12 days of Christmas

I need to complain for a minute and I thought it would be good to do it with a little festive cheer!
My version of 12 days of Christmas (we have a great night last night!)

12 sleepless hours
11 snotty tissues
10 books we read
9 dirty diapers
8 different things for dinner and none are what she wanted
7th time of watching puppies (101 dalmatians)
6 degrees outside right now
5 inches of snow
4 hours of crying
3 more molars
2 Pink eyes (yes she has pink eye again!)
1 Exhausted Mom

Happy Holidays!

SnOw DaYs

Today we went out and played in the snow. It was very fun. Little was having a blast. She fell down a hundred times but laughed the entire time.


Our Snow Angel!

Getting ready, she wasnt sure about all the clothes. I dont think she could put her arms down.
This was taken when we had the first snow of the year. She came and got me to show me something outside. It was so cute.

Early Christmas

We wanted to have a little Christmas with our small family. We made a gingerbread house and opened presents. It was very Fun. Little K got really into the opening presents part.


Here is Little K picking off the fishes off the roof the next day.

Randon Pictures of last two weeks

I have a bunch of pictures that I want to post... Kinda random stuff
Coloring her snowman this morning.


OK, I should probably explain this one. I heard her crying and walk in (already had the camera in my hand) and saw her hand stuck in her toy. I had to snap a shot before I helped. Does that make me a bad mom?


Here is when I caught her right after she tipped the tree over (for the 10th time) She was very interested in the ornament on the top of the tree.... which is now in her hand.


She is being silly in the tutu I made for her.


My new holiday decor for my entry way.

We gave her an early Christmas present. Elmo slippers. She absolutly LOVES them. "Mamo" is what she calls them.

Favorite Things

Rain drops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens..... are not my favorite things. BUT here is a few of MY Favorite things

I love our fire place. I love the warmth it gives and the cozy feeling it adds to our house. Being in an old house has taken some getting used to but the fire is truly wonderful.

Since I cut all my hair off, I can not just pull it in a pony tail everyday. I have to style it every time I wash it. And that meant I needed a new straightener. I love the new thin light straighteners. It is so fast and easy.

Target, no explanation needed - who doesn't love Target?

I love ORKIN! It has been SO wonderful since we have started using them. They are great. They took care of the ants so fast. And the spiders and other creepy things have disappeared. The mice are on an eviction plan right now. The joys of living in an old house!

This year, I splurged and bought a personal CIRCUT Machine. I am so happy with it. I have used it so much. From Christmas gifts, Holiday decorations, cards, scrapbooks stuff and so much more. So worth the money!

I love the Hobby Lobby. I get coupons via email once a week and love using it. There is so much fantastic decoration stuff, great crafts and awesome fabric. Of course I have to have this on here. I love Scentsy! I love that it is wickless and flameless. I am crazy about the new holiday scents Cinnamon Cider, Vanilla Walnut, and Christmas Tree.

OK, I will admit that I love Diet Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke. I am a sucker for a cold beverage.
New little shop I found called The Yellow Beetle. Super cute gifts and little things. If you haven't been there, you should go (not the greatest place for kids though.)

Little People for little people - My MIL got this for us last year. It was the greatest gift. Little K loves it. She will go find the little baby Jesus and say " Hesus, baby" and rock him and kiss him. It is so cute. You can buy it at Fisher Prices Website. Only 33 bucks. It is so worth it!

Fabric! I am addicted to buying Fabric. I am crazy about anything Amy Butler. Check out her website at amybutlerdesign.com

Little K had been sick and stuffed up and coughing. So I found this inhaler from VICKS. LOVE IT! You add Hot tap water to this container with a pad with vicks med on it. It isn't hot enough to burn Little K and small enough for her to hold it herself. It doesn't leak either! She gets her vapor medicine with no fuss and no mess. Great Find

These just a few of my favorite things. Now you Share your favorite things!

Locks of Love - I DID IT!

Right Before I cut it all off..... I cant believe how long I let it get.

Right after I got it cut. Pretty big change huh! Not the greatest picture though.
Here is Little K laughing at me taking pictures of myself.

I finally did it! I cut my hair. And I mean CUT! I had 15 inches cut off to donate to Locks of Love and then we took another 2 inches off. It is pretty short. I am getting used to it. It wasnt as hard as I thought it was going to be. The hardest thing is not having it in a pony tail all day, but that is a good thing right? Anyway I will get cuter pictures soon.

First Black Eye

Last night was a very rough night to say the least. I wont go into the long exhausting details, but there was no one asleep in our house from 10:30-2:00am. And as a result Little K got her first Black eye. She was playing in her room ( I was laying on the floor) and she bent over to get a toy and hit her eye on the corner of the foot rest of the chair. She screamed and screamed. I thought she hit her head until the morning when I realized that she had a black eye. Poor thing. I feel bad for her. It looks like it hurts. But that has not slowed her down.

Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. I love the food, the colors, the smells and the family and the friends and fun. This year, being 1600 miles from home, we decided to host Thanksgiving in our house. It was such a blast. I want to thank everyone who came and brought such yummy food. It all worked out so good. I really had a blast. It really made it feel like a holiday with food and all the fun.

