Checking in

       So sorry for my absentee blogging. My boys and work have needed some extra attention these past few weeks, so the blog has taken a back seat. I have a day off though and Buzz is down for a nap so I thought I would check in and touch base. Unfortunately I only get half credit for this post though, because I'm not sharing pictures (boring, I know!).
       Jon has started Paramedic school!!! Woo-hoo. It's exciting. It's busy. It's demanding. But hopefully in 10 months it will be a thing of the past (6 months of classroom work + several months of hours on the job). I'm already counting down the weeks! On the upside, he's home most weeknights now and he is at home with Nolan a couple of days a week, and Nolan LOVES that. It's already apparent that the program will require lots of hours studying but it's an exciting change.
       Nolan is 18 months (going on 19 quickly!) and he is as crazy as ever. He is babbling, imitating, and getting in to everything. The past couple of days he has started saying "thank you" and it.is.charming. He regularly asks for Dada, Mama, and Blue and his go to word is "ouside?" To him we aren't at work, we're "ouside". He loves reading books on mamas lap, LOVES playing with Jon, likes to store food in his cheeks and keep it there, loves playing in our cars, and spinning in daddy's office chair. Unfortunately this winter we've already been visited by the flu and a couple of bad cold viruses, which makes babyland a bit more fussy and challenging but we're making it through.
       I'm in the midst of a few busy months at work, so between long work days and weeks I'm just trying to keep it all balanced and together.

I'll be back to share more soon....promise!

Our 2012 Goals

       I'm baaaaaack, with another installment of our annual goals. So grab a cup of coffee and let's see what we're hoping to accomplish in 2012!

1) Survive

        2012 means some changes are taking place in our neck of the words. Jon is setting out on a goal that we outlined on our 2011 list, of going through Paramedic school. After a couple of months of applying, testing, and interviewing, he was accepted and classes start in a few short weeks. Paramedic school has a reputation for being demanding, and it also means Jon will be cutting back his hours at his full time job. So for the first 6 months of 2012, our biggest challenge will be to survive and conquer. Survive and be happy as a family. We're hoping that by taking this risk, and sacrificing some comfort this year, it will lead to bigger and better things!

2) Buy a House
       This. is. HUGE. And, kind of funny given that above I outlined surviving! But hopefully we can survive AND buy a house. I'm dying to own a house. Re-do a house. Decorate a house. Make a house a home. Hopefully (crossing fingers and toes) 2012 will be our year! I'll keep you updated on our house hunting progress (which will certainly be pretty quiet during the beginning of the year)! I dream of celebrating our next Christmas under a roof that we own.


2) Buy Meg a Car
        Apparently we're going to be doing a lot of buying in 2012! This is something that we didn't check off of our list in 2011, and its a more prominent goal for 2012. My cars performance is slowly but surely getting more questionable, and I'm 30 years old for goodness sakes! It's time for an adult vehicle! And I think a more reliable and family appropriate car is necessary because another goal is... to...


3) Grow our Family
        That's right...that means we're hoping to have another bun in the oven at some point in 2012. It won't be this month or next month, but it's high on the list (or my list anyway, as Jon is still completely exhausted by Numero Uno)!


       So it will hopefully be doubly a year of survival and growth for us! What are your goals for 2012 and more importantly, how are you going to tackle them? Do share.

Best wishes from Tahoe!

Christmas 2011

       I spent the New Years weekend taking down our Holiday decorations. It feels good to have them down; it's a fresh and clean start for 2012. Before I talk about resolutions though I wanted to share with you our Christmas. 
       Our Christmas 2011 was simple but sweet. We were showered with more gifts then I ever expected, but it was a big reminder that the gifts are such an unimportant part of the holiday. As we create traditions in the coming years for our family, I hope to keep the emphasis off of the gifts and on the Spirit and meaning of the holiday. Our tree actually ended up quite a bit fuller then I expected.

I loaded up on wrapping paper after Thanksigiving, 

and had fun with the wrapping.

(Ugh....all that wood paneling. Isn't that illegal in 2011?)

One day, I came home for work to see this under the tree, 

and I had not put it there. 

Apparently Jon had been doing some shopping of his own.

I did a little bit of decorating around the house, but mainly just used materials I had

and kept it cheapy-deapy.

I decided that I wanted to continue a tradition that we have in my family.

We received an ornament each year, 

so that when we moved out to start our own families 

we had lots of meaningful ornaments to fill the tree. 

I saw this one in town and I had to get it for Buzz!

Hopefully it lasts a couple of decades until he's on his own.

Jon worked a 48 hour shift on Christmas Eve Eve & Christmas Eve

so we had to tweak our Christmas plans a bit. 

Nolan and I met Jon at the station on Christmas Eve

and we all had dinner with a few of the other fire families. 

We also had to tweak our gift opening. 

Instead of opening our gifts on Christmas morning,

we opened them a few evenings beforehand with champagne instead of coffee!

Jonny had a surprise under the tree. 

He got the power tools that he had been drooling over. 

I tried to fool him by wrapping some of the tools separately in smaller boxes.

After he opened the second tool though,

he was on to me.

