New Year, New Do

We took Javen to get his first haircut today. The curls were getting a little long and unruly; so long in fact, that his hair was at his shoulders (when curly) and half way down his back (when wet).

He did really well during the haircut. We planned ahead and brought the lap top so he could watch a video, and Daddy gave him a lollipop. While it was obvious he didn't enjoy the experience, he sat in my lap quietly and only complained a few times. (There was no way he was going to let us get that cape on him, so we had to strip him down afterwards and let him ride home in his hoodie and diaper. No worries though, the shop was literally a 60 second car ride from our house.) There were no tears or tantrums, so I call it a success!

Post bath, the Big Brother haircut.

I'm so sad to see his curls gone! Hopefully they'll grow back, or maybe baby brother will have some!

Xtreme Grocery Shopping

A couple of Javen's favorite Christmas gifts this year (though he has many!) are his new grocery cart (to accompany the play kitchen Santa brought) and cardboard brick blocks. Combine the two toys and walla! A new extreme sport: Xtreme Grocery Shopping!

Grandpa and Dad help with the setup.

On your mark, get set...

Goooooooo!

Video below of the "sport" in motion

Glitter Painted Christmas

(I've posted 3 blogs today, so be sure to scroll down to catch up.)

Heather and I pulled out our mad crafting skills last week by glitter painting a photo (taken by Jeff) of our parent's house in the snow as a Christmas gift for our Mom. (This was the snow fall from a few weeks ago, not the blizzard of '09). I know, you're thinking "Glitter painting?! What are you girls in kindergarten or something?" Trust me, it's much cooler than you think. (I found the idea in Martha Stewart magazine, so dare I call it a classy gift? I do.)

Here's the original photo and below is our 3D shadow box glitter painting. I think it turned out quite nicely! Heather will probably post a blog about it soon; she has all the photos of the finished project.

More photos are on Heather's blog: click here!

A Few Christmas Pics

Daddy giving Javen a piggy back ride on Christmas Eve.

(They're flipping upside down here. I love this one even though it's blurry!)

Santa came!
New kitchen for Javen
Elmo
Thomas the Tank Engine Books!

One last gift under the tree, and he was just the man to get it!

Such a fun morning! He was a pro at unwrapping all of our gifts!

Merry Christmas From TN

A little video for our families that couldn't share this morning with us...

37.5 Weeks and We're Ready!

We're ready! We spent ALL day today moving Javen into his big boy room and trasitioning his nursery into part guest room and part new baby nursery. All of baby boy's clothing and diaper changing are in his new room, but his cradle and glider are in our bedroom. Here's a little sneak peak of the baby corner in our bedroom:

(Please pardon the starkness of the photos, I took them tonight with my harsh flash)

We also have this all washed and ready waiting by our bedroom door:

And here are a few photos of the "new" guest room/nursery:
To see photos of what this room looked like before the makeover, click here.

(Javen's name will be taken off the wall after Christmas, but for now it stays.)

The monkey/safari print diaper holder is part of the bedding set we have for new baby boy. We don't have the crib set up for him yet because big brother Javen is still sleeping in it for now.

Javen's new room is not quite ready yet to share with the blogging world. Tomorrow Jake and Paul will install the chair rail and we still have photos/art etc and a mirror to hang up before it's officially finished. You'll just have to wait till then (whenever that may be) to see photos!

A Bunch of....Nothing Really

So yesterday I sat down at my lovely new laptop to download photos from my camera for all of you. It was then that I realized I didn't have any! The last photo taken on my camera was that prego shot of me at 36 weeks. To sum up the past week and a half in our house: we've been busy doing unphoto worthy things. (Kind of.) I'm totally nesting and cleaning the house from tip top to bottom and we've also been painting and working on DIY projects to transform our guest bedroom into Javen's new big boy bedroom. If I had been thinking more about blogging and less about spray paint, picture frames and chair rail, then I would have thought to snap a few "before" photos so we could have a lovely comparison photo blog at the big reveal. I'll have to sift through some old photos to see if I have any of the room in it's pre-Javen days. Saturday is the big "move in" day for Javen. The room won't be 100% finished, but we really want him to be adjusted in his new room before baby brother arrives. We've been playing in there every day this week and I think he's somewhat understanding that it will soon be his new room. (I hope!) I'm really excited about it, and I'm hoping some of the excitement is wearing off on him.

Another "project" I've been working on is organizing photos. I haven't printed a digital photo in a YEAR! Every night for the past two weeks or so I've faithfully sat down at my computer to organize by month a year's worth of Javen cuteness. People, there are thousands of photos! After I finally got all the photos into their proper files, I've been sifting through and picking out which ones to print out and put into albums. This process is taking forever, but I want to be all caught up by the time baby brother gets here! (You thought I would slip up and tell you the name, didn't you?!) As much work as it's been, I've really enjoyed seeing how much Javen has changed the past year. Since I don't have any new photos to share with you, here are a few of my favorites from the past year that I've rediscovered.

October 2008- Kisses for Mama

November 2008- Maryland Leaves

December 2008-Discovering the Tupperware Cabinet

Christmas Card Reject

A few weeks ago we went to check out the Christmas lights at the Opryland Hotel here in Nashville. We thought it may be a good opportunity to get a family photo for Christmas cards. Oh how wrong we were.

