Have no fear, more Christmas posts to come. But first, a post solely dedicated to our neighbors' gift to Pearl. They have outdone themselves once again. Her own 4-wheeler. I didn't mention the play food and Leap Frog books they also gave her. Ridiculous, I know. It made our photo book we gave them look pretty lame but I sure hope they know how much we love and appreciate them! She had no clue what was coming. David and Vickie, well mostly David, barely made the wait until Christmas. You see, they bought this a long time ago. They actually bought a red 4-wheeler but when they heard Pearl wanted a pink one, they went out and bought a second one. They are crazy in love with this kid!
The kid has way too much of her father in her. By 5, she'll be flying off ramps, trails, and doing "bagels" as she calls spinning doughnuts. I fear the worst by the time she is 16. Actually, I was quite impressed at how well she can steer. We will be setting a few rules though... like always wearing your helmet, only staying in the backyard (we had a slight incident with running off the sidewalk into the road), no crashing on purpose anyway, and no hitting it into reverse with your foot on the gas. Jeff had a hard time convincing her to take a break and come back inside for more gift opening. Cole was squealing with delight every time his sister zoomed (at 5 mph) past... minus having to wear his hat. She loved it. I guess it was a good thing we didn't get a white Christmas so she could drive around the yard all day. Oh and if you're wondering why I dubbed this post, "Meals on Wheels" well, last night we took dinner over to our other neighbors and Pearl drove her new toy. I jokingly told Tiff, it was a "meals on wheels" delivery!
Should I be frightened that Cole takes after me more than I thought? Apparently cravings during pregnancy do have long term effects.
The kid crawled for a Mt. Dew tonight. This video was re-created after we watched him army crawl himself over to my Mt. Dew in about 2.5 seconds. We thought it was so funny (and awesome that he was finally pulling himself with his arms instead of just pushing himself with his tippy toes) that we ran for the video camera and tried to get him to crawl again. I figured if he would crawl for a soda, he'd certainly get excited and crawl to just me. I was wrong. So we put the Mt. Dew back on the stool and drug him back over by the tree. He wasn't too happy that his previous efforts weren't rewarded with a sugar-loaded, unhealthy beverage so he stopped about halfway to it the second time around.
Too bad for Cole and our nation's obesity epidemic I didn't crave carrots when I was pregnant.
My mom always told us as kids (well, she still does) that "if you don't believe, you don't receive."
I believe. I really, truly do.
And I can prove it. I even wrote an English paper about it, just to make sure any nay-sayers out there knew there really is a Santa Claus. Of course I can't find it in my boxes of junk downstairs at the moment so you'll have to hope I don't leave out any important details to the story.
I think I was about 12 the Christmas I saw Rudolph's nose. Yes, the famous, red nose. Old enough to know certain things, yet still believe in the magic of the Christmas season. We always spent the night at my Grandma's house. The cousins slept upstairs in the living room where we could look at the wall of windows and spy, hoping to see Santa himself. Well, one year my brother Jesse, my cousin Zac, and I woke up hoping it was 7 am and time to go downstairs to open presents. We whispered back and forth until we realized we still had a couple hours to go. So we headed over to the window to look at the lights twinkling on the fresh, fallen snow. Suddenly we saw a red light glowing in across the street. But the thing about the light was, it wasn't a Christmas light hanging on someone's house. It was above the houses.
We all turned to each other in shock, our hearts pounding. Without a word we knew. We knew. We jumped back into our sleeping bags and tried to fall back asleep out of fear we had just blown it with the jolly ole man himself. I've never been so excited and nervous! It nearly killed us to stay put in our sleeping bags until morning. Our poor parents, grandparents, and aunts & uncles! We couldn't contain our excitement as we recounted the night's events. At first they thought we were totally joking and tried to tell us it was just some Christmas lights, it was the neighbor's Santa on their roof, and we were just making it up, but with three kids insisting we had seen Rudolph's nose and telling the exact same details, they finally believed us.
And to this day, I know I saw Rudolph's nose. Just ask Jesse or Zac, they'll tell you the same thing.
I've been on this "I want Christmas to be magical for our kids" kick lately.
