Meeting Santa Claus

Do you remember the butterflies you would get as a child; excited with anticipation for Christmas morning, barely being able to sleep the night before, convincing yourself the noises you'd hear in the house was Santa & his reindeer landing? I'd sneak out to "use the bathroom" & peek around the corner hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa in action or at least see what he left behind. As I got older & didn't believe in Santa anymore I'd play along for my younger siblings & loved every moment of it because it allowed the belief in Santa to linger a little bit longer.  I still get those same butterflies when I think about Christmas morning.  Addison has most definitely rekindled a child-like excitement surrounding the holidays, especially this year.  Clearly she doesn't associate Santa with the presents under the tree or all the pretty decorations she is constantly being told not to touch but she most definitely knows who Santa Claus is.  When you ask her what he says she says "ho ho ho" & anytime she sees a depication of Santa she says his name (or Elmo) in a high pitched voice, lol.

I don't really ever recall my parents bringing me to see Santa in the mall, although I know they did because they have pictures.  I am not sure if it just wasn't that memorable or if I had a bad experience and blocked it out of my mind, lol. I was super excited to take her to see Santa in the mall today.  I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure if she'd have stranger anxiety & be frightened or if she would delight in his rosy cheeks & fluffy red suit.  She watched as Arden (my friends 5 month old little girl), cheerfully sat on his lap for her picture. Addison pointed & said "Arden" & "Santa" & "ho ho ho" & even clapped her hands.  A few times she let out a very expressive "oooooh" when the LED Snoopy would move along side of us or the jingle of bell being rung to get Arden's attention would peak Addison's interest.  As we approached, she gave Santa a shy wave & held onto my arm with a death grip.  As I lowered her into his lap she clinged to my arm but I broke away.  She sat without crying but had a "um hey…who is this creepy man" face the entire time.  She kept her hands held in the air, 1 finger pointed (almost as if she was saying no) with her mouth slightly open in a half smile. If Santa would touch her hands to bring them to her side, she'd peer at him out of the corner of her eye like "get your hands off me".  Emilee & I laughed.  Most of the pictures looked like this.  Not one real smile or look of comfort.  It will do.

December 2012: 15 months

December 2011: 3 months

{Day of Silence}

Remembering Sandy Hook Elementary

Friday I kept my TV off most of the day.  It was almost like turning it off would make it a horrible nightmare & not a reality.  My heart is completely broken for the innocence that was stolen. When I heard the headline "authorities respond to a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School", I instantly felt sick to my stomach. I grabbed Addison, snuggled with her & started praying for the families who lost children, the children & teachers that will have this forever imbedded in their memories & the community that was robbed of the joy of this holiday season. It's unfathomable. There are really no words; no comfort to offer. My friend Emilee posted this picture on her Facebook page that her friend Amanda Cutler took.  It's incredibly moving & speaks volumes of the tragedy.

Amanda Cutler of Pumpkin Pie Photography

We live in such an unstable world. There is so much hurt & pain. It goes deeper then we can ever imagine.  Please make it a point to continue to pray for the grieving families, the surviving school staff & students, the town of Newton, CT.  Pray for the people with mental illnesses, those with hurts so deep that they could actually do something so terrible.  Pray for our nation.  Make a point to smile at people, don't tear people down.  Reach out to those in need and PLEASE don't go about your daily life like NOTHING HAPPENED. Headline after headline last week was a shooting here, a shooting there, children missing…this should wreck your soul.

15 month update

Stats: 
Weight: 18 lbs 12 oz (<3rd percentile)
Length: 28.8 inches (8th percentile)
Head Circumference: 44 cm (8th percentile)
Diaper size: 3
Clothing size: 6-12 months & some 12-18 months
She is my steady & consistent girl & tracking perfectly on her growth curve.  


Teeth:
4 on top, 3 on bottom. She just cut her first set of molars on the left side of her mouth & is in the process of cutting the other set.  

Appearance:  
She has changed so much over the last few months. Her baby-ness is COMPLETELY gone! What little baby "chub" she had left is gone.  I miss the elbow dimples & inner thigh fat :( Her hair is getting super long; I can put it in a ponytail now. It's long & blonde with lots of little ringlets.  

Personality:
She is still my little entertainer, constantly doing things to make people laugh. She eats up attention! Her favorite thing to do is sniff things with her crinkled little nose & make everyone in the room smell it as well.  She thinks it's funny when she burps, laughing then saying "burp" when she is done.  She is in an extremely imitative phase; if she sees a kid stomp their feet, she will stomp her feet.  She loves when you imitate an animal. If you say "the lion says rawr" she will crawl around moving her hands in the air saying "rawr". She repeats just about everything she hears.  She loves to pick out her headbands, you can tell she feels pretty when she has them on.  She also loves to help undress/dress herself. She is extremely independent & wants to everything all by herself. She points to herself and says "Addison" when she wants to do it.  She loves to wrestle & be tickled as she tickles you back.  She is so much fun. 

