Another Year Over....

Wow...the end of 2010. Just like last year...I'm a little sad that the year is over. So much has happened...and Eleanor continues to amaze me. She's going to be 2 years old in 2011..which blows my mind! She changes a little more each day...and I'm so lucky to be able to see it and be with her.

Instead of doing a list of resolutions...I'm making a list of hopes for 2011:

-start of my photography business and having a steady flow of clients

-continued good health and weight loss

-more time spent with family

-more laughs and smiles

-getting more organized around the house and decluttering

-more patience and love for a growing toddler...since we'll be working on potty training in 2011 :)

So here's to another fabulous year over...looking forward to a new one just beginning :)

Happy New Year!!

Sickies....

Ugh. Nothing says the holidays like being sick. Yikes. This is a nasty one. Stomach bug has taken over my little girl. I thought she was on the mend...but she vomited once again this morning. Poor thing!! It all started Monday morning...and it's been everyday since then. So we're gonna take it easy here at home today in hopes this bug gets out before Friday.

Mommy & Daddy had the great pleasure of this bug as well...but it must be hanging around a little longer for Eleanor. Yucko. Nothing worse than seeing your little peanut throwing up...scary and heartbreaking at the same time. Hopefully my next post will be more uplifiting :)

Hope you all had a wonderful...sick free Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

i'm blogging from the road...that's how dedicated i am. and using my tiny phone keyboard :) so forgive me if this is short...we got up at 4:30 am...and openend gifts...santa was very good to miss eleanor!! anywhoo...hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

Merry Christmas! I'll post pictures of today when we return home next week :)

Merry Christmas Eve...

Why does it have to go so stinkin' fast? All the leading up to Christmas..and I feel like it always flies by. All the preparation...planning...wishing...hoping...list making...wrapping...thoughtfulness...all of it...gone quicker than you can blink. I'm up late...because once again..I feel rushed to get it all in...and get it all done faster and better than before. But really inside...I just want to say to heck with all the little stuff...lets all go to bed...get a good night's rest...and just focus on the fun of what lies ahead for tomorrow morning. There's not supposed to be any stress on Christmas...but yet I always feel like I need to be doing doing and more doing. I need to start singing..."Let there be peace on Earth"...:) Maybe that will calm me down. Even sitting here typing I feel like really I should be downstairs...making up some more goodies for tomorrow, etc. Why? I have no clue...and if I knew the answer I'd be telling ya :)

My girl is teething again this Christmas. And probably has a cold on top of it all. But she's trying to stay spunky and happy. God bless her!!

So much to be thankful for this year. But most of all thankful for the reason for this season. Jesus. That's what I need to be focused on this year. He's done it all for me...and there's no greater gift than that :)

Merry Christmas from all of my family :)

Why???

That's Eleanor's new favorite word. Why? I have no idea...and I don't indulge it either. Her daddy does though. Bless his heart :) Everything we ask her to do...why? It's exhausting.really exhausting. And she's not even 2 people!! I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until...I don't know...at least 3?? Geesh...and I wonder why I'm tired all the time :)

In other news...Grammie arrived safely from Nebraska!! Yay!! So we're looking forward to playing with her tomorrow and a special visit from Granny Lou...or as Eleanor calls her "Lou Lou" :) Can't wait for Saturday early morning...opening presents...and that means I'm done with my 12 days...er...11 days of blogging :) I know you love getting daily updates...but I'm pooped. I don't know how other bloggers do it. Maybe I'll come to a happy medium in the new year...as a new year's resolution. We'll see :) Anywhoo...I just made it in before midnight...so Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!

Here's a quick picture of her...doing what we ALL will be doing over the next couple days...shoving our faces with Chex Mix...Peanut Butter Balls...Peanut Brittle...Butter Crunch...etc. She's definitely my kid! :)

Well...I almost made it....

