So Billy got over his headache, but this time he had the hiccups so he couldn’t see Santa.  So I took Baden.  While Bill, Jessica and Billy were off to Sears, the tool section I am sure, I stood in line with Baden.  It wasn’t too long and it moved along at a quick pace.  Baden did get a little fussy so I gave him his nug nug (pacifier in Dunowland speak). When it was our turn I put him down.  He looked at Santa with wide eyes.  He started to smile and handed me his nug nug and beelined to Santa.  He was in awe.  He just stared at him with a sweet little smile.  Then it was time to go. Santa gave him a candy cane which he gladly snatched and off we went.  I was disappointed that Billy didn’t want to see Santa this year.  I guess I want my kids to go see Santa because I never did.  The only picture of me and Santa is when I finally got over the fear at the age of 15.  So we can now check “going to see Santa” off our list.  It was fun to watch Baden’s reaction and I hope Billy will get over any ailments he might have next year. 

Many of you may wonder who is Willie Whiskers.    Bill’s father, Bill, ( I know, I know it’s confusing especially for Billy) had many hobbies and one of them was being a mountain man and going to rendevouses.  Bill made all of his own clothes from buckskin and he was a dead eye shot with a muzzleloader.  He even tried to get my Bill to wear a loin cloth.  He couldn’t just be Bill when  he was out being a mountain man so he transformed into Willie Whiskers.  He made jewelry, knives and walking sticks all under this name.  Unfortunately he passed away three years ago so to keep Willie Whiskers alive Bill registered the domain  name http://www.williewhiskers.com  We use it as a portal for our family website and now our blog.  The photo below is pencil drawing done by an artist from Monticello, Utah of Willie Whiskers. The original has a place of honor in our home. 

Jessica is here for two weeks and we are all excited especially Billy.  He loves his big sis.  We are looking forward to some cookie baking, movie watching, game playing good times.  We are thinking about going to the National Aquarium one day. We want to go at least one more time before we move.  We are just excited she is here to spend the holidays with us and we promise we won’t talk about school. We won’t ask about finals or grades.  That can wait until January 5th when she returns for the spring semester.  I can already hear her groaning.  So for now it’s all  about joy, laughing, giggling, and smiles.

We put our tree up over a week ago with no decorations.  We wanted Baden to get use to it.  He was so excited about the lights.  We have a contraption that plugs into the lights that allows us to turn the lights on and off with a touch of a button.  After the Christmas was put up and we admired it as much as one can admire a tree without decorations, we turned out the lights and got the boys ready for bed.  Right before bed, I couldn’t find Baden.  I found him sitting on the floor in the living room by the tree.  He smiled at me very innocently and then touched the button and on came the lights.  Something new he has figured out.  On Sunday night, we started decorating the tree.  As Billy placed his beloved Superman ornament on along with the Tom and Jerry ornament that Bebe and Grandpa got him, Baden was soaking it all in.  I figured I would decorate the whole tree even the bottom so I took out some needlepoint canvas ornaments that Bill’s grandma made and put those around the bottom portion. Then I took out my favorite ornaments, the gingerbread men, and allowed Baden to hang those.  He was so excited.  Then he decided it would be fun to pull one of them off.  Then he thought better of it and threw it on the tree. It landed perfectly on one of the branches.  What a novel idea – throwing the ornaments on the tree. I recommend this only if the ornaments are cloth which the gingerbread men, thankfully, are.  On a side note, the gingerbread men are gingham and I got them in a gift exchange when I was in kindergarten. I was quite upset about this present, but as I got older I realized that I would have these for a long time and the gifts the other kids got that day have been in a landfill for a very long time.   So,   our Christmas tree is decorated and Baden has pulled a few ornaments off the tree, but he leaves them on the floor in the living room so clean up is easy.  I didn’t put all the ornaments up so the tree may look a little sparse, but it’s eclectic just the way I like it. 

