The things we do in VA

This trip has been a pretty typical Virginia trip. We started with a great Christmas celebration when we arrived. We looked at some old Christmas photos on the tree! This is something I plan on doing to my tree next year!
What a great place for a collection of photos!


This is not a Christmas picture, but I love this one! Julian is so cute



We also did our typical chic-fil-a for lunch! This is a Virginia tradition for us! It's not like we don't have them in NJ, but for some reason we never go when we are home. Honestly, it is probably a good thing we never eat it at home! But, treating ourselves is always fun!!


Julian and I also took a trip to Charlottesville and left Eloise home with her Gigi for 4 hours! (might not sound like a big deal, but for me, it is) You never know what Gigi is going to do when left alone with her grandchildren!! This time, she Gave her almond butter on bread, and put coconut oil in her hair and picked out her cradle cap. When we got home she was covered in almond butter and her head was one big oily mess. The things that happen when Gigi's in charge! But, we now have something else Eloise will eat and all her cradle cap is gone! (sidenote: she didn't have much cradle cap, but I'm glad to see it go!)


Whenever we are in VA we tend to get our oil changed and get Duke groomed. Well, the grooming went smoothly but the oil change turned out a little weird. We dropped it off at 8:45am Tuesday morning and got a call around noon that everything went fine with the oil change but when they were pulling it around, they hit another car and busted up our bumper and light! Haha! They brought it to a body shop and they had to order a part! Crazy right? So we couldn't go anywhere with Eloise because they had our carseat until Thursday late afternoon. Minor inconvenience but we got a free oil change and carwash!

On Friday, We took Kate and Olivia to the children's museum and had a great time!






During arts and crafts, Julian painted Olivia...







Another typical thing in Virginia is to have a bunch of dogs under your feet constantly! This picture is the usual Duke, Hank, and Hope. I forgot to take the picture when Tucker was here, too.




It's New Years eve tomorrow and we have nothing big planned. Maybe some drinks and games with Julians family. We are having a good time but I'm already excited about heading home! There is NO place like home.

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13 months!!

Wowzers - wasn't it just your birthday? I feel like this month went super duper fast! Anyway, these are some things you're doing at 13 months:
- You nurse only twice a day ( in the morning and before bed)
- You can find your nose, your head, and your belly when asked. You also like to point out these body parts on other people!
- You 'shh' duke when he barks! If I say, "what do we say to Duke?" you'll reply, "sh sh sh".
- I think you've been saying 'drop' to duke when he takes your toy.
-you are officially a walker! You took your first steps unassisted on November 28th and you gradually stopped crawling. You barely ever crawl now!
- you learned how much fun opening gifts is!
- you fall asleep for both naps without being rocked. Sometimes at bedtime, but not always.
- you are an extremely picky eater and it tends to drive me a little crazy. You have a hard time trying new things. You did try a cinnamon roll Christmas morning and you liked it!
- you don't like any kind of milk so far. I've tried rice milk, whole milk, vanilla milk and chocolate milk. What's been working best is sneaking a tablespoon of milk in your water. My plan is to gradually add more milk.
Baby girl, you are officially not a baby anymore! You are a toddler! You aren't big in cuddling anymore and you want to walk everywhere! I love your new independence (except during diaper changes). I can't believe how you grow and change everyday! I love you monkey girl!!
Pictures to come..




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happiness

Things that are currently putting a smile on my face:

* My early Christmas gift---A Shark steam mop. Not only does it steam and sanitize my hardwood floors but it is super easy to use and it vacuums! The best part of this is that it was on my Christmas list and Julian got it FREE using our credit card points! I love free gifts that I actually want :). I love that it doesn't use harsh chemicals and I feel like it does a much better job than a wet swifer. Anyway, it is definitely putting a smile on my face every time I clean the floors!

* The next wonderful thing putting a smile on my face is Christmas decorations around the house that have sentimental value. I have my mom's old Christmas China (about 1,000 pieces of it, but we only use a couple things as of right now). Every Christmas when Julian lugs out that huge cardboard box full of it, I look at it and smile remembering all the times as a kid we ate Christmas dinner on this china. The other thing that has memories attached to it, is my family's old Nativity. My grandmother bought this for my mom when her and my dad first got married and I remember playing with it as a child. All the arms and heads are glued on because they have been broken many times. But, I don't care that it looks beat up, it has great memories attached to it. I googled the company because it is missing the angel, but it is from 1978 and they aren't making the same nativity anymore :(. Oh well, I still love looking at it.

* Eloise being a dancing fool makes me smile! Every time she hears music she dances and its super cute. She opened a Christmas gift early from my sister and she got a drum filled with other musical instruments. She likes to make the music and dance. SOOOOO CUTE!

*Christmas cards in the mail are one of my FAVORITE things during this season. I love getting them and look forward to the mail each day. This year, I crafted a Christmas card wreath and it came out GHETTO (Thanks, Pinterest. How come things look so easy on Pinterest and then when you make them, it comes out looking like a toddler did it? ew). Anyway, I probably will try and make a new one next year or buy one I saw in a magazine that I LOVED, but for now, it works! I love all my Christmas Cards!!!

