Stray hairs, stray hands, and a blue Santa

My husband informed me last night that I was slacking on my blog.  It sort of reminds me of how he keeps insisting that we do a Christmas card, but when determining who will order the cards, address the cards, lick the stamps, etc...a certain someone seems to fade into the background.  I asked if he'd like to be a guest columnist since he had a problem with my lack of posts, but needless to say, this fingers didn't find the keyboard.  But he is right, of course, and I apologize for the absence.  Part of it is lack of material, part of it lack of time, and most of it due to the fact that my free time has been spent reading "The Girl Who Played With Fire."  I'm done with it, but tt's the 2nd of the trilogy, so after I check the last one out at the library, you might not be hearing from me for a while.

Anyway, nothing groundbreaking to report in the Hoots household.  The day started out rough, got rougher, and ended well.  Brady has been doing better with sleeping...on a good night waking up once around 11 and another time around 3.  This I can handle.  Last night, he woke up at 10, 12:30, 3, and 5:15.  I have no idea what makes a child sleep well(this is relative in our house) one night and terribly the next, but if you know, please let me in on the secret.  And if you know how to make him sleep, I'll pay you for the secret.

I left Brady with a babysitter this afternoon.  I'm writing one article each month for the Tar Heel Monthly and my latest series of articles have consisted of me going and participating in various sports at Carolina.  I've done the Art of the Kill (volleyball), the Art of the Bout (fencing), and my latest assignment is on basketball, and what makes a Division player different from someone like say, me.  I was supposed to practice with the team today and when I showed up, there was apparently a bit of a miscommunication between the head coach and her assistant who I set this up with as to what I would be doing.  Coach Hatchell thought I was only going to be watching practice and not participating.  This posed a problem, because apparently I'd need to be "cleared" in order to make this happen which would consist of a physical with their team doctor.  Needless to say, when dealing with babysitters and deadlines and Christmas break, this wasn't what I wanted to hear this afternoon.  So, while I didn't enjoy wasting a babysitter and my afternoon, my body was thankful for sparing it, because it is certainly not in basketball shape.

We had our Rams Club Christmas Family Party tonight...they still invite me to this since I'm still doing some part time work with them.  Blue Santa made his annual appearance.  Since we haven't subjected Brady to mall Santa yet, so we took the photo opportunity.

With a slight adjustment, it could be real Santa. 

Guess we don't need a mall visit.

We took a family photo with Santa as well.



There is a few things that will ensure that this become a family picture favorite of mine 1) There is a stray hand in the picture that is approaching dangerous territory.  This is funny to me because although there were lots of kiddos running around, I don't remember anyone nearing our picture and I have no idea who's hand that belongs to.  You'd think that little hand would be reaching for Santa rather than Eric, but apparently some unknown child prefers Eric.  2) Brady is trying to eat Brady's beard.  This is fairly standard.  Brady is obsessed with hair...usually its hair on the head (mine specifically), but he doesn't discriminate and it appears he will accept facial hair as well.  Brady loves to suck his thumb and when he does this, it is usually a pretty good indicator that it's nap time.  Lately, the thumb on its own hasn't been tasting as good as the thumb with my hair mixed in.  He goes after it with impressive determination.  If it wasn't so annoying, it would be pretty funny.  I'll admit, there has been an occasion or two when I want him to be quiet, so I'll give in and let my hair be sucked.  Five gold stars for this mom for reinforcing good habits.

And speaking of hair, I had always heard that your hair is at its thickest when you're pregnant.  What nobody told me, was that after you have the baby, your hair falls out.  The fact that this happens naturally coupled with the fact that I have a child who loves to pull my hair results in fistfuls of hair and lots more vacuuming in the Hoots household.  While I'll never understand (and hopefully never wear) mom jeans, I do understand mom hair and why people chop it off after having kids.  Eric is not too keen on that prospect...and I have been wanting him to keep our room a little cleaner lately.   Bargaining tool?

Don't judge me.