Hey, NASA

Wanna know something that will make you feel pretty small?! Try standing out in a giant field and looking up into the sky for 5 minutes and watching the International Space Station pass by!

Blake, myself, and GDaddy heard about this opportunity and we couldn't miss it. We actually were just curious to see if we could actually spot it. We drove out into the edge of the field and we knew about what time it was supposed to pass. Blake had the compass and we knew what directions to look. Sure enough, at 5:39 we saw a big steadily moving ball of light come across the field. It looked like a big bright moving star. Blake was able to see it and he pointed to it as it moved. We tried to explain what it was, but it's kind of hard to do that when you are baffled by the whole concept yourself.

When we got back home we googled all kinds of fun facts about the International Space Station. It just makes me feel so small to know that 6 people were in that ball of light orbiting Earth. I find it crazy to think that we even have the technology and skills to even do that. Then I can't even comprehend the whole galaxy thought and how there is SO much out there we don't even know about. Wow!

Simply a really cool moment that lasted 5 minutes. Moments like that are really fun to make you put things into perspective. This wasn't really on our bucket list... but I think it can be a good thing to check off.

Watch the International Space Station orbit over us - Check!! :)

Christmas Magic

Christmas Magic is a beautiful thing. It's like a blanket that covers the world my world and makes everything beautiful. This year was a little more difficult than recent years for obvious reasons, but watching the "Christmas magic" in Blake's eyes was amazing!

Christmas Eve we spent the morning with my mom's family. Blake enjoyed playing with his cousins and opening presents. We then came home and made dinner for my dad and Memommy. We enjoyed their company and loved being at home with our Christmas decorations. Blake was able to open his first Christmas Eve Box!! It contained some new PJ's, a little toy (Plane), and a Christmas movie. After my dad and Memommy left, Blake and I made cookies and watched the movie. We had a blast waiting for Santa! :)

Christmas morning was even better!!! Blake was so excited to see that Santa came and left him lots of gifts! The first gift he opened was his very much requested Paw Patrol Headquarters! He even got a lot of little Paw Patrol characters! His "big" gift was a Nabi Jr. - a tablet with lots of learning apps. He got a Batman! He also got some learning letter games. From the grandparents he got Leap Frog Reader stuff, Buzz Lightyear belt, and more mini superheros! He was spoiled rotten this year! :) Santa got me a pair of boots! Very happy about that!

 So sad that the Christmas season is moving on... marketing and ads are already jumping on the next holiday. Whew. I have had such a great month with Blake doing all kinds of fun things. I am so excited about playing with Blake and his new toys over the next week that we have off together! YAY! I am even more excited about the new year coming up! I have a feeling it will be a great year. :) 

Gingerbread Houses

The other night Blake and I decorated gingerbread houses!!! I had a feeling that Blake at this age would be a GREAT at decorating... and I was right! He was a pro! He also was great at taste testing the candy. :) Such a great evening with my little buddy.

Blake said that we made our house, G-Daddy's house, and Granny & Papa's house. Haha! So cute!! And our houses look WAY better than the box pictures. :)

Santa and Rudy

Christmas at Blake's age is such a wonderful time. Watching him get so excited about small holiday traditions just brings joy to my life. Of course the most popular Christmas tradition is SANTA! I think this is also the year that toddlers either do the fight or flight with the whole Santa thing. Haha. I battled with deciding where and when and how to do the Santa thing with Blake. My concern was that Blake was going to not want to sit with Santa or get his picture taken with him. Blake gets very stubborn so  he will not budge if he doesn't want to do something. Also, I was not going to pay the going rate for a Santa picture package of $25+ .

Thankfully Memommy mentioned to us that Santa was going to be in the Rolesville area a few Friday nights. We decided to try it out! By the way,... did I mention it was free?! On the way there I tried to pump Blake up and we went over what he would tell Santa. I tried to also prepare him for sitting on Santa's lap and taking a picture. He was pretty excited about it.... but the true test was when he would actually see Santa!

And this is what happened....

My sweet boy went right up to Santa and sat in his lap!! :) They talked about how he liked Superman and Paw Patrol. He even showed Santa his muscles!!I could not have been more proud of him. There is no doubt that he is on the nice list this year!!


