rockin' new year's eve.

happy new year from the biggest party animals on the block. up for a wild time? follow our lead....

start out the festivities with a scoop of dairy-free ice cream. cookie dough is a fave.

follow up that shenanigans with an impromptu dance party. there may or may not have been sugar-induced break dancing at our house.

complete this tom-foolery with the classic banging of pots and pans and blowing of party favors- out on the front porch, of course. be sure to raise the noise level to that of one which would cause the neighbors to consider calling the police. i mean, this is a party, after all.

and the final step...are you ready? this is crucial.....make sure you are in bed and asleep by 8:45.

wild, right?

ok, ok, i kid....the only one asleep is the boy. you better believe the Mister & i are going to break it loose and share a mike's hard lemonade & a kiss at the stroke of midnight.

followed by a prompt bedtime of 12:05.

happy 2012.

adieu, 2011...it's been fun.

can you believe that in just over a day 2011 will be over?

we were so, so blessed this year. there are so many moments, memories and milestones that will forever attach themselves to 2011.

and while i could go ahead and re-cap all of those sweet & wonderful events for your reading pleasure, i'm going to leave you with this......

an ordinary.

everyday.

typical.
run-of-the-mill.

melt-my-heart and make-me-beyond-grateful moment.

a morning spent with my boy. nothing to do but play. talk. read. laugh. and relax. oh, and make faces for the camera. no work or school. no obligations. just us.

yup, 2011 had some pretty great big moments for us...but it's these little ones that will forever make me look back on it so fondly.

so, here's to 2011.

and 2012, you've got some pretty big shoes to fill. 

christmas past.

this year we celebrated christmas twice. with the Mister's fam on the thursday beforehand, and again on the o-fficial day, in florida, with mine.

despite our best efforts to keep it simple, the boy was spoiled beyond belief. we all had a joyous time & received so many wonderful things, but the best part....by far....was spending it with family. well, that and the 80 degree weather....it's a toss-up.

'twas a perfect holiday.

round one.

your eyes do not deceive you....those are band aids- with guys on them....the most wonderful gift of the year.

and round two

"It is good to be children sometimes, & never better than at Christmas."

- Charles Dickens

and a merry, merry it was.

is there a borderline nice list?

In case you are new around here, allow me to introduce mr. jack kilian, otherwise known as the boy.

photo by Holly Kittle Photography



at 29 months, he is still on the smallish side.

(except for his giant head)

what he lacks in size, however, he makes up for in personality.

he is so funny. and this is no secret to him.

he is dramatic. i have no idea what i'm in for in about 13 years.

he likes to have boo boos that need a band aid...or 7.

he loves all things baseball. and he's got a mean left-handed pitch.

he's got the widest little feet. and at the end of his day, when i take off his shoes, he cannot wait for me to tell him that that they are a little less-than-fresh.

he loves his school. and so do i. his teachers & his buddies...the. absolute. best.

he is 110% boy.

and on that note, despite my best efforts, he's usually a little bit dirty.

he loves fruit. and trucks. and the mailman. and apple pie.

he gives the BEST kisses. and he's pretty generous with them, too, i might add.

these days he's into:

 a musical dancing christmas marshmallow...the song it plays haunts my dreams.

fwosty snowman. on youtube.

reading & talking about baby jesus & the big stah (star).

kiss-miss lights.

finding a new spot to hang the pickle ornament on the tree. every. night.

he informed me this weekend when we saw a light display that blinked the words 'naughty' and 'nice' that, "i naughty, mama." it was very matter-of-fact. and i'm pretty sure he was okay with this.

and while some days i have to agree with him (think chasing the dogs, scaling the pantry, climbing into the dryer, etc.), i think he might just squeak by and make it onto the nice list. 

after all, he does end each day with the very sweetest, "i luh you, mama".

i love you so, you naughty rapscallion.

cookie fest 2K11

this weekend the boy & i busied ourselves in the kitchen. we measured. we mixed. we chopped (oh, ok, i chopped). we blended. we baked. we sampled the fruits of our labor....someone may or may not have sampled enough to induce spiderman-like crawling up the walls.....i won't say who that someone is.

i decided to keep it pretty simple this year. only 2 kinds of cookies. one (dairy free) batch of oatmeal raisin for the boy. and one- very large- batch of (dairy FULL) oatmeal chocolate chip for friends, neighbors & family.

