Christmas Party #1

This weekend was the kid's Christmas party that they throw for anyone in the company with children/siblings/grandkids etc. It's the first year we've gone and I can't say enough good things about it. 

Santa comes and brings presents for each child. There was balloon animals, face painting, bouncy houses, gingerbread men decorating and food. 

The kids absolutely loved it. 

Chloe got a pink balloon kitty, then painted her face as a pink butterfly. As she always says, pink is her favorite color. 

Madi got her face painted as a kitty and got a giraffe balloon animal. 

They got to meet Minnie, Mickey, Daisy Duck, and Super Mario. Madi was insanely excited about Minnie Mouse. She followed some of them around. Tried to dance with them. She dragged me over to see them too. It was adorable.

Overall, a ton of fun. 

I love Christmas! 

Obligatory 'what we got' Christmas post

Another Christmas come and gone. I'm both sad and excited that it's over. 

Thankfully this year was no where as hectic as last year. 

Madi came over the night before Christmas eve and opened a few of her presents. Eric has the pictures of that. I worked at 6am on Christmas Eve morning and we drove to visit family that evening. We stayed in a motel room at the motel Eric's mom and her boyfriend run. Chloe was with us, obviously. We hung out with his family and saw mine for about an hour that night.

We each opened a Christmas eve present at his Moms, and opened our stockings in the morning in our hotel room. We cooked breakfast at his moms then the rest of the family got there and we opened presents. They spoiled us a ton. 

From his family, Eric and I got:

PJs each

Griddle

4 slice toaster (finally!)

A tin filled with pasta utensils, along with some pasta and sauce

Wal-Mart gift cards

Chloe got:

A play house with little people
Pop-up princess hamper

PJ set with a bathrobe

A storage ottoman

Play-doh kit with cutters

Hair ties

And probably a lot more than I'm forgetting. We opened a few of our gifts to each other there, but saved some for when we were with my family. We ate turkey dinner with Eric's family then packed our car and went to my sister's to meet up with my brother, nephew, mom, aunt and uncle, cousin and their significant others. 

Stuff Chloe got from us and my family: 

Princess Little People castle from Uncle Scott

Lalaloopsy baby from Uncle Coady

A sick baby with doctor accessories and candy from Grannie

Portable DVD player from us that we've been using in the car since October

Minnie Mouse with a convertible car and dress up accessories

Innotab with Dora the Explorer game (Bubble Guppies game is still wrapped to open later)

Sled from my brothers girlfriend

Lots of clothes from me

Play-doh and coloring books, crayons and finger paints

Dora and Bubble Guppies movies (one Dora movie from my best friends in NB)

Toddler bedding I bought brand new from someone in town who didn't need it

She seemed to enjoy playing with the toys my nephew and Eric's nephew got though. I think it's time to branch out and get them a few cars and racetracks to play with. 

Eric got (from me):

Case for his 3DS

Mario and Luigi Dream Team Game for 3DS

Mod Nation racing game for PS3

Loot Crate that included an Ewoking Dead t-shirt & Zombie Survival Guide

New pair of jeans (he knew about) from Old Navy as well as a regular t-shirt and boxers covered in pigs

Axe body kit

Beef jerky (maybe his favorite gift)

I got from Eric:

Pj bottoms

Starry Night puzzle

Light for my Kobo

The Emperor's New Groove dvd

Coconut Lindors (didn't know they existed! So good)

Lipgloss

Ardene gift card

Shick Intuition shaver refill kit (came with St Ives body lotion, loofah etc)

Nail polish and body lotion

(All things on my list, he got)

And we got ourselves a Rachel Ray pot set when they were on super sale at Wal-Mart a few months ago.

Overall, a pretty great Christmas. At times it didn't really feel like Christmas, but still an enjoyable time. 

Today, for Boxing day I get to hang out alone with my little girl. Eric is at work until 8:30 so it'll be a long day. I'm hoping to take her out in her sled later and mostly just relax. She's got a bit of a cold so her nose is running like crazy and her voice is extra squeaky and she's a little extra cranky. New toys are helping, but they don't kill the whine completely :p

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas as well! Glad this obligatory Christmas post is done. I love to have these things documented, but I hate doing the work. 

I'm so over Christmas shopping

I typically love shopping, especially when it's guilt-free and for someone else. But this year Christmas shopping is getting to me.

I've already searched all stores in town for one present for a friend, only to have it not in stock when on sale, or extremely expensive otherwise. After buying and returning two things, I ordered something online that I KNOW will probably come late.

I've already returned two things for Eric and bought something else to replace them.

