Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Mini-post, no pictures, but I will say that the whirlwind Christmas-extravaganza weekend went really well today - all three trees up, yard partially decorated, almost all Christmas presents taken care of (only a couple of stores to visit to finish up, and then:  wrapping!  Maybe I thrive on pressure?  My blood pressure says, "No.  Don't even go there.").  If I manage to be productive tomorrow, I'll have this Christmas thing licked just in time to actually enjoy the holiday :o).  So, I thought a mini-post to note my success in getting lots of stuff done and listing my favorite Christmas movies (two of which I watched this evening whilst decorating):

1.  National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - my most favorite, and Alan's too.  It's highly quotable, and definitely quoted quite frequently around our house, particularly the rant towards the end of the movie and most of Clark's quotes to and regarding Cousin Eddie.  Classic Christmas hilarity (aside:  Alan is frequently told by people that know him well and by people who don't know him that well that he reminds them of Chevy Chase.  I think it's a pretty great compliment, and so does Alan, and I totally see it, even more so when you know Alan's sense of humor).

2.  Love Actually - I can watch this movie repeatedly (and not just because I love me some Hugh Grant).  I think it's so sweet, and the music in it is awesome, and it has an awesome cast. 

3.  Home Alone - evokes wonderful childhood memories - I went to see this in the theatre when I was little, and I remember about a year later, a magazine, I think it was Time, did a big story on how Macauley Culkin made like $6 million per film and I remember thinking, "Dang!" since he was my age.

4.  It's a Wonderful Life - what's not to love?  I adore Jimmy Stewart, and this is a good story (although, I read a funny article once, that was correct, about how George Bailey is like the worst banker/business man ever ... it was pretty funny, and Alan got a big kick out of it, since this is one of his favorite movies as well).

5.  A tie between A Charlie Brown Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas - classic Christmas animation.  I have the soundtrack for the Charlie Brown Christmas and have been playing it my car for awhile - it makes me smile, and I think Jones enjoys it while we're riding down the road.

Since I really do believe that I thrive on pressure, I'm planning on not only getting the house decorated, getting all of Christmas presents taken care of, wrapped, and arranged under the tree in an attractive manner, but finishing up Jones' room for good (all while watching the above list of movies :o)), so you can look forward to posts full of pictures ... some day ... probably a month from now ... ha!  No, seriously, again, I'm going to make an effort to post frequently with pictures in the next week.  I swear.

Don't Pass Up a Good Deal on a Used Sailboat Just Because of a Sorry Paint Job. It Could be a Real Gem!

Can you believe that Christmas is a mere 9 days away?!  I have a terrible confession:  we have not decorated for Christmas yet.  The tree is up (no small feat, mind you), but it isn't decorated, neither is the mantle or the top of the entertainment center, nor is the dining room, I don't have Jones' little tree up in his room, and we don't have any lights on the outside of our house.  So, I will be a busy bee this weekend (on top of shopping for all of our Christmas presents) - procrastinators of the world, unite! ... tomorrow!  Ha!  Anyway, a quick update on Jones - he's already 8 months old!

At 8 months, Jones:

• Wears 6-9 months and 9 months clothes (and some 6 months, but they are looking pretty fitted these days).
• Wears a size 3 diaper
• Weighs 19.12 pounds (per a doctor's visit earlier this week ... poor boo-boo has an ear infection, as do Nana and Daddy)
• Sits up like a champ!
• Is very interactive - he loves for you to play with him, so we spend a lot of time in the floor with him playing, really trying to get him to crawl, since he ...
• Is really close to crawling!  He gets on all fours and rocks back and forth, and he can go backwards, and he likes to get on his toes with his butt in the air, but he just hasn't put it all together yet.  Any day now, though, I'm sure, and then we'll probably look back fondly on the days when he was not mobile.
• Is really liking solid food more and more, and really prefers solid food to formula at this point.  Lately, we've really been struggling with taking bottles.  I'm going to start finger foods as soon as the high chair we've ordered comes in (seriously, we ordered it on November 29 and it hasn't shipped yet ... not happy Target, not happy at all ... is this chair coming from the Target in Pakistan or something?!)  His favorite foods are green beans, squash, and sweet potatoes (and anything with those ingredients mixed in), pears are still a favorite fruit, but his most-favorite fruit-based food is blueberry yogurt.

• Loves his paci - it really comforts him ... I'm somewhat concerned about this, but I will say that he still doesn't cry for the paci ... he likes it if he's tired or if he's upset, it calms him down, but he doesn't cry for that paci, if that makes sense?
• Still loves the jumperoo!
• Pulls up on anything he can find, every chance he gets - he loves to practice standing!
• Loves paper products (future Dunder Mifflen executive, maybe?) - confession:  he ate a post-it the other day at my office (in my defense, he grabbed it and had it chewed up and swallowed down before I noticed what was going on ... it happened very fast, I'm telling you ... and he has suffered no ill effects).
• Loves the moose on Nick Jr, more than any of the programs that are on ... he does love Sesame Street though, and he really seems to love Elmo.

• Loves bathtime (and, I think, loves to be naked in general) - he grins and grins and kicks and squeals and plays with his toys and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.  I got this faucet cover that turns the water flow into a waterfall and he LOVES that.
• Has discovered his private parts, which is pretty funny, but also makes changing him a whole different kettle of fish - what with his enjoyment of being naked and his newfound interest in his business down there, changing him is kind of like wrestling a baby alligator (confession:  I'm sure that some day Jones will read this and want to die/kill me for sharing this info but:  oh well).
• Loves his spoiled labradors, and they love him too - they are definitely going to be big buddies!

After our whirlwind Christmas-setting-up-planning-weekend-extravaganza, I will post pictures for your enjoyment.  So, you know, probably in like a month ... no, seriously, I'll try to be a timely post-er :o).