Merry Christmas (Week)

We've been doing so much this past week, I have not taken any time to keep up with my life on the computer. Barely checked email, dropped the blog . . . only did some Facebook stuff via cell phone. I took a break from my computer addiction, my connection to the outside world . . . and I have not missed it a bit!

Christmas at the Dahlbys has been fantastic. Like I said, we've been busy.

We had a Christmas program at preschool.

We did a LOT of baking. I found out that, actually, I'm not as bad at it as I thought. If I really pay attention to what I'm doing, I can actually make cookies good enough to give away to family and friends.

We made a gingerbread house.

We got the entire cast of the Wizard of Oz in Pez dispensers from Aunt JuJu. A BIG hit.

We got matching Princess Christmas PJs from Grandaddy.

Santa Came.

We got an Art Easel that Kate adores.

And we got a new Princess Bike (and helmet).

It's been wonderful.

Merry Christmas to all . . . I hope everyone has had a Christmas that was wonderful for you.

Preschool Party Picks

At the preschool Christmas party on Tuesday . . . I think I got the picture I should have used on our Christmas card!

Oh, Meg.

But then she give me a silly face like this, and I can't help but smile at her.

Kate enjoyed her party, too . . . mostly because the sweets and the juice, of course.

And they both enjoyed being together at school . . . it was a treat for us all!

Merry Christmas!

Our Latest Holiday Project

I give you our 2009 cast of carolers . . .

They are just darling. I've already told Jim we have to find a way to wrap these up safely at the end of the season because I want to enjoy them for years to come. This project was a bit tough for Meg . . . she was able to paint the tubes, draw the faces, and glue, but I did have to help her a lot more than I thought I might. Still, she enjoyed every minute, and she is so proud of her carolers.

And Kate . . . well, once again, she watched with excitement. My big project with her is going to be cookie baking on Friday :) I feel bad because this year we've tackled a few holiday projects that are simply too much for her, but I'm hoping she'll make up for it with cookies.

The carolers sit on our kitchen table and eat with us at each meal. Meg moves them around all the time . . . and today she decided to switch their hats. I can tell she is proud of them, as she should be. Like I said -- just darling.

Feelin' Better

Thanks for the support, commenters . . . I appreciate everyone out there feeling my pain! HFM . . . well, it sucks. Kate seems better today . . . still not quite herself, but at least we were able to run one quick errand (without a meltdown) after dropping Meg at school this morning. We are on the road to recovery.

Last night, as I was putting Kate to bed, Jim kissed her sweet head and said, "Night-Night . . . I hope you sleep all night, Katy-did. You need it, baby girl."

I said to him, with a smile,"Of course she will. You are home now. That sounds about right . . . you come home and then she sleeps. She only stays up all night when I'm here alone."

Kate woke up for a few minutes around 10:45pm last night, then she slept the whole night through.

I'm not complaining . . . the night of sleep was VERY welcomed and hopefully means we've turned a corner and are feeling better. I just think it figures that she sleeps all night when I have some help, but she's up all night when I don't have any relief staff here to help out. I guess Kate just wanted to have a slumber party with Mommy on Monday . . . and Tuesday . . . and Wednesday night. Like I said, that figures . . .

Hand-Foot-Mouth

It's 11:38am on Thursday morning, and I just wrote an email to a friend . . . it sums up how I'm feeling in one quick paragraph:

"Last night SUCKED. We were up all night. I think it was the worst night I've ever had with Kate -- EVER. She was not even that bad as a newborn! We were eating Popsicles at 1am, she was playing and crawling around in my bed at 4am, and then she was throwing her loveys out of her own bed at 5:30am. I crawled in bed after she finally nodded off at 7am . . . only to have Meg wake me up with her beautiful smile exactly 42 minutes later. *sigh* "

What is wrong with Kate? I found out yesterday afternoon that Kate has Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease. If you don't know what it is, look it up and then PRAY your kid does not get it. Or -- pray that your kid does not get as bad of a case as Kate has. Or, at least pray that Kate gets better soon and is able to sleep again. And if you have a prayer left over, pray that I can get some sleep and a shower . . . neither of which I've really had since Tuesday. Ever since Kate woke up from her post-Santa-visit nap on Monday afternoon, she's been just miserable. I feel so bad for her.

