"Mo Lights"

"Mo Lights, Mo Santa, Mo Jesus"....That's our 18 month old's way of requesting more Christmas.  We heard this phrase repeatedly from the backseat as we would pass by decorated houses, nativities, and lights. We may need to work on the order of those requests but she kept us laughing through all of our travels.  We would think she was asleep and then hear "ohhhhh" from the back as we passed by something she liked.  I'll say it again, Christmas with kids is wonderful. Tiring. But wonderful.  It brings back so much of the joy we quickly lose with all of the hustling around and endless lists.  We spent Christmas with the Hostetler's and then headed to Columbia for the back half of the week.  I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. 

a little last minute shopping

Helping Oma with cookies

taking it all in

safe to say she's not a fan of carousels

An attempt

loving on her "man-man"

A "man man" pancake

oh so animated

All bundled up for the lights

sweet girl

oh so relaxed

love this face

all the cousins

our little cowgirl

love.

Santa came!

new set of wheels

it's a winner

taking Elmo for a spin

taking a nap break

her favorite spot

Her gift from Lolli and Pop!

Add caption

Hopped right on!

You think she likes airplanes?

We are so grateful for the generosity and hospitallity of our families.  So thankful for their love.  It's been quite a year! Here we go 2013!

My Waffle

This lady sums it up pretty well.  I have had similar thoughts but would not have been able to convey it so eloquently.  I stumbled upon this last night. Today at lunch , we got some news of what looks like more delays on the home front. Frustrated is an understatement.  In my attempt at a holiday craft, E and I were going to make salt dough ornaments.  Easy enough.  Who doesn't have salt, flour, and water? Apparently me.  Since moving to this apartment we streamlined.  We have not purchased anything we don't use on a daily basis, mainly because we do not want to have to pack it for the third time this year.  Now we have a little salt shaker but no big daddy case like this calls for.  No salt was a breaking point for me today.  Funny how it can sometimes be the smallest things that seem to push you over the edge.  Not a proud moment I admit.  After the call from the realtor I told my husband through tears that I know our "waffle" is not finished yet.  That there is a reason and a purpose for this season of waiting and uncertainty.  I was very much the one screaming at the toaster today.

O' Christmas Tree

We debated on getting a tree this year.  I know, who am I? If you know me you would know that this would    ordinarily be punishable in our household.  We were clinging to the hope of closing on the 17th and I was trying to minimize the chaos of moving around the holidays, if that's even possible. Also throw in an incredibly curious 18 month old and a table top tree was looking pretty good.  Well after a  more than frustrating walk through of the house and an equally frustrating discussion with the builder we headed straight to pick out our tree.  Yup, that's right I bought my tree out of spite :) I believe my sentence went something like "they (the builder) can miss deadlines, display sub par communication skills and  skew our plans, but they can't steal Christmas. Yes, cue the music to "The Grinch".  That't the imagery I saw in my head at least.  So on we went to the local tree farm  Lowes.  Emerson loved getting to find the perfect tree and was enamored with the larger than life blow up Santas and "man-mans" (snowman).  She is now convinced that Santa lives at Lowes, as she "ho, ho, hos" every time we pull into the parking lot.  Daddy would be proud. We found our tree and decided to take the "simplistic" route with ornaments, seeing how all of ours are in storage.  We combined Emerson's love of gumballs and some gold spray paint and ta-da.  I did spring for some green balls to mix it up a little.  And the biggest surprise, Emerson has not gone near it.  Except to tell me to turn the lights on :) 

P.S The sweater she is wearing is mine from when I was her age.  Yeah we aren't sentimental at all.

Chris explaining how to choose

She found it.

Thankful

Somehow it's already December and surprise, I haven't done our Thanksgiving post. :) We headed to Columbia for the back half of the week.  We ate entirely too much, enjoyed the parents new house, caught a little high school football and even snuck in a date night.  I was so excited for Emerson to watch the Macy's parade.  It was a tradition in our house.  Dad would get the fire going and we would all settle in on the couch with hot chocolate. E LOVES balloons and is starting to show interest in "characters" so I thought it would be right up her alley.  Apparently she had other plans.  Our sweet little sleeping-in girl woke up so happy and ready to go at a dreaded 5:30. Whoooohooo.  Which of course resulted in a much needed nap (for everyone) at 9:30.  Oh plans.  I will learn.  Kids have a sixth sense when you really need them to be well rested and on their A game.  Its part of God's way of humbling us.  I'm convinced :)  Anyway she did great after round 2 of her sleep and enjoyed the family and even tried all the casseroles . We are so thankful for our sweet girl that keeps us laughing.  And running.  And learning.  I am thankful for my patient man to do life with. It has been an eventful year but to step back and look at the Lord's provision. Thankful is an understatement.

4 Generations

a very tired E in her floral hat

kisses for Aunt C

always a fun time with Uncle JimJim

my girl

Tea Pots and Socks

First of all how are we already 5 days into December? I'm linking back up with emyselfandi.com for Midweek Confessions and my first has to do with just that.  Its December and I've yet to do a Thanksgiving post.  I can't post what I've written because I can't load the pictures.  I am out of space on my hard drive and am terrified to delete anything.  Yes I have backed it up but I am a little paranoid about having things in more than one place since the flood. Chris is about to kill me.  Anyway hopefully I can get that going in the next few days.