I've unwrapped and returned two gifts that were under the tree, and now I'm considering doing it for a third.

I bought Chloe a Minnie Mouse dress up toy - a little plastic toy that comes with snap on dresses, shoes and bows and purses. It's adorable, and comes with a car. I bought her a smaller version of this toy (less accessories, no car) for Eric's family Christmas exchange. She likes it, but enough that her and Madi each need a Minnie? I wasn't too worried about it until I saw a bunch of Dora the Explorer toys on clearance at Target. There's this one Dora toy she plays with everytime we're at Target or Toys R Us. Now that it's really cheap, I'm wondering if I should switch Minnie for Dora. It's exhausting. I should just leave well enough alone.

We've over spent, and since overspending I have yet to look at our budget. I'm scared. I know we'll make rent and bills, but winter tires are on our list of things we need to buy this month and I know we've dipped into that money. I have all season tires, but I don't they don't feel me with much security when I'm driving. They do a lot of sliding and getting stuck. I need winter ones. They are so expensive.

So yeah, that's where I stand on Christmas shopping. I just can't wait for Christmas itself to get here so I dont have to worry about shopping and returning and wrapping gifts. I'm over it. I just want to see Chloe open her presents.

Christmas Day

Our Christmas was super busy. 

We started off the morning at our place with the girls. Boyfriend woke up first, way too early, and went downstairs for awhile, before coming back to bed. I drifted in and out of sleep a lot until about 8. We got up, got breakfast ready then actually woke up the girls. 

The one time they sleep in! And it has to be Christmas. Silly girls. 

We were like the children this time around, too excited to sleep. 

The girls had some pancakes (Chloe) and raisin toast (Madi) then we moved on to presents. 

Top left: Stockings
Top right: Madi and her toast
Bottom left: Chloe smiling
Bottom middle/right: Nephew playing with the chainsaw set I got him (Christmas night)

We rushed out to Mom's after presents, and opened more presents. Then we rushed to boyfriend's Mom's place, and opened more presents and had turkey dinner.

Then we rushed to Mom's boyfriend's parent's place, and had turkey supper.

Then boyfriend went home, I stayed at Mom's for the night.

Then I rushed away to visit an old friend for an hour, then to pick up my grandfather, then more presents and another turkey dinner.

Yeah, it was nuts, and rushed.

It was so nice to get back home on Boxing day night.

Oxymoron, much?

Wanna know what we got? Here's just a few things.

Me: 
Gift certificate for massage
The book Bro Code for Parents: What to Expect When You're Awesome
Craft room storage
Picture frame
$$$
Chocolates
Gift cards for groceries and Wal-Mart

Chloe (And Madi)
Singing frog bath toy
Mickey Mouse couch
Kitchen set
Cash register
Sleeping bag
Ooodles of clothing

What did you get for Christmas?

Silent Sunday: A glimpse at our Christmas

The tree Christmas morning

Our stockings

All the presents at Mom's... no tree :(

You can't even see half of it, but these are all our presents under the tree on the 26th before I put them away.

All of Chloe's toys (some that are also Madi's, of course)

Also, head over to my Facebook page and tell me how you chose your wedding date. Please?

Dinner Theatre and Christmas Eve

Christmas is finally over with. I say 'finally' because it was so busy, I could barely enjoy any of it. It was still great though. The girls, and boyfriend and I, were so spoiled by everyone. But more on Christmas later. 

First, I want to recap the days leading up to Christmas. 

On Friday the 21st, boyfriend and I went to the dinner theatre. I scored us free tickets because that's my job - booking the tickets and chasing down people for payments and such. 

The show was absolutely amazing. So funny, and the entire cast was so talented. The food was fine, but I'd go back again and again just for the show. 

We went with boyfriend's best friend and his new girlfriend. I'd like to say we all had a great time. 

We took a few pictures together, and with our girls before leaving them with the babysitter. 

Me and my pretty girl

Daddy and his little girl

We always look awkward together. 

As mentioned in my last post about Madi's tantrums, we went to a small gathering on Sunday to meet up with boyfriend's father. Before going to the party, we rushed to the mall to get the Santa photos out of the way. They did not turn out very nice at all, but those are the joys of toddlers. Neither girl would sit on the seat with Santa or next to him, so for the first time in at least a decade, I got my picture taken with Santa. 

Happy, happy girl

Last year I bought Chloe this shirt. She's 15 months, the shirt is size 6-12. I knew she was small, so I was hoping it would fit this year, and it did. I also bought a bag of used clothes from someone, and unintentionally got the same shirt in Madi's size. We went them to daycare matching on Christmas eve. 

