Best Santa Picture. Ever.

Christmas Time Is Here

The first Saturday in December is hands-down one of my favorite days of the year. Our family's Christmas kickoff day starts with a parade and ends with a decorated Christmas tree. Fun, eh?

 

Motorcycles are loud!

I think this delighted face was caused by about 100 dogs walking in the parade.

Santa! Mary Ellen was not excited about seeing the big man this year. In fact, she was fully against it. But when he drove past in the parade, waved and pointed right to her, she seemed to change her tune a bit.

Happy Day!

Helping to choose the right tree.

Setting up the nativity.

Mary Ellen loved helping to hang the ornaments this year. She loved that fluffy snowman!

My Big Girl (and her big girl underpants)

One of the biggest steps in toddler-hood is nearly behind us.

I can't believe how big my girl is getting. We had been dabbling in the idea of potty training since last spring. We had a little potty for a while and Mary Ellen had some successes this summer, but over the last two months, we've nearly gotten the job done. She only wears pull-ups now for sleeping and has taken successful trips to the Science Center and to a Magic game in big girl pants! Aren't we brave?

There's not a whole lot to say about this except that I am incredibly proud of how we've all handled this transition, and I think it speaks volumes about Mary Ellen's personality. We didn't have to do any bribing. We didn't do much arguing. I followed her lead, and we got the job done. And I should thank the good people at Target for stocking Minnie Mouse and Hello Kitty underpants. That helped.

Now here are some pics (unrelated to potty training) including some from our Oct trip to St. Louis. I know that's what you all want to see.

 

Mary Ellen shows of a dalmatian that she made at school. Each day after school, we stop and take a picture of her holding whatever project she made. Hopefully at the end of the year we'll have a nice collection of photos, and I don't feel too guilty about not keeping each and every piece of art that she makes.

 Jenson and Mary at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

 Daddy's little girl.

 Love that Grammy Anne!

 Four generations.

One of my favorite pictures ever, taken in Mom and Dad's backyard.

 

 

Spider Cookies! They were Mary Ellen's idea when it was her turn to bring for snack at school.

 Trick or Treating at Daddy's work.

 One of Mary Ellen's first friends, Elise.

 Trick or Treat!

The Best Ol' Polka Fest

Thanks, Nana!

It's Halloweeeeen Time

Each holiday brings new experiences that I just love sharing with Mary Ellen. This year, Halloween has lead to the discovery of some really fun pretend play. I bought some window clings that have several Halloween characters, a big spooky house, and several pieces of candy. For the last several days, we've played Trick or Treat with these little guys and Mary Ellen is really getting the hang of it. Yesterday, we took turns dressing up in her various hats (where did she get all those hats?!) and knocking on her door to Trick or Treat for pom-poms (pink ones, of course). So much fun!

Well, today she got to try it out for real. We visited the Central Florida Zoo's Zoo Boo Bash. It was a perfect day (mid-60s when we left the house) to spend at the zoo, and we all had a great time. Especially our little Kitty.

Too bad they were still in the parking lot...This is one of the few pics with the kitty ears still in place. Mary Ellen is officially dressed up as Mimi, but it's a little easier just to explain that she's a kitty.

Curious little cat.

Happy Halloween!

I was really impressed with the treats at the zoo. Each of 8 stations had a fun little treat, and not one of them was candy.

The otter put on quite a show for Mary Ellen.

Weird foot massage chair things. Sorry, Bri. This one just had to be shared.

Fall Is Here!

This fall has already been so jam-packed with activity. Where to begin? 

How about Jenson's big day? We were so happy to be able to share in the fun. And all the Friends were there!

Amy's cupcake ball glove turned out great. Perfect for J and pretty darn cute!

Balloon!!

True to form: Jenson's as happy as can be and great for the camera. Mary Ellen has her eye on the prize.

It was a sea of red as we sang for the big guy.

What? Is there something on my face?

Quotable Quotes

My girl is somewhat of an early talker. She speaks so clearly, and lately, she's starting to put together more thoughts of her own. Here are a few of my recent favorites:

[from her crib, which refusing to go down for a nap]
Mommy! Mommy, I'm awake! Mommy, I'm awake and I'm crying! Mommy, I'm awake and I have an idea!

[after bumping her head, she pleaded to Brian for some help]
I bonked. I think I need the penguin (the icy penguin that we keep in the freezer). And I think I need the iPad. The iPad will make me feel better.

[after waking up from a nap]
Mommy, I have a question for you: Can we go play at the park?

[out of the blue comments; I can't get her to do this on command, but it is one of my favorite things she does right now]
(cocking head to the side and gesturing with her palm up)
1. I like pink sometimes.
2. I like kitties sometimes.
3. I like Minnie sometimes.
4. I like Mimi sometimes.

Please feel free add any others that I've forgotten!!

Friday Night Hoedown

I've not laughed this hard in a long, long time.

For It's Root, Root, Root...

She's become quite the sports fan. And singer.

