Happy Holidays from our family to yours..

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday filled with joy, love, and laughter...

Is that you Santa?

Hi Santa what is that fuzziness on your face? Can I touch it please?

I'd say our first Santa pic is a success. No tears..just one curious toddler.

Happy Holidays!

Tiny Steps

I couldn't wait for Saige to take her first steps.

..and now that she has?

I want to rewind back to crawling. Sure it's all exciting and wonderful and new, but it's exhausting. We no longer just want to ride in the stroller or the shopping cart. We want to walk everywhere and anywhere. It is pretty damn cute to watch her zombielike walk, I have to admit. And she is so proud of herself..which makes us proud, yet exhausted, parents. But what else is new? 

The other day Saige decided she wanted to walk to the park. All by herself without being carried or pushed. So off we went, sporting our brand new sparkly Pedipeds and a snowman shirt. I snapped about 100 photos, trying to get that perfect Christmas card shot. Coming soon to a mailbox near you, thanks to AP for her fab editing skills. I heart having talented bloggy/IRL friends.

Sure we made a few pitstops to climb on a neighbors retaining wall, or to try to sneakily shove acorns in our mouth, but we made it. Now trying to tear the child away from the playground? That was full of tears, kicking, and screaming. So I will only share the happy trek...

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. Ours was full of shopping, decorating, and trying to entertain a whiny toddler through the Christmas Route at Longwood Gardens. That should be an entertaining post.

Keeping up with the Joneses

Lawn Envy.

House Envy.

Decoration Envy.

You name it, we got it.

Welcome to the 'burbs.

Our house only sits on .13 acres. The previous owners had serious green thumbs. We do not. We have never owned a pair of gardening gloves. Therefore we are dealing with a shitload of weeds plants, a garden, and a mess of shrubs. My idea? Rip most of it out and plant grass. Easy enough right? This Spring should definitely be interesting, as I will recommend hiring a landscaping crew while the hubs will want to get his hands dirty. I'd rather not have dirt permanently embedded underneath my fingernails. I also look around at our neighbors pristine lawns and frequently say "why doesn't our yard look like that, why is their grass greener, don't we need some type of makeyouryardpretty fertilizer"? 

Our neighborhood houses are also already streaming with lights, garland, giant snow globes, and walkway candy cane lights. Now me? I'm a fan of classy white lights and icicles. I don't particularly enjoy the blinking, flashing, multicolored lights..or the giant inflated Santa in the front yard. I like it simple and understated. We also tried to be a little eco-friendly this year by purchasing LED lights. 

FYI..there are 2 colors of LED lights; cool white & warm white. We figured this out after stringing the whole outside of our house with cool white and then wondering the hell why they looked bluish. Don't worry, we spent the next evening taking them down and putting up the warm white.

It has been difficult starting out in a new house because we never really decorated our apartment for Christmas. It was our first Christmas living together last year and life was hectic with a 2 month old. Therefore, we have no decorations except little odds & ends that we stole borrowed from our parents. We've picked up a few things here and there at HomeGoods & Target but our collection is still a work in progress. And as for a tree that Saige won't destroy? Who knows..as I am certain she will be pulling ornaments off a mile a minute. 

So we will give it our best...and hope for a lovely Holiday as a family of three.

xoxo.

Giving Thanks

First off, I would like to give thanks to my followers who still read my blog, as my posts lately are few and far between. It just seems there isn't enough time in the day to get everything in lately. Perhaps that is due to the hecticness of the holidays...or wanting to spend every breathing waking second kissing my sweet girls cheeks.

Speaking of that sweet girl, I had plenty to be thankful for this past Thanksgiving. A new cozy home, a loving husband & family, credit cards, our good health. We spent Thanksgiving and the weekend in our hometown with our families and friends. Many shots drinks were drank, yummy food was devoured, tons of football was watched, and typical holiday arguments occurred between the hubs and I. It can't all be perfect eh? We started off the day by having brunch with my immediate & extended family, then headed over to Brandons Aunts, where Saige hung out with her new cousin Riley.  The day concluded with our yearly trip to the bowling alley. It was a bit different this year, as last year Saige sat in her carseat and looked at the neon lights. This year she was literally trying to walk down the alley, no joke.

Saige also developed a new love for dog crates this weekend. Why play with our expensive toys? Let's just shut the door to the crate, crawl in, and giggle for hours. Seeing her face light up when around animals is priceless. 

For now I will be busy stringing Christmas lights, jamming to some JBiebs music, and trying to keep cat food out of Saige's mouth. Oh the joys of toddlerhood.

xoxo.

Likes & Loathes

Current Likes:

• A 3-day work week! Now if the kids weren't in school..this would be a LOVE. And it's also payday week. Mama needs to do some Christmas shopping..or go nuts at the Pottery Barn outlet this weekend.
• The leaves almost all off our trees. This raking, blowing, transporting of leaves is NO fun. So long leaves. Please don't come back on our yard till next Fall.
• My walking baby toddler and her squeals of joy and excitement. So proud of my little walker. We are anxiously awaiting the Amazon delivery of some sweet Pedipeds! Because every girl needs pink shoes right?
• Going to the bar on Wednesday night and getting drunk to see all my hometown peeps. Then probably being hungover Thursday and gaining 10 pounds.
• My Uggs and brown leather boots getting cleaned. My Sperrys and Toms aren't doing it for me anymore.

Current Loathes:

• The fact that Saige refuses to wear hats. How can a 13 month old be so determined and strong-willed? Even the hats that velcro under her chin? Hell no. She tears them right off. And then her ears freeze. I can't win this battle.
• Sports on TV all the time. Sure I like a good game on every so often..but not every single night. If it's not football it's a soccer game..or a NASCAR race. I would just like control of the remote for one night. Yes we have 2 televisions but it's more interesting this way.
• Trying to cut Saiges fingernails. She is lucky I don't cut her finger off with the way she squirms around. Could someone please transform my feisty baby into a hat-wearing short-fingernailed princess? K thanks.
• The hole in the knee of my Citizens. How is it that my most expensive pairs of jeans are always the first to go?
• My cats. Does anybody want them? Their hair is all over, they jump on the bathroom counters, and drive me crazy. Ugh. 

1 more day till break.

I think I can..I think I can...

xoxo

Silent Sunday: One-Year Photos