December

For what I thought was going to be a quiet December this year turned out to be an extremely busy month!  This post turned into a very large one!

 

We began the month joining Kami, Alaina, and her mom to breakfast with Santa downtown Cedar Falls.  It was a rainy Saturday morning so we were thankful it was all indoors!  McKenna was very nervous around the characters.  She held on tight as we stopped to take a couple pictures.  The girls would not let us set them down so it made it challenging to take a picture (making sure it was in focus) while holding onto a 35 pound kid!

We decided to eat our pancake breakfast first before standing in line to meet the big guy.  As we were waiting to visit Santa we were surprised to meet Santa’s elf Kathy!  She recently retired from the Cedar Falls Schools and we miss her tremendously!  Her husband :) :) is my dad’s boss at the Utilities.  What a fun thing they are able to do together!

Kami and Alaina went first.  Alaina had recently sat on Santa’s lap at the mall and did AWESOME!  We were hoping her braveness (is that a word?!) would rub off on Kenna.  Last year Kenna completely freaked out at the sight of Santa.  I wanted to try again later in the season but daddy didn’t think we should torture her again!

This year Kenna was still pretty scared, not wanting to look at Santa at first.  She warmed up to him a little before our turn was over.  Even though she wouldn’t look at the camera I was proud of her for not crying!! 

Before leaving we thought we’d get a quick picture of the girls by the Christmas tree.  This was not an easy task!  Singing Kindermusik songs at least kept them standing/sitting next to each other, but it didn’t help getting them to look at the camera!  By the end these two little goof balls starting running around the tree chasing each other.  I could picture the tree falling over in front of our eyes while 100 pair of eyes watched two completely mortified moms put the thing back together.  I quickly put this to an end and we packed up and got ready to go home!  

Matt and I attended our first Ugly Sweater Party with Brian and Sam Wingert.  We had Olivia (our neighbor girl) babysit for us.  Thanks to the Brendens for supplying our outfits! 

Grandma Jeanie celebrated her 60th birthday on the 4th!  We were able to help her celebrate on her big day. 

Our downtown has a lot of fun activities for the holidays, majority being free to the public!  Danielle and I decided we should start a new tradition- trolley rides!  We all bundled up for a mild December evening expecting to have to wait our turn outside.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that we could wait in the lobby of the Library!  I actually got a bit fainty because I was overheated and hadn’t eaten!

The owners were the same people that did the carriage ride for Matt and Danielle at their wedding 3 1/2 years ago!  As we went for our ride the lady shared information about their horses.  They are truly amazing animals! 

At the beginning of our ride we had to go past an ambulance that was loading up a patient at MyVerona.  She asked us to be really quiet so we could get past the ambulance safely.  We all were a bit nervous as we listened to them calm their horses down.  “It’s all right Romeo.”  “Juliet, calm down.  You’re okay.”  It was actually kind of funny at the same time!!

As we strolled down Main Street we waved at all the people walking around and we sang Christmas songs.  Ella loved this!  Kenna even sang along.  Her favorite part was shouting “Hey!”  during Jingle Bells!

Afterwards we headed to Toads for supper.  It definitely had that magical Christmas feeling as we walked down the street admiring the beautiful lights.  People were out bouncing from bar to bar (it was a Holiday bar crawl for special Holiday drinks), as well as the Christmas characters.  We ran into Santa and were surprised he was all by himself!  The girls were able to tell him what they wanted for Christmas and we were able to take family pictures with him!  Kenna was actually pretty excited to see him this time!

We splurged and got appetizers and drinks while we waited for our food!  (By this time I was about ready to eat my arm! We all were super hungry!)

As we were eating the crew of characters slowing started arriving, each one stopping at our table to say hi to the girls!  The Elf also started singing carols and asked us all to join in!  It was a such a fun environment!

As we were walking back to the car (after 8:00 by now!) Kenna started crying because she wanted to ride the horses again!  We promised to bring her back next year! 

It was a really fun night and I’m so happy we decided to go.  I’m already looking forward to next December!

My aunt and uncle brought us the Elf of the Shelf last year for Christmas.  I wasn’t sure if McKenna was going to be old enough to get it this year, but we got him out when we got all of our decorations out.  McKenna quickly figured it out since all of our close friends have an elf also!  We tried hard getting her to come up with a name for our elf, but every time we suggested a name she said, “No Elfie.”  (Elfie is the Garvin’s elf!)  We kept the name but we’ll see if next year she decides on a new name! 

