Playroom Makeover 2010

I don't know how many times I've had to rearrange this room to where I feel comfortable just looking at all the mess but I decided with all the new toys that Allie-Ann received for Christmas added to her previous stash that I would try my best to bring some order to the room. It seems as though this room keeps strinking, and I will not be sucked in....sooooo...I went to Lowe's and bought an organizer to hide or at least manage her new toys. I haven't added labels yet, but they will be added soon. I also bought a new table cloth for Allie-Ann's art table that I can simply take a wet cloth to when she gets paint on it. The cloth I used before was fabric and I was all time cleaning it. But I must say that my most IMPRESSIVE move was to buy a curtain to hang over the entrance way. That way at night when I don't feel like messing with all her toys I can just close the curtains and......WALLA it's not even a playroom anymore!!! The best part is when I have visitors I don't have to make sure the playroom is neat I can just close the curtains....they will never know!! So here are the before and after shots, and of course a playroom is never going to look perfect and Allie-Ann is not going to be a neat player, she enters the room and it's like a tornado came through the house in minutes but it will suffice another day.

I will say that Allie-Ann was not impressed with her room makeover, this was our conversation after nap when she came downstairs to her clean playroom.

Me: "Allie-Ann, how do you like your new playroom?"
Allie-Ann: "It's a mess!!!"

Oh, well...she's not going to like organization like her mommy. Which I think is a good thing because those of you with this disease of orderliness knows what I'm talking about, I've dreamed about being those happy go lucky people with their homes, I'm just not one of them.


Room before...

Room after...
The organizer from Lowe's that was on sale!!
The curtains to hide it all!!!

White Christmas 2010

Never have I experienced a white Christmas but this year all my dreams came true seeing the beautiful white flakes of snow falling from the sky late Christmas night. It was beautiful and I'm sure those who experience this every Christmas will not appreciate it as much as those that hardly see it at all much less on Christmas. So it was truly a blessing and a Christmas I will soon never forget. We've had a fun filled couple of days playing, eating, playing, eating and more playing....notice napping is not in this pattern because Allie-Ann was WAY to excited to even think about closing her droopy eyelids. It was a lot of fun to spend some time with both families here in Lexington and in York. We are settled in at home now with a house full of new toys, now it's time to do some more reorganizing....hum....just thinking about all the new labels I will make gets me all excited.....tisk, tisk. But for now, we are going to enjoy the new chaos and sip some apple cider awaiting the new year. Thanks everyone for a wonderful Christmas!!


Taking a break on her "Cow, pillow pet".....thanks Aunt Debo!


"I like Olivia!!" Thanks Betsy, John and Margo!
Santa did well bringing the kitchen down the chimney...
Her flannel board...
Finding her stocking in the crib Christmas morning...
Coming down the stairs to see if "Ho Ho" left a kitchen and chicken nuggets...

Playing with her new toys...



Thanks Lottie for the unicorn outfit!!!

Playing with Uncle Nanner...
It's a White Christmas!!




Rusty even enjoyed the snow...
Family shot...
Trying to catch snowflakes...
Allie-Ann wearing her "Cinderella" dress...Thanks Shay Shay and Fur Fur!!!!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas..

We've hung the stockings, wrapped the presents, baked all the cookies, and are about to embark on the family for Christmas visiting. Allie-Ann is excited about "Ho Ho" coming to town and is constantly looking out the window in hopes that he will soon be here. We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!!! Here are a few pictures to share....


Here is Allie-Ann's pbj Christmas tree sandwich, aligned with cranberries for ornaments.

Our Christmas tree sugar cookies..
Allie-Ann helping mommy with the cookie decorating...


One of her many crazy nights before bed...

I'm Kicking Myself....

So I ordered before December my Christmas cards from Tiny Prints for my immediate family and people that we don't get to see very often, and I usually like to make my cards but considering the recent pregnancy and morning sickness that has lasted ALL day, I just wasn't into it. Well, I've been feeling a lot better and I had a few more Christmas cards to send out to some friends and I felt like making them. So for about $2.00, I made this....


(The cards are made from textured card stock and left over Christmas ribbon from wrapping presents)


And I'm kicking myself because I honestly think they look better than the EXPENSIVE ones that I ordered online. I just wish I could have made these and saved some money, but at desperate times (too sick) it is just easier to let someone else do all the work. It sure was nice to get my cards in the mail and just stick them in an envelope, but now that I'm feeling better, I have so much fun making and creating my own things. Next year I will be back to the drawing board as far as Christmas card designing...

Santa

Here's our experiences with Santa.....


YEAR ONE (awwww, cute, right??)



YEAR TWO (not very happy)


YEAR THREE (Just plan miserable)



So.....it may take some time before Allie-Ann warms up to the 'Ol Jolly St. Nick. She seemed real excited about seeing him this morning, and has been screaming, "Ho, Ho" whenever she sees his picture but standing there in line this morning (a short line, THANK GOODNESS) it seemed as though it was going to be a piece of cake but as soon as I put her on his lap, she didn't want any part of it. Luckily my talented cousin Casey was there to capture the moment or I would have had to pay $15 dollars for a picture of Allie-Ann looking miserable. She still LOVES Santa but only at a distance. Here are a few other pictures Casey took. Thanks Debra and Casey for coming to witness the five second visit with Santa.