I tried to get a photo with them. They weren't having it. 

They got away. 

Madi left that afternoon to visit with her mother's side of the family. She got a couple of toys and an adorable outfit from them for Christmas. While she was gone, I went shopping with my crazy brother and his girlfriend. He bought us dinner. 

Boyfriend got off work early, so him and I got to relax for awhile after Chloe went to bed. Not long ago, a wore out Madi got home. She slept on boyfriend's shoulder while we talked with her grandmother for awhile, then went right to bed. 

We did up the stockings, got all gifts ready, packed our bags, then it was off to bed to wait for "Santa" to come. 

How do YOU deal with these kinds of tantrums?

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Wow, it's Christmas eve. It sure doesn't feel like it. 

We started celebrating a little bit yesterday. We took the girls to visit my mom for a little while. We met up with my friend, S., while we were there and exchanged gifts with her. We got a really nice touch and feel Christmas book, a noisy learning toy, bathtub crayons, and some pjs for miss Chloe. So much nice stuff already, and so much left to open. 

The reason we were in town was for supper at boyfriend's sister's house. We were meeting up with his ex-step-father (his father figure growing up) and siblings, as their Christmas 'get together'. Not only did boyfriend and Lil M get presents, they actually had a present for Chloe and I. It was a surprise but a really nice one, especially since we've never met his father before. 

Lil M had on major meltdown over a sippy cup, and we left on that note. She screamed for a half an hour while we got ready to leave, and screamed for another 15 or so minutes as we drove home. I need your advice, any moms of toddlers, so I'll explain the situation. 

She saw the cup in the bag and wanted it. We told her she could have it later, meaning in the car, and put the bag away. Insert tons of crying and screaming. She had a sippy cup of water already, but didn't want that. She wanted juice. After the first 20 minutes of crying, I poured the juice into another cup. She wasn't in the room when I did it. I filled the one she was crying over with water and gave it to her. She continued screaming over it. 

I refused to give in to her tantrum and give her the sippy cup in the car, even though her father really wanted to. After almost 45 minutes of crying, she fell asleep in the car.

So I ask you, what do you do in these situations? Keep holding out to teach her you don't throw a tantrum to get what you want? Or do you give in after awhile? 

She's gotten to the point that she has little meltdowns over anything. If you give her food, even if she wants it, she will cry and scream if you don't give it to her the way she wants it. I don't know what her mother does about it at home, but I am not the type to give a child what they want just because they scream. Her father is. What do you do? 

Keep in mind, she's almost two and barely speaks so it's not like she can't ever tell us if there's an actual problem, she just screams over everything. 

I got a bit off my original topic... Christmas eve! So I hope it's happy. I'm not sure when I'll update next, so I hope you have a Merry Christmas and I can't wait to read all your Christmas updates later! 

4 Christmas Crafts I Wish I Would've Done This Year

This is my second Christmas with a child. Last year I had a baby who was under three months old. Life was busy. Now I have a 15 month old, plus boyfriend, plus a step-child, along with a full-time job. Surprisingly, life is less busy, but there still just isn't enough time for all the fun things I want to do. 

People everywhere are blogging about the fun crafts and keepsakes and gifts they're making, and I'm so jealous. I'd love to make something with a handprint or a fingerprint as a keepsake, and maybe I will, but right now there just doesn't seem to be enough time to pull it off. 

Here are a bunch of things other bloggers have been doing, that I absolutely love and want to try. If not this year, then hopefully next. 

1. Thumbprint ornament

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You can barely tell they're fingerprints. That makes it cute, and incredibly special, without being overly obvious. If I knew I could pull off this exact ornament, I'd try it this year, but I think it would be a huge fail for me. Better start with something smaller. 

2. Thumbprint Card

[ via: Meet the Dubiens ]

I'm a huge fan of card making myself, so next year I'd love to make all my own cards to send out, and this one would be so easy.

3. Child-Friendly - Felt - Christmas Tree

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A great idea to keep the kids away from the real tree. I'm not sure how well it would work with our young ones (15 months and 23 months), but I wish I would've remembered it sooner and tried it. I don't think I'd have the time to make one before Christmas now even if I wanted to. 

4. DIY Handprint Gift

[ via: Our Tiny Place ]

We're kind of cheap, so this would've been the perfect present for someone who a) loves our kids, and b) doesn't really need/want anything for Christmas anyway. Or I'd just make it for myself and display it every year. 

Am I missing any other good ideas for next year? Help a girl out.

