the first (annual?) santa picture

yesterday a dear friend called me to see if we'd be interested in hitting the mall for Santa pics. We've avoided this in past years because there was no doubt in our minds that Alden would have a full freak-out, cling-to-mommy's-leg, no-way-in-hell, fit. But this year I thought, hmmm... I got a full three hours of sleep last night, so I'm sure I can handle two kids at the mall. And without giving it another delusional thought, I packed the kids into the car and headed out.

We met our friends in Northgate and strolled straight for the "Pretend Santa." Yes, our little boy knows the shocking fact that Santa is... well, dead. I know some of you are horrified that we've taken the "excitement" out of Christmas, but I guarantee that Alden is still plenty excited, and he's actually been processing pretty deeply—for an almost three-year-old—how the whole Jesus/ Santa/Christmas thing works.

So there we were, children waiting as patiently as any baby and toddler can wait. Alden was watching another girl scream desperately for her mother as she sat on Santa's lap, and Tula was happily flirting with an older couple whom she had captivated with her grin. I thought to myself, great, this picture is going to turn out so cute.

Our friends' turn came and the cashier said $29.95! For one sheet of photos? You've got to be kidding. We asked what the smallest (ahem, cheapest) package was. $16.99, yep, almost twenty bucks. But it's the experience, right? I mean that's got to be worth a few dollars. When it was at last time for Alden and Tula to hop up on Santa's lap, I had high hopes. Then came the refusal from Alden. He wasn't about to sit on some strange man's lap—can't blame him, so I we convinced him that it would be okay to stand next to him.

As I was preoccupied with Alden, Tula had traded in her once sweet and precious smile for an all-out wail. Tears were flowing from her face as I shoved her into Santa's arms, hoping that she'd be pacified by his fuzzy beard or shiny glasses. Nope. The ear-piercing screaming continued. Then the little comfort that she had—the pink pacifier that dangled precariously from her quivering lip—fell. Not just on the floor either, it plopped itself on the oversized chair squarely between Saint Nick's legs. My mommy instinct kicked in and I quickly lunged for it... WAIT! Thankfully I caught myself before getting a little to friendly with the man in red. But there it was, and he didn't seem to notice. Several awkward moments passed as my eyes darted from Tula, to Santa's face, to the pacifier. Should I tell him to look past his Santa-sized belly? Then, just in time for me to scoot out of the camera's way, Santa grabbed the pacifier and popped it in Tula's mouth. Click.

The first photo was not at all what I had hoped my twenty dollars would buy me. The photo people must have been feeling generous that day because they conceded to take a few more pictures in hopes that a screaming mouth might somehow be interpreted as a wide-open smiling mouth. And here it is... are you fooled?

smiles to melt your heart

It's been a particularly loud couple of weeks in the Mahoney household. Things had been going smoothly and little Tula was starting to sleep through the night. All of that changed when, to our surprise, a tiny little tooth made its appearance in Tula's smile (well, more like in her wide open screaming mouth). All the while, Alden had been extra difficult and emotional, then... surprise again... two teeth popped up in his mouth! Now all I want for christmas is no more teeth. But, even though it's loud enough in our house that I can barely hear myself think, one little smile from Alden or Tula makes up for it. I hope you'll appreciate that I'm just sharing the photos and not the soundbites!

tribute to paul rand

Here's a yummy little piece of eye candy that I came across yesterday. Paul Rand is one of the most renowned graphic designers of the 20th century. This is a great sampling of his work paired with some clips of his design theory. It's definitely worth a watch.

the barbershop

Until now, Alden has been getting his haircut by me—not often enough I might add. It was mostly due to his touchy personality. We knew that a trip to the barber would only result in a melt-down, and the refusal to sit in the chair by himself would be inevitable. In case you've never noticed, Alden doesn't really like—or know how to cope with–new situations. But know that he's almost three and we can explain things to him a bit better, we decided it was time for a proper haircut. First he got to watch daddy get his hair cut. Then, after a bit of coaxing, he sat in the chair. He insisted that I hold his hand for the first half, but by the time he was done, he had really warmed up to the barber. Oh, he also got a sucker when he was done, so maybe that had something to do with it!

more costumes!

