:: Traditions :: Santa Parade & Christmas Tree ::

I love traditions.  Love.  I love looking back at the exact time & even in the past years.  The first year we took Karson to the Santa Parade, DJ was hunting.  My Mom and I took him.  He fell asleep & missed Santa.  Last year, the parade started at 9:00am.  We showed up at 9:00am.  Oops.  We definitely didn't get a seat up front.  We had to hold Karson the whole time.  This year, I was determined to do it right.  We need to get there early.  Then we needed to entertain 2 kids for an hour in the cold before the parade started.  

This one was not happy all morning.  She is usually up for anything.  She was NOT happy to be out in the cold.  Later in the day she spiked a fever, and a nasty cough showed up.  I had her out in the cold...when she was miserable & I didn't know it.  Serious Mommy Guilt!

 The night before the parade, my Mom and I made breakfast burritos & homemade Butter Horns.  I woke up really early the morning of the parade, warmed up our parade food, and put it in my thermal tote...thing.  It was perfect, and stayed hot.  Perfect parade food.

 

baby not amused

 

Ellary fell asleep & Karson was entertained with hot food.  Plus, we were there so early, we claimed the city buss seats.  Perfect!

 Karson loved the parade.  Especially the having candy thrown at him part.

 

It warmed up, and turned out to be an absolutely beautiful morning!

 

 

   

   Oh, look.  Little Miss woke up for the end of the parade. 

She woke up much happier!

Ellary & Nana

So excited to get "eye glass."

And of course, no Santa Parade is complete without Santa.

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I get the itch to put up the Christmas Tree 2 weeks before Thanksgiving.  I waited until the weekend before Thanksgiving this year. 

We put up our tree, got out the lights...and they didn't work.  So...Daddy and Karson made a trip to Costco to pick up new lights.

I love pulling out or ornaments & setting up our tree!

 

Karson has rearranged our ornaments more times than I can count!

Meet T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

The little one who will not leave the Christmas Tree alone.

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I can't help but remember last Christmas.  Dreaming about what it would be like having our sweet baby girl with us the next year.  I love that she is experiencing the same Christmas Traditions as her Big Brother.  I can't help but dream about next year...with a 3 year old and 1 year old.  I love being a Mom!

Christmas Pajamas

Christmas Pajamas are important.  Very important.  Important enough that I have been searching for the perfect pair for months.  After a lot of searching, I found them.  Matching. Tradition. Lace & bows for Ellary.  Love. Love. Love. While I had already taken their Christmas pictures, I couldn't resist getting some in their Special Jammies.

Run, Karson, Run

I went to blog yesterday, uploaded pictures and got a notice that I had exceeded my allowed pictures...unless I wanted to pay.  Um...that is a problem....and as much as I love this little blog, I don't particularly want to pay to upload pictures.  So....after doing some searching, I think I may have found a solution, Photobucket. Only problem, it takes about 4x as long to upload, resize, and copy and paste the HTML codes.  Any suggestions?? Moving  on.

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I notice while editing pictures yesterday, that I have so, so many pictures of this little girl

hello piggy face

I started feeling a little guilty...

...for every 5 pictures of Ellary, I have 1 good picture of Karson.

That isn't exactly fair, right?

"look Mom, no hands"

And then I realized why...

 ...It is hard to get a good picture of your 2 year old when they are always running past you.

:: Ellary :: 7 Months ::

My sweet Ellary is 7 months old today.  Yesterday, I told someone she was 6 months old...because technically she is not 7 months until 8:42 tonight.  I hate that she is growing up so fast, but she is just so much fun at the same time!  

Ellary, at 7 months you....

...are still not sleeping well.  You take 1 nap, usually around noon, but only after Karson is down for his nap.  You will only nap if I hold you.  The second I lay you down, you wake up.  To be honest, I love every second of our afternoon snuggle time.  Soon you will be 16...running out the door and driving away with friends.  But right now, you need your Mama...and your Mama is happy to oblige. As for nights...lets just say Mommy's coffee pot better not ever break! 

...refuse all solids.  You have tried  quite a few things, but only swallowed a few bites of butternut squash.  You were gagging and throwing up everything you tried, now you just turn your head and ignore me.  You still nurse quite a few times a day....and night.

...love to stand at your music table.  It is your favorite.  It broke over the weekend, and we are searching CL for a new one for you.  You can pull yourself up on it, on your own, and often let go and get so excited when you don't fall down.

...are beginning to crawl.  You are strong enough to, you have just kind of lost interest in crawling.  You would rather stand and play at the couch or table.

...walk along furniture, and can move from the couch to the table if they are close enough.

...love to walk around the house in your walker or holding on to Mama's hands.

...are fearless...except for your fear of strangers & being more than an inch away from Mommy.

...think you can walk on your own.  You let go of your table and stand on your own for a few seconds before lunging yourself in my direction.

...love to swim!  We went swimming over the weekend and you are a little fish!  You kick, and float, and spash, and laugh!  When I set you on the side you would reach for me and "jump in."

You are such a sweet little girl Ellary.  Mommy loves you so much!!