I'm sure Jeff is totally annoyed. It's not like I come up with any ideas for how to actually do this. I just keep telling him it's got to be magical, we only have a few years for it to be magical, and I remember my Christmas' growing up as well, magical.I'm just kind of stumped on how to do this. Really, how did my parents pull this off year after year? Growing up, my Christmas' were awesome. And it wasn't just because of all the over-the-top, ridiculousness that ensued on Christmas morning. Like the year we woke up to four gigantic presents under the tree and that was it. Talk about perplexed! But when we opened the lids we found all our gifts wrapped inside of these ginormous packing boxes... AWESOME! It was just this special, magical time. I swear we spent practically the entire month of December at my Grandma's house (even though she lived 10 minutes away) surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, and loads and loads of treats. We stayed up late playing cards, games, doing puzzles, laughing, and snacking on all the candy, nuts, suckers, and chocolate that my Grandma had out on her laundry counter. We played Christmas music on her player piano, hung our stockings up on her bookcase, jammed out to Randy Travis, Alabama, and other country super stars' Christmas CDs (ok, so tapes... I'm old). All the cousins slept upstairs in the living room Christmas Eve (again wondering how and why my parents did this year after year... dragging all the gifts back up to Grandma's house at 4 am) while the adults stayed up playing cards and wrapping presents all night. At 7 o'clock sharp we were finally allowed to wake up all the adults and then Grandpa gave the word and we all scrambled downstairs to see what Santa had brought us.
And believe in Santa I do. Yes, still do. My mom always told us "if you don't believe, you don't receive." Remind me to tell you all about the year I saw Rudolph's nose... I really did.
It was pure joy. Happiness. Excitement. Magic.And that's what I want my kids to feel. So how exactly do I do this? Especially trying to balance my family, Jeff's family, and our family? That's a lot of families (and driving back and forth to Logan). As much as it pains me to think my kids won't spend every Christmas with their cousins at Grandma's house like I did (I only remember one Christmas morning at home with just my immediate family), I know it's probably something that won't happen every year. Jeff is more sensible than me and realizes it's totally ridiculous to try and get all the gifts to Logan. What are some ways we can #1 make our own traditions and #2 make them as magical as I remember?
Here's the part where your ideas come in. What do you do as a family? What traditions do you have?
I wanted to post a couple of pictures for our neighbors. Yes, the most awesome neighbors in the world. You might remember them as the ones who bought Pearl a new playground for her birthday, who up until retirement brought us cookies every Sunday, and who watch our house like hawks when we are gone. David and Vickie spoil us rotten... well, they really spoil Pearl rotten.
They gave Pearl a ladybug nightlight. It has all these star cutouts on it and lights up in red, blue, green, and white. The night she got it, she ran from room to room turning off all the lights so we could see how cool it was. In Pearl's room it's pretty neat to see all these stars on her ceiling and walls. And the best part is she will stay put in her room, for the most part anyway, when it's bedtime. A couple of times, we've even gone in there in the morning to see that she's turned her nightlight back on at some point in the night. Hey, whatever works to keep those monsters away!And for Mr. Jumping Bean himself, they got Cole this fandangled, hanging, jumping thingy that hangs from the door frame. Cole wasn't too sure about it but I'm guessing it would have been easier for him to jump in it if we had put it over carpet instead of tile. I'm hoping he gets it figured out... instead of trying to eat the strings on it... so he can entertain himself when I'm cooking dinner.
For the past two years I've sent an email holiday greeting to family and friends. It's cheap and fast but not very personable or fun to get. I know myself, I love getting actual mail, with handwritten letters, photos, and braggings of all my loved one's accomplishments from the past year. Plus, I'm stocking up on all the Christmas cards we do get so I can make some handmade ornaments like my Grandma made when I was a kid. So after reading my friend Brooke's post on her blog about this whole thing, I committed to doing an actual card this year. Thus began my hunt for the best deal on holiday greeting cards.
Well, yesterday I found out from a friend's blog that Shutterfly is doing a free holiday card giveaway for bloggers who post about it. This is awesome and a little frustrating at the same time. The problem? I already made holiday cards the day BEFORE I saw this (from Shutterfly too no less) because I saw a deal I thought might not be beat and was almost up. But I didn't order as many as I would have liked to so this is my chance to get some more.
You lucky people!
That means you just might get an actual greeting from us this year instead of an email wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Here's the card I ended up picking... although I must say it was super hard with all the cute Christmas photo cards and holiday card designs you can choose from. Heck, if I was up to it, I'd plan a holiday party and send out invites using their designs too. Seriously, Shutterfly makes this whole thing a cinch to do. Super easy to upload your pictures, super easy to dump them into any of their projects, and super cute end result! Did I mention I also got a free photo book from Shutterfly recently? It was the easiest book I've made yet, with their new autofill pages.
