December 31

We headed down to Temple on New Year's Eve to have Christmas on New Year's Day. These two cousins had a blast and loved their new scooters. I was surprised they caught on so quickly!

Mimi always has a sweet little tea party for the girls. This year the girls sat nicely and enjoyed every nibble and drop. They loved it!

December 30

A trip to see Ice! before it melted all away.

Sadly, I did not get to go...was working late tonight.

From left to right: Lori, Coco, Ladybug and T

December 29

December 28

* Spent the day removing all of the Christmas decor and taking the tree down. T got it all safely stowed into the attic until next year and now it seems like the whole month was a blur and over so quickly.

*I have high hopes of getting things neat and organized in the house before the new year. I have already thrown away all of the leftover candy and cookies.

*The new washer and dryer are a dream and they both seem bigger and quieter! Woohoo!

*Now that Christmas is over I can focus on planning someone's birthday party.~

*Speaking of birthdays...Happy Birthday to my dear old Dad today! Hope you enjoyed your special day!

*Here's another picture of Buggy during our chair photo shoot....because I can't do a post without a sharing some sort of photo.

At 34 Months + 1 Day

*She refuses to walk up or down the stairs when getting out of bed or going to bed. But any other time, walking the stairs is okay.

*I used to give her an either/or choice of pajamas at bed time. Now she'd rather reach in the drawer and pick out her own or just tell me the ones she wants to wear. She's becoming opinionated but it hasn't transpired with her play clothes yet.

*We still hear a lot of "no way, no way" when something isn't going the way she wants. We are working so hard to turn that "no way" into a "help please." We're making some progress but it's still a battle. I love it when I hear a "help Moma."

*Bug's always counting everything, pointing out shapes and asking what things are. She's very inquisitive.

*She still loves music and singing. One of her favorite stocking gifts was a dollar store saxophone.

*My sweet girl will share with you her last bite of her favorite cookie and kiss you if you have a hurt.

*Stats: weight 26.8 pounds, size 5 shoe, size 4 diaper and 2t clothing.

December 25

December 24

Christmas eve gift !!!


And what was I thinking signing up for a cookie swap and having to bake 5 dozen cookies?!?

Well, I did it...5 dozen cookies...and now I'm exhausted.

One more work day,
Deana

December 23

Santa Clause came today! Evidently you can do that when you are going out of town for Christmas and you clear it with the old man in red ahead of time.

I love the look of excitement on her face when she saw all the presents.

She's completely infatuated with glasses so I knew that Santa did good when I saw playing with her new doll's glasses first thing.

Santa also put a few Andes mints in her stocking and that was the only thing she was interested in. The first time she took out a chocolate, she handed it toward me and said "open it Mama" but she figured out during the handoff she could open it herself. Into her mouth went the chocolate and then it was "be right back" as she ran off to throw the wrapper away. So, it was chocolate after chocolate and a few runs to the trash can until she couldn't find anymore! <3

She's so cute,
Deana

December 22

Lots of happy mail today! Plus, one of those was a sweet package for Bug from Mimi.

December 21

Today was our infamous Candy Day and we spent the entire day in the kitchen. Bug's idea of making candy wasn't quite the same as ours. She was either being too helpful or demanding attention. I did manage to get a few things done: batch of cookies, peanut butter cups and fudge.

Oh, and notice her choice of attire today? She learned how to take off her zippered footy pajamas. So, that's what she did all day...climb in and climb out of them.




Lori came over tonight for a little Christmas get together and we grilled steaks for dinner. She brought over a delicious brie for snacking. Then it was present time!




Buggy is a dainty little un-wrapper. It was fun getting a little preview before the big finale.

Huggles,
Deana

December 20

Buggy got a little bit closer to Santa the second time around but still wouldn't let Daddy out of her sight.

Plus, I don't see any tears!

December 19

I just found out today that I won a laundry sales contest at work and I have been on cloud 9 all day long!

Do you see that gorgeous red laundry set? It's going to be sitting in my laundry room very soon!