Feeding: 
She drinks mostly water, milk & coconut milk. Occasionally I will let her have watered down 100% apple juice. She mostly drinks from cups with straws.  She prefers them over her traditional sippy cups. She feeds herself with her own little metal fork & gets extremely mad when we try to help her.  She blows on her food and says "hot" even if it isn't.  She still isn't picky at all. If you put food in front of her she is going to gobble it all up.  Her favorite veggie is probably brussel sprouts or sweet potatoes. Her favorite fruit is blueberries & her favorite main meal is Salmon. This girl LOVES salmon. The only food she has rejected lately was turnip greens at Thanksgiving. 

Sleep:  
Bedtime is still around 7:30 & she wakes up around 7:30am. She takes an hour to 2 hour morning nap & takes about an hour afternoon nap, although she does just fine if she misses it. She is super flexible with her sleep routine now. 

Talking: 
Oh my, oh my. She is a little TALKER!  She says: "Elmo", counts to 3, "Nunna" (my Mum), "Jack" (my mother-in-law's fiance), "pepper", "eggplant" (how crazy that she can say that), "no", "up", "more", "hot", "bath", "boat", "choo-choo" (train), "snack", "truck", "cheese" (when you tell her to smile", "baby", "nuh-night" (when she is tired", "bear", "hat", "bow", "rawr" (when you ask what the lion says), imitates a monkey, makes an elephant sound, "cracker", "bu-berry" (blueberry), "yuck", "ho, ho, ho", "pee-eew" (when something stinks", "poop", "burp", "all done", "flower", "ball", "apple", "ballon", "Uh-oh", "vroom vroom", "owl", "oh no", "meow", woof-woof", "Mumma, "Da-Da", "that" (what's that), "duck", "Hampton", "dog", "hi", "bye-bye", "puppa" (my Dad), "off","shoe", "Emma", "nose". She says "shhhh" & put her finger to her mouth". I am sure she says even more than this.  She talks non-stop!

Stuff she is doing: 
She is running & climbing everything. She stacks pillows & stuffed animals on top of each other to get whatever it is she is trying to reach for. I need to come up with a solution fast because I caught her doing it during nap time trying to climb out of her crib a couple of weeks ago. She is FEARLESS & jumps off of everything. She literally just dives forward with no fear. 
She is being "girly".  She loves to pick out her own clothes & headbands. She loves to be included in getting dressed. Especially when it comes to picking out her shoes.
She knows nose, mouth, eye; if you ask, she points to them. She tries to do somersaults & pushups. She loves to snuggle with her stuffed animals and blankey & carries her blankey everywhere. She loves to stack & put things away. She nicely puts things back one at a time, exactly where they are suppossed to be.  She shares her snacks with her stuffed animals, it's really sweet.  She loves to mix.  If you put a ball in a pot she takes a spoon and vigorously moves it around like she is mixing something.  She likes to wash her own face and highchair tray when she is finished eating.  She feeds herself & likes to help unload the dishwasher. She loves to throw the ball & puts her tiny little hands together to catch it. She LIGHTS up when she does, it's precious. 

Likes: 
She loves playing with other kids.  Her favorite toys: pottery barn chair, rocking horse, toy jeep, books & her piano/drums.  Her favorite TV show is Sesame Street; she's LOVES Elmo. She loves to shopping, especially if she can sit in a shopping cart. She is obsessed with necklaces and always wants to wear one if she sees you with one on. She likes to brush her own hair & put her own lotion on. She still loves bath time. She loves having her hair blow dryed.  We always try to figure out if she is more of mommy's girl or daddy's.  I think she is more of mommy's girl but most definitely is attached to her Daddy.  She LOVES my mum & dad. She loves to get into the cabinets & pull out coffee filters & pots/pans. This girl loves some pots and pans! Her favorite play place is Marbles. There isn't much she doesn't like. She is a very happy kid. 

Dislikes:
Not much has changed here: having her diaper changed. Having her face/hands wiped after eating. Being told no. Having something taken away from her. 

GI Yuckies

The horrible GI bug that's been takin people down hit us all 1 by 1 last week. First, Addison. Poor baby. She was sleeping unusually late so I peeked my head in her nursery to find her laying in an insane amount of vomit. It was HORRIBLE. I felt like the worst mom ever! Thankfully it was short lived and only lasted about 24 hours. She sipped on some pedialyte and cuddled even more than usual but was pretty much herself. 2 days later it took me out. I literally threw up & was nauseous for 24 hours. A couple days later it hit Philip. Poor guy had it for 72 hours. Thankfully we are all feeling better and things are back to normal in our household.

