... When No One Else is Watching

No Fear

'The Girl' went to see Santa today and just like last year, she had absolutely no fear of him. I was a bit worried that she might be that child who screams and and wails to be retrieved from the chubby guy with a load of cotton balls all over his face. But no. She went right to him, smiled and gave him a nice little cuddle. I'm wondering if I should maybe start training her about the fact that not all strangers will climb down the chimney with a sack full of toys if you simply sit on their lap and tell them what you want.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Exhausted

Where have I been, you ask? Well, since the hubby and I decided a few years ago to bring a new life into this world during the holiday season the question should be "where haven't you been?" I have been so busy running around to store after store after store after store - okay, you get it - and trying to prepare for the holidays and the birthdays that I don't seem to have any time to just sit down and write an easy little blog entry. Somehow, I have found a few precious moments to myself today and am going to let you in on the craziness that is my life.

I mentioned that one of the strangest decisions Rob and I have ever made during our marriage was deciding to get pregnant with our first child. Why is that odd? Well, not so much odd, but the fact that we didn't think about when our beautiful little girl would grace us with her appearance is something we really should have paid more attention to. When I looked up the date that I would most likely be due on I saw Dec. 15th flash back at me and thought "oh bleepity-bleep!" It's not that I didn't want a baby in December, it's the fact that everyone, E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. in Rob's family has a birthday from the end of November to the beginning of January. Rob's birthday is Dec. 30th, his mom's is Nov. 15th, his dad's is Dec. 16th and his sister's is Jan. 11th! (Send presents.) Then let's throw in Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and a partridge in a pear tree and you can see how it might be a bit hectic around here. I am officially tired of spending money! Me! I never thought I would utter those words. Hopefully, tomorrow will be the final day of shopping for the season and I can finish wrapping (okay, I can start wrapping) the gifts and enjoy the final week before Christmas and my daughter's birthday.

Speaking of Avery's birthday. She's turning two this year! Two! I cannot even believe that my little girl is now a toddler. It feels like yesterday she came into this world and changed me completely. She really is the most amazing little being and makes me so happy every day. I am blessed to be her mother. And if I do say so myself, she's pretty darn blessed herself. Not all parents decided to let their two year old have a party at The Little Gym to celebrate their birthday. She had a fantastic time this past Saturday, the 15th, which coincidentally was the day she was actually due two years ago! She got to play with all of her friends and had many fabulous presents bestowed upon her. All the kids were great and I don't think you have been a witness to how cute kids can be until you see ten little two year olds trying to help open presents. They were all so excited to see what was wrapped up in all that gift wrap!

So yes, busy, busy, busy. That is the word that can best describe our household at this time of year. I will catch up with everything else I've been wanting to blog about after the New Year but in the mean time I am always willing to leave you with some pictures of the two year old girl!

Looking cute before her party, a.k.a. her tactic to distract me from realizing she's trying to destroy my hair dryer.

The playgroup having a great time at The Little Gym!

Avery and Daddy's Action Shots!

Time for cake!!!

This picture I've entitled 'Parents Hovering'

PRESENTS!!!!! (Yes, that's Dear Zoo,,, one less thing I need to get her for Christmas!)

Guilty Pleasure

My newest guilty pleasure where television is concerned is MTV's "The Hills." I know I said a few months back that maybe MTV wasn't for me any longer but I have to say that this show is incredibly addicting. I love watching all the drama and in the end it makes me even more happy that my life is so drama-free.

* Yes, I know the posts recently have been really short but mostly they're just things that pop into my mind and I figure that something is better than nothing.*

Christening

I took my mom to the heaven known as 'Hobby Lobby' today. This is the first time my mother has ever been in this store and when we walked in through the automatic doors I thought I was going to have to catch her when she passed out because she couldn't catch her breath due to the amount of joy she was feeling. A crafts superstore! So much more than we've ever had here before (which is really quite ironic because we live in the craft capital of the world! Oh, and the baby capital as well,,, but we have plenty of OBGYNs.)

The poor woman didn't know where to start first! About fifteen minutes into the shopping trip I asked her if she liked the store and she gave me a look that exclaimed, "DUH!" Then she said, "you really shouldn't have brought me here, I am going to spend way too much money. But really, why didn't you bring me here much sooner?!" That's the spirit! Who cares about the bank account, at least the house will look pretty!