And now it's 11:40am, and I hear Kate crying from her crib. She's been napping for exactly 40 minutes now. And she's done.

So am I. Thank GOD Jim comes home this afternoon. It's been the week from HELL around here.

We Saw Santa

and nobody cried!

Took the girls to the mall yesterday -- my dad and I did -- to meet Santa Claus. Last year, Kate was the only one who'd sit on his lap . . . Meg wanted nothing to do with Mr. C. Nothing at all -- not even a friendly high five or a wave from afar. I had tortured Meg the previous year (see here), so I simply could not do that to her again. But this year, with the idea of sharing her Christmas wishes in her head, Meg willingly sat with Santa Claus.

(Insert Hallelujah Chorus here.)


Granted, Meg froze once on the big guy's lap, and she would not tell Santa a single thing she wanted for Christmas. She clammed up like I had never seen her do before. My Meg, not talking? It was a scene! Mommy had to help her communicate. I helped her remember what is was that she's been dreaming of since we saw it in Target back in October (a Disney Princess bike, if you recall), and together we asked Santa for it with our kindest words.

Oh well. Can't win them all, I guess. At least she sat with him. I'll take that for this year . . . and maybe in a year or two, we'll get him a list together before we go.

Kate . . . well, she wasn't really keen on the idea of this big dude in a red suit putting his arms around her. "You mean I have to sit with this guy?" was what the look on her face was telling us all as I lowered her into his lap. I had my mind set that she was going to totally freak, as Meg had done at the 1 1/2 yr Christmas. But instead, Kate watched Meg and -- like she does most of the days of her life -- she imitated her and did just what big sis was doing. Kate really wanted to cry, but she didn't. And once Santa handed her a treat, she was golden to sit there as long as necessary.

It was a classic experience . . . we waited in line for about 10 minutes with other families all dressed in their holiday gear, Santa spoke with the girls and gave them each a candy cane, and I got to spend $25 (!!!!!) on the most basic picture package in order to have the privilege of taking my own pictures with my own camera. All in all, just what you'd expect from a mall Santa stop. It was terrific, regardless of the price tag.

My favorite Meg comment about the whole event -- after she was off Santa's lap and had found her voice once again: "Mommy, Santa's lap was bumpy. I told you it was going to be bumpy. I was right."

Another Christmas tradition that we have been able to enjoy this year. Man-o-Man -- as these girls get bigger and my love for them grows and grows, these holidays and traditions just keep getting better and better!

Cartunes

Need something new to listen to in the car? Something your kids will really enjoy . . . and you will find yourself singing under your breath all day long? At our house, we are always searching for something new to listen to as we drive around town. Meg has become quite the music connoisseur, and she has LOTS of opinions about what we listen to in the car (surprise, surprise).

Anyway . . .

I highly recommend "All You Need is Love: Beatles Songs for Kids"

http://www.amazon.com/All-You-Need-Love-Beatles/dp/B00000JZAP

We checked it out from the library last week, and we've been bopping along to it ever since. Meg's favorite is "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La_Da" -- which I love, too. It's such a fun little CD. I've caught myself listening to it all by myself in the car, long after I've dropped the girls at carpool. It's a good one . . . just thought I'd share in case anyone needed any holiday gift ideas.

Happy Monday :) Jim is out until Thursday . . . blech. At least I have Christmas to look forward to . . . and all of us together for more than a week. That will make my days very merry and bright for sure.

In Honor of the Champs

Go Jackets . . . though I am a total DAWG at heart, I'm always happy to see the Jackets put a big 'ole smile on Jim & Kate's faces!

Favorite Photo Friday

Holiday Photo Edition, as you could have guessed. Both of the girls at their 18 mo holiday season . . . oh, how I love this age!