side note: it is very difficult to make "unsafe" food in our home...i don't even typically keep these ingredients in the house...but i refuse to profane this recipe with our non-dairy, albeit pretty delicious, alternatives. that being said, all of the "real" stuff had to be prepared post-little-boy-bedtime. and the cleanup was a nightmare. everything, and i mean everything, had to be sterilized. not a crumb could be left behind, because i assure you, had there been, my little cookie fiend would have discovered it.

meet my assistant...

he decided to hop on the "rocketship" & burn off a few of the calories. maybe mommy should take a cue...

we also made some orange pomanders (clove-studded oranges). if you've never done this, you should. they smell awesome & are really easy to make- even for the wee ones. oh, and i didn't take any pics of these, but you can google it if you have no idea what i'm talking about, mkay?

saturday night found us driving around scouting out kiss-miss lights. 'twas lovely. and the best part? hearing the teeny tiny voice in the backseat saying, oooh! i see canee canes! i see stahs (stars)! oooh! i see canta claus! i see fwosty snowman! pretty sure i'm smitten with this christmas angel.

this week i'll be wrapping up all of the gifts, doing a little bit of last minute baking, working through wednesday (a big shout out to hcde....holla!), celebrating christmas with the in-laws on Thursday evening, then driving to St. Pete on Friday to spend a long weekend with my fam. whew....i'm already exhausted thinking about it. next year: christmas at OUR house.....come one, come all, but we will NOT be traveling!!

and on that note, i'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes...

With pomp, power & glory the world beckons vainly,

in chase of such vanities why should I roam?

While peace & content bless my little thatched cottage,

and warm my own hearth with the treasures of home.

-Beatrix Potter

sweaters & lights...a recap.

'twas a busy weekend. the Mister & i went to a friend's ugly sweater party on saturday night. there was lots o' food. karaoke. dancing. and, of course, no shortage of ugly sweaters.



sunday evening we headed to Rock City to check out the christmas lights and meet mr. claus, himself. (oh, and i cannot forget to mention that when i told the boy we were going to "meet santa" a look of horror spread across his face. apparently he misunderstood me because he said no, mama, no.  jack no eat canta claus! the poor dear has probably been scarred for life. oh well, it's not the first time, nor will it be the last.

anyway, it was a blast (despite the cold & the 45 minute wait in line just to get tickets. oh, and the fact that i realized today they overcharged us by $3) we will definitely make it a yearly thing....the boy ooo'd and ahhh'd all night long.



yes, i know he doesn't look so thrilled here, but he was longing for canta claus, whom we just left, while munching on a candy cane.



i'm pretty sure we'll be talking about his visit with the claus for quite some time. he was so in awe that he couldn't even speak (even though we practiced all day long....he wanted to tell santa he wanted a choo choo)

and who knew that santa had a very thick, very southern drawl?

nevertheless, he's been a good boy, santa, a very. good. boy.

fa la la la la la lots to do....

we've had a pretty cray cray week. we've been so busy that we really haven't had any extra time to focus on christmas. so, my goal for the weekend is to change that. we will be making merry, by golly, even if it kills us. so, what's on the schedule, you ask? (oh, and schedule must be pronounced all british-like: shedjule, if you will) tomorrow the boy and i will be picking up a few ingredients & hopefully beginning the preparations for our first annual christmas cookie fiasco, which will take place mostly next weekend....this is the first year he's interested in and able to help & he's got an adorbs apron to wear for all the merriment. i'm also on the lookout for a dairy-free gingerbread house.

the Mister & i will be heading to an ugly sweater party tomorrow evening. the boy will be heading to mamaw & papaw's & will probably be thrilled to be rid of us for a night.

sunday, after church & hopefully a nap, we will finish up the last of our decorating and then head to rock city to see the enchanted light display and meet santa! i may or may not be more excited than our 2 year old about this....despite the fact that i've lived in chatty for 3 years, i've never been to see this splendor. can. not. wait.

naptime shenanigans.

i may have mentioned it before but it bears repeating....the boy is NOT a great napper (at home, at least...i think it is all a ruse and he may be a professional napper at school....) as with bedtime, he'll stop at nothing to get a wee bit of extra 'awake' time. today i decided to document these shenanigans with the camera, and wouldn't you know it was just the trick i needed. he was so exhausted after putting on a show for the lens, that the next thing i knew my little guy was out like a light. snoring. loudly. sweet baby.

take a look see.....

tonight we went to a little holiday get-together for one of my jobs. 'twas lots o' fun (although the boy did have to tag along)....it was another reminder that i've got a pretty great gig & that i work with some really cool peeps. what, the kids aren't saying that anymore? whatevs...