Thankful Mondays

61. I am thankful for pinterest and recipes I find there
62. I am thankful for fleece pj pants
63. I am thankful for upcoming workshops so I can get my hours in now while I'm currently not working
64. I am thankful for sothys face cream
64. I am thankful that Eloise's birthday pictures came out amazing!
64. I am thankful for the cold weather and the smell of fires outside
65. I am thankful for patience
66. I am thankful movie nights with Julian
67. I am thankful for my iPhone so I can video Eloise all the time
68. I am thankful for sweet Eloise cuddles
68. I am thankful re-usable bags can carry so much stuff
69. I am thankful for my kindle
70. I am thankful that my husband still tries to jump my bones every night even though I hardly ever shower or do my makeup.



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Christmas updates!

Lots of stuff has been going on and I've been able to knock a few things off my Christmas bucket list!

* We went to NYC and Eloise sat on Santa's lap! She hated every second of it, but it's one of those things you do, right? It was her first time in the city and I enjoyed it! Unfortunately,we didn't have enough time to see the tree or ice skaters but it'll be on the list for next year!
* We also bought gifts for some children. My dad threw a little party for some 'group homes' in Newark and we gave them gifts and Julian even dressed as Santa! It was a really fun day!

Besides that, we have started collecting items for the SPCA, so that basket of goodies should be delivered this week.

Friday is my WHOLE family Christmas, Saturday is my family Christmas at my parents house with just my siblings and then Sunday is just Julian, Eloise and myself! Then, Monday we are off to Virginia for a week. It sure is the busiest time of year!!!


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Thankful Mondays

51. I am thankful for friends who I've celebrated Christmas with for the past ten years!
52. I am thankful for a baby who naps twice a day
53. I am thankful for Josh Groban
54. I am thankful for Christmas cards
55. I am thankful for my mom's cooking
56. I am thankful Eloise gets to know her great grandmother and her great grandfather
57. I am thankful my laundry room is on the second floor.
58. I am thankful to live close to the outlets.
59. I am thankful to live driving distance to NYC
60. I am thankful that Duke is so good with Eloise.


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Some iPhone pics

A little picture fun of Eloise eating her cupcakes! (pictures thanks to Laura!)




















I'm a sucker for Eloise cuddling Duke...










And just little Missy being a silly goose!




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Thankful Monday's

41. I am thankful for a hand me down Christmas tree that I think still looks pretty
42. I am thankful for Eloise climbing into my lap
43. I am thankful for Costco wrapping paper
44. I am thankful for a husband that is super supportive in my choices
45. I am thankful for Christmas music
46. I am thankful for our quiet street
47. I am thankful for warm sleepy socks
48. I am thankful for good books
49. I am thankful for coffee
50. I am thankful for peppermint bark


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Tidbits

-I've completed a couple more things on my Christmas to-do list. We hung ornaments while listening to Christmas music and I watched Julian do the outside lights. I drank wine instead of hot chocolate but I think that's ok :) I still count it!




- Christmas time really brings out the little boy in Julian. I'm pretty sure he still believes in Santa. I enjoy how much he enjoys this season!

- if you have never read Two From Galilee, this is the perfect time of year to do so! It's the great love story of Mary and Joseph. This book really brought Jesus alive for me. I think I'm going to read it again to get in the spirit. I also plan on reading three from Galilee!

- every year around this time my dad does some grandiose thing like buy a soup kitchen a new oven or sponsor a Christmas meal at a church. This year he has come up with the idea to host a Christmas party for an orphanage. He wants to take them to his restaurant and serve them a meal and give them all winter jackets. I can't wait to be a part of it and hope his idea comes to fruition. Julian wants to be Santa! Ha, I can't wait to see this.

- Eloise went to her 1 yr appointment and she's 25th percentile for height and 5th percentile for weight. She had her bloodwork done to see if maybe she has an allergy or a thyroid issue. The dr didn't seem too concerned and thinks she's probably just going to be small. But, I can't help but worry. I want her to be perfect and healthy. She goes back in a month so we will see.

- Ellie girl took her first steps! I got it on video so that makes me happy! She takes a couple steps here and there but she isn't "walking" yet! So grown up!!

- I'm officially, no questions asked going back to work in March. I am also totally ok with it. Sure, I love being a stay at home mom. I spend pretty much every second with little miss and it's great. I don't think we have been apart for more than 3-4 hours (minus sleeping). I think going back to work will be good for us. My mom is going to watch her Tuesday's and Wednesday's and Julian will have her Monday's, Thursday's and Fridays. I always get anxious about money and Julian reminds me that as long as I'm working we will be fine. And I work for three months then it's summer!






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Christmas list #1

The first thing I can cross off my Christmas to-do list. Julian, Eloise, and I went to Sea Bright's Christmas tree lighting! It was a cute little event downtown. It felt very Stars Hallow (Gilmore girl reference). It was cold but we sang Christmas songs with Santa and Mrs. Clause and hung out with Frosty. Eloise scowled at the characters but all in all I think she enjoyed it!



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