Elfie moved often throughout our main level.  We let McKenna figure out when and where he’d moved.  When she figured it out she’d come running to find us yelling, “Elfie moved mommy/daddy!”

An Elf on the Shelf movie came out this year and McKenna’s loved watching Chippy the Elf at daycare.  It’s a cute tradition that we plan to continue next year!

One night while Matt was playing basketball I decided to have Kenna help me fill the gift bags for my students.  I had extra stickers so I gave my helper a sheet.  While I was wrapping my parent volunteer gifts Kenna was decorating her shirt with every last one!  Afterwards I turned on the t.v. and as I was flipping through I found Frosty the Snowman was on!  I had to let her watch it as I loved watching all the Christmas movies when I was a kid.  This may become a new tradition as well!

Saturday, December 9th we went to the annual Zehentner Christmas party while Kenna had a slumber party at my parent’s.  This was the first year I could go and we enjoyed seeing many people we knew.  Unfortunately my camera sat in my purse the whole night!

Sunday morning we ran up to Gallagher to take some pictures for our Christmas card.  Our friend Staci agreed to take them for us!  We had some lighting issues with our favorite picture.  Staci spent a lot of time trying to fix it but we were out of luck.  Luckily we did have one that Kenna was somewhat smiling while looking at the camera!  I had them printed off locally since it was getting pretty late and I was disappointed they turned out so dark.  I guess we’ll try again next year… in NOVEMBER!! :)

Doug and Jani were Staci’s assistants!  They came over after for pizza and a play date!

After Kenna’s nap I tired taking pictures of her by our tree.  Of course Lexi had to be in the pictures!  In order to get her to stay standing by the tree I kept telling her to show Lexi her Georgie ornament and our yellow lab ornament.  I can honestly say those are the only two ornaments she touched the whole month!  (I think it’s because she broke the first one she touched- under daddy’s watch!)

My dad had hip replacement surgery on the 12th.  He had been having problems for quite some time now even though no one would ever know it because the man doesn’t complain!  I was able to take the day off to stay at Sartori with my mom while she waited.  Dr. Eagan was excited with how well everything went.  He kept referring to my dad as young, which was funny to me!  He’s used to working on 80 year old women! 

I promised I wouldn’t take any pictures so I took a picture of his candy bouquets instead.  I’m actually thankful I didn’t take any pictures because seeing my dad in a hospital bed was not my favorite thing in the world.  I actually hated it.  Seeing him so pale and pretty much helpless that first day was NOT fun!

With Sartori being only minutes away we were able to visit him a lot.  One night all of us were there including a couple visitors from work! 

I’m still amazed at how they have hip replacement patients up and moving on day 2.  On Thursday (day 4) my dad had to be able to walk a flight of stairs before being released to head home.  He passed with flying colors!!  We’re so proud of you dad!

We made red Jello Jigglers using Christmas cookie cutters.  This was the first time McKenna has actually eaten Jello!  She normally spits it out!

We also made cookies while daddy played with Lily!

I had a few girls over to decorate cookies.  We wanted to try out our new decorating skills that we learned at our class.  The girls spent an hour and a half working on the frosting, while I attended to a clingy two year old.  Earlier that day we had gone to the doctor and found out she had an ear infection.  He also gave us medicine for her cough.  We’d been up for three nights in a row due to her coughing ALL NIGHT LONG and if he wasn’t going to give us something for it I was going to BEG him.  As soon as we got home I gave Kenna her first pill.  She chewed it perfectly until she realized it didn’t taste very good!  Before bed was a different story.  She was hysterically crying and wouldn’t not take it.  We tried mixing it with applesauce but she would not take a bite on her own.  Nurse Auntie came in and helped us force it down.  After the third and final bite she starting gagging and threw all of it up!  After a few phone calls to the pharmacy and doctor’s office we were able to have a new prescription written for LIQUID!  (I’m still wondering why the doctor didn’t prescribe this in the first place!)

For Matt’s Christmas Party we joined his team at Brown Bottle before going to Mannheim Steamroller at the Gallagher Bluedorn.   Grandma Jeanie watched Kenna so we could enjoy yet another night out with friends! 