Kate, Nov 2009, 17+ mos old

Meg, Nov 2007, 17+ mos old

More Holiday

This time, it's ornaments.

Meg is going to spend part of the coming weekend with my dad, and together they are going to put up his Christmas tree. They have grand plans for their 2 days together: a trip to Wal Mart to get some new ornaments, then Meg gets to put all of the "Wizard of Oz" ornaments on the tree all by herself (he has almost whole Hallmark collection).

To make his tree decorating even more fun, this afternoon Meg (and I) made two ornaments for Grandaddy's tree. We got out the works . . . paint, glitter, glue, sequins, pompoms, stars . . . it was quite an affair.

The results are awesome. We were having so much fun, we made extra tree ornaments for Nana and Papa and Great Grandma. They can expect to receive their handmade delight sometime next week.

Little Kate wanted to participate soooo badly . . . but this was just a little bit too much for her. She lingered at our feet and was a little bit jealous (and clingy) while big sister was hard at work. She somehow managed to climb up in the chair behind Meg and pester her . . .

But then she made up for it at dinner by giving us all a show and making us laugh out loud with her mashed potato antics.

All in all, a lovely afternoon with the girls. On days like today -- when we have fun and do great things together and everyone enjoys it -- I feel like a very good mom.

Another Classic

Yesterday was a crazy day . . . we ended up at the office where my dad got his electrolayrnx unit because his broke. The darn thing just stopped working all together. My dad could not remember the name of the place where he'd gotten the unit so we could not call them to find out the protocol on getting a repair or replacement. He did, however, remember where in town the office was. So -- once he drove all the way to my house to tell me this because he couldn't exactly call me with this news -- we packed up the girls and drove over to "Electrolarynx R Us", as we called it, in search of a working voice.

After we took care of our business -- which resulted in my dad being sent a loaner unit to use while his Tru Tone is being repaired -- Meg piped up with a very important question for the young lady working with us.

"Hey, do you guys have a bathroom around here?" was her question.

We looked at her and laughed . . . just the question, the way she phrased it, and the craziness of our day made us all laugh at little Meg. Yet another classic from the mouth of a 3 yr old.

Beautiful Children

I have to use my computer time wisely the next couple of days . . . don't want to get behind on editing or card orders. Instead of a thoughtful post, I thought I'd just post a few pictures of some beautiful children. Everyone likes looking at gorgeous little ones, don't they?

These 3 belong to my oldest friend -- the matron of honor in my wedding. What a lovely family she has! We've been friends since 6th grade . . . since right about the age her oldest daughter is now. It's amazing to think that our friendship has endured nearly 20 years of ups and downs.

Welcome Christmas

Welcome, Christmas. HOw our house loves to host you each December. (Hey, we love you so much that we started in November this year!)

One of the things that makes our house so Christmasy this time of year is our collection of snowmen. I have somewhere around 2 or 3 dozen 'ornamental' snowmen displayed around the house on shelves, tables, and counter tops. I have lots of snowman ornaments. I have snowmen on towels, place mats, and aprons. And -- beginning back in 2002 -- I started collecting Hallmark's annual 'Dancing Snowmen'.

The Dancing Snowmen are really very cute. My first pair -- the girl and guy snowperson duo that sing "Let it Snow" -- were a gift from my mother in law. After that, she decided to add to my collection each year, and I've been very grateful. There is something so darling about the little stuffed snowmen (and their counterparts) bopping along to holiday music . . . it makes me smile. Meg and Kate smile, too -- they also very happy that Nana has brought the singing snowmen and women into our home.

We've got six of these lovely stuffed dancers around our house this year. And -- wouldn't you know? -- Hallmark is NOT adding to the collection in 2009. They did a dancing Snoopy for the Peanuts anniversary this year. Bah Humbug, Hallmark! Snoopy is a fabulous icon of holiday spirit -- but I want my dancing snowmen.

Anyway, I guess we'll make due with the 1/2 dozen we already own.