-If I didn't already think I was going insane and completely loosing my sense of organization, I am convinced my child is plotting against me.  Of course her only pair of clean socks are in her teapot behind her crib.  It is the perfect storage spot.  Right next to the wooden spoon and pitcher I landed on when I climbed into bed :)

-E is starting to tell me when she has to go "potty".  I'm sure she didn't mean she wanted to actually put both feet in the toilet, which is exactly what happened in my attempt to get her there quickly.  Mommy fail.

-While trying to explain to my mom about the gift tags I'm using on our presents, it came out.."and that's how I'm labeling my patients under the tree".  Yes, that's what happens when you combine work and home and a very tired brain.

-I took my mom over to the house tonight to check on the progress. As soon as we walked through the front door Emerson loudly exclaimed "Mess!".  Out of the mouths of babes.  She stole the word right out of my mouth.  Maybe I'll let her write my closing email to the builder.

-I had the pleasure of operating one of the race car shopping carts for the first time.  Lets just say Publix should be glad its aisles are still standing and no patrons are suing them.

-And as a final reminder to myself.  Don't think you can "run" into Publix with heels on and snag a quick card without landing on all fours in front of customer service.  Thats what I get for breaking my loyalty to yoga pants and tennis shoes.  :)

Here's hoping y'all are feeling slightly more organized and steady on your feet as we kick off this Christmas season.

love this girl

17 months

This past month has flown by.  I feel like time always moves faster through the holiday season.  Somehow we have a 17 month old.  We are so thankful for her sweet and funny spirit.  We had a rough few weeks with 4 teeth coming in :/ But it looks like we may be in the clear. For now. She has been so chatty this month.  She will copy every word you say.  Chris thought it would be funny to teach her to say "sketchy".  She unfortunately latched right on.  She also tells Riggs to "sit", but has managed to turn it in to a four letter word.  She says it over and over as she trys to climb in her high chair or a bumbo.  Nursery workers, I'm sorry, its not what you think.  That being said, little miss is definitely learning to push her limits.  So far she has proved to be a little hard headed but a pretty quick study.  Poor thing says "no" whenever she sees a flower now, because she was intent on picking all of my mom's new neighbors bushes.  Hopefully I didn't scar her, although if she is anything like her momma she may have to learn to look from afar.  No green thumbs here.
My favorite new phrase is "wuv you".  I could hear those sweet words all day.  She has also mastered "orry" (sorry) Although this one is accompanied by a hand gesture we can't quite figure out.  It looks like she is thoroughly put out with having to say it.  She loves making towers from her stacking cups, collecting every gumball and acorn in site, and loving on her monkeys and babies.  She has gotten pretty good with the spoon and fork and is not a huge fan of assistance in this area.  We hear "outdee" a million times a day.  This girl could live outside.  Poor thing doesn't understand the week of rain.  Mama either for that matter.  We have solved it with extended play time on the big bed.  Our mattresses are on the floor since our bed is in storage.  She loves being able to get up and down and tell us "night-night" as she snuggles in.  Too bad she wont stay still for more than half a second.  This girl is all about her crib.  You can forget about it in the big bed.

I broke my number one holiday rule.  Apparently having kids has caused me to break a lot of my "rules".  I love the holiday season more than is probably normal, but I like it one at a time.  And in order.  No Christmas before Thanksgiving, with the exception of a Peppermint Mocha of course.  I like to shop at the stores that pledge to take it one at a time.  Nordstrom, thats you.  For Christmas I wish you would come here.  Anyways, my parents were in town and the Holiday Festival of Lights (didn't we used to just call it Christmas Lights?) were up so we bucked our system and took a ride through.  Emerson absolutely loved it.  She was in complete awe and the excited noises that came with each new display would bring the biggest cynic to tears.  In addition to causing you to break rules, like her riding in the front seat through the lights, having kids apparently causes you to be a complete sap.  I am so excited and we are so blessed to get to experience all the holidays through her eyes.  It forces you to slow down and take it in.  Appreciate all the little details.  Be captivated.  That little 17 month old is teaching her momma as much as I'm teaching her.

Trick or Treat

Halloween may be one of my favorite holidays.  Since living in a condo we don't see near the trick or treaters that I would like.  Thanks to my good friend Katie, I got my fix this year! We headed over to their house for some chili, costumes, meltdowns, and sugar.  This was E's first trick-or-treating adventure. She was unsure at first but by the end Chris had her rolling. Oh and another friend made this little number.  Maybe one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth.  Try it!

Yup, that about sums up the first hour.

Thank you Katie for the festivities!

apparently this nurse just finished her lunch break....hellloo chili face

sweet Addy breaking her in

Rootin' through her loot

the mens

sweet princesses with their rifles

It was a paci kind of night

and they are off

I'm sure we have this picture from 6 years ago...just without the babies :)

chilled out

And of course a little clean up to end the night

Just a friendly reminder...Get out and VOTE tomorrow.  If you're in town and need someone to watch your kiddos I am more than willing :) Seriously, no excuses people.