Watching Her Garden Grow

Now that I've got the seasons in Florida figured out (hey, it's only taken 9 years), one of my favorite parts about living here is that we get two true gardening seasons. I always rush the fall one a little bit, but then withering plants will be a small price to pay for the fun that Mary Ellen and I had last weekend. Notice the excitement?

My choice of seed were beans (because they sprout and grow so quickly) and her choice was, of course, pickles (cucumbers). 

 Patience isn't always a virtue that my darling possesses. Hope you like that water, seeds.

A brand-new tool for my brand-new gardener.

Back to School

Big Girl Mary Ellen and Daddy on her first day at her "new school." She's going 2 days a week in the mornings, and she could not love anything more.

Just for fun, I had to include the same photo from last year's first day of school (Jan. 2012). Notice a difference? And of course I notice that I need a haircut in both photos. It's a constant problem around here.

All ready to go inside that big door!!

One of the things I love about this school is that the first thing they have the kids do when they go in the door is wash their hands. What a great habit to start. And now she tells me that she washes her hands to "wash off the germs." Brilliant!

Mary Ellen had no problem watching me go out the door. She has things to learn, you know.

Moving ahead

The following was just said by my two-year old:

Time for snack. Eat a banana. Mama get a banana too. Take the snack to my little table. No open the banana. Gotta say our prayer first.

My daughter is speaking in paragraphs.

Thanks to some gentle nudging from my dear friend Maria, I promise to get back to blogging. We miss you all and I wonder if you've missed us...

Leaps and Bounds

Now this is just sad. It's been well over a month since my last post. Everyone says that the days, months, and (gulp) years fly by, and sadly, I am starting to see what they mean.

I've tried to cherish the little moments. To take note when we we're snuggling on the couch and Mary Ellen says "I love you" without me having said it first. To stare in awe when she identifies B as the first letter in ball. To laugh when she wants me to gallop and then does her own bouncy version of a trot. And these are just the things that happened today!

But it's still going too fast. Way too fast.

We've been on the road for the last 10 days or so, a visit to Barry and St. Louis and then a quick getaway for Brian and me while Mary Ellen stayed with Nana and Papa. We had a fantastic time, but this trip, more than any before, has rocked Mary Ellen's world. Maybe it's the time change, or the fact that she was sick for a good part of the trip, or maybe it's the fact that neither Brian nor I were around for the last few days, but she has been off. Way off.

Mary Ellen was up until 10:30 last night and used every trick in her very little book to try and convince us to rescue her from the crib. I was determined today to get back in the routine full-force. Good breakfast. Lots and lots of play. Good lunch. After nearly an hour of fussing, she settled herself in for a 3 1/2 hour nap. Good dinner. Lovely long walk after dinner. More play. And then bedtime...

With my new-found conviction, I decided to ramp things up a bit for the bedtime routine. We've not been very good teeth brushers up to this point, so if I'm getting serious about routines, why not improve on this one, right? Since water, or more accurately "juice," was the most popular cry last night, I decided to add a cup of water to the bedtime routine, too, just to cut that one off at the pass. And while we were at it, why not try sitting on that little potty before bath time, right? Maybe start slowly on that little endeavor.

Mary Ellen was all for it. She's sat on the potty before (though usually with diaper and pants on). It's no big thing, right?

She did it. She peed on the potty. First time. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

My little girl is growing up.

Happy Easter!

This year's Easter season was memorable for so many reasons. It was the first holiday where Mary Ellen seemed to "get" what was happening. She hopped out of bed on Sunday saying, "Egg. Egg." We'd put her empty Easter basket out the night before, and after having read "It's Easter Duck and Goose" about 100 times, I think she put two and two together. It was so cute to see her run down the hallway and it gave me just a taste of the excitement that will accompany every holiday from now on.

Also, this was the first super-successful season that I've had with my ETSY shop. I sold more than 175 little guy ties for the holiday, along with several dresses and quite a few baptism stoles. I've been so busy that I was worried things around here would get a little out of hand or that I would not get to focus on making the holiday special for my family. I'm so proud to say that it wasn't the case. I actually finished Mary Ellen's dress (and I did NOT have to do anything to it on Sunday morning, which would be the norm). I made Easter cookies with her. We hosted a neighborhood Egg Hunt. And we made it to church as a family (though not in time to snag a seat). It was what I want all holidays to be (minus the fact that all of my other beloveds were spending the day 1200 miles away).

 Our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt was a huge hit. Mary Ellen did her best at hunting but would have been just as happy with the first egg she found.

  The dress! After outfitting many friends and family members for Easter, I just HAD to make a dress for my darling. I started it on Wed and had no trouble getting it done. Shocking, I know!

 The Easter Bunny brought Mary Ellen her first set of golf clubs. Is this the start of something great?

Brian has been working hard to get into better shape over the last few months and he's looking great! His favorite new pastime is to run around Lake Baldwin, and Mary Ellen was dying to join him this time. She didn't quite make it all the way around (3 miles) but she sure got a workout in!