Even though Alden and Tula both had perfectly fine costumes (wario and toad), I couldn't bear the fact that in ten years they would look back at pictures and ask, "who in the heck is Wario and why did I have to wear such a ridiculous costume?" So, after a quick trip back to the fabric store, and a few simple seams, we threw together some alternate costumes for Trick or Treating and the Kid's Halloween Masquerade party at Mars Hill. Alden was pretty excited about his guns, but not quite as excited as he was about his sucker. He doesn't get candy very often, so a sucker is a big deal in our house. Tula made quite the cute little mushroom, and seemed perfectly content to be wearing a hat twice the size of her head.

Sidenote: posting takes a really long time when you only have one hand to type because the other one has a sleeping baby in it!

wario & toad

Every year we go the Harleween party—no it's not a typo—thrown by our friends the Harlemans, in honor of their anniversary. This year's theme was video games so Alden and Tula dressed up as Wario and Toad from the Mario Brothers games. Patrick and I usually go all out on our costumes, but we decided that we'd take a year off. Click here if you'd like to see our costumes from previous parties.

We almost didn't make it to the party this year because our whole family has been really sick, but we managed to pull ourselves together for the evening. We just couldn't miss one!

the farm

I love fall! One of my favorite things about fall is going to the pumpkin patch and this year we returned to The Farm for an afternoon of tractors, the "corn box," and of course pumpkins. It was such a nice weekend, and quite possibly one of the last dry ones for a long time. Alden's favorite part was the kids play area. They had a great hill piled with sand and John Deere tractors (Alden's favorite kind), a hay maze, John Deere tricycles, and—as previously mentioned—the corn box, which is an enclosed area filled with about two feet of corn kernals.


The farm has a great bakery, and I think I mentioned their fabulous cheesecake on Alden's blog last year, but it's so good it's worth writing about again. They have a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingerbread crust topped with caramel. Mmmmm.... so rich, but so good. Unfortunately, little Tula is allergic to dairy, so I had to pass this year... so sad. Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors, and I'm a little bummed that I won't be filling up on pumpkin pie any time soon, but I did find a great substitute at Trader Joe's. It's pumpkin butter (much like apple butter) that is dairy-free. Alden likes it too; now I just need to figure out how to make a big batch of it myself! Anyway, here are some more pictures of the Farm.

finally... a picture together

After much persuasion, Alden decided it would be okay to hold Tula long enough for a few pictures. I think what finally tipped the scales was a picture that I showed him of himself holding his baby cousin Eila (click here to see the photo). Maybe he realized that it wouldn't be that bad after all. Thankfully, Tula kept the contents of her little tummy in place, and Alden remained dry for the duration of the photo session. Hopefully there will be more sibling hugs in the future.

all that hair

I've been dying to put a barrette in Tula's hair since she was about two hours old. I finally got this one to stay in, but it grabbed her hair so tightly that when I tried to take it out, a few strands came with it. I suppose I'll wait a few more weeks until her hair is a bit longer and try again with a different barrette. It's still cute though!

as close as he gets

We've been trying for weeks to get Alden to hold his little sister, but he always refuses. This is actually the only picture we have of the two of them together. I couldn't figure it out... he seems interested in her and sings sweet little songs to her, he just won't hold her. Finally, the other day he told me why. He's afraid she's going to spit up on him, or as he says "I don't want Tula to puke on me." I've tried to reassure him that it won't happen, but in all reality it probably will. She has reflux, so she spits up all the time. I think that he's been traumatized because a few weeks ago he was sitting next to me while I was holding her and she puked out of her nose. I'm not talking about just a little trickle of spit up... I mean two streams of projectile puke came shooting out of her nostrils and splashed on Alden's arm. It took a wet washcloth and some big hugs to calm him down after that.

Tula's new friend

Our friends Andy and Audra Mahoney (no relation), had a little baby boy three days before Tula was born. This is a picture of Tula and Samuel's first play date. As you can see, it was more of a slumber party! Audra's due date was also at the end of August, so both babies were three weeks early. We're looking forward to watching them both grow.

a new family blog

Well, we've been blogging on a site for Alden for a year and a half now, but with our newest addition to the family, it seemed to make the most sense to create a new blog for all of us. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep it up to date with photos, milestones, and videos. If you want to look at the old blog, click here.