Happy NewMasGivingWeen!

I knew it. I'd be here again this year. Trying to catch up from the last few holidays. If you were reading this time last year, you probably saw my "Happy Newmasgiving" post...a combination of updates from New Year's, Christmas and Thanksgiving. Well, this year I've outdone myself again, and I even have tacked on another holiday that was begging to be mentioned - Halloween! Whew, we're in for a long ride.

* Happy New Year *

2011 - Here you are, you rascal, you! Already? Really? This year we must have felt ambitious because we made plans to go OUT for this special occasion AND take our tiny tot along AND stay out past midnight! You proud? Shocked? Me too.


We had a yummy Mexican dinner with some good friends from church. We all took our kids (What were we thinking?!?!), and from my viewpoint, mine required the most "maintenance." Alaina has a really hard time sitting still for long periods of time, so she was up/down, in/out and about. After dinner, most of us met up at someone's house and rang in the new year with Dick Clark. Most of the kiddos were asleep in different pack & plays upstairs. Thankfully, after some coaxing and time on Daddy's shoulder, ours was one of the ones asleep :)

* Merry Christmas *

It is January 8, and we still haven't had all our Christmas gatherings! Our Christmas traditions are spread out over several days, and this year - because of the BEAUTIFUL WHITE SNOW - we could not make it up to the North GA mountains to visit with my mom's side of the family. We are still trying to reschedule that gathering, and it will likely be for the very end of January. In the words of Charlie Brown, "Good grief!"

We started the season with a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party at our neighbors' house (Kenneth & Aimelie).


Now I KNOW there were more tacky sweater than these select few. These are just the confident ones of the group ;)


Thanks to my lifesaver friend Jenny, I was SET with tackiness! Check out a closeup of my outfit, and pay particular attention to the Santa/leopard/fur purse! It was the accessory that bumped the ensemble to a WHOLE 'nother level!!!


Next on the list: Meet Santa Clause. This pretty much sums it up!


Then came our Lake Lanier Magical Nights of Lights trip in The Emmett's RV!


That's the way to go, by the way. We had a grand ol' time.


But it was all we could do to keep "someone" out of the captain's seat!


Then came our tradition of the Saturday before Christmas at Adam's Great Aunt Waddis & Uncle Gene's house.


Apparently, Alaina thought something was HILARIOUS! Could she be remembering the hideous Spiderman drawers that her daddy was sent home with last year? Hmmm...could be!


Alaina enjoyed playing with her cousins Addison and Paige and Savannah. Addison is a month older than Alaina, so it was only natural that she teach the young one new tricks, like jUmPiNg! Alaina did not quite grasp the concept, but she had a blast trying!



Next came Christmas Eve at my parent's house in Snellville.


Santa always hits that home HARD, and this year was no exception.


Me with my #1 prized present...MY DYSON! I am in love :)



Somehow Alaina ended up "wearing" an item or two ;)


(Aunt Stevie's panties, hee hee)

Then came Christmas Day, which was split in 2 ways. We started the morning in the comfort of our own cozy home. Alaina woke up 30 min early just to see what Santa had brought her. And he came!


We relaxed in our PJ's while watching "A Christmas Story" and Alaina bounce from one toy to the next.




Later in the morning, Adam made his Waffle House run. We had Waffle House to-go last year, and my vote is for this greasy breakfast tradition to stick around for a loooooong time!


Then we ventured close to home to Adam's parent's house in Ball Ground. We had an early lunch this year because of the wintery warnings that were supposed to increase in severity as the day progressed.


Our White Christmas was spectacular, and it was incredibly relaxing to watch the pretty snow fall while we were gathered together.



Alaina desperately tried to recreate her reflection pose from her 1st BD party.


Didn't quite work out this time ;)


* Happy Thanksgiving *

As tradition calls, we had an early Thanksgiving meal with Adam's side of the family.



Actual Turkey Day was traditionally spent at my parent's house in Snellville. This may very well be my favorite holiday!



Alaina with her book buddy, Hadrian

This year we made a last-minute decision to brave the Black Friday frenzy with our beloved friends, Ryan & Jenny. As always, we had the best time with them, even though our double date began at 3:15am! That's a crazy kind of love :) Thankfully, Alaina stayed behind at my parent's house while we shopped 'til we literally dropped! I think it took me at least 2 days to recover!

* Happy Halloween-ie *

Last year, Lainey Bug went as a Lady Bug. This year, we kept the animal theme going. She was a pink kitty cat this year (well, last year, technically speaking :)


A fat cat, if you ask me :)


Looking back, I don't think she was as thrilled about our idea as we were. I don't think I have 1 picture of her smiling in her costume. Maybe she wasn't digging her "lumpy" bottom half ;)


We had an early celebration with her little buddies.


And a fabulously free trip to Berry Patch Farms (Sorry Burts...you lose!)



Plus a fall festival at Rah-Rah & Poppy's church.


Don't know him!!! ;)

Then the main event...parading up the street to do a little trick-or-treating...at 1 house. "Ding, ding"...


...we have a winner! Mr. Tracy not only had candy to share, but a cute little puppy dog too! Score!


