jolly old st. nicholas

santy himself came to our complex & i swear he was the real deal!

cossette may have been the most demure of the kids to sit on his lap.

her outfit kills me & i was so happy with this picture.

okay but to get the full effect, it helps to see the FULL picture...

i think it makes me even happier than the revised version.

nutcracker

there are a billion and one reasons i wanted kids. & a few why i wanted girls.

ie. using french names, lavendar baths, blessing gowns, baking with me, & taking them to the nutcracker ballet.

this year my mama planned on taking all the little girlies to the san jose matinee. lena got a bug & cossette's a bit young but lexy & ellery & i were excited to go! i even let elles hold my president lincoln nutcracker before we went to try & get her stirred up & ready. while i've been to this ballet more times than i could count, i was beyond thrilled to take my daughter.

even if she was not beyond thrilled after intermission, it was so fun for me. & gramvi bought her her own little nutcracker christmas tree ornament to remember it.

we'll try again in a couple years when elle will love it & cossette will only make it through the first half :)

i have to mention that afterwards we went to this fantastic 'florist patesserie cafe' near the performing arts center called flower flour that was one of the most charming shops ever with some crazy fancy & tasty treats. lexy kept asking me why i was taking pictures of the place until we pointed out the teacup & saucer clock that she thought was pretty awesome. haha.

oh & yes, we'll talk christmas dresses soon.

the tomato/onion theory

it's pretty simple. i happily eat the tomatoes he hates & he gladly gobbles onions, the world's nastiest creation, for me.

it's the theory that where he lacks, i excel; & in the many arenas i struggle, he steps up. to you it might be the olive/peppers theory but it works the same. made for each other to take off our plates what we just can't do alone.

we had our anniversary recently {YAY} & while we're not big on such celebrations i did get him a fitting card: "life's a rollercoaster ... & you're my dramamine."

bottom line: i'm pretty sure i like him for more than unloading my onions on.

grippy

after our first baby was anti cuddles, i'm sure we'd think any babe was a master snuggler.

 whether it's hair, blankets, a hand, my chin, or her favorite of shirt collars; 

she clings for dear life.

i hope she never grows out of it.

fall family pics

i twisted austin's arm almost completely off & got him to agree to letting my dad snap shots of us for about 40 minutes.

thanks daddy, we are not an easy foursome to catch.

the chief just had a birthday. {YAY} one of my presents to him was a promise to not force him into a family picture for a year...

 

ish.

diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son john

i had one of those days today. they seem to be becoming more frequent. i have done this three times this month...

upon coming home, i sit down & take my shoe off. by the time i get to the other one i find i've been running around like a nut for an hour & fourty five minutes, still with one shoe on & one shoe off. quite literally too busy to take my shoe off. i was wearing heels one of the times!

it looked something like this. i am just sure of it.

i make time to blog about it but not time to seriously take BOTH shoes off?!

freak.

take it or leave it

what to do when ellery loves nearly every single food in creation but wants to assert her dominance & control over her own life & refuses to eat it?

last night she happily scarfed a full cup of cold/plain peas as a snack a couple hours before dinner, inhaled  mushroom ravioli, & then threw one insano trip when i gave her butternut squash with brown sugar on the top.

yep.

sugared squash!!

45 minutes later & countless tears, she finally consumed a tiny stringy piece of the squash, we erupted in applause & our happy, sane toddler returned to us.

so what do people do?? she has to keep eating well & if she starts refusing anytime it's not a regular item on our menu that's not gonna work for me.

my mama had two dinner options: take it or leave it.

not always my favorite but it teaches you not to be picky & to be one adventurous eater. i don't want to make it this horrendous experience, especially when she does so well eating literally anything! but if she doesn't feel like it- we fight tooth & nail. & it's usually because she doesn't remember having it before. i felt sooooo bad for her last night. i don't want to say, it's up to her if she doesn't want it. but i also don't want to make her clear her plate just to assert my dominance. she's still a bit young to explain to real well so maybe wait? but i don't want to start a precedence now that i won't like later.

hmmm. what do people do?

p.s. she gobbling down last night's squash as we speak. with no sugar. maybe i found the key? :)

work shower

there was a small baby boom with the guys austin works with so they decided to throw a little shower for everybody. games, prizes, cakes (cossette had her own since she was the only girl), & crazy gift card presents. it was very sweet of them. it's almost like they like him.

jellybean was the only little kid there so she was the life of the party. at the end she got her feet tangled on all the balloon strings & slowly shuffled around with 70 balloons trailing her. classic; she loved it!

nice little afternoon. thanks!