For more awesome ideas, you can stalk me on Pinterest. 

Fill in the Blanks

1.  When it comes to holiday shopping, I absolutely love it. I'm a shopaholic in general, so guilt-free shopping feels so great for me, and I especially love picking out things I think people will love. I just hate shopping for people who are hard to buy for.

2.  A few things on my Chritmas wish list are...  a new bedding set, things we need for the apartment, boots, hat/mitts/scarf, a wallet. Or see the whole list here.

3.  An intangible gift I would like to receive is a weekend away with boyfriend, and even with Chloe too. I'm in the beginning stages of planning something like that on my own. The gift would be for it to work out.

4. A gift I would like to give this year is   a better job for boyfriend. He's stressed over money and although I can help with money, it would make him feel better if it wasn't a problem for him in the first place.

5. My Christmas will be spent  with my little family Christmas eve and Christmas morning, with my mom and family also Christmas morning, with boyfriend's family Christmas afternoon, and with mom and family again for supper that evening. It shall be a busy day this year. 

6. My most favorite Christmas gift of all time was  My Baby Spice doll. I was never so excited over a doll. 

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7.  The best thing about the holidays is all the family time, and this year, seeing our babies get excited over their new toys. Or the boxes and wrapping paper, I mean they're just babies after all. 

It's rare that I double post in one day, but this just sounded like too much fun. Link up yourself with Lauren. Have a good weekend!

The presents are wrapped under the tree

This is our tree.

Ain't she pretttttttty? 

No? I don't think so either. Although the picture gives it more credit than it deserves. It's got some huge gaps that no 'fluffing' could fix, ornaments that are plastic (toddler-friendly) and boring, and not much else. I want a better tree for next year. 

Boyfriend and I almost finished our Christmas shopping yesterday, and that is the results. There are even presents in the far corner behind the tree. We have a ton of presents. A lot for the girls, some for me and him, and some for my family. 

Last night we wrapped presents and listened to random music from the 90s and early 2000s. And Gangnam Style. And eventually went to a friend's place and played Monopoly. I won. It was a great time. 

A few nights ago he told me he couldn't believe we've been together for almost a year already. And how happy he was with me. It kind of made me melt. 

Saturday was his family's Christmas get-together. It was an evening thing, so even though we were definitely going, I was a little scared about how the girls would take it. The party started at 6, and bedtime is at 7. 

Well, around 9:30pm Chloe was holding onto a chair dancing and Lil M was still running wild. Boyfriend's niece and cousins all loved the girls and were great babysitters to let us eat and play a couple of games. Overall, a good time with some nice people. His mother even took a photo of her and her grandkids in front of the Christmas tree and got Chloe to get in the picture. 

We took a 'family' picture of our own, which of course has a million flaws, but the important part is, I look good. 

That's always the important part. 

But I can't share the photo today because I'm at work and the photo is not. 

So, tell me about your weekend.

My Grown Up Christmas Lists

I think I might be hard to shop for this year for Christmas. I guess maybe unless you know me better than I know myself, because there's just not much I can think of that I want.

 

Boyfriend's been asking and asking, and I've never had much of an answer.

 

Today I got a message saying "Ideas. Quick!" because he was at the store. My mind was blank.

 

For gift ideas for me anyway. All I could think of are things we need around the house. So for your mocking pleasure, here are my boring, grown-up Christmas lists.

 

Yeah, lists.

 

You'll get it.

 

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Items I Wouldn't Want a Clueless Male to Pick Out

 

1. Wallet

2. Bedding set

3. Work clothes

4. Hat/mitts/scarf set

5. Winter boots

 

Gift Cards

 

1. Michaels

2. Clothes

3. Photography session

 

Too Expensive

 

1. Bedroom furniture set

2. Coffee table set

3. Remote start for my car

4. Winter tires for car

5. Flash for my camera

6. Lens for my camera

7. New phone

8. Washer and dryer

 

Somewhat Reasonable

 

1. Craft storage

2. Craft supplies

3. Card game

4. Seasons of tv shows

5. Big mirror for livingroom

 

Boring Apartment Stuff

 

1. Decent can opener

2. Pot set

3. Cup set

4. Cutlery set

5. Plastic containers

6. Better cooking utensils

7. Griddle

8. Vaccuum

9. Laundry basket with handles

10. Hangers

Then, I could honestly make a whole other list on stuff I want for Chloe for Christmas, and wouldn't care if I got them as my gifts. (Toy box, bookshelf, Old Navy gift card for baby clothes, etc).

When did I get so boring?