Greeting Santa, doing pretty good with this part...She actually waved at him.
Mommy trying to coax her onto Santa's lap.
Allie-Ann trying to free herself...
Reaching out for me to get her away from Santa. Oh well, maybe next year.

Gingerbread Babies

Here are a few pictures of the Gingerbread Babies that I made for Allie-Ann's preschool Christmas party. I had the best time making them, it's so much fun to bake and create. I LOVE it. One day I hope I can work at a bakery just to make cakes, cookies and cupcakes. They tasted good too, according to Allie-Ann who wanted more after eating her gingerbread baby.

On another note, I'm so excited about Christmas and all the festivities just around the corner. I have all my shopping down, so I can now really focus on cooking and baking. I have to share a funny story about Allie-Ann's Christmas gift list. This is our conversation.

Me: "Allie-Ann what would you like "Ho Ho" to send you for Christmas this year?"
Allie-Ann: ............pause........pause.."A kitchen!!!"
Me: "Oh, that sounds wonderful, did you want anything else besides a kitchen for "Ho Ho" to bring?"
Allie-Ann:............pause...........pause...."Chicken nuggets!!!"

So, it's looks like a play kitchen with chicken nuggets this year. Too funny!! She still says the same things when I ask her, so I'm sure Santa can pull this one off without a hitch.

We've also been talking about baby Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas. She LOVES baby Jesus and will point him out each morning when seeing our Nativity scene. I just love it!!


"You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread baby!"

Allie-Ann's Christmas Dress and Other Stuff

Here is a picture of Allie-Ann's Christmas dress that she will wear this year. I wish I could take credit for making it but I ordered it on Etsy, I just love, love, LOVE the knot dress and I WILL make this dress for her in the future but it's just been too crazy to sew around here. Needless to say, I think it's adorable and can't wait to have her try it on but she is currently at her Kampa and Grandmama's for the weekend. Kyle and I needed a weekend to desperately get things in order for Christmas and as much as it broke my heart once again to leave her, I will say we have done a lot..

Christmas decorations up....check
Last minute Christmas shopping done....check
Yard raked and cleaned....check
Much needed rest and night out with my hubby....check

I've only called my in-laws a dozen times already but am reassured by hearing Allie-Ann in the background squealing.

I've also posted a picture of our tree, but this was actually done last weekend but thought I would share, plus I had to take a picture of Allie-Ann with her stocking. I told her that I had a stocking that was just for her, and when I gave it to her she immediately tried to put it on her foot, apparently thinking that it was meant for her to wear. It was too funny.

Allie-Ann's Christmas Dress of 2010 (of course it would look even more adorable with it monogrammed, maybe I can work that in, we will see...)
Our Christmas tree, sans Christmas presents
Allie-Ann trying on her stocking...

JULY 7, 2011

Will be a BIG day for our family, you want to know why.........




We are expecting our second child early July and Allie-Ann will get to be a "Big Sis" to him/her. We are truly excited and blessed with this gift and I'm so happy to finally share the news!! It's been a rough couple of weeks, the morning sickness is ALL day sickness with this one. And it's a whole new ball game to watch over a toddler while being sick as opposed to coming home from work to rest. Rest just doesn't come these days but I know I will start feeling better soon, now on to REALLY, SERIOUSLY trying to potty train Allie-Ann!!!! She just doesn't get the potty and I've tried just about everything, like....

*Showing her the "big girl panties" with Dora on them
*Asking her, "Don't you want to be a big girl, like Mommy", to only get the answer, "No, I like being a baby."
*Treats, treats, treats....nope, nope, nope
*Taking her every hour to the potty, but to no avail.
*Having her run around with no diaper on, but who are we kidding on this trick, it's plan awful.

I know that she will do it when she's ready, I just need to have her ready before baby #2 so that I'm not changing two diapers every other hour.

Christmas Tree Hunting 2010

We went on our annual Christmas tree hunting trip this weekend and it was soooooo much easier this time around. I didn't have to worry about Allie-Ann tripping over all the stumps or running off, she was content just searching for the perfect tree, well several unusual trees (one that looked like the Charlie Brown tree, the other that looked like a tree that would come out of Sequoia National Park). We found our tree and I'm excited to say that we bought ANOTHER White Pine. Each year I always tell myself, I'm going for something different, but ALWAYS settle on the White Pine. I just can't look at other trees and think of Christmas unless it's a White Pine. So we loaded the tree on top of our car, but not until we had some yummy hot chocolate with marshmallows that Allie-Ann continued to dig her hands in to eat all the marshmallows first. Oh, well. It was a great end of the day and now we are going to work on decorating the tree tonight.


Our family shot...
Wow, there are just so many trees out here!
I JUST CAN'T DECIDE!!!!
Hummmm.....
Now, where did that tree go that I liked?????

We decided this year to get Allie-Ann a little tree for her room. Since she has been in awe of Christmas trees this year, we wanted to surprise her with her own tree that she could admire at night with the twinkling lights (Thank you Grammy for the tree!!!!). Needless to say, she LOVED it and has spent the most time in her room just watching it. She's so cute because she sings to her tree. She will sing, "Ol' Christmas Tree" and it's adorable.
Decorating her tree, and she has successfully kept the ornaments on!!