Stitch Fix: {Review}

We all know that I have a (crush) on my UPS delivery man. Not literally, but how can you not get excited to see somebody who brings you presents all the time? Duh! I am fairly confident that Dan (yes, I know his name) already thinks I am slightly crazy BUT if he didn't before yesterday, he does now.  

As soon as I heard the sound of the truck coming down the street I scooped Addison up & stood in the doorway.  I literally exclaimed "HORRAY my first Stitch Fix shipment arrived!". What is this Stitch Fix that got me so excited? Ummmm…only the most GENIUS idea ever!  One of those I wish I would have thought of that companies. 

First, you request an invite (sort of like Pinterest). Here is a referral link to get started Stitch Fix. 

Next you anxiously wait for your email that says they are ready to style you.

Once you get your email you are ready to set up your style profile. They'll ask you all sorts of fun questions, show you sample outfits & ask your opinion to get your style preference & narrow down your size/body type.  It's like having a personal stylist…THEY pick out super fun, trendy, unique items (shirts, jewelry, outerwear, pants, dresses, etc) based off your style profile. 

So here's how it works:

Once you have your account set up, you schedule your "fix".

They charge a $20.00 styling fee & ship a package with 5 items picked especially for you. 

You get to try everything on in the comfort of your own home, paired with your favorite shoes, jeans, etc & really get a feel for the items.  

If you love everything in the box…you keep it, your $20.00 styling fee is applied as a credit & you pay the difference. You also get 25% off the total order if you keep all 5 items.  Sweet!

If you love only 1 or 2 items, the $20.00 credit is applied, you pay the difference & send the remaining items back (within 3 days) in postage paid (by Stitch Fix)package.

If you don't love anything you send everything back in the postage paid package & forfeit the $20.00. 

It's not a subscription & you aren't locked into a certain amount of "fixes". You literally log into Stitch Fix & schedule an order at your leisure. For me its a no brainer. I buy at least 1 item for myself once a month anyway so why not take a chance on something I probably would have not discovered on my own. 

This was my first experience. Be prepared for some extremely uncomfortable and awkward photos. (Next time I will probably put myself together & not take them at 7:30 in the morning, lol). 

The first item that caught my attention was this top:

Sanctuary Top: Ezra Longsleeve Knit & Chiffon Top

I died when I saw this necklace.  Totally not something I would have picked out myself but I LOVED it instantly.

What's In Store Jewelry: Three Piece Collar Necklace

I wasn't drooling over this dress but I liked it out of the box.

Honey Punch Dress: Wales Faux Wrap Sleeveless Dress

While I was totally in love with the print immediately, I did not think this was going to fit well.

Everly Top: Theodora Tribal Tabsleeve Blouse

The same skepticism came with this top. Loved the color (not something I would have picked out for myself) but I thought it was going to make me look boxy.

GLAM Top: Mission 3/4 Sleeve V-neck Blouse

I paired the sanctuary top two ways. First with a cotton floral skirt from Cotton On (a cute little store in Australia that I picked up when we visited 2 years ago).

Next with red cuffed skinnies from the GAP & my leopard print Aldo flats. I really loved the knit & chiffon combo. This one is a keeper. 

I paired the red 3/4 sleeve blouse with wide leg Citizens of Humanity jeans & brown leather Jessica Simpson heels.

I preferred this top tucked in with these particular jeans.  I am sure it would look great untucked with a dark wash skinny jean as well. This top is a maybe.

Hmmm. The dress. I wore it exactly as it came and just paired with my Frye boots. I originally had a Free People slouchy off white cardigan with chunky wooden buttons paired with it but it wasn't a good mesh. Then I tried on a cream lace vest from H&M…didn't love that either.  It isn't super noticeable in the picture but the dress is HUGE up top. This wasn't a winner.

I thew the necklace on with the Everly tribal top. MY FAVORITE ITEM by far.  It will look great with so many things. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

And next, the top itself. LOVE! I paired it with faux leather leggings from Express & Lauren Conrad black & taupe heels.  I see lots of options for this top. Most definitely keeping it!

So my thoughts after my first package? They nailed it. I am actually shocked that 4/5 items fit perfect & even more shocked that I liked them all. I am sure there will be lots of hits & misses along the way but every miss is worth a hit. I am already looking forward to schedule my next fix. 

Family Photos: Sneak Peak

Okay, once again I am behind {le sigh}.  Last week was crazy and the next few weeks are going to be even crazier.  I need to embrace the chaos because that's how the month of December rolls for us.

Today we spent the day with our friend Emilee and sweet baby Arden.  Emilee, with all her glorious creative genius, snapped some amazing family photos for us. As she captioned one of the photos {SWOON}.