A Very Merry Christmas

This was a big Christmas for us.
Which translates to this is a long post, you were warned.

It was the first Christmas where Riley really understood what was going on. It was the first one in our new home. Most importantly, it was our first Christmas as a family of four.

To put me over the top in terms of holiday bliss, Gammy, Gampy and Tata flew in to spend a blissful 5 days here with us. The only way it could have been better is if TG's family were with us as well (sadly our little house just can't accomodate that many people).

I have so many happy memories of Christmases growing up. My parents always went all out. I know we didn't get everything we asked for, but I'm sure we got more gifts than we deserved. I can even remember shopping late and scouring the shelves with my parents one year (after I had been let in on the secret) to find a Cabbage Patch doll that Tata really had her heart set on.

Then there's the decor. My mother is the decorating Queen. We have lost count of the number of Santas she owns, but it is in the 100s. She always goes full out and every inch of our house was absolutely as merry as it could be. She's done it for years and although we all lovingly tease her about it, the truth is that it makes our family so happy.

I have waited a long time to create those same happy memories for my own two children.

Riley racing down the stairs, absolutely overcome with glee when she saw the tree.


Riley got to open the first gift, with a little help from Cam and I.


For months, anytime we asked her what she wanted Santa to bring she said a mermaid tail. I was surprised she never wavered from that. She looks happy here, but I have to say that once she realized that it was only a costume and not a real tail she was a bit sad. It broke my heart just a bit.


My beautiful sister and Mom.


My darling babies in their matching jammies in front of the tree.


Cam's first gift of 2010 was this awesome toy my parents got him. The two cars go down the rampand into the wheel that spins them around before they shoot out of the finish line.


My parents aka Gampy and Gammy. When we picked them up from the airport they were both wearing Santa hats. Steelers for Gampy and Chiefs for Gammy. Riley loved it.


This is a very unflattering photo of me, as I had just stuffed a big bite of breakfast in my mouth. I almost deleted it, but this is how my mom and I spent a good part of our day. Side by side in our matching jammies in the kitchen.


No, she's not spoiled. Why do you ask?


Matching Jammies! It's been a family tradition for many years for our first present to be new matching jams. This year Tata and I searched until quite late at night on the 23rd for a suitable set, but it was Gammy to the rescue with these bad boys.


After Christmas dinner at my sister's house. A whole fam holiday shot is quite rare for us, but I love it!


Riley enjoyed her second round of gifts and was extremely excited to receive a talking Woody doll. She LOVES Toy Story right now.


I'll wrap this up with a photo of our little family in front of our tree on Christmas Day. We really were as happy as we seem.


I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas in your homes as well. Happy (belated) 2011!

Feeding The Reindeer

A friend of mine gave Riley some magic reindeer food.

I have never heard of leaving food outside for the deer, but she told me she has done it since she was quite small.

The food was a mixture of oatmeal and glitter. We told Riley that we needed to spread it in our yard so the reindeer would know where to land on Christmas Eve.

So after dinner my Mom, sister, TG and I took her out the front door with her little bag in hand.



She happily threw the first fistful.



Then she decided that she should just dump the rest out on top of our flowers.



It was about this time that we told her she needed to hurry to bed so Santa wouldn't skip our house. We asked her if she heard sleigh bells or saw his sleigh.

All of a sudden a look of absolute panic came over her face as she pointed to the sky just beyond our home. On the verge of tears she stumbled back to the door, kicked off her shoes as fast as she could and tried to run upstairs. There was a moment of confusion as we tried to sort out what had happened.

We were able to calm her enough so she could show us that she had in fact seen Santa's sleigh and Rudolph and that he was very close to our house. So close that she feared he might skip our house if she didn't get up to her bed as quickly as she could.

What exactly did she see?



The red light on two large water towers just beyond our neighborhood.

Just another great story for our memories of Riley girl.

Riley's Christmas Eve 2010

Riley started off her Christmas Eve by participating in a my side of the family tradition...last minute shopping! She was tickled that she got to go with "that girl" which is how she referred to her Aunt Tata for most of the visit and Gammy to the mall. Gammy topped it off by taking her to Chick-Fil-A which is currently on her list of favorite places in the world. Lately when I ask her what she would like to do for the day she will say "Mebbe we go to the mall and sick fil a or sumpin?".

By the time she came home from her shopping adventure, I was headed out for one of my own. Riley could not be persuaded to be separated from me so we reloaded her in the car for round two. She was such a trooper, sans nap, eating her chicken nuggets in the backseat of our swaggin wagon with her Gampy. Speaking of, Gampy is her #1 pal when he's here. It makes me so happy to watch the two of them together.

While we were in the car Riley finally decided that she can spell her name (after months of me practicing with her). She was sitting with my Dad and found a pull up in a seat back pocket that's ICE. She yanked it out, tugged on my Dad's arm, pointed at the letters and said, "Hey, you know what dis say?". My Dad said, "Pull Ups", because, well he can read and it was the most logical answer. "No, no, no.", she replied. It says "R-I-L-E-Y. RILEY! You sill-wee picky-dill-wee."

That afternoon she made chocolate chip cookies with her Gammy. (Somehow I managed not to snap a single photo of this!)

My family always opens one gift on Christmas Eve and it's usually Christmas pajamas. This was the first year we started that tradition with her.



I found matching jammies for her and Cam at Old Navy this year. They both said "Santa's Little Helper".



Riley left Santa a big plate of cookies and chocolate milk complete with a note that she dictated to me.



And she peeked out the window for a glimpse of his sleigh one more time before heading up to bed.



For the record, even though she didn't have a nap that day the poor thing couldn't fall asleep until almost 11 pm because she was so excited!

