A Day of Shopping. . .

. . .And, I didn't even manage to get a single Christmas present for anyone!

Hmm, how'd that happen?!

Cora and I wandered our way down to the outlet mall today.  We met Yia Yia for brunch and then shopped a little.  It was the perfect day for it, cold, rainy, and more cold.  Maybe it wasn't the perfect weather, but the outlets were practically deserted.  I think some of the sales people were a little starved for attention.  We had all the help we needed, and more while shopping!

Check out this sweet little number that ended up in Cora's wardrobe courtesy of a certain doting grandma!

Obviously, this is not Cora.  (Cora will look much cuter! wink)

So, why didn't I show you a picture of Cora in it?  Uh-uh, nope!  You're just gonna have to wait! But, I can guarantee she will be cuter than a box of puppies!

Cora also got some new shoes.  Her feet hit a growth spurt, and she's now wearing a 4 1/2.  (Makes me feel kinda bad for cramming her size 3s on her this morning.  Oopsy!)

And, somehow, I ended up buying her a dachshund t-shirt. . .

. . .and a cute little turtle-neck

. . .and a pair of winter jammies.

Then, it was time to leave before it got out of control!  But, rest assured Cora will be stylin' in her new duds.

Next time, presents for other people. . .

Christmas Comes to Our House

Christmas Tree ✔

Stockings ✔

Tchotchkes ✔

Lights ✔

Yep, we're all set for the jolly fat elf to slide down the chimney.  

We're entering brand new territory this year.  Little missy is completely mobile and quite the climber.  She's done very well so far at staying away from the tree.  (We have been vigilant about keeping our eyes on her as well.)  But, just in case her 17 month old self-discipline fails, I put only non-breakable/non-sentimental ornaments within reach.  

Don't you just love your having a Christmas tree twinkling by the fireplace?

And, in case Santa needs a little help, Penny is suited up and ready to go!

(And, not at all humiliated!)

I Would Be More Understanding If It Were Squash

Cora is at the age where she realizes that she has thoughts and opinions that may not mirror those of her parents.  It's a lovely age, really.  {wink}  In fact, my baby center bulletin recently informed me that the word for Cora's temperament is "spirited."  Good to know!

So it is no surprise that suddenly she's particular about what she eats.  I'm not complaining.  Cora is certainly a very healthy eater, but it is a little frustrating when you give her something you know she likes, and she refuses to eat it.

This year, I was looking forward to Thanksgiving because Cora would be able to eat all the good stuff instead of eating baby mush as our friend Principal Mo calls it.  Tiny-might refused to eat a bite of it. . .except for the roll.  She is quite the carbivore.  But, after her nap and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted her to try some pumpkin pie.  See her being oh-so compliant?!

She was not having any part of it.  I finally got her angry enough to where I could shove a spoonful into her open mouth.

Notice the tension in the eyebrows!  So stressful to be a baby!

Hmm! Not too bad, huh?!

Told ya, Cora!  Next week, pumpkin bread?

My First Turkey

This was my very first year to host Thanksgiving.  Y'all, I literally lost sleep over it!  I was absolutely terrified that I would end up with a turkey that more closely resembled the cutting floor of the lumber department of Home Depot than the moist delicious meat that it was supposed to be.  Fortunately, I had my mom (Mema) here to guide me step by step.

Here are my mom and I with the bird.  See how golden and delicious it looks?!  I was so excited and relieved!  We rounded out our turkey feast with mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce and homemade rolls. For dessert, a traditional pumpkin pie.   It was YUMMY, in my humble, yet accurate opinion!  For my next big project:  baking a real pumpkin to make homemade pumpkin filling.  I'm definitely seeing some pumpkin bread in my near future.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so thankful for our happy, healthy sweet baby girl.

We are thankful for friends and family.

And, we are thankful for the turkey and pumpkin pie!

Blessings to all of you on Thanksgiving!

Thankfully, It's Not Swine Flu

So, Cora and I were both sick all weekend.  I spent the better part of the weekend in bed, and Cora spent the better part of it just chillin' in Daddy's lap.  (A sure sign that she feels miserable is little missy being still!)  We thought her fever had broken last night at about 2 am, but as we weaned her off of the motrin, it reared it's ugly head again.  (That sentence made me chuckle as I typed it considering how we take sweet baby girl's temperature!)  We were able to get Cora in to see the doctor today, and it turns out that she just has a run of the mill ear infection.  Unfortunately, it's a double ear infection, but nothing that amoxicillan shouldn't clear up in a couple of days.  Thank you God for accessible doctors and medicines!  Hopefully, sweet baby girl will have a restful night, so we can have a fun day tomorrow.

Until You Are a Mother

You will not know how much I love you until you are a mother.

Sure, you know I love you.

You know I love when you run to me and hug my knees.

You know I love the graham cracker kisses you leave on my shoulder.

You know I love how your face lights up in the morning when I come to get you out of bed.

But, do you know that when I watch you sleeping I am awestruck that God has chosen me to care for you?

Do you know that every one of those wide-eyed, open-mouthed grins melts my heart?

Do you know how your laugh can turn my frown around?

Do you know that I miss you even when you are only in the next room?

Do you know that my heart breaks when you are sick and I cannot kiss away your tears?

Do you know that I would gladly endure all of your hardships just to keep you from experiencing any pain?

Yes, you know I love you.

But, you will not know how much I love you until you are a mother.