Now if only Shutterfly could send me all of your addresses!
I didn't think we were going to make it to Thanksgiving this year with Cole puking two days before the blessed feasting. But we made it. It was a good thing too because Thanksgiving is Jeff's favorite holiday. No Christmas goes up until after we stuff ourselves silly... even Pearl got the idea and told a few people that it wasn't Christmas yet.
It wasn't a big hoopla this year. Just my parents and Kimmy and Nick in the freezing North known as Cache Valley. Seriously, it was -9 at 8 am and that was AFTER it had warmed up! Grandpa Jewkes was able to come over for a little bit before his asthma kicked up and he had to go home before he couldn't breathe. It was nice to see him.Since my mom told my dad this was all the food he was getting until Christmas (or something like that) I decided to post a few food photos for him. Just in case he gets hungry. Jeff made cranberry sauce and brought some of his homemade grape juice. Kimmy and Nick supplied the delicious homemade rolls. And my mom did the rest... right down to the cheesecake. Yes, cheesecake. We took a vote and decided to skip the pie and have cheesecake instead. Although I think my mom did have some pumpkin pie and today I'm regretting not trying some or at least taking a piece home with me. It's the one time of the year I indulge myself with this special treat.I don't get why we always have celery with cheese on them.. no one seems to eat them. Tradition I guess.And my mom made sure to have plenty of her jello salad. Too bad it's just my brother Jesse who loves this stuff. Guess I know what got sent home to their house instead of all the other fixins. Somebody feed this kid! Sheesh! He is obviously wasting away and desperate for anything remotely edible. Assume the "I ate way too much" position. I think you might see drool if you look really carefully! Or is that just some gravy dripping down Jeff's chin? I didn't hit this same look until after the cheesecake.Lately I've felt some inner urge to entertain my family with a holiday-themed craft project of some kind. Maybe it's my way of trying to keep us from snacking all day long or to keep Pearl and Ruby entertained because first it was candy corn wreaths for Halloween and now it's Oreo Turkeys and Cookie Pilgrim Hats. This is what they were supposed to look like. And here's our final turkeys. My Dad even joined in on the fun. I was kind of surprised... this stuff is usually left to the women. But it did involve food so maybe that cancels out the estrogen. He really showed us up too. Apparently engineers have to perfect even crafting. Check out that look of concentration. And the end result was no less than perfect... but none of us were surprised or expected anything less. And you wonder why I had (emphasis on HAD... that was pre-kids before I lost my mind) serious issues with perfectionism.I have to admit, my very first turkey wasn't so bad. And he was the only one whose eyes or that goobley, wobbley, red glibbler thingy didn't run down to its feet. Pearl had a blast with the frosting tubes. I didn't have the heart to tell her that turkeys looked like giant boobs though. Finally, my Turkey Day 2010 post wouldn't be complete without a run down of a list of things we are grateful for from our Blessing Tree. There's plenty more, but when you're trying to keep a three-year-old's attention AND explain what it means to be grateful, this is what you come up with (in no particular order): Pearl, Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Cole, our senses, snow, computers, blankets to keep us warm, Santa, David and Vickie, Aggie basketball, warm slippers, movies, house, sleepovers at Aunt Kimmy's house, tea parties, church, turkey dinners, shoes, Cinderella, toys, pink lemonade, football, reading books, to be healthy and strong, KC, good jobs, Jesus, and Daddy.
I'm beginning to realize there might be some big differences between boys and girls. Pearl would NEVER have gone for this. The real scary thing though (besides me freaking out every time I catch my boys playing this new game) is that Cole actually enjoys it.
