Christmas 2009

Masterpieces

We wanted Gracie to give her grandparents an extra special gift this Christmas...so we decided an art project would be perfect!!!

I want to give a special thank you to Nicole, Todd's cousin Chip's wife, for this great idea - her little girls, Charlotte and Bridget created the cutest artwork squares using paint, glitter pens, and glued tissue paper that she then framed for Mary Ann, Todd's aunt.

I wasn't quite as creative as Nicole with the different art supplies and textures...I just bought washable paint and hoped that Gracie would have a blast finger painting. Well, I should have known that finger painting is not quite Gracie's thing yet - our child does not like to have anything on her hands!!! Anytime she gets something on her hands she usually wants it wiped off and she'll say to us "hands".

She was very cooperative when we painted her hands to do her hand prints but she definitely wasn't interested in actually dipping her fingers into the paint and finger painting....but she loved using the paint brushes.

For Ellee & Granddaddy

For BeBe & PaPa

A White Christmas!

Dressed by Daddy

I took advantage of Todd being home this week to get my hair cut and colored and my eyebrows waxed. I had the first appointment of the morning so when I left the house Gracie was still in her jammies. While I was at the salon, Todd decided to take Gracie to Home Depot...and that meant he had to get her dressed! He did pretty good and she looked cute except the undershirt he layered with is a 24 month onesie...and apparently he could not get it snapped. So I asked, "hummm...why didn't you take it off and find another shirt?" To which he replied, "Why? I just tucked it into her jeans so we could go." He promises me that she didn't walk around Home Depot looking like this...

ElfYourself

I love ElfYourself...and I laugh every year when I see us as singing and dancing elves. You should try it too. Merry Christmas!!!!

Singing Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Disco Elves

Hip Hop Elves

Country Elves

Slide

Last week Gracie saw her slide in our garage and said she wanted to "side"... so since it's freezing outside and inside our garage...I brought the slide in to her playroom. She's had so much fun going down forwards, backwards, and with her baby doll Cali.

She's not only going through a sliding phase and a Daddy phase but also a no clothes, diaper only (thank goodness not totally naked) phase. We ask her repeatedly during the day if she's ready to put her clothes on to which she always replies no (I realize I should be telling her and not asking her to put on her clothes but whatever - we usually don't have anywhere we need to be). She will get dressed to "go bye-bye" but shortly after we get home she wants to strip down to her diaper. And PJs - forget it! We've even had to put her into time-out to get her jammies on...and she'll ultimately give in and let us put them on but most nights we hear her screaming within a half an hour of us laying her down because she's gotten all tangled up trying to take her jammies off by herself.

So, this is yet another example for me to learn to pick and choose my battles....and this naked phase is a battle that I'm not fighting, at least not right now...and she couldn't be happier being a "newknee" (we call her nudey when she doesn't have any clothes on, a word we stole from Carrie and Micah, and she says "newknee" - it makes me laugh every time!)!

Oh, in case you're wondering, we have a super cute, cuddly, and sweet house guest staying with us for the next several weeks. We're watching our friends' golden retriever, Cleo, while Ingrid and Maaike (the dutch spelling for Micah) are home visiting with Ingrid's family in Ontario for the holidays.

Andrew, Ingrid's husband and one of the sweetest guys I know (next to Todd, my Dad, Richard or Granddaddy, and Travis Pittman), is in the Canadian Army and is in Afghanistan for the next 4 months...if you pray please keep him in your prayers or keep him in your thoughts!

So watching Cleo is just a little way I'm trying to support a solider and his family!

I am forever grateful to the men and women who serve in the military and their families that support and miss them while they are away!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We picked out our beautiful Christmas Tree on Dec. 6th! This was the 1st year that it didn't take us FOREVER to pick out the perfect tree, and by "us" I really mean ME! This is our 5th Christmas together and the last 4 Christmases I have tried Todd's patience with looking at one tree and then another and then another and then another and then going back to the first and repeating the process all over again...bless his heart for putting up with me (I love you Todd!).

What makes for a perfect tree for us? The tree has to be tall (8 feet) and wide with space in between the limbs so that we can tuck in lots of lights and ornaments. I guess we just got lucky this year when we found our tree after only looking for 5 minutes and at just a couple trees. We were probably also able to make our decision quickly because the trees were covered in snow and it was really cold.

Todd's parents gave us "The Elf on the Shelf" last year and we decided that our elf would arrive to "watch Gracie and report back to Santa" when our Christmas Tree was put up. Our elf has yet to be named...hopefully Gracie will give him a good name next year when she better understands the concept. Here Todd is reading her the story of "The Elf on the Shelf". So cute! Ellee and Granddaddy have an elf of their own and from what we hear, Granddaddy enjoys finding the elf in their house each day too! Thanks Ellee and Granddaddy for giving us this fun family tradition!

Multiple attempts for a 2009 Christmas picture!

This is after I asked her to take her binky out!

And the binky goes right back in!!!

And of course she has to have "night night" too!

Trying again to get her to take the binky out,

I asked her to show me her teeth!

Maybe a prop would help -

how about a string of Christmas lights!

Love this shot!

I have never seen her make this face before!

This coy look cracks me up!

This is my favorite!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

We had our 1st real snow of the winter on Dec. 5th. The flakes were big, fluffy, and beautiful...freshly fallen snow is so pretty....and perfect for snowballs!

Gracie's 1st snowball ever!

Our snow angel!

Gracie loved being out in the snow and we can hardly wait to build a snowfamily and to go sledding after the next snowfall which will probably be next week. Looks like we'll have a White Christmas for sure! (I just wish it wasn't so cold - it's been in the single digits in the morning! Brr!).

On Dancer and Prancer!

Santa's Little Helper

Beaufort Visit

Ellee & Granddaddy's Fall Visit

Happy Birthday Tucker!

My 1st baby turned 10 today! I really can't believe my buddy is 10 years old! Where have the years gone? We've shared a lot together and I love him more than he'll ever know...those of you who know me well, know how much I love this big guy! He's spoiled rotten, always has been and always will be, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Tucker is the best and I'm so lucky that he's mine!!!

Overall, he's doing great! He was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism and is on thyroid medication twice a day. He also has a fair amount of arthritis but that doesn't stop him from hopping up into the bed in the morning and on the couch in the afternoon and evening. Other than a little gray hair under his chin and being a little more lazy, he's the same sweet, loving dog he has always been.

Tucker loves his family and we certainly love him. There's nothing better than kissing his big head and snuggling with him. It melts my heart to watch him and Gracie together. He's so gentle with her and she loves to kiss and hug him. His favorite things are me, car rides, walks, lounging on the bed/couch, and ice cream. He's my buddy and my baby!

Happy 10th Birthday Tucker!