"Love"

I never did get a post up about our new visitor last month. A new friend showed up at our house on December first, and she stayed with us all the way through Christmas. It was Georgia's first visit from one of Santa's elves, and Georgia named her "Love."

Meet Love the Elf.

She wrapped Georgia's toilet..



She became "Spider-Love"...



She colored the water blue...



And she even turned Georgia into Rudolph...



Then she flew back to Santa on Christmas night...



She was fun, she was mischievous and she was kind. We missed Love when she went back Christmas night to spend the next 11 months with Santa. But we know we'll see her again next December.

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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I don't have time to write separate blog posts for these two events, so I'm wrapping them together, tying them up with ribbon and sprinkling on some confetti.

I'm looking forward to 2013 - 13 is such a great number in our home. I was born on the 13th, married on the 13th and gave birth to my amazing daughter on the 13th. How can 2013 not be awesome for us?

And while it is already in the recent past (it came and went so quickly), I want to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas! We did not get to travel home to see any family as I had hoped we'd get to this year, I haven't spent Christmas with my family since 2005 and never with my hubby's family, but we did get to spend some great time with our new neighbors of six months.

Christmas Eve was spent with one set of neighbors and their four kids. Georgia played hard while my hubby and I enjoyed some adult conversation (and beverages!). The Sunday before Christmas we spent at church with our next-door neighbors and their three daughters. They also invited us to share Christmas dinner with them. It was a great time getting to know great neighbors.

And Georgia had a fabulous Christmas morning with way too many presents - a high she is still coming down from.

So here's to another year of wonderfulness. Happy New Year and many blessings!

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Dad, If You're Reading This...

... I figured out your trick.

You figured out how to get out of the Christmas toy assembling that I know you mastered for all those years of having us four kids.

Become a grandpa!

While I know Georgia will LOVE this doll house you sent her for Christmas, the hour I spent putting it together and sticking on every last sticker was not so much fun. :)

But I can't wait to see her open it on Christmas morning. Thanks! (this post obviously written before Christmas, I just forgot to post it)

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My Baby's a Singer!!

OK, OK, actually Georgia likes to sing non-stop these days, especially now that's it's Christmas time and there are SOOOO many Christmas songs. But on this night, my little girl sat on a stage for the very first time and sang in front of a room full of people.

It's her first recital... I'm so proud!!!!!

And just like any true kid, she went from singing to looking around to being a ham.



I wish we would have arrived earlier so I would have been closer to take pictures (lesson learned for next year), but thank God for my Nikkor 70-200mm! It got me close enough.

And then in true Georgia-style, when her class was done, she couldn't let it end there. She proceeded to dance in the aisle to the other songs by the other classes. Always the center of attention, this one!

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Here Comes Santa Claus... There Goes Georgia...

A couple weekends ago, we did what's becoming our annual trip to "Breakfast with Santa." OK, it's only our second year of doing it, but hey, it's only our second year living here. It's at our local convention center and it benefits our local hospital's foundation, and it's an all in all good time.

This year was no exception. After eating breakfast, in which Santa comes around to each table to say hi to the kids, it was then time to visit the big man himself up on the stage. This year, as opposed to last, Georgia was ready with her list of desires to relay to Santa when he asked.

But just like last year, when we walked Georgia up onto the stage where Santa sat, as soon as she saw Santa, she took off running to him.

She then proceeded to go through that well-rehearsed list.



After our visit with that jolly man, we made an ornament, beaded a bracelet, decorated a cookie and wrote a list to Santa so that he wouldn't forget what Georgia had told him just minutes before.



After breakfast, we went for a walk around downtown.



And Georgia found a poster in a store window with her name on it! She and I were leading a "Mistletoe March" through downtown a couple of weeks after this morning.



A great, Christmas-filled morning for all!

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Forget Halloween - Christmas means CANDY!

Eastern North Carolina has to be the Christmas Parade capital of the world. No, I'm serious - I have never lived in a place with sooooo many Christmas Parades. Every little town here has its own line-up of beauty queens, high school bands, boats (there's always a boat in parades here), car dealerships and Santa to meander down main street on almost every Saturday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The town might only have a population of 500, but residents will throw a parade for thousands.

And most of these parade entries throw out candy... lots and lots of candy. That makes my daughter one happy and hyper little girl.

At the end of November, Georgia, my hubby and I were actually in one of the larger parades around here. We got to ride in a car on behalf of the TV station I work for, and man, did Georgia like that. I thought she find it cool waving to the crowd for the first 15 minutes or so, and then get bored and require some entertainment by the hubs and me. But no, that little girl waved out the window for the entire parade route, about an hour's worth, and she never stopped smiling. It was awesome!

But this past weekend was the time for us to sit back and watch another parade go by and catch and chase and pick up the candy. Georgia was ready, patiently waiting for the start and wearing what would become candy-blocking sunglasses.