Blake is also getting to know one of Santa's helpers this year.... Rudy has joined our house to help make sure Blake is a good boy! Each night Rudy finds himself doing something silly in our house. Each morning Blake gets to wake up and see what Rudy has been up to. Rudy is one silly little elf and we love laughing at him each morning. :) Here are some of the things he has been doing this week...

Disney on Ice

Blake and I were lucky enough to go to Disney on Ice this year... thanks to Granny! Granny and I took the day off of work and we took Blake on the date! He had a blast!!! He was able to see Mickey, Buzz Lightyear, Goofy, and Olaf from Frozen!

This was the first real performance that Blake has ever been too and his eyes were wide open the whole time. He didn't skip a beat! I think we will have to plan a few more things like this again in our future.

First Live Performance - Check!
First Time Seeing Disney Characters Live - Check! 

Ho Ho Tree

Blake is back from Utah and it is time for us to get in the Christmas Spirit!!!! I am honestly loving Christmas this year... like it might be my favorite Christmas so far! Blake is at such a fun age and I can literally see the "Christmas magic" in his eyes. He gets so excited about the smallest things. I am just so excited about seeing Christmas from his perspective this year. :)

Today we got to go pick out our Christmas Tree, or should I say the Ho Ho Tree as Blake calls it. Haha! We went to the cutest little tree lot and let Blake run around. I still don't think Blake really "gets" the picking out of the tree, but I love seeing him run around and get excited. It makes me laugh because you can see his wheels turning. Kind of like - "Why in the world are we bringing a tree into the house?!?! Not sure why, but I like it!"

Blake was going a million miles an hour at the tree lot, so I was glad that GDaddy went with us to help! We also really needed his help to actually get the tree home and in the house. Thank goodness for family, right?!

 
Blake was really amused by this snowman at the tree lot... first instinct was to honk his nose!! HAHA. Because what else would you do with a life size snowman?! :)

 
When we got the tree inside, Blake wanted to "get in" it. He also has already hid some of his toys in it. Oh boy... I hope we can actually decorate it! We are planning on decorating the tree (trying to) while watching The Polar Express tomorrow! Can't wait! 

Mommy Break

Blake has had the amazing opportunity to go to Utah with Ryan to visit family for 5-6 days. It seems like they are having a great time according to the pictures, updates, and phone calls I am getting. :)

While Blake is gone, I figured this would be a little time to focus on myself and be productive. I have done some Christmas shopping, ran errands, wrapped presents, gotten my nails done, grocery shopped, and more. However, it has been spending time with my friends that has been the best.

This has been the longest I have been away from Blake and it has partly driven me nuts. The house is just way too quiet and I miss him SO much. My life revolves around him on a daily basis, so it has been an adjustment not to have him around. I almost didn't know what to do with my time. Luckily my friends stepped in and kept me busy. I am very grateful!

Blake comes home on Monday! I am beyond ready to have him back and start our Christmas tradition fun! :)  This momma is ready to have her little buddy back!

Ice Skating Girlfriends

One thing I have learned to LOVE and appreciate the most recently has been my girlfriends. When life seems to be going all wrong, it is those special girlfriends that make you laugh, cry with you, and have your back no matter what. Friendships like that really do last for a lifetime!

This past weekend it was my amazing friend, Rita's, birthday! She and I are in very similar life situations and we have learned to lean on each other. So, of course, it was only natural that we spend her birthday together. Our mutual friend Jodi(and another beautiful friend) planned our girls day!

We started off at an amazing brunch at The Oxford in downtown Raleigh. We ate our hearts out. They had an omelet station that was my favorite!

Then we took on the outside ice skating rink in downtown! Well... they called it an ice skating rink. I think it was more of a snowy palette of cement. Haha! Either way, it was a bucket list item that we checked off! We had a blast goofing off with out figure skating skills. :)

After we killed our ankles on the rink, we went and relaxed in the Starbucks across the street. What a great day! I think Rita really enjoyed her day and I know that a little girl time was exactly what I needed to recharge my single mommy life!