Santa, 2011

Our annual visit to Santa......

That's how we roll

Several years ago I took Mo to see the Nutcracker. Mo was just 3, and it was a DISASTER. I won't go into details, but let's just say at one point, she was putting buggers in the man's hair that was sitting in front of us.

Fast forward to this year, some friends won a Nutcracker package....which included getting to the show in a limo. They invited us to go along, and we had so much fun riding in style. The girls had a blast, and this time really enjoyed the show. Mo is the perfect age for it.

This is the only picture I got of the whole evening, which is a shame, because we all looked GOOD!

Zoo Lights

This year, we went to Zoo Lights. We haven't been in several years, so it was time. We have a friend who works at the zoo, and she gave us the inside scoop on how to enjoy it. The trick is to go either early or late, and go straight to the train....otherwise, you wait in line for the train for over an hour! This year, the weather has been so dry, that zoo lights is packed every night. So, we bundled up the kids, got our hot chocolate ready, and headed out the door before the sun even began to set.

Enjoying our hot beverages!







Getting some animal love (which sounds bad, but it is very innocent!)

Hook, Line, and Sinker

This year, Mo asked (almost not thinking about it) if Santa was real. I couldn't tell if she had heard something from school, or if she is just starting to figure it out on her own. We both assured her that he was real, and that he comes every year when you believe. She was very happy with that answer, and it hasn't come up since.

Then, this showed up in my email this week........cut and paste the link and you can see it.

http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/g6aoTfaRFnfVeN_hxl94oZw?utm_campaign=share-video&utm_medium=share&utm_source

We should've taken a video of her watching it, her face was frozen, her eyes were as big as saucers.....she is totally back into Santa magic.....and I think if we keep getting these videos each year, we may have 3 more good years left!

That damn elf.....

So, it is Thanksgiving, which means wonderful food with friends and family. It also means the return of Tito, the Elf on the Shelf. If you have forgotten Tito, and what he means to us, check out this past blog post.

Tito (named after Michael Jackson's brother).......is suppose to come the day after Thanksgiving. So, tonight, I went to the closet where I thought we put him last year. No elf. Went to the basement. No elf.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the damn elf had gone!!!!

So, while I sit on the computer, trolling the internet looking for a place to order just the elf.....Scout's remembers where it is and finds it. She put it away last year in our canning jar collection.

Crisis averted......

The Nursery

So, I have not done the best job on showing pictures of the Bean's room. I am proud to say that everything in that room we already owned....or I made. I have been getting my craft on lately....

Here is the grand reveal......if we were on HGTV, someone would have their eyes closed and start squealing about now....

Here is the view from the hallway. You can see it is a small room, but it has everything you need. Beanie is sitting in the chair....she is getting used to have her picture taken!

This is above her crib. It seems like everyone on the Internet is doing this these days, but I still liked it anyway. It was super easy (and cheap)....just fabric quarters and embroidery hoops.

The other side of the room. I made the curtains for the windows and the closet doors.....I was impressed with myself. Behind the window curtains are black-out curtains....for better napping!


Standing in the room, here is her changing table. It is a bookcase from IKEA that we got a while ago for Mo's toys. It wasn't really being used, so I reused it here. It is very narrow, which is what we needed for the space in the room. Plus, it holds a ton of stuff.


These 2 gems are my latest creations. Don't they look like something you could buy off ETSY? I made these with my 2 little hands. I think they turned out super cute, and I would even do this project again. I may write up a little tutorial, it was so easy, and very rewarding. Again, this was another idea I adapted from others on the Internet!

I want to add something hanging in the corner.....maybe a mobile of some kind, hanging lamps, something......gotta put my brain to work on that one, but for now, it is good.

That's about it.....the nursery.....she seems to like it. Now it is all nice and neat....but I know, it won't stay that way!!!!

An Updated Bean

I was so excited about her little outfit today, that we had to have a photo shoot! Her legs are almost long enough for leg warmers (almost).....

The bean is doing well, we have had some issues with nursing which has also meant some trouble with sleeping, but I think we have figured it out. The Bean has always been a snacker! She is what the lactation people call a "lazy nurser." She would hang out on the boob, just snacking all day if she could. As a result, in the past few weeks, I am not producing enough milk for her. She isn't demanding enough to make my body produce the milk. So, she has gotten frustrated, and hungry....which has led her to not sleep as well as she was.

So, after a week of pumping all the time....I mean 4-5 times a day, and also trying to pump 10 minutes after she nurses, I feel like we are back on track. The only problem still is she eats better from the bottle. She doesn't have to work so hard at it.....so we are bottle feeding her more, which means I have to pump more....which really is just a time suck....20 minutes of pumping, 20 minutes of feeding....and doing that 4-5 times a day.....really cuts down on the amount of time I have.

But the upside is....she is back to her great sleeping self.....what mommies won't do for a full night of sleep!

But, we are trying to figure it all out. I am going back to work soon, and she will be mostly bottle fed at that point.....so I guess we are just moving into that a bit earlier than I would have liked....but the bean wants what the bean wants.