christmas 2015

Merry Christmas to all!  As you can see, ours was a great success.  

i'm not sure what to call this post besides "hello, here are a lot of cute baby photos"

Since this blog is both a diary for me personally and the world, I wanted to update it with some of my favorite photos from the past few weeks despite not having much time to write about what we've been up to!  I hope you enjoy these, as we have really been enjoying the holiday season with Claire and our families.  

I loved this sweet photo of Claire and my mom taken on Thanksgiving morning.  

And a rare NON SELFIE photo of the two of us together!  

The weekend after thanksgiving we went to a German Christmas market in St Louis, where Claire and this little boy entertained themselves with ROCKS for about half an hour.  On the bench into a pile!  OFF the bench in a tiny rock storm!  

These photos of some of the magic at the Missouri Botanical Gardens toy train exhibit are some of my favorite ever - I've decided next year we must get one of those trains that runs around the base of the tree!  

Unfortunately claire did NOT enjoy the lights.  Not one bit, in fact, and we had to race out while strangers with children gave us stares of solidarity.  NO THANK YOU TO LIGHTS for at least this year, says Claire.  

Santa, however, gets a big thumbs up.  And babies who smile for Santa in the pretty outfits their mothers painstakingly chose for them.....well, they get mall popcorn after picture time.  

We've had freakishly warm weather in December this year  (it is sixty degrees outside as I type this) and while it doesn't feel particularly festive I would be lying if I said we weren't enjoying it because we definitely are.  

And then a little toddler mischief from the other night - this happened in about 5 seconds of her being alone in her room.  

Claire & Mingo the Flamingo.  Possibly my best Anthropologie purchase ever.  

 That's all folks!  See you on the flip side of Christmas and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  

siri says

I have the CRAZIEST week (expect me to say that every week this month, like everyone else!) So today I just wanted to post a few of my favorite photos from the Thanksgiving holiday, with very little commentary.  Without further adieu...

I was basically obsessed with Claire's Thanksgiving outfit - and can we talk about those fox socks??  99 cents at Old Navy!  

We played Jingle Bells on the piano roughly 10 times...I think she has a musical future!  

And THEN she fell asleep on me on Wednesday, something that basically never happens anymore.  I might be paying for that now, as the last few nights she's been much more demanding with her bedtime routine and frankly everyone's a little exhausted.....it could also be from the excess of being out of her routine but hopefully we can get it back on track soon!  Until then, coffee.  

"Helping" me get ready for a holiday party.  

Pancakes on Sunday morning!  

Running with the theme of naptime cuddles, and rough bedtimes, Claire has been verrrrrry clingy lately and we've been doing lots of wearing again.  

She is exhausting but she sure is adorable.  I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving and are not *too* stressed out by Christmas' approach!  

Happy Holidays, xo

the weekender: vacation edition

Was it cruel of me to open on this photo?  I'm sorry, I just could not resist!  It's kind of hilarious - life with a toddler, one minute you're hanging ornaments and the next it's all coming crashing down.  Literally, in this case, because this is when I realized that these bulbs were glass and thus quite breakable, making it impossible for her to continue "helping" me string them along the front porch. 

For the record, I'm not typically a proponent of pre-Thanksgiving Christmas decorations, but since we were leaving for an entire week right before Thanksgiving I knew it would majorly stress me out to have to rush to put them up, so I gave in!  

Then we went to Florida! 

Full disclosure - I am mega proud of this pic.  Earlier that day I ran my fastest 5K ever (23 minutes!!) and I have to attribute that all to the Tone It Up Fit For Fall #charitychallenge that I completed the previous week.  100 miles over those 12 weeks along with god knows how many burpees but it was totally worth it.  For the record, I didn't lose or gain a single pound, but my fitness level changed noticably!  Next week I'm starting the Kayla Itsines Bikini Body guides, which I've heard are both amazing and somewhat grueling.....wish me luck!  

Aside from pool time we spent evenings playing games...

and even made a trip to Disney one evening for Mickey's Magic Christmas Party!  

Claire looked like that for 90% of the trip, but she did ride It's a Small World and The Haunted Mansion!  

Then we did an adults only day at Universal Orlando, the highlight of which was obviously the Harry Pottery parks of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley!  

We bought Claire a little souvenir home, to keep for a few years from now when she's old enough for the books....

Claire was basically an angel on the flight down, but more challenging to keep still and entertained on the flight home, which directly intersected her nap time.  I thought this might mean a sleeping baby during the flight, but NOPE.  AND THEN THIS HAPPENED.  Right when we landed, of course.  

Okay, so now that our vacation is over I'm officially declaring it the holidays!  Our tree got a little Mouse magic of its own...here's Claire pointing out our newest ornament addition.