The Ice Cream Truck

For several years our neighborhood ice cream truck seemed to misunderstand the concept of his business.  Oh, he had the truck, the ice cream, and the soothing strains of The Entertainer playing at full blast. But, he drove around like he was the engineer of a bullet train, not an ice cream truck driver.  Clearly, you cannot make a buck if you drive by so fast that no one can get out to the street before you are already in the next county!  Fortunately for Cora, we have a new neighborhood ice cream truck.  This driver actually understands the purpose of her business.

Today all the stars aligned for Cora to get her first experience with the ice cream truck.  (Technically, just two stars aligned. . .the ice cream truck drove by, and momma actually had cash. . .but, if you knew the probability of me having cash, you would be fully amazed that this all happened!)  We selected a Dora the Explorer ice cream bar.  Here we are anticipating the deliciousness that is artificially flavored ice cream in the shape of a cartoon character on a stick.

And, here we are in process

Is anyone else weirded out by the fact that there is a stick in Dora's temple?!  And, yes, she does sport two black candy eyes.  It's been a long time since I've purchased from the ice cream truck.  I was expecting a bullet pop, but apparently we've come a long way from ice pops, y'all!

Bloggy Worlds Collide

Last week Cora and I met up with my friend Susy and her sweet baby girl Eliana for a walk/playdate.  Eliana is a few months younger than Cora, but her mom and I have known each other for years.  Today we intended to go to the park to play, but God had other plans and kept us inside due to rain.  This was Cora's first opportunity to share her toys, and it is clear that we will need to practice that a little more!  But, I think that both girls had lots of fun.

It's hard to get two babies to sit still, but we wrangled them with juice and some toy keys!

I love this picture!  Both girls look positively incredulous!

See the adorable outfits that the girls are wearing.  Susy made both of the onesies and the pants on Eliana. If you are interested in supporting a stay-at-home-mom, she has her very own etsy shop where she sells these adorable clothes and other things.  You can also check out her sewing blog to see the projects she's currently working on.  (She and I have the same girly-clothes disease.  See her recent post on having to make some items for little boys!)

Behind the Camera Lens. . .Literally

Hey, what is this thing?

Let's see how this works. . .

I'm pretty sure it goes on here. . .

Almost. . .

Nearly. . .

Got it!

And, goodbye!

Pajamas and Pigtails

Since you wonderful readers have become my support group for my addiction to sweet baby girl's clothes, I have another confession to make.  I was shopping the other evening for a friend's baby shower (also a baby girl - lucky me!!).  I was determined that I would under no circumstances look at clothes in Cora's size.  But, alas, I am weak.  My willpower lasted a scant ten minutes before I found something that I could not pass up.  You see, it is a little known fact - in the bloggy world, at least - that I am obsessed with monkeys.  My classroom was covered in them, and if you bothered to ask my students what my favorite animal was, they would most definitely come up with the correct primate.  There are tons of cute baby boy clothes with monkeys on them, but I hardly ever see girl clothes with cute little monkeys. . .until the other day.  I stumbled upon monkey pajamas for girls!!  I tried to resist them, but here's the thing y'all.  The store only had one pair, and it just happened to be in tiny-might's size.  It was like the pajamas were meant for me.  I could not in good conscience leave them there.  (It's a sickness, I tell you!!)

See how cute?!  You know you would not be able to resist either!  The pajamas are made of that wonderfully soft fleece, and as the temperature down here actually drifted below 60 degrees, it was definitely time to break out the warm winter pj's!

Monkey jammies, monkey chair, and a little monkey business!

So, this morning, buoyed by the super-cuteness of little missy, I decided to actually "do" her hair.  She actually has quite a bit of it.  But, she is cursed with super fine hair.  I cannot keep a bow or a barrette in her hair to save her life!  But, I got ambitious today and went for pigtails.  After several minutes and several tantrums - mostly on Cora's part - I did it!  I got some cute little curly pigtails in her hair.  I know I'm biased, but it was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

(blurry. . .sorry!)

side view

(How much do we love our monkey chair?!)

Unfortunately for little missy, it looks like there are many more pigtails in her future!

An Early Christmas Present

Yia Yia and I are very similar.  It's hard for us to keep a present under wraps.  After our trip to Virginia to visit Cora's adorable cousins, it was very evident that Cora's heart's desire is to have a kid size chair.  Yia Yia found a cute little chair for Cora as a Christmas gift.  We were both really excited about it.  (I mean, cute, tiny, and has a monkey on it. . .what's not to like?!)  The funny thing is that I just kept thinking about it and imagining Cora sitting in it watching tv doing educational activities.  Apparently, Yia Yia was thinking the same thing because on our trip this past weekend, we mutually agreed that Cora needed to have the chair now.

Here's tiny-might in her equally tiny chair.

{I just want to kiss that cutie-pie!}

Here she is doing some of those educational activities.

{Don't tell her Daddy that the "educational" activities involved Elmo!!}

Riding the Train, Continued

It's become a bit of a tradition to ride the train in Brackenridge Park whenever we go to see Yia Yia and Dado.  We have a lot of happy, smiley pictures of sweet baby girl on the train.  She loves the wind in her hair and the people and the outdoors.  This time, not so much. . .

Crying as the train started moving. . .

Crying in the loud scary tunnel. . .

Don't really know what was up.  But, I do know that she took a nice long nap after our train ride.  Perhaps it was a case of the crankypants!

Some Love for Dado

Cora decided that she wanted to visit her Kemp grandparents this weekend.  I wanted to make sure we got some good pics of her and her Dado since he seems to generally be behind the camera.  Here they are waiting for the train at Brackenridge Park.

  

She's telling us all about it. . .

And, Dado's telling her all about the train!