Did I mention the girls LOVE them? The do . . . and they love to love them all at the same time. Imagine listening to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Let it Snow" and various lyrics sung to Nutcracker tunes . . . all sung in cartoony voices from six bouncing stuffed snowmen at exactly the same time. It gets pretty noisy around here these days.

But what kind of mom would I be if I got all the snowmen out, batteried them up, then said, "No, you can't play with them!" I could never do that. Instead, I just take it for as long as I can. Sometimes I manage to stand all the singing until they girls have had their fill, and sometimes I have to say, "Okay, ladies . . . just one more time . . ." in an effort to move their attention elsewhere. It's worth it. Even if it's noisy, something about those snowmen always makes me smile.

The only part that does get a little old is the fighting that sometimes ensues over which snowman belongs to which girl. But even that is short lived . . .

Initial distress over a stolen snowman . .

usually gives way to a game of "Steal Snowy" after only a few short minutes.

Yes, Welcome Christmas. And welcome Snowmen. Here's hoping that the girls get a chance to build a real snowman sometime this holiday season.

Holiday Traditions

We've been swept up in the holiday traditions of Thanksgiving over the past week. Immediately upon my return from my weekend away with my dad, I hit the ground running for Thanksgiving week. We had a house full of Dahlbys, lots of holiday decor and activities to keep us busy, and two little Dahlby girls that ate up every second of the wonderful week. It was a bit of a whirlwind -- hence my lack of posting over he past several days. I didn't disappear . . . just took a week away from the computer to enjoy what the holiday was offering at my house.

There are many Thanksgiving traditions that Jim and I both bring into our family of four. As with any marriage, it's a little bit of what Jim is accustomed to at the holidays mixed with a little bit of what I grew up with that creates our very own Dahlby family holiday. A lot of compromising goes on as to which way we'll 'do things' -- such as what time we'll eat Thanksgiving dinner or what we will serve -- and what we create in the process are traditions that become uniquely our own. Traditions that (I hope) Meg and Kate will grow up to love and enjoy.

I think the A # 1 Thanksgiving holiday tradition that Jim and I have created for our family: the Georgia/Georgia Tech football game, which takes place on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend every year. As you know, Jim is a Yellow Jacket . . . I'm a Bulldawg. It always makes for a very interesting last-Saturday-in-November. We have gone to the this game together -- Jim and I -- ever year we've been together. This year was no different. 2009 was the 9th edition of our UGA/GT rivalry game attendance.

The girls came down to the tailgate at Bobby Dodd Stadium yesterday -- though we think they are not quite old enough to actually attend the game with Mom and Dad just yet. Still, they loved tailgating with us all . . . decked out as our house divided, of course. It was fun to share with Meg and Kate the excitement of a fall tradition that means so much to Jim and me.

And at the end of the afternoon, Nana Dahlby packed up the girls and took them home so Mom and Dad could go into the stadium and see the University of Georgia reclaim our spot as the BESTcollege football team in the state of Georgia. Georgia WON last night -- which was quite an upset in the world of college football.

That is one holiday tradition I just can't ever get tired of. :)

Once a dawg, always a dawg. How sweet it is!

Hope your weekend was as happy and family-filled as ours was . . . and I hope your holiday traditions were enjoyed by everyone around you.

Let Us Be Thankful

It's the thankful season. We are all thankful for so very many things this last week or two each November. I'd like to think I'm thankful every day . . . but we all know that we should stop and be grateful more often than we are.

So let me take a minute to show you what I am thankful for today.

Today, I am thankful for preschool holiday parties. There is nothing like little homemade treats (allergen free, usually) on tiny festive paper plates, followed by a little craft that all the kids are way too busy to bother to finish. I love holiday parties at the preschool. In this thankful season, I'm very thankful for my darling girls who let me share in the fun with them.

What's Up

Life around here is busy. Computer issues (thank goodness Jim fixed it) and a sick Meg have kept me from blogging or even checking email for the past several days. I just logged on for the first time in 3 days. Believe it or not, I've not checked my email since Saturday. I was starting to have real withdrawal symptoms.