Camden's Christmas Eve 2010

We had big plans for some shopping and hanging out on Christmas Eve. But Camden woke up that morning with another fever. This annoyed me to no end, because at this point he was on his second antibiotic, 6th doctor's visit in less than a month, and 3rd+ week of coughing, congestion, ear infections and low grade fevers. Little did I know that two days later we'd be back for his 7th doctor's visit and yet another antibiotic.

I should clarify (for my own memory more than anything) that we spent pretty much an entire month from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas and beyond fighting RSV in my household. Both kids are definitely on the mend at this point, but neither of them are 100% yet. Turns out that when my doctor told me on that fateful day that Cam tested positive for RSV that it could hang around for 3-4 weeks he wasn't kidding.

So my mom, sister and Riley headed out shopping together, my Dad and TG hit up Harris Teeter for some last minute groceries and I stayed here with Camden who just wanted to sleep. By the time everyone met up back at home he was feeling better and was more than willing to smile for my new camera!



He played with Gampy and used his knuckle as a teething ring.



He did some walking with Gammy.



And he practiced his crawling, which he just started the day of my familys' arrival! By the time of this post he is about 50% tummy scoot, 50% crawling on hands and knees. He can also go from sit, to tummy, to sit by himself. This is his, "I'm gonna get you Mom!" face.



Then he played tickle fest on the couch with TG. It's a little harder for us to get Camden to laugh and smile than it was Riley, but when he does, it's too cute!

Eyeing "the claw!"


It's gonna get me!


Bahahahaha.



P.S. Upside of amazing new camera = shutter speed allowing me to snap all his giggles and grins and clarity of photos. Downside = so clear you can definitely see that my kid had sweet potatoes for dinner. :)

A Big Ace Tree

Last year TG surprised me with a trip to downtown DC so I could see the National Christmas tree. I was beyond thrilled because it has definitely been something I've wanted to do for a while. At the time Riley was almost 2 and I was about 5 months pregnant with Camden. After we walked around a bit we went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner.

This year we got to make the return trip with my family in tow! My mom and sister both love Christmas as much as I do and I really wanted them to be able to see the tree. After a perfectly timed afternoon nap for Camden, we plucked him from his crib, got my family from the airport, and drove directly to the tree with all of us crammed into the car, luggage included.

It was bitter cold, but completely worth it. I think it was prettier this year, even though my parents weren't convinced that there was a live tree underneath all those lights.



My parents were waiting at the airport wearing these Santa hats. Aren't they the cutest?



Riley was not too keen on having her picture taken, but she loved all the lights and told me that it was the best tree eber!



Camden, however, was a willing participant. As long as he's snuggled close to Mommy he's happy as a clam.



My adorable family posing in front of the Kansas tree, just a week ago. I already miss them so terribly.



We spent about 20 minutes at the tree before we raced back to the warmth of the car. Then we wrapped up our evening with dinner at the same restaurant we ate at least year.

P.S. Can you tell that someone got spoiled in a big way for Christmas this year by their hubby???

It's Beginning

to look a lot like Christmas!

Okay, maybe it looks a little like Christmas threw up in my house. I just couldn't help myself. I haven't been able to go crazy decorating since I married TG.

But now we have our own home, we'll be here for the holiday, and we have two sweet children. It's like unleashing an OTC Martha Stewart into a cardboard box armed with trees, ornaments, angels, lights, snowmen and more.

So without further ado, I present our home for Christmas 2010.

Our tree. I do not have a matchy matchy work of art tree. Our ornaments are a collection of memories from our first Christmas as a married couple to our cruise last year.



Tree twinkling at night.



Our stockings are hung on the bannister with care. (Sadly no fireplace)



My buffet. It's a mash up of my Jim Shore angels, OTC coffee filter tree, OTC "Noel" banner, some tree trimmings and a mix of candles. You can see the reflection of my snowflakes hanging from our light fixture in the mirror. If you look closely you can also see the reflection of my OTC card holder hanging on the wall at the top of my stairs.



My dining table centerpiece. It's already undergone a redo since the first time I had a large glass hurricane sitting up on a cylinder. Riley was "jumping rope" one day and the whole thing came crashing down.



From the other side. I love my reindeer.



My little tree. All of the ornaments are Winnie the Pooh. My mom has been collecting them for me for years.



And that's only my main floor. :)

Have you decorated your home for Christmas? I'd love for you to comment and leave me a link so I can visit!

Our Tree 2010

Last weekend we headed out to a local Christmas tree farm to cut down our tree.

Before you fake tree people get started let me just tell you that we've seriously contemplated a fakie every year. We know they are cost efficient, don't make a mess, are perfectly symmetrical and can stay up longer. But we just can't give up that smell of fresh evergreen. And I'm sorry, but no candle, room deodorizer, or spray smells as good as the real thing. (Although I'd have to admit Yankee Candle comes close).

So we bundled up the babies and hit the road on a crisp and sunny Saturday afternoon and headed west.

When we pulled in and Riley saw all the trees she said, "Wook Mom, it's farm world!" You can plainly see she was excited.



After walking around for ten minutes where TG kept turning down every tall and skinny tree I liked I finally gave in and let him choose something a little wider (that about perfectly sums us up as a couple) and he got to work.



Our little quality control workers.



After TG did all the hard work Riley said, "Let my try!" so we gave her a quick turn.



Camden just loved being outside and watching everything. TG and I couldn't help but think ahead to next year when he'll be running through the trees with his sister. But we definitely stowed away this little memory of him sitting so happily amongst the trees showing off his big boy teeth.



My boys.



My sweet girl.



She helped TG drag the tree down to be shaken, wrapped and purchased.



And we wrapped up our visit with some hot apple cider.