I woke up at 6:00 am this morning....and my first thought was..."Oh NO! I didn't BLOG...AGHHHHH"...but then I remembered that I'm only human...and I can blog twice today to make up for it :) That is...if I remember to do it again today :)

My girl LOVES candy canes. She eats one a day...and I don't mean the little ones...she eats a full candy cane each day. Yesterday we were getting some last minute baking items that I can only get a Walmart of all places...tell me about it...that was the LAST place I wanted to be 3 days before Christmas. We found some Mickey Mouse fruity candy canes...and of course I bought them for her. I wouldn't be a good mom if I didn't ;) So she waited patiently...and just held them while I finished getting everything...and even let me put them on the checkout belt without throwing the worlds biggest tantrum (huge success here). She happily chowed down her Minnie Mouse grape candy cane in the car...and I snapped this picture before we headed inside.

More from me later...I promise :)

My list of favorite things...

Oprah has her list...so why can't I?

It's a small list...but a meaningful one...more like simple pleasures vs. anything over the top.

1). Yankee Candle's Home Sweet Home candle. I love that my house can smell like apple/cinnamon year round instead of just in the fall

2). Flannel Sheets. Oh how I love you flannel sheets...you go hand in hand with my # 3 so well.

3). Down comforter...it really does everything it says...keeps you warm in the winter and cool in the summer :)

4). Perhaps my most favorite thing this year...just came to me in the sweetest little package...tonight while on her way to bed...my little punky said..."Love Mommy"....sigh...that's the best thing ever!!

Lights on the Bay...

We had a blast tonight...snug in our jammies...driving through the Lights on the Bay display. E went nuts over all the lights...and thew a little hissy fit because we weren't getting through the line fast enough. Luckily it wasn't too long of wait to get in...and we were on our way. She talked the whole time...pointing and talking about all the animals. And of course...she found Santa right away!! I think she's obsessed with the big guy now :) We said yay and clapped at the end. I was worried she'd be upset at the end but she did really good.

These are few pictures of what we saw :) Penguins still being her favorite :) She said hi to them and waved...and then blew kisses to them when we drove past.

She's calling me by my first name now...

What are we? A teenager now? As I type this the girl is calling my name from the tub. That's something Daddy taught her...not me :)

Good day today for the most part. Got Christmas gifts for her from her Grandpa and Great Grandpa...Toys R Us was packed as usual. And we get another day with Daddy tomorrow!! Whoohoo! We can't wait till he's officially on Christmas break starting Thursday :)

We'll have a busy week of finishing up the shopping...baking...wrapping...and cleaning. Can't wait for Friday night/Saturday morning!!

Santa's Coming...

As I was putting E to bed tonight...I was talking to her about Christmas...and we talked about Santa and how he will be coming next week. She looked at me...and said.."Santa coming?"...and I laughed and said yes. :) I think she thought he was coming tonight...so when I said he's coming next week...she got a disappointed look on her face. Poor baby. I tucked her in...and when I was walking out I heard her talking to herself.."Mama...Dadda...Santa"...it made my heart hurt it was so stinkin' cute :)

What you talking about Mama?

21 months old today. And this is the face she gives me oh...about 75% of the time. The face that says...you don't know anything mom. The face that gives me chills...cuz I know I'll be seeing that when she's a teenager. Oh it goes so fast.

Only 3 months till her 2nd birthday. So many incredible memories of her...and so many yet to come :) I love you my lil punkin!!! Happy 21 month birthday!!

Interior Design....

Nope...I'm not a decorator. Never have I ever been able to put stuff together and make our house look like a home. I read plenty of blogs about design, etc...but I just can't seem to finish a room. Oh well...such is life. But my daughter? She's got a great future ahead in interior design...just look at what she created today....

If anyone is interested in her designs...just let me know. Right now she's running a Sesame Street Special.

Am I Really Running Out of Things To Say??

Gosh I hope not. But there's not much to talk about today. Except that we made Christmas crafts today...and got to play with play doh for the first time! She loved it...tried to eat it...but loved it :)

I was going to wait until Christmas to give that to her...but I decided what the heck...she'll love it now too :) So I gave in...and we played for about 15 minutes. Then it was on the next thing.

