Christmas Happened!

After all of the hectic  preparing, Christmas has bitter-sweetly come and gone.

Shopping, wrapping, cooking, making, painting, tagging, exchanging, cleaning, and making room for all the new toys...it was so worth the many smiles!

Here's a recap of the last week's Christmas festivities!

Thursday 12/20 - Justin and I went shopping start to finish!  It was nice to have a "date day", but it was very exhausting to day the least.  We're still recovering - physically... and financially!

Friday 12/21 - We wrapped our little hearts out and worked on our super secret Christmas project that I can't yet reveal to you because we still have another "Christmas weekend" to be had.

"Good All Year - Just Ask Santa" shirt

Saturday 12/22 - Justin and I cleaned the house and then hopped in the car to go pick up my mother in law and aunt in law and headed up to Hershey, PA to drive through an hour and a half of their "Sweet Lights" Candylane display.  It was a lot of fun, but it was also a long time to be in the car.  Annaliese did really well though!

Sunday 12/23 - We had some last minute shopping to do and had a friend come over and Justin's other aunt and uncle stopped by to give Annaliese a Christmas gift.  We also did some online shopping and ordered Annaliese a "replacement" Teddy Bear because the one she has now and cannot sleep without...has seen better days.

Monday 12/24 - We finished wrapping, had a visit with Justin's cousin, Paige, did some baking enjoyed watching our first "real" snow of the season!  I was very excited to have a White Christmas!  We had plans to go to Justin's dad's old church for their Christmas Eve Candle Light service so we hopped in the car and carefully arrived to church.  It was nice to see familiar faces in a church we used to regularly attend, but since that was the first time we had been there since Justin's dad passed away, it was very hard to see the chair he used to sit in and the pulpit he used to preach at...empty.  The church had a Christmas tree decorated and still put up Ron and Elaine's Christmas decorations, which we thought was very nice.  Annaliese liked hearing the Christmas carols sung by the congregation and applauded.

Then Santa Came...

Tuesday 12/25 - CHRISTMAS!

I'll save the majority of the Christmas pictures for another post, but here are a few from Christmas morning, just the three of us.  Our camera wasn't fully charged yet so these are just iPhone pictures.

Daddy insisted on buying Annaliese this piano!  It's perfect for her and she loves it!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse table and chairs

Her first puzzle!

Mickey Mouse tent, tunnel and ball pit!

More books!

After Annaliese opened all her gifts, we got ready for the day and had my mom, my grandma, my aunt, my brother, Justin's mom and Justin's aunt come over for brunch and to exchange gifts.  It was a very busy morning for Annaliese, so after she opened all of her gifts she took a nap and the adults finished exchanging gifts. 

(Pictures to come in another post)

Once Annaliese woke up, we ALL (except my aunt) headed over to my brother and sister in law's house for Christmas dinner at 3pm.  It was nice to have my family, Justin's family and even my sister in law's family all at the same dinner table.  Good food was had, great laughs were shared, then onto more presents!

Ashley, Jenn and the back of my grandma's head

Elaine, Ginger, Ricky, Ashley and the back of Judy's head

Annaliese, me, my mom and my grandma

me

Ashley, Jenn, my mom, and I

Wednesday 12/26 - Snow Day!  Justin worked a half day at work and came home and we played in the snow.  Well we tried to.  Apparently Annaliese is more like her daddy when it comes to snow and isn't really fond of it.  But she looked really cute in her new snow suit!

Thursday 12/27 - Justin worked from home due to the bad roads.  We had Justin's cousins come visit us and bring Annaliese some more gifts.  She got 2 new books and a Minnie Mouse chair that she loves!

Friday 12/28 - While Justin was at work, Annaliese and I stayed inside, played with some new toys, cleaned a little, did some laundry and got the guest room prepared for Papou and Nana's arrival the next day.

Today- Saturday 12/29 - We're waiting for Papou and Nana to arrive and Annaliese is in rare form today.  The teething monster has stolen my happy baby girl and will not give her back!  Hopefully this doesn't last all weekend and we can have a good and semi-peaceful visit.  (Believe me, you don't want to see a picture of this)  haha!

So there's a little recap and our family life up to date.  Christmas presents post to come later!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa ..whatever holiday you celebrate :)

A Day For Crying

I turn my head away, tears falling from my face.

I gather myself and stare down in my arms to my sleeping baby.

I don't want her to see me cry.

I don't want her to feel mommy's sadness.

I wipe away my tears and try to smile.

She is so beautiful.

Her innocence makes me smile.

I am so thankful that I am able to hold, touch and breathe her.

As she slowly begins to wake, I quickly dry my eyes.

I turn her around so she's facing me and give her a big hug.

I start to cry again.

"I love you", I say to her.  There is no doubt about that.

I know that if she could speak, she would tell me that she loved me back.

Oh how I cannot wait to hear those words from her tiny mouth.

Her hugs, kisses and smiles shows me that she loves me.

I set her down to walk and head for the kitchen.

My sleeve is soaked in salty tears.

My eyes are sore and bloodshot.

I listen for her in the living room.

She is just smiling and gabbing away.

I start to think.

I start to cry again.

I wish that life didn't have to be so hard and sometimes painful.

I hate that selfish, foolish acts take place every day on this earth.

I hate that my daughter is placed in a world that's so cold, but in a home that's so warm.

I hate that young, innocent lives were taken and just days before Christmas.

I hate the thought of those parents not being able to tuck their babies in at night.

I hate that I'm crying.