I know this is totally worldly but I'm hoping it will avoid the emails and phone calls from my mom, mother-in-law, and Santa Claus. The first ever posting of our Christmas Wish List, as best I can remember and think of anyway. We ran to the store tonight and had Pearl take some pictures of what she wanted for Christmas so we could send the pictures to Santa Claus. Ok, so I was really just trying to get her distracted so we could finally leave... Cole was hungry and in no mood for window shopping. It didn't last long but here were the few pictures I found on the camera. Last year Pearl stopped opening presents because she was so disappointed that she didn't get any toys that this year, Santa better step it up big time and get her something off her list! Hint to the grandmas... Santa will be bringing her some Toy Story figures so ex-na on that idea. Here's some other things she has said she wants: *Pink cowgirl boots (size 8) *4 wheeler or a jeep... she can't decide *Dress up stuff (princesses, doctor, etc) *Strawberry "cake short" dolls *Toy Story figures *Barbies (ughhh... please no!) *Grocery store, cash register, and shopping cart *Melissa & Doug cupcakes, ice cream, birthday party cake, or pizza play food *Art stuff *Movies (Toy Story 2... Santa is bringing Toy Story 3.... Mulan, Pocahontas, Despicable Me, etc) *Baby doll stuff *Games (I thought she might like Cooties, Ants in the Pants, Go Fish) *Books
As for Cole, he was more interested in eating the ads than looking around for toys. Here's his wish list: *Warm, fleece footed jammies (size 9 months) *Onesies... short and long sleeved (we LOVE Carter's brand... size 9 months) *Toys of any kind *Bath toys *Books
Me: *This candle pillar holder (well a set of two) from Pottery Barn *Frames so I can finally hang up my family photos! *Gift certificate to get some new clothes... casual, work, shoes... I seriously need some help in the wardrobe department *Massage *Maid service... I am SERIOUS! *My formally hot life book by Stephanie Dolgoff *Food processor *New throw pillows for the couches
I really have no clue what Jeff wants! But here are some ideas: *USU football helmet... yes, an actual helmet *New dress/work shirts so he's sytlin' as Pearl says (neck size 16 inches... NOT thick shirts though!) *Shoes... or more realistically a gift certificate to the Nike store *Some sort of manly power tool *Shed next to the garage *4 wheeler *Hardwood floors... ok so I think I'm hitting the unrealistic stuff now!
Worldy, huh? Here's hoping we're on the "good list" and this post makes it to the North Pole!
I'm not sure if it was a compliment or not when Pearl told me today, "Mom, I like your shirt. You look like a pirate." Maybe I should rethink my buying decisions when I find something on 75% clearance.
And speaking of fashion, we had a near fashion disaster today... at least in Pearl's eyes. When I picked her up from school she was wailing about her dress. She told me Ty had spit on her dress and got it all wet. Even after I explained that it would dry, we could change her clothes when we got home, and I'd even blow dry it with the hair dryer, she told me, "No, Mom! It's ruined FOREVER!!!"
I took a mental health day from work today. I needed it. Bad.
The last three weeks have been a constant struggle to not totally lose it. I've felt like I could have a panic attack at any moment. I've been so anxious at work, at home, everywhere. I've had way too many projects at work, worked way too many hours, gotten home way too late, and then stayed up way too late or been woke up by one or both kids way too many times.
I'm on the verge of a stay in the mental hospital.
This might sound like a cop-out but I really feel like I have my struggle with the "baby blues" and postpartum issues months after I have a baby. I feel great the first 3-4 months but just like with Pearl, I remember starting to get emotional and irrational about this time. It seems like once my "transition back to work" period is up and the new baby thing has worn off and been forgotten, that's when I start to loose it. This last month has been especially hard. I don't know how to explain it other than feeling like you could cry, scream, shake, kill someone, or pass out all at the same time. If you've never truly experienced anxiety, you just won't get it. It's like you can't shut down and yet that's how you feel... shut down, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. It really sucks.
On top of that, Pearl has just about pushed me over the edge. Whoever said "terrible two's" must not have made it to the three's. They are WAY, WAY worse! She throws a fit over everything! We fight getting ready for the day, on the way to school, when I drop her off, when I pick her up, on the way home from school, when we get home, getting ready for dinner, getting ready for bed, etc, etc, etc. She yells, I yell, Jeff yells. And oh the whining and crying! Oh my gosh! It drives me totally insane!!! I have no clue what to do about it either! I feel so stupid saying this but I have no idea how to discipline that kid. Sometimes one thing works but then the next tantrum it doesn't. Pearl refuses to listen and obey anything we tell her until all of us are about to kill each other. She has a personality that is so stubborn, defiant, and independent and yet there is this really sensitive side to her too. I'm so afraid I'm going to damage her little spirit because I can't stay in control... I was in tears about it on Tuesday after I completely lost it with her after she refused to get ready so I could get to work. I feel like all I've been doing lately is ranting and raving about how horrible she is. Which makes me feel even worse! I really don't know what to do with her. If she's like this at three what in the world will the teen years be like? Please, all you wonderful, patient moms out there what do we do? I love, love, love her, I really do. I just can't take the whining, crying, screaming, tantrums, telling me no, crusty looks, anymore.