I snuck away to bring him one last package,

with the remaining tools inside.

(Despite his expression, he was quite excited).

But he was just as excited to see Nolan open his special gift.

Probably the first of many bikes under our roof over the next few years!

Christmas love is better then any gift love though.

When Jon got off shift on Christmas morning, 

he came home and we packed up (quickly!) and headed to the bay to see my family.

We snapped a family photo before everyone else arrived and it got totally crazy.

It was a day of kiddos and merriment.

The decorations are all put away now

 but I still have a few repairs to make. 

I'm probably not the only mother of a toddler out there with this issue.

I'll be working on getting these glued up, 

and packed away with everything else these next few days.

On Wednesday I'll be sharing our goals for 2012!

A Whole Lotta Christmas

       Well, we've got a whole lotta December happenings to share with you all. The past few weeks have been hectic with all the getting-ready-for-the-holidays mania. A bad cold virus swept through the Milam house this past week, which certainly sidelined us for a few day, but we've pushed on with the decorating, celebrating, baking, shopping, and wrapping. And quite frankly, I'm totally pooped. I'm glad that there is just one more week before the blessed day and before my to-do list gets to be a bit shorter. 

  The week after Thanksgiving we took full advantage of a day off together

to get lots of Holiday goodness done. First up was chopping down our tree.

For the 5th year in a row we opted to head into the woods to find our tree. 

This year we didn't venture too far from our house

 before we found a nice patch to choose from.

We found the tree in just a few minutes.

Definitely our quickest tree hunt to date. 

The cold temperatures were our biggest motivator. 

Don't be mislead by the bright sun, it was a very cold day.

Here's the beauty we settled on.

Okay, kidding.

Ours was of the much smaller variety.

Jon got to cutting while Nolan and I headed to the car to stay warm.

Just a few minutes later Jon had the tree in the back of  the truck,

and we were on our way home to get it trimmed!

The light snowfall so far this season

is starting to get people concerned 

but I don't mind one bit. 

Maybe we're having a dry December to make up for the snowy June we had this year.

The ground was dry and brown this year when we went out.

And here's what it looked like last year, 

when we chopped down our tree on December 5th.

After we got home, Jon and I got to trimming

while Nolan took a perfectly timed nap.

When he woke up our little elf was happy to discover a twinkling tree 

in what is normally his playroom.

Next up, we were off to see Santa.

We heard that Santa was going to be in downtown Tahoe City, 

so we bundled up and headed out. 

Santa was a friend (he organizes the Graeagle trip that we take each Fall).

Nolan stayed safe on my lap, 

so there were no waterworks with this Santa visit.

A photographer took a photo of all of us

(although we had a bit of sticker shock when we found out the price for this!), 

and it now sits framed on our Christmas mantle.

Three out of four looking at the camera ain't bad. 

This year I had high hopes for our Holiday card. 

Okay, I always have high hopes for our Holiday card.

I envisioned us, sitting on one of our bikes, riding through the snowy woods,

in some quirky playful sort of way.

So in late November, I wrangled our friend Lindy to come over

 and take some shots of us and in exchange we made them dinner.

We all headed up the hill

to a location in the woods that Jon and I had scouted earlier in the day,

and took some photos before we lost daylight.

Lindy worked some magic with the camera, 

but we were sadly reminded that we are not models.

No. Siree.

We are just regular old people, 

needing to take a cool photo. 

There were many outtakes.

Exhibit 1: Open mouth + Nolan looking at the ground.

Exhibit 2: We're so crazy and fun (not)+Nolan's shoe fell off.

Exhibit 3: closed eyes + odd face.

Luckily we found one that we were happy with,

so I got to ordering and putting ours together.

This is what my little workshop has looked like most of December.

I fit in a few minutes here and there during nap time to work

on some decorating projects too. 

I worked some magic on this old frame

(which was left for FREE in front of a neighbors house)

with some materials I already had at the house,

into a place to hang our incoming Christmas cards.

And I've definitely been doing lots of baking.

Our house runneth over with baked goods and chocolate!

We captured the traditional tears-on-santa's-lap pictures

at Jon's Meeks Bay holiday party. 

He wanted nothing to do with it!

What can I say? My kid's passionate.

Nolan did like Santa a bit more when he 

realized that Santa had given him a little goodie bag.

Oh, but that wasn't the end of our holiday tears!

On Saturday night, for the second year in a row we attended our 

friends baby friendly cookie exchange.

At the end of the night, we attempted the infamous group shot. 

My boy was the only one that didn't want to participate. 

He was off that couch in 5 seconds flat

(notice how all other babies sit quietly).

Jon gave it one more attempt with Nolan behind the couch, 

but that didn't go so well either.

Jon is working at a station on Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve-Eve 

this year, so our holiday plans are slightly up in the air. 

Not even sure yet when we'll be able to open our gifts!

When he gets off on Christmas morning, 

we'll be be throwing ourselves in the car and heading to the

Bay Area to celebrate with my family.

Here's to a Merry Christmas to you and yours!

I'll be back to share more pics from our holiday celebrations this year!