I remind myself that I am human with a big heart and it's okay to cry and empathize.

I head back toward the living area.

I scoop her up and step toward the hallway.

There we meet her daddy.

We join each other and embrace a long and needed hug.

Just us three.

Perfection.

My physical world is in my arms for that tender loving moment.

On days when I feel like I am crumbling, my family holds me together.

My flowing tears are shed for those poor people whose lives were cut short.

My dried tears remind me that I am so lucky to have my family here with me.


My thoughts and prayers go to the families who were affected by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last week.

*Images from Google Images

14 Month Update

Wow...

I seriously have a 14 month old daughter??  Where the heck has the time gone!?!  And when the heck will this shock wear off?!  Seriously!

I have loved each and every day with this little human being we've created.  It still amazes me how smart Annaliese is, how much she has grown and how much of her own little person she is already.

She is very kind and will share her food and drink with mommy and daddy.

Said has said " book", "cat", "duck" and tries to repeat other words that we say.  She goes on and babbles all the time now.  She also says "woah" and "wow" a lot!  Hehehe  I love it!

She loves to walk and run around!  She doesn't like being held too long unless she is really sleepy.

And because she is walking and running around all the time, she also falls a lot more and really hurts her pride (and tush) sometimes more than anything else.

She is still in 18 month clothes and can still fit in most 12 month pants.

She loves spaghetti and mac and cheese!  But for some reason she isn't fond of bananas anymore.  :(

She also LOVES water!  (thank God!)  She doesn't really want anything to do with any kind of juice just yet, but water is just fine.

She still doesn't want to drink milk from a sippy cup either, so we still have a morning bottle and a night time bottle.

She has somehow transitioned herself into only taking one 2 hour nap a day.  I'm okay with that!  It had to happen eventually!  :)

She still loves playing with other kids and hearing them laugh!  I love the smile she gets on her face when she hears other kids laughing.  It's like they have their own little baby code or something!

She can put her toys away as long as mommy and daddy show her how to the first few times that night.

She points to almost everything in the house now.  Then she mumbles.  She's learning!

She loves to play with pots and pans and make music :)  She is also slowly learning to put the correct shapes into her learning toys.

She knows what the tree is (Christmas tree), she knows what a nose is, she knows Sammy (the cat) and she knows her favorite stuffed toys (Teddy, Mickey Mouse, and Pippi, her doll).

She loves going to playgroup and meeting new friends to play with!

She is so very close to using her spoon or fork with 100% success on every bite! 

Here's some pictures and a video to enjoy!

Made a friend, Norah, at playgroup

Went for a walk outside on a 65 degree day in December

Using a fork! (excuse the crazy hair) haha!

Sitting pretty eating a graham cracker

Playing with her Disney characters

She still sleeps on her belly with her butt in the air

She still loves to cuddle

She enjoys eating mini bologna and cheese sandwiches 

She loves watching other babies laughing on YouTube

She loves running around at playgroup

It still amazes me more and more each day of how beautiful she is and how precious life is.  We are so blessed to have a healthy little girl who fills our days with so much love and joy.   :)

Getting More In The Christmas Spirit

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!  I meant to post this yesterday, but was just too tired.  

Our weekend was filled with lots of cookies and lots of Santa!

Annaliese and I went to spend time with Aunt Jenn on Friday and made some cookies!  I made some Heath bar cookies and Jenn made Andes Peppermint cookies.  Mine came out a little harder than I expected, but they still tasted yummy!  Jenn's cookies were delicious!

Jenn's yummy cookies

My yummy cookies

Annaliese had fun looking out the glass door into the backyard.  We don't have that luxury at our house ;)

Then on Sunday, Justin and I took Annaliese to see Santa for the first time.  She did very well waiting in line for about a half hour, then when Justin put her on Santa's lap, she looked up at him and wondered why she was sitting on him.  She only fussed a little bit and we were able to get some really good pictures of them together before she wasn't having it anymore!  Haha!  Here's our favorite!

T minus 2 weeks until Christmas!!

Color Run, Here I Come!

You all have probably heard of a Color Run, right?

It's a national tour of a mapped out 5k in many large cities where people of all ages can participate in running, walking, skipping, crawling to the finish line while getting blasted with a rainbow of powdered color the whole way through!

Check out this video!  It pretty much explains everything that happens!  :)



Well my best friend, Takia and I had tried to sign up for The Color Run last year and participate in the Washington D.C. tour.  Unfortunately two weeks after the starting sign up date, they were sold out!  I didn't realize how popular it was at the time.  We were very disappointed but prayed that there would be another opportunity ahead.  I signed up to be on their VIP email list to be one of the first people to hear about another Color Run event in the area.  I received an email stating that there will be another race in D.C. in 2013 and sign ups will start on Dec 1, 2012.  I mentioned this to some of my friends and quickly got a few "We're in!" responses!

Well...

We're in!  I have signed up and I am officially going to do my first ever Color Run on May 19, 2013!  I can't wait to have another 5k notch on my belt!  This time, my friends and I are going to try to create a time to beat for all of us!  Motivation is key for any work out and it helps to have friends and family on a journey with you to do so!  I am so excited for this new adventure in our Nation's Capital!
I am ready to get back on schedule with running and working out and be ready to run this awesomely messy color race next year!

I'm blessed to have my awesome friends, my always supportive family and my super supportive and awesome blogging buddies!  Thanks for being there to cheer me on!

Wordless Wednesday - The Magic Of Christmas

20 more days till Christmas!