I need something new. I'm too big of a chicken to change the background of my blog, in the fear of losing my life's history for the past two years, so I figured a new title would a good start. My problem is I'm not very creative when it comes to these sorts of things. And our last name is pretty boring so it doesn't have anything to really play off of. Plus I don't want to have our last name in the title anyway... something about potential Internet weirdos out there.
I came up with a few ideas but really, people, help me please!
Life with a True Aggie
True Aggies x 4
My Formally Hot Life - ok so this is technically plagiarism because there is a book I will read someday called this but it seems so fitting!
I used to be cool
Ramblings of a Mom on the Edge
Well that's it for ideas. Pathetic huh? I should probably fess up and name my blog something that truly fits my posts like... ramblings of a mom on edge, who can't keep her house or office clean, boarding a nervous breakdown, with two cute but strong willed children and husband in tow... but that seems a bit much. Any suggestions?
Jeff and I had a "nooner" today... and NO it is not what you're thinking.
We had a lunch date. With a room full of Aggie testosterone. I think I was one of three females in attendance. Jeff, as you well know, is a devoted USU fan. A fanatic really. He spends hours pouring over the Aggie boards listening to all the details and insider info on football and basketball. We fork over all our extra money to the university just so we can then drive to Logan at least 30 times from September to March and watch sports, freezing our tailends off and complaining about how cold Logan is. He also goes to all the coaches luncheons where he gets to socialize with other crazed Aggie fans and avoid yet another boring sandwich I'd make him for lunch. But he loves every second of it. And that's where our "nooner" came in to play today. Jeff asked me last night if I wanted to go. I usually turn him down for these kind of things but since I didn't want to make just one lunch, I took him up on the offer. He looked at me a bit puzzled and said something to the effect that I could care less about football. To which I replied back, "Yes, true. But I love you and you love football."
And so we went together. I felt all sneaky, leaving both kids at daycare (hoping that Cole would survive without me until I got back to work... didn't happen... he was starving when I got back, hence pictures of us at the USU vs. BYU football game instead of us on a date today) and running out for a long lunch. The food was yummy - much better than any sandwich I'd have come up with. There were plenty of fanatics just like my husband and it suddenly became clear to me why Jeff goes to these things. However, I am in dire need of some Football Lingo 101 if I'm going to fit in with this crowd. What the heck is a FBS school anyway? And I thought only basketball had a guard. So our little "nooner" got me thinking, are dates really THAT big of a deal in marriage? I think this is the first date we've been on without one of our kids in well, almost a year! Pathetic. In our eight years of marriage, we've probably gone on a handful of actual dates together - not counting Aggie basketball games. Most of the time I hardly notice or care. But then should I? We've taken that Marriage and Family Relations Sunday School class at least five times since we've been married - never once finishing the entire thing because we moved, had a baby, got put in Primary, etc - and they always talk about dating and courtship in marriage. And every time we have that lesson Jeff and I go home thinking, have we missed the boat on this one? Should we be dating? It seems like all the "older" married couples religiously go on weekly dates but everyone closer to our age doesn't. I don't know if it's just the drudgery of everyday life, money, kids or what but we've never really been big on going on dates since we've been married. I don't know as if we've felt cheated by this or not either... we seem to be ok. But then again I got to thinking doe we really know each other's hopes, dreams, fears? Would we communicate better during those hard times if we made time for just us more often?
At any rate, I actually looked up the lesson that talks about nurturing love and friendship in a marriage to see if it was really counsel from church leaders or just our teachers trying to make us feel guilty. Guess it's the real deal. The lesson says:
“Friendship is … a vital and wonderful part of courtship and marriage. A relationship between a man and a woman that begins with friendship and then ripens into romance and eventually marriage will usually become an enduring, eternal friendship. Nothing is more inspiring in today’s world of easily dissolved marriages than to observe a husband and wife quietly appreciating and enjoying each other’s friendship year in and year out as they experience together the blessings and trials of mortality” (Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy in Conference Report, Apr. 1999, 81; or Ensign, May 1999, 64).
One of the less obvious but more significant reasons for divorce is “the lack of a constant enrichment in marriage, … an absence of that something extra which makes it precious, special, and wonderful, when it is also drudgery, difficult, and dull.” He counseled: “In the enriching of marriage the big things are the little things. It is a constant appreciation for each other and a thoughtful demonstration of gratitude. It is the encouraging and the helping of each other to grow. Marriage is a joint quest for the good, the beautiful, and the divine” (President James E. Faust in Conference Report, Oct. 1977, 13–14; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, 10–11).
“Keep your courtship alive. Make time to do things together—just the two of you. As important as it is to be with the children as a family, you need regular weekly time alone together. Scheduling it will let your children know that you feel that your marriage is so important that you need to nurture it. That takes commitment, planning, and scheduling” (Elder Joe J. Christensen of the Seventy in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 86; or Ensign, May 1995, 65).
Great. I guess I should feel guilty for not feeling guilty about the whole dating thing. So, I'm curious. What do you all think about courtship during marriage? Are we the only ones who struggle with this? Do you really think marriages suffer without it? Is it really something that you have to do every week? How do you keep your courtship alive?
Nothing life threatening... well I take that back. Pearl has survived by the skin of her teeth on several occasions this week. And I barely escaped having a stay at the mental hospital from a nervous breakdown, anxiety attack, or bout with major depression... I couldn't decide which sounded more fun.
I'm glad it's over. And hoping it was just one of those horrible, no good, very bad day sort of weeks and not something like postpartum depression or Pearl's REAL personality.
Pearl wanted to take some pictures of our neighbors' Halloween decorations tonight. I was a little nervous handing over the camera to a child with the attention span (and obedience span) of about 3.3 seconds. But I'm glad I did because it's obvious she is a budding photographer. Since there were so many to choose from, I've selected only the highlights of her photo shot. And no, my neighbors aren't that weird looking... we were all pulling our best scary faces for the camera.
I saw this video and thought it was really neat. They asked a group of moms if they could go back to just before they had their first baby, what would they tell themselves.
Aside from the answers in the video, I think I'd tell myself:
"Buy a NICE camera"
"This is what it's all about"
"Stay at home"
"Enjoy your body NOW"
"It WILL be worth all the puking"
"You're going to forget when she first walked, what her first word was, and all the little things so write them down"
"Everyone cries"
"The week where everyone is sick and you think you can't go on will pass"
"Tell your mom thanks"
"Be more patient"
I'm sure there's more wisdom somewhere in the depths of my foggy brain but these would be my top ten. What would you tell yourself?
Cole seemed bored this afternoon. To keep him entertained for a few minutes I pulled out all of Pearl's old baby toys. He'd been grabbing at the rings on his car seat for couple of weeks so I knew he could probably hold on to them for a few seconds before knocking himself in the face.
Well, my idea worked wonders. Cole was really excited to play with something new. And so was Pearl. Almost more than Cole. Why is that? Pearl is three and had more fun playing with toys meant for babies than any of the toys strewn all over her room. I don't remember her being that interested in playing with all this stuff... other than the balls and spinning toys. She was amazing at spinning toys when she was just months old. But Cole is much more interested in actually grabbing at things and playing with them.Every rattle, ball, and pull-string-animal-thingy I shook in front of Cole drew a big smile on his face. His chubby hands reached out for everything he saw, followed by those same chubby hands trying to shove the toys in his mouth. I sort of wish that kid would just figure out how to suck his thumb, like his sister did, rather than throw things around in frustration that they don't fit in his mouth. Pearl was really excited to show Cole how to properly play with the toys. It gave me a glimpse of the peaceful sharing to come... a parent can dream right? Don't you just love this last picture? I'm so glad we had a good 45 minutes of fun before the screaming began. That, and the fact I can put all of Cole's toys in a single basket. Ah... if only Pearl's room was this easy to clean up!
She had no clue what was coming. David and Vickie, well mostly David, barely made the wait until Christmas. You see, they bought this a long time ago. They actually bought a red 4-wheeler but when they heard Pearl wanted a pink one, they went out and bought a second one. They are crazy in love with this kid! 
She loved it. I guess it was a good thing we didn't get a white Christmas so she could drive around the yard all day. 
Oh and if you're wondering why I dubbed this post, "Meals on Wheels" well, last night we took dinner over to our other neighbors and Pearl drove her new toy. I jokingly told Tiff, it was a "meals on wheels" delivery! 