Anyway, here is what has kept us so busy since last we met . . .

I kept my sunglasses.

Some lady came to my door selling cleaning products (Clean & Simple -- consider yourself warned!). She came at the worst time of day . . . I was trying to get the girls ready for bed . . . but I was too nice to slam the door in her very pushy face. I ended up with some ridiculous cleaning products that I could easily live without, and I felt bad for about 2 days for spending the money on the product. I was so embarrassed -- what was I thinking?! Jim has forgiven me, but I'm still trying to forgive myself.

Jim left for a Sunday-Thursday trip. And when he returns on Thursday night, I'm off for a weekend trip with my dad. Just the two of us, taking some time to ourselves to enjoy each others company and kinda put some of 2009 behind us. It will be a very nice weekend with my Daddy. (Though I'll miss Jim and the girls a lot.)

Meg and Kate both have survived some serious chest congestion over the last week. They have not been "sick sick", just coughy, wheezy, and whiny. No real fever, just not quite themselves. And this time, Meg was the one who got the worst of it. Blech. But hey -- I learned that kids can throw up when the mucus in their chest gets to be too much for them . . . who knew?

Kate is the hostess for the Thanksgiving Feast in her MMO class on Thursday morning. And by Kate hosting . . . I really mean that I am hosting. Must make orange rice krispie treats tomorrow for the affair. I had one heck of a time finding Thanksgiving themed plates/napkins for the shindig . . . seems like many stores go straight from Halloween to the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Thanksgiving, stuck smack in the middle of two very retailer-lucrative holidays, has apparently become the red-headed stepchild of seasonal merchandise.

Nana and Papa Dahlby arrive this weekend (while I'm away) for the Thanksgiving week. In preparation for their arrival, I have used my aforementioned too-expensive all-purpose cleaning product to clean my stove top, my oven, all my baseboards, my blinds, and my carpets. I guess new products plus the motivation of having my in-laws land here for more than a week is a good thing . . . by the time my cleaning lady comes and goes on Thursday afternoon, my house will be really very clean.

We have officially kicked off the holiday season at the Dahlby household. We tagged along with some friends and went to check out Santa at Phipps Plaza last week. NO -- we didn't see him yet -- we just checked him out from afar and started gearing Meg up to actually sit with him this year. And while we were in the area . . .

we rode the Pink Pig. In November (okay, in early November). It was awesome . . . the girls loved it, and there was no crowd. Too early or not to early, you can't argue with doing something when it's easy.

And speaking of holidays too early . . . we put our tree up last weekend. Okay, that one I'll give you . . . I know it's early. But with me leaving town for the weekend and Thanksgiving banging on the door as soon as I return, it just seemed like we needed to get the tree up or risk not being able to do it as a family (just the four of us, I mean) during Thanksgiving week. So last Friday night, we ate take-out and decorated the tree while watching Frosty the Snowman on DVD. It was a great night.

The early arrival of the Dahlby tree allowed me to dig out the Holiday jammies I had purchased on super-clearance at the end of last season. They'll get to wear them for a few extra weeks . . . so see, I'm trying to make the most of my money in some areas. :)

And that's what's up around here.

Am I Cool Enough?

Am I cool enough for these glasses?

I found these today, and I'm wondering if I can pull them off. If so, Jim wants to wrap them up and give them to me as a Christmas present. (Less shopping for him, less returning of items for me!)

What do you think?

Working Girl

I've been working some lately . . . soliciting some shoots because I miss being behind the camera. This time of year is so busy for photographers, and I've endured it for the past 3 years in a row. I complained the whole time about how hard it was to work and handle the girls. This year, I backed way off the photography to save myself from exhaustion . . . and it feels strange NOT to have a lot of work to do.

And when I look at my images, I miss the work even more. I love doing this. I'm so lucky to have a hobby that helps provide our family with a little extra 'fun money'. And I'm so lucky to have a hobby that -- dare I say it? -- I'm good at. Taking pictures makes me feel good.

Here are my favorites from a couple of my recent shoots . . .