Our tree is filling up with presents underneath. She's doing a great job of leaving them all alone...well...for the most part. Every once in a while...ok...more like everyday...I find a random present in her little shopping cart. I tell her to put it back...and she does. She drops it on the floor and shoves it underneath as hard as she can. Hmmmm...wonder where she learned that one???

Anywhoo...I'll quit rambling and share today's picture of our tree..prior to gifts underneath :) Only 10 more days!!

This should be called 12 days of Toddlerisms....

Whew...I almost forgot to blog! Good thing I remembered :)

So today was a doozy of a day. I definitely have an almost 2 year old on my hands. Each day passes and I think to myself...what in the world happened to my sweet little baby? It's like her body has been taken over. Don't get me wrong...we have our good days...but it seems like they are fewer.

Today was a good example. Constant whining...not really needing anything...just wanted to whine. Which drives me up the wall. I can't listen to that all.day.long. What parent can I ask? So I got us out of the house...in hopes that would help. Well...it just led to a couple unfortunate events at Target. I just needed to get a few things. Christmas bags...and Christmas candy. I let her hold a tube of M&M's...and told her not to open them. She said "ok". So we're good. Right? Wrong. We're in the checkout lane...and I'm sort of spacing out...waiting for the million people in front of me to get through...when all of a sudden I hear a "sssssshhhhhhhhhhpppppp" sound...and see M&M's flying everywhere. She popped the lid off. Good grief...as we pulled the cart forward I heard nothing but crunching under my feet. Thanks for that Ellie. We've made a total scene...and the whole time she's saying..."Uh oh"...."Uh oh". I'm exhausted just typing it. It was a long day. And to top it off...she yelled "No" to the nice lady in line behind us. For no.Good.Reason. Poor lady...I looked at her...apologized and said..."Can you tell we're closing in on 2?" I hope she understood. It's getting to the point where I don't even want to take this child out in public...a lot less humiliating to deal with these tantrums at home.

Oh well....tomorrow will be better. I hope :)

Here's a pic of her from a year ago...back when she was all sweet and innocent. And when we got hammered with snow :)

We've got a hitter...

Wish I could post about something nice...but someone got in trouble today for hitting. I went to pick her up from the gym daycare, and I usually get a smile from the providers...but not today. Instead I was greeted with..."She was hitting alot today". Great. Love that report. It's embarrassing and disturbing at the same time. So...we're working on not hitting in our house this week. I need to find out more details of the situation...like was she just walking up to other kids and smacking them around...or was another child taking a toy from her..etc. Ahhh..joy of motherhood.

Here's the daily picture of slugger...

Coming up on 12 days of Christmas...

I am going to challenge myself to blog everyday from now until Christmas. Yes...you heard me...even if it's the boring stuff you hear about all the time...I'm gonna blog.

Every.Day.Until.Christmas. And....just to be a little more challenging...I'm going to include a picture everyday too! Whooooaaaa...you say. Impressive huh? Let's just see if I can do it :)

Hold me to it peeps!!

So without further ado...here she is...in all her toddler fineness...doing what she does best. Telling me "no" of course.

Time is getting away from me again...

It's December. It's December 5th already. It's been almost a month since I last blogged...sorry! It's been crazy. Thanksgiving preparations had me in a tizzy...and after that's over it seems like a whirlwind until Christmas. Whew. I haven't finished our Christmas card...and I'm already getting them from friends in the mail. It seems like each year adds more and more to my already filled plate. And it's not like I'm really doing that much. Except chasing around a toddler. Last year she was just starting to really crawl. Oh how I long for the days I could just stick her in her exersaucer :)

Our visit with Santa this year was fabulous! She loved him. Wasn't scared at all. I was picturing something awful...but it was wonderful to see how well she did. Here's a little pic of our visit with her cousins :)

Much shopping left to do...of course. And those cards. I must finish those up this week. Lots to be thankful for this year...and can't express enough how truly blessed I am. :) Merry Christmas!!