Our Christmas Card

Hello everyone! I'm in the middle of gathering all my Christmas pictures so I'll be back with a fun, photo-filled post soon.

I hope you each had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year!

Cheers!

Progress

Our house looks so pretty and peaceful at night. Especially after I put all of Andrew's toys away and get the kitchen all cleaned up. Unfortunately, those things don't really happen every day.

Either way, I'm loving our house all dressed up for Christmas.



I can't tell you how happy this photo makes me.

We went to look at Christmas lights last Saturday night. We did bath and pj's and then hopped in the car. He was so excited to go see "Christmas!". I think he liked the lights, but his favorite part was the horses giving carriage tours of the lights in the neighborhood.

His joy over Christmas has been so fun to watch this year. I can't wait until Christmas morning.

Christmas present update: I now have quite a few gifts but they're not at all organized and I have yet to wrap a single one.

I do, however, have snickerdoodles in cute little decorated boxes ready to take to Andrew's teachers tomorrow.

And I've mailed all my Christmas cards! Once they've had enough time to arrive in people's mailboxes I'll post a picture of them. I ordered them from Tinyprints again this year, and I am so happy with them. They do a great job.

Here's a funny Andrew story and then I'm off to bed because it's late and I don't sleep enough:

We gave Andrew one of the snickerdoodles for dessert after dinner tonight and within ten minutes he was bouncing up and down and dancing on his stool in the kitchen and yelling "I crazy, I crazy!".

We have to make sure we remember to limit the Christmas cookies.

Christmas Lights

Andrew got to help Brian put up our Christmas lights last weekend and he had so much fun!



Ha! He really just wanted to climb the ladder. Which was fine while Brian was still up there blocking his way, but it got a little scary when he could climb all the way up.

This kid is not scared of heights, that's for sure.









And then he was off.

He's just crazy about all things Santa and Christmas. We pulled in to the parking lot at Gymboree last week and they had big Christmas ribbons up on the lights in the parking lot. As soon as Andrew saw them he said, "Christmas!". I can't wait to see his reaction when we take him driving around to look at lights.

I so wish that I could give y'all a positive update on my Christmas shopping, but unfortunately I still only have maybe five presents. I have no idea why I'm putting this off so much, but I think I may be in trouble.

I have been really good about taking a picture everyday for my Big Picture Picture the Holidays class though. Maybe I could give people pictures for Christmas? :) (Don't worry family, you will get a real present.)

I'm planning to make a collage of my first week of pictures and I'll share it with y'all when it's ready.

But first, I promise to buy one Christmas present.

It's December Y'all

Ahhh...I hate it when I haven't blogged in over a week. Now I have a ton of stuff to say, but it doesn't all fit together. So I'll just create a list for you.



1. I just started Tracey Clark's Big Picture Picture the Holidays class and I'm so excited about it. The picture above is my entry for today's topic: Holding onto Gratitude. The class started today, but you have until Dec. 8 to register. If you decide to take the class please let me know. I'd love to see you there!

2. Andrew's favorite phrase is suddenly "no, no". How did this happen? It's like he turned into a two-year-old overnight. But he's only 20 months! I'll say, "Andrew, do you want apple juice?". "No, no. Apple juice?". I'm sure he's just asserting his independence, but whoa....it's going to be a long year. Ha!

3. We went out to my parents' place at the lake last weekend to take family pictures for our Christmas card. I got the settings all ready, set the camera up on my tripod and then let Mom fire away. We got some really good shots, but I'm not going to show them here until my cards have gone out. I will show y'all this one though. It didn't make the card, but it's adorable.



4. I have purchased one, yes ONE, Christmas present. I'm kind of worried. I have no idea why I've waited so long. I like to do a lot of shopping online, but I haven't even started that yet this year. Next week - I have a date with Northpark.

5. I made the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon rolls for Thanksgiving. If y'all haven't made these yet I encourage you to do so for Christmas. There's a reason they're famous on the Internet. They are really awesome. Seriously, your friends will love you forever. And here's my little tip: There will be lots of gooey goodness that oozes out after you roll them up. Scoop it up and poor it over the top of the ready-to-bake rolls. Mmmmm....so good.

6. This is my absolute favorite time of the year. I plan to take my time and enjoy it. I hope you do too!