For the record, puppies & kitties DO get along :)

Facebook Farewell

This past week, I said farewell to Facebook. At least for now. I deactivated my account for a few reasons, but the main reason is so I can eliminate unnecessary time-consuming distractions to focus on more important things, like my blog for example. I miss blogging. I don't want to forget details about my life, and of course my Lainey Bug. She changes so fast, and if I don't keep up, I will just get further and further behind. I hope now it will be easier to find the time to update my blog. And clean my house. And tackle some overdue organization projects around the house. And make some major progress on my book, my #1 priority this year.

Farewell Facebook! Can't say I've missed you!

White Christmas

Finally, Adam got the Flip to link up to my blog!

16 Months

(Seeing as Alaina will be 17 months in, oh, about 4 hours, I guess I better get my rear in gear & finish the 16 month post I started 3 weeks ago!)

16 months, what have you brought us?

For starters, SASS!


Cuteness...


Curiosity...


Jumping, Hiding & Climbing...


The ability to OPEN DOORS (yikes!)...


Squirmy wormy, especially when restrained in the carseat...


A borderline obsessive attachment to Mama...


Victory over the spoon!


And of course, as always, pure sweetness!!!


My Brookie-Pooh is into EVERYTHING these days! She is infatuated with the pantry and all that comes with it. Every day, she plays "store" and takes all the goodies - the spices, the cans, the paper plates, the juice boxes, the peanut butter, the pancake syrup - out of the pantry.


Then she's off with the goods to find a new, better home for them. It could be the kitchen island. It could be the living room. It could be an end table. I even found a container of bay leaves in her Little People school bus, as if it was the lucky one who "found its way out", escaping future consumption. I find things everywhere. And I pick up CONSTANTLY. I won't be surprised if I acquire back problems pretty soon. But hey - isn't it worth it? :)


Have I mentioned that the loooooooooong toddler phase can be tough? I think we all end up crying from time to time over it.


Toddlers have a mind of their own. They don't understand rules. They can do some things, like get themselves into trouble, but they haven't quite figured out how to do other things, like get themselves OUT of trouble! Around our house, it's "Mama" to the rescue!


I hear the words "Mama" ALL DAY LONG! Sure, I am with Alaina all hours of the day. But I've noticed lately that she has an extreme attachment to me. She's always had it to some degree, but right now it's REALLY STRONG! I can't leave the room without hearing, "Mama?" In a question tone, like she's waiting for an explanation as to why I left her. Then the single "Mama?" turns into "Mama? Mama? Mama?" (usually whining or crying comes next).


Sometimes I feel like I can't get a break!!! But again, totally worth it at the end of the day :)


Alaina has learned a couple magic words, like "Please" and "Help." She's known these words for awhile, but she's now caught on to the magic power in these words. If I hear, "Hup" or "Peeez," I'm more than likely willing to do as she wishes. If she happens to throw in a hand sign for please while saying "Peeez" in the sweetest little voice, she can just about get whatever she wants!!! I'm a sucker for her charms. Hup!


Also worthy of mentioning is her version of "Amen" and "Help Me!" The cutest :)


Adam & I have also noticed an unmistakable funny side to her too. She can be quite the charmer!


She also has taken her love for Daisy to a whole new level. Instead of just admiring Daisy, kissing her, petting her and loving on her, she now wants to "Hold the baby." This is my term for it. She will say, "Baby" and look at Daisy and nod her head and say/sign "Please," and I will place Daisy in her lap so she can hold her like a baby. She grins from ear to ear, lit up with excitement over her feline baby doll.



She loves on Daisy like no other, and I think it's sweet. Who cares what Adam thinks, or if anyone finds the following picture to be totally disgusting!


16 months, thanks for all you have brought. Pretty soon, we will say goodbye to you and HELLO to 17 months!

Who Has The Time?

I'm finding myself asking this question all the time...Who has the time? Time to get ahead on laundry or house cleaning, time to tackle the endless to-do list, time to blog.

I am puzzled because in theory I SHOULD have the time. After all, I'm just a stay-at-home mommy with boat load of time on my hands. Right?

HA!

Double HA!

Triple HA!

But in all seriousness, when do you find the time to do these things? I'm talking to the mama's out there! Do you sacrifice sleep? Do you handle personal stuff at work or on your uninterrupted lunch break?

Seriously, once I get one thing done, 10 more things get piled on the list. Quite often, I will start a project and get interrupted many times, so it takes me an embarrassing amount of time to complete one seemingly simple task. Or maybe I'll lay it down for awhile, hoping to forget it exists.

Let's talk blog. I have at least 10 ideas for blogs brewing. Sometimes I will wake up in the middle of the night with inspirations for my blog - YES, really! I have a bazillion Alaina updates, and updates on life in general. I really wanted to complete a Sept/Labor Day blog, but at this point, WHO CARES! I still haven't written about Halloween. Or much else lately. Currently, I have 2 or 3 other blog drafts, half completed and pending on my progress. Uploading pictures is a time-consuming nightmare, and I don't know if it's just on my end or if everyone has this issue.

Break it to me. Is it just me? Or can anyone relate? Should I forget finding the time and start MAKING the time? Maybe I need a kick in the pants. Who knows.

Who has the time to think about it?!? ;)