Time

A year swings by too fast! Happy Birthday my sweet boy. Happy New Year's everyone else... catch ya on the flip side or the back swing or 2011 if ya dig.

Well it's Christmas Eve and I think I got everything done... wait... you didn't get your card yet... it's not our fault... for unto us a child was born. Unto us a son was given and unlike the little Lord Jesus, MUCH crying he made. In fact, we have been praying for a silent night ever since. Wise men brought presents and left early, so they could sleep in heavenly peace, but as we await the first Noel we celebrate with River, we look back with wondering awe and can't help but feel joyful and triumphant! Peace on earth, good will to men and glory to God on the highest. Oh and Merry Christmas from The Bears of course.

Growing Up

Doesn't he look so grown up in this picture? Doesn't he look two days away from grabbing a backpack and heading off to school? I'll not have it River Lucas.
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I am not the grinch who stole Christmas, but I am the mean mom who put the Christmas tree in a cage. He has so much fun pulling himself up on the gate, I think he forgives me for the separation of tree and hand.
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I now have more years behind me than flavors of ice cream at Baskin Robbins, but who cares, because Rocky Road is the only flavor worth my time. I'm sure there is deep meaning about the journey of life in this sentence, you just have to look for it. I love my birthday, because I love being alive. So I can find happiness in it, even if I'm at a work party for a job I just got let go of and I have to stand in front of everyone and smile, while accepting a birthday card from the manager who has done her darndest to get me let go of. Harry Potter fans, when I write of this manager, please picture Delores Umbridge in your minds. Yes... she is that bad. I hate to speak ill of others, but I Must Not Tell Lies.
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Speaking of Harry Potter. I know I missed the bandwagon by ten years on this one, but I love it. Maybe you picked up on that, by all my references to wizards lately. Bear and I just listened to the whole series on tape... reading is a little harder these days.... but it was okay, because Jim Dale (narrator) is awesome. I am totally having post-book depression. Do you get that? Where you are searching for a job instead of hallows and hoarcruxes and you think BUHoring. Good thing I have a wizard baby, who helps me see the magic in everything these days.

The Nice List

We we went to the ward Christmas party the other night and River got to meet Santa for the first time. He was relieved to find out that skipping naps for no good reason does not keep you off the nice list. He gave Santa a pretty searching look, but kept right on sucking his thumb and did not cry. When Santa handed him a plastic bag full of candy, he lit up like he had been handed some serious dough... more for the fun of shaking a crinkly bag, than for the candy, which Bear and I ate.

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The food was delish and I'm always in a good mood when I get to eat without cooking. I had a very simple part in the Christmas play. I hadn't done any stage acting in a long time. It wasn't serious acting, just fun, but the reaction of my little boy in the audience made me feel like a super star. He was so excited to see me on stage, he was ooohing and ahhing and flapping around so loudly Bear had to take him to the very back of the hall. It took a lot of effort not to look at him, but at least the part I was doing called for a lot of smiling.

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Happy Christmasing everyone. It's getting close.

11 Months Young

Someone dared to call my wee babe a toddler the other day. The devil you say! I prefer hefty newborn... thank you very much. The eleventh month has been crazy! Who knew you could fill an entire day cleaning up dvds. The mess in my house in these videos could only mean one thing... Hurricane River... aka... Tidal Wave of Mass Destruction is mobile.

As of November 15th, 2010, River can crawl. He almost always mutters the entire time he crawls. I'm pretty sure he is steam powered. At first he was so slow it almost seemed like he was crawling in place, but to Noodle's dismay, he's quickly getting faster. This video was the second time he crawled.

Barely crawling and he's already trying to walk. He loves this toy, but still needs our help with it. He thinks he's So big when he uses it.

River still loves hand held transportation, especially when he can get his chase on. Thanks Big Noods for being such a good sport.

I was going through this month's pictures and discovered a well documented addiction to this hat. I can't help myself. If River is wearing this hat... I. Must. Get. Camera. Thanks Becca for the world's cutest hand me down. The hat lives on.

He has other hats too, but I prefer the snow pixie look over the gangsta my babe turns into when I put on this hat. Unless we're walking in dangerous neighborhoods. Ya better recognize!

River finally got a pair of shoes this month. He isn't the biggest fan of wearing them. We just figured they would help keep his socks on during winter. Please note cute wizard socks.



I thought our shoes looked cute lined up together. Brown anyone?
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At 11 months River is crawling, clapping, and climbing every moment he is awake. His sleeping schedule is usually 7pm-7:30 am or 7:pm-6:30 am (nurse) and then back to bed till 8:45 am. This all goes out the window when he's teething. Right now he's getting four teeth on top. The two fangs (told you he was part vampire) have cut through and the two front teeth are almost there. This means multiple extra wake-ups. I give him a few minutes and sometimes he can calm himself back to sleep, but most of the time I end up nursing him back to sleep. I know this is a no-no, but nothing else works. River has realized the extent of the power his sad face has over us and we went through a whole day of him not letting me set him down. In his defense, he is teething and in my defense... well... I'm just a sucka! He dances anytime he hears music. He stands up and sings the hymns at church and I'm pretty sure he's part wizard. He is always pointing things at me and shouting words that sound like Kissiumus. He must be a talented wizard too, because I can't stop kissing him when he does this.





River says enough of this Mamarrazi! I am having a love/hate relationship with him growing up. I love seeing his bravery, his success and the joy he gets from learning new things, but does it have to keep going by so fast? See you all too soon for the One Year Post. Crazy! Now please excuse me, I have 72 messes to clean up before I hit the sack.