Mistake #1: Everyone and their mother (literally) had the same idea as us for family photos on the night we went. Any and all possibly good photo-op spots were occupied at all times. (Hence the lack of a Christmas background in the photo below.)

Mistake #2: It doesn't matter if your photographer has a good flash, the place is soooo dark! We all look washed out. (Yes, I know I'm pale as all get out on a normal basis, but give me a little credit here people.)

Mistake #3: Do you think a 20 month old little boy is going to co-operate for photos when it's past his bed time and he wants to run like the wind through the Christmasy lit paths on this indoor wonderland?

Mistake #4: Seeing as the place is essentially a greenhouse, HELLO humidity! (Hence the shiny foreheads. And yes, I used the word "hence" twice in this post. It's a good word and frankly I don't think is used enough today. Just showing a little love to a good word.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you The McDaniel Family Christmas card photo of 2009 that never was:

The Giveaway of All Giveaways

Friends, family and bloggity people who just happened upon my blog: listen up!

There is an incredible giveaway going on over at BooMama's blog. She's giving away a brand spankin' new HP Touchsmart 600 Computer, and YOU CAN WIN IT!

All you have to do is go over to her blog, and follow the instructions on how to win. (Basically all you do is leave a comment, but you'll want to read this blog entry anyway to learn about all the cool stuff this computer can do.)

So, here's the link. BooMama HP Touchsmart 600 Giveaway

Go there now! (And if you can't get the link to work for you, leave me a comment and let me know and/or just look for BooMama's blog on my bloglist over there to the right and click on it. She'll take it from there.)

Good luck!

*This just gets even better. There are 5 different blogs doing the giveaway right now! Here are the links to the other blogs. Amazing!*

Kelly's Corner
A Year of Slow Cooking
My Charming Kids
The NieNie Dialogues

Blast From the Past

A few of my favorite photos from December 2008. (Javen turned 9 months last December 21) Can't believe how much he's changed!

This photo makes me laugh every time. Heather's face is great!

Last year's family Christmas photo

9 Months!

Just about 36 weeks

As far as I know, I'm still due Jan 6. I'm hoping he comes early, but at least I know I only have 4 weeks left at the most. Yay!

Fat Guy in a Little Coat

...except he's not fat by any means, and technically it's a vest - not a coat.

Bonus points to those of you who get the reference though.

Am I a lucky girl, or what?!

Snazzy

He likes to look good and be told that he does. Which is how I get him to wear hats and other fun (albeit sometimes quite necessary) winter accessories. Once he puts something (hat, handkerchief, sweatband, etc) on once I and tell him how handsome he looks, I never have to ask him to put it on again. He volunteers! We were playing the other day and apparently any game would just not be complete without the train engineer hat, bandana and basketball arm sweat band. (Per his request) Check it out. Now, if I could only get him to be happy wearing pants!

Baa Humbug!

A couple examples of some recent Christmas cheer we've been fortunate enough to encounter:

Last week we were looking for a parking spot in an extremely full OpryMills parking lot. After driving around for 4 hours (or maybe more like 15 minutes, whatever.) we finally spotted a family loading up their minivan. Jake put the blinker on right away and we waited patiently. Meanwhile, a little 4 door something pulled up from behind us as if to go around us while we waited. No. You. Didn't. The van pulled out of the spot and the little car completely cut us off and stole the spot! Wow people. Tis the season?

Today at the mall, I was pushing Javen in the stroller and we were headed from one end of the mall to the other so we could leave. A woman starts flagging me down (from behind, mind you. We had already walked ahead of her.) and starts yelling at me, "Ma'am! Your baby is picking his nose! He's PICKING his NOSE!"  Now, it's not that I condone nose picking by any means, but do you really think it necessary to stop strangers and alert them that their little one is picking their nose and it that such actions offend you? Apparently some people do. I chose to ignore her and check on my little nose picker once we were out of her sight line. (Which by the way, he had moved onto trying to remove his shoes and socks by that point.)

On a sweeter note, Javen just opened up the pantry door, pulled out a stack of paper plates and excitedly exclaimed  "Mama! It's a kirk-cull!"  (For those of you who don't read Javen-speak "kirk-cull" means "circle") Around here, circles are like Hidden Mickey's. He likes to find the not so obvious ones and let everyone know of their existence. And now he's telling me he needs to go potty...gotta run!

And since the last post didn't have any photos, here are a couple I just took...

Javen checking out the "baby" on the computer, and Javen laughing at the funny baby on the computer.

Really?! REALLY?

This morning I'm in the process of cleaning smushed poop out of the carpet. AGAIN. Really?! REALLY?

Not a good way to start the day.

Anyone want to come install hardwood floors for me? Seriously, I'm over this poopy carpet.

Last Week...

Brody and Javen digging in at Thanksgiving. (Stole this from Heather's blog, but it's just so cute!)

Showing Aunt Kendra the Christmas lights at the Opryland Hotel.

Daddy, Javen and Aunt Heather checking out the fish.

Telling Mama about the lights.

Helping Dada fix his flashlight truck. (tightening the lightbulb)

Watching "Finding Nemo" with Aunt Kendra and Aunt Heather.