flashers

On December 13th we went to our good friends' place (the Rehman's) for dessert and hot chocolate. While we were there, someone in the group began asking Ayden "Where are your knees? Where are your ears?" etc, and wound up asking him where some certain parts are...Ayden mooned us, and everyone laughed until they cried! This incident would probably not make the blog, HOWEVER, ever since then, both Matthew and Ayden think that nudity is hilarious, and have been spontaneously pulling their pants down and laughing in social situations! How do I get them to stay covered up without making them think private parts are bad/dirty? With Matthew it's dangerous; you might get peed on!

Hmmmmm...who is responsible for this? Can I blame Sam? Probably.

Welcome to our blog!

We have decided to join the ranks of the bloggers! Thanks for checking us out, friends and family! Today is dec. 17th, only one week until Christmas...our house is almost quivering with anticipation of Santa's arrival on Jesus' birthday! We have our customary "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" up and decorated in our living room, stockings hanging over the fireplace, and almost all of our shopping completed. As Ayden would say, "We are fery, fery, FERY 'xcited!" And, as Matthew would say, "Duh-duh!"

We had an eventful time decorating our tree. Both boys were so excited, and hung clusters of 6 or 7 decorations per branch, while jumping and laughing. We tried playing Christmas music while we worked, but our one and only Christmas CD is scratched and skips, so you can hear neverending fa-la-la-la-la-la-las, or Si-si-si-si-silent night. Our Charlie Brown tree was so narrow at its base that Brent had to build an insert for our christmas tree stand so it would fit without falling...and even so, it leans. So fun!

This year will be our first Christmas at our house! We get to fill stockings and make sure Santa arrives and run downstairs very early in the morning and watch the kids have a blast with the magic of Christmas! All this makes us feel incredibly grown up all of a sudden. It's funny when 40 starts to look younger the closer you get to it?! The magic of Christmas still gets us moving, no matter what age we are. Which reminds me......
you know the song, "I like to move it" by Sacha Cohen?? Ayden has taken to singing, "I wike to move it, move it! I wike to move it, move it!" While jumping in circles on our bed and shaking his tushie. Apparently, this music is in the kids' movie "Madagascar" and Ayden retained it, and reproduced it! Very funny.