And here it comes!!



And my little girl just soaked it all up as she kept her eye on the candy!

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My Litte Reindeer... or is it Rein-dear?

Now that my friends and family members should be receiving their Christmas cards in the mail, here's a look at some of the fun Georgia and I had shooting some pictures to use for them.

Love this girl...

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January 10, 2012 - An Obsession With Stuffing and Polyester

Meet "puppy."

"Puppy" is Georgia's best friend, security blanket, cuddle buddy, emergency pillow, partner-in-crime and constant companion. In fact, I can't believe I haven't dedicated a blog post to "puppy" until now. She (Georgia has determined "puppy" is a she) is a permanent fixture in our daily life.



Now I know it's not unusual for kids to have something they cling to for their early years - whether it be a blanket, stuffed animals or some of the more odd items I've heard mothers describe (read Georgia's further down in this blog) - but this lovey is actually a new phenomenon in my life. I don't remember ever having one, nor do I remember any of my three siblings having a strong attachment to something. But now there is a "puppy" in my life, and Georgia's attachment to her is actually quite cute.

Well, cute, until we have to go to daycare. "Puppy" is not allowed at daycare, so all Hell breaks loose when we have to put "puppy" down and walk out the door. I would like to say it's gotten better in the last week of daycare... but... would you want to leave this face?



So "puppy" I can handle, but "puppy" is having to learn to share Georgia a little bit because "Christmas Hat" moved in just before, well, Christmas. This is now Georgia's other (and slightly odd) obsession!



She wears "Christmas Hat" around the house almost all the time, to the grocery store, to the park, out on a walk and ALWAYS to bed. Yes, "Christmas Hat" has become the evil twin to "puppy." I get "puppy" and I accept "puppy," but that damn hat and I don't see eye to eye... or eye to fuzzy ball.



It makes her head sweat excessively at night (of course, the damn thing's polyester and therefore not breathable), it makes the static in her hair uncontrollable, it smells, it also cannot go to daycare, it's always there to mess up the hair brushing and barrette placement I just finished, and it ain't Christmas anymore.

I know, I know what you're saying - she's two and she'll move on eventually. I know you're right and that's why "Christmas Hat" is still around. But I'm hoping this polyester obsession will soon be in the company of the lights and bulbs and garland living happily in those green and red Rubbermaid bins in the attic.

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Ho, Ho, Ho and a Merry Christmas!

It has truly been a Merry Christmas for me and my family. Even though it's her third, in a way, today felt like Georgia's first Christmas. It was the first she looked forward to Christmas, talked about Christmas and pointed out everything Christmasy anywhere we went. It was the first time she got the magical kid gleam in her eye and that look of ecstatic excitement on her face when we talked about the tree or presents or Santa or anything to do with the big day.

I know for a fact that Santa was in our living room, assembling Georgia's presents and putting them under the tree, around 3 a.m.

Yeah, late night for Santa... and an early morning for mommy and daddy.

But this little girl and her pure, true, unfiltered and over-flowing joy on Christmas morning... well, what more could you ask for? -- sleep be damned!


Funny, at one point I panicked and thought there weren't enough presents to put under the tree. I needed to be slapped because by the end of this morning, I was thinking we need to hurry up and buy a house big enough for all the new stuff!

So here you go, just a few of the things Georgia found under the tree this morning:

In the first minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the second minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the third minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the fourth minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the fifth minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the sixth minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, a puzzle map of the U.S., table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the seventh minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, more Play-Doh than any child needs, a puzzle map of the U.S., table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the eighth minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, a moment to be overwhelmed, more Play-Doh than any child needs, a puzzle map of the U.S., table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the ninth minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, a clock to learn telling time, a moment to be overwhelmed, more Play-Doh than any child needs, a puzzle map of the U.S., table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the tenth minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, wait - no that's my hubby (he's gonna kill me!), a clock to learn telling time, a moment to be overwhelmed, more Play-Doh than any child needs, a puzzle map of the U.S., table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the eleventh minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, markers, paints and chalk, wait - no that's my hubby (he's gonna kill me!), a clock to learn telling time, a moment to be overwhelmed, more Play-Doh than any child needs, a puzzle map of the U.S., table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


In the twelfth minute of Christmas my darling did unwrap, a room-consuming amount of toys, markers, paints and chalk, wait - no that's my hubby (he's gonna kill me!), a clock to learn telling time, a moment to be overwhelmed, more Play-Doh than any child needs, a puzzle map of the U.S., table and chairs just her size, a humongous cardboard castle, paint and a standing easel, play food from her Grama and a pink and retro play kitchen.


I hope your Christmas was as magical and merry as ours. Merry Christmas... and God Bless Everyone!

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