My first Santa Visit

Well, today was the day. Izzy got to see Santa for the very first time. We have been preparing for this day for weeks. I've been reading Santa books, singing Santa songs, practicing the "ho ho ho's" and even watching from afar. And today, my very happy, extremely social baby girl smiled at Santa. It was going swimmingly until daddy set her down on his lap. Suddenly she began screaming and climbing her way out of his lap. Daddy sat next to her and she screamed. Mommy sat next to her and she screamed. She only stopped screaming when we picked her up. I did manage to get a few pictures of the event. Enjoy!

These are in reverse order. Sorry!

A Few Birthday Pictures

Here are some pictures from Izzy's birthday party.

This was Elizabeth's cake. 

Cake number 2

The food table

Not so interested in the cake...

Birthdays

Wow...so much has happened since last I've been here. It seems as though every time I sit down to write, I can't bring myself to write all that is in my head. So, I put it off a little longer. The biggest and most exciting thing lately is that Elizabeth is no longer our baby. She is now officially our toddler! I suppose I could have called her that back in October when she began walking, but now there is no denying it! Why is that? Because December 6, our little Izzy turned 1 year old!!

(Look for photos to come)

We did celebrate by throwing her a big party. I know, I know, she wont remember it-but I will. We invited around 45 people (and if you've ever been to our house you will agree that that was just crazy). I have no idea why we thought that having that many people in our itty bitty house was a good idea. But I just prayed it would work out. Then I realized that the party was in December-the cold and gray and sometimes rainy month. For 3 weeks before the party, I prayed that we would have nice weather. The forecast didn't look promising. As the days drew nearer, the weather turned colder and colder. I started to feel panicky. Then when Saturday morning rolled around, I woke up and looked outside and for the first time, I saw blue sky!! I was thrilled. 

The house was cleaned and decorated (in all red and white. It was a candy cane theme). The food was cooked and the cakes ordered. (That is for a whole 'nother blog!) We were ready. Except for one little detail. We had a no-nap birthday girl on our hands. All in all it was fine. She loves being the center of attention, and she loves being around people. Both of those worked in our favor. It was great until it was time to do the cake. That is when the poor baby could no longer keep her eyes open and she fell asleep. Thankfully, everyone didn't mind giving her a half hour nap. Cus when we woke her up, she was rearing to go! (Photos to come)

I hate saying that I don't have any pictures to post yet, but it seems that both John and I were so busy that day that we forgot to take pictures. Luckily, a good friend of ours took pictures. Now we are just waiting for him to pass them on. I'll add them ASAP!

And for the first time in (almost) 31 years, I can actually let my own birthday fall to the wayside. My own birthday is in 2 more days and I just realized that! It is amazing how priorities change when you are a mom! I plan on spending my day at home baking with Elizabeth and taking her to see Santa! (look for those photos too!)