I am so thankful for
* My husband who is working his tail off in school and still has time to be an awesome dad and great husband. AND the owrk he does around the house and with the firewood.
* My daughter who is smart, funny and silly. She can always make me laugh. It is amazing all the things that she is learning everyday.
* Palmer - and the education my hubby is getting
* Friends, I have some awesome friends here. I have never had friends like this. I love it!
* Family, mine and K's family. They are all so supportive. We are so lucky to have come from great families.
* Locks of Love - I just cut off 17 inches of my hair! Post to come with pictures soon
* The church and gosple
* My house - though sometimes I complain about it (or the location) I love it. I love the space we have and the things we have done with it.
* The internet - or maybe not.... I am addicted to blogs and goodreads.com
* The Free country that we live in. We have so many freedoms and some great advantages that we often take for granted.
There are so many things to be thankful for and I am just rambling now. I know you are all full of gratitude this time of year too.

Side note- I tried the Black Friday Shopping - All I can say is WOW! so NOT worth it. People are crazy. I didnt even get up all that early, I was awake from a much needed diaper change on the princess and decided to run up to old navy and michaels. I tried to stop at ToysRus.... insain! Target was so busy that there was NO way I was going in there. I just hate lines enough that I will pay the extra dollars. I did hit the mall a little later and it wasnt bad. I did get some great hair products at pretty good deal and that was it.

Twilight

My friends and I braved the crazy crowds and went and saw Twilight on opening night. I felt too old to be doing it, but I was there I had a great time. And we were not even the oldest ones there. The movie was OK. The book is way better. And my biggest complaint with the movie was the makeup. I couldnt get past the really really bad makeup. It drove me nuts that entire movie. But it was a decent movie.

" i heart" debut

NOW INTRODUCING:

i heart

My best friend and I have started a little business. We made some onesies and shirts for our kids and a few for baby showers. They were a big hit so we are now selling them. We have a craft show that is our big debut. We are very excited.
It is at Riverdale High School in Port Byron. Only $1 admission.
November 22nd 9:00-3:00
Great fun, and lots to see and buy.
Come to our show and say you saw our blog and receive 10% off!
Check out our blog at
iheartonesies.blogspot.com
If you link us on your page you will be entered in a drawing for a FREE onesie! Just post a comment on i heart blog and let us know you linked us.
Thanks for all your support!

My Monkey

Yesterday I walked into the kitchen to find my darling 15 month old monkey standing on the middle of the table eating a ritz cracker. She had pulled the chair out, climbed on it then onto the table. Luckily the crackers were on the counter right next to the table because I am sure she would have walked or crawled on the counters to get them. Then I took her to the YMCA (because I started teaching swimming lessons there.) Anyway I took her to the childcare there, a HUGE step for me. I have never left her with a 'stranger' I usually dont even leave her with people I know. BIG STEP FOR ME! Yeah. Anyway, she was off and playing before I could get her coat off. When I picked her up, the lady said "you didnt warn me she is a climber" Apparently she was climbing on the tables, chairs and even climbed into the blocks box. I knew this day would come, I just wasnt ready for it.
And I am in the den and she has been playing oh so nicely alone in the family room. I have a baby gate so she can not come in here and terrorize the place but I can see and hear her. It was very quiet so I peaked out around the corner and she had unplugged the tv and plugged in the humidifier and was playing with the dials to turn it up and down. I had no idea she knew how to plug things in. Again, I knew it would come, but I am not ready. She is learning and growing SOOOO fast. Everyday she shows me something new that she has learned. The other day she walked up with her Elmo and pointed at his big eyes and and said "eye". She had never said that before.

My Dad and sister

This weekend My dad and sister came down to visit us. It was so great to see my dad. He had so much fun with little K. It took her a little time to warm up to him, but in the end she was having fun with him. My sister is so fun to be with. She is still in the navy and doing well. We are so proud of her. We went to the John Deer place where you can play on the tractors and stuff. That was pretty fun.
ALSO- Big news: we finally switched little K to a forward facing car seat. YEAH. She loves it. I love it. We had the seat sitting in the family room for a few days and she loved sitting in it and watching TV. So she was very comfortable in it. Here is a picture of her on our first outing with the new seat. And a picture of her with my dad.

Dining Room redo-

I finally got the dining room painted! I just got the curtains and hemmed them up to fit perfect. I am SO pleased with how it is turning out. I just need to hand some art and we are done. YEAH. I love it when we get projects done around the house. We still have so much to do but slowly it is coming along. I think I am going to Little K's room next. Her room should be easy. We had already done the ceiling and baseboards and carpet, so I just need to paint, hang curtains and art and then it is done! Super easy (but still is hard to do with a very busy 1 year old.) and....
Before and after shots of dining room

Happy Halloween (late)

Halloween was fun this year. Little K was a bumble bee. I think that she figured out pretty quickly that when you walk up to the doors, you get candy. She was very possessive of her candy. We had to pry the candy bag out of her hands. (kicking and screaming) She has had her first sucker and loved it sooo much. I told her she could only eat it if she was sitting down. Can you believe that she sat and ate the whole thing and didn't get up. She NEVER sits still. She must have loved it. Truck -or- treating at the church was fun. Seems like anything with the ward turns out fun. Here are some pictures of our Bee.
With the break from school almost over, we had to do something that was "family fun". We went to the pumpkin patch. It was super fun. Little K LOVED it. K is way more willing to let Little K walk around and do her thing. I think that is because when he is with us it is something fun and not time crunched and walking slow and wandering is ok. When it is just me and little K I cant just let her wander around. But anyhow, she was able to wander around and pick her own pumpkin. The pumpkin patch also had a maze that we played in, a huge playground, a petting farm and lady bugs galore. There was lady bugs all over everything. I had never seen that may lady bugs before. Any way.. you guessed it.... more pictures