It's worth over $2000 bucks and they are going to deliver and set up for free in addition to grossing up for taxes!

It's definitely been my lucky day. Oh wait, I worked hard to win that!

December 18

We went to T's work Christmas party tonight...it's been a loooong time since we had a night out to ourselves.

December 17

December 16

We ventured out to see Santa tonight, although it certainly didn't go as planned. Even after all of the build up to it this week and us waving to Santa, saying Ho Ho Ho, and talking about giving Santa hugs.

She was just fine when we first saw him from a distance.

She did fine when we walked into his little corral and waved but as soon as we got close to him all I could hear was, "No way, no way!"




I just couldn't make her sit on his lap like I did last year....




Bye Santa, maybe next year!

December 15

This is top secret stuff indeed! My endless lists of things to do and buy and Christmas presents too! I use the same notebook every year and have an envelope stuffed in the back for receipts. Works great for me...until I accidentally leave it laying around somewhere.~




We have been wrapping and wrapping away but I'm not sure we will ever get done. These are T's stocking gifts stacked in this basket and I haven't not started wrapping mine yet! Woohoo, stockings are my favorite Christmas tradition! You can read all about it here.

Mom, who has the fullest stocking so far?

*edit* T has the most? I think someone needs to go shopping.
Just saying.

December 14

* Off today after working 7 days in a row, although with a 2 yr old it sure doesn't feel like a day off.

* It rained and rained and rained some more today. We stayed home and in pajamas until almost 4 pm. Hehe

* When T got home, I convinced him to take us out for dinner and some grocery shopping. As we drove through a storm and some hail, I decided maybe it was a bad idea. He laughed and said, "At least we're in your car."

* I had the last laugh though since my car was on EMPTY and he had to gas it up...again.

December 13

I love that Bug came home from school with this little project today!

It's a real plate that says "Cookies for Santa" and has her little handprint too!

Kudos to the teacher that came up with this creative idea! Love, love, love!

December 12

December 11 (KK307)

In between church and having to go to work at 3 today (I'm so tired, day 6) I created a quick card during Bug's naptime. I followed along on Carrie's Ka-Pow Creative Challenge!

This is what I came up with using a brand new stamp set that isn't available for you to purchase until January. I earned this set for FREE last month but I can't show you all the stamps yet! It's fabulous and great for making Valentines. We'll definitely be making this card for my 3-4-5 Card Class in January!



Check out the girl's cards and enjoy your day!
Deana

December 10

We jumped in the car tonight after work and headed to Christmas in the Square which is held on the weekends in Frisco. We drove through and listened to Christmas carols while watching the lights blink and dance to the music.

That's Lori and Coco in the back seat with Bug.





We had a very fun night! We looked for Santa but didn't see him.

December 9

See that cute tiny box under the Christmas tree? It's a sweet little present that came in the mail and is the first real present under the tree. Buggy has been going over to the tree and sitting on my present every day! She'll play patty cake with her rabbit or sing the alphabet song and sometimes even count to ten over and over. Then she'll run around and eventually head right back to her new little "stool."

December 8

Our snow globe was "professionally" installed tonight out in the front yard. We had to wait several days for the rain clear up and now things are looking very festive outside.

Bug 's slapping the sides to clear the snow off...and calling it her drum.

Love this girl !!

December 7

I can smell Mr Brown coming a mile away! He's been visiting quite a bit lately and Buggy sure does love those boxes.

December 6

I've been super stressed with trying to get everything accomplished for Christmas while working long hours during the Thanksgiving to Christmas weeks which includes working 6 days each of those weeks. Yikes, it hardly leaves any time to enjoy Christmas but I'm determined to push through.

I did get a lot completed yesterday including my Christmas cards mailed and 5 presents wrapped. My goal was only 3 presents, so I am quite proud of myself. I also had a wild hair many months ago to make notecards for Bug's teacher's gifts. I really should have started working on them back then but I here I am waiting until the last minute. I finally got them finished this morning! They turned out really cute!





All products are Stampin' Up! and the tin is from The Container Store.

December 5