Every year our volunteer fire department brings Santa on a fire truck into the neighborhood.  It’s quite exciting. First you think someone’s house must be on fire but then you run out of your house and see the fire truck with all of its lights on and sirens blaring with Santa on top.  The firemen that ride on the back jump off the truck and hand out candy canes.  This has always been a fun part of the holiday season until this year.  I heard the lead truck with its ultra megaphone saying Merry Christmas! Santa is coming!  I jumped up and told Bill  Santa’s coming. Get the boys.  I think Bill and I were more excited.  Billy promptly ran up the stairs.  Baden had no choice as I threw on my Crocs, picked him up and ran to the end of the driveway.  Bill was able to coax Billy out of the house, but he was complaining the whole time. Baden was wide -eyed having never seen this display before.  Santa came by and waved and we got candy canes.  Back into the house we go and Billy says why is Santa on a fire truck. He can’t be on a fire truck. He has to have his reindeer and his sleigh.  I told him well he is just here to see you to make sure you are being good and then he is going back home so he can get ready for Christmas Eve. The reindeer need to rest before the big night.  He wasn’t buying it.  He said well how can Santa come to our house.  I said well he will but  not until Christmas Eve.  He said well we don’t have a tree so Santa isn’t coming.  I told Billy of course he will.  He said, oh so dramatically, but we have no tree.  It was so sad.  So on Monday we put our tree up sans ornaments (at least for a few days).  Billy feels much better that  our tree is up and Santa will be here and that he might actually pay a visit to our house.

Despite my overwhelming sadness, I finally broke down and let Bill cut Baden’s hair.  It was a subject that I knew I would have to confront.  Baden has curly hair and his hair was wispy and curly in the back. It was so cute.  What sent me over the edge was on for the last few days Baden has looked like Freddie the Freeloader.  It’s not very attractive.  So Baden happily sat on Bill’s lap while Bill cut his hair.  He was fine and it didn’t bother him one bit.  It bothered me a lot and I have to admit I cried.  It was a short cry, but nevertheless I cried.  A baby’s first haircut signifies they are growing up.  I think about Baden when he was born and he was so tiny. Now he is a little bruiser walking around like he owns the place. One thing is for sure hair always grows back and he will always be my baby. 

We normally don’t put our Christmas tree up until the second week in December.  We enjoy getting out the ornaments and putting them on the tree.  We collect airplane ornaments so it’s neat to see how many we have collected.  This year, however, we are making blueprints on how to put up the tree.  You see, Baden is our real dilemma.  It’s really not the Christmas tree. Billy has always been in awe of the Christmas tree. He gets a special ornament each year to hang up and he loves it.  He never touched the tree when he was Baden’s age.  He admired it.  Still does.  Baden is a different story.  If a drawer or cabinet is open, whatever is inside must come out.  I can picture ornaments thrown everywhere.    We are really afraid that once the Christmas tree goes up, there will be a path of ornaments all over the house.  What do you do? Put the ornaments up high and leave the bottom half of the tree bare.  Put the ornaments that won’t get damaged or broken on the bottom so if he does get his hands on them and he will, they can easily be put back on the tree.  Or do you surround your tree with a “play yard” gate.  We are seriously considering the last option.  How lovely, our Christmas tree surrounded.  Maybe a red velvet rope would add a nice holiday touch.  Better yet, a security guard to protect the tree.  Yeah that sounds good.  Know anyone looking for a job?

We had a really nice day yesterday.  We started the day by going to the movies to see Bolt, the new Disney movie. It was really cute.  Everyone enjoyed it even Baden.  He was so good and only wiggled around a couple of times.  It’s amazing how popcorn can keep kids distracted.  Then we were off to the base dining facility, aka the chow hall, for Thanksgiving dinner.  It was really good and we were served dinner by the wing commander and wing chief.  They had everything you could possibly want.  We had no mess to clean up so we enjoyed the evening watching movies and just being together. We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  Gobble, Gobble.

Besides Wii, we do play other games.  It’s true.  One of Billy’s favorite games is hide and seek. His version is different than what you may be thinking of the classic child’s game.  He tells me that he is going to hide and then will hide in the most obvious place like under the covers on the bed or in the closet with the doors partially opened.  Then he will say 1, 2, 3 and we are suppose to find him.  So I say dramatically, “Baden, I can’t find Billy.” “Where is he?” Baden gets very excited and runs right to the bed and tries to lift the covers off of a giggling four year old.  It’s great fun to find him and Baden thinks it’s hilarious.  Baden likes to play a game that, well, doesn’t have a name.  It all started when I was in the bathroom.  Unfortunately I sometimes spend a lot of time in there because of my Crohn’s disease.  So one day Baden was looking for me and I was, of course,  in the bathroom. I heard him walk by crying so I said his name and put my fingers under the door.  This got a great response so now we play this every time I am in the bathroom.  He thinks it is so funny to see my fingers slide under the door and it is pretty cute to see his fingers try to find mine.  I guess it gives him a sense of security knowing that I will come out eventually.  Playing games with the boys is the best part of the day.  Hearing their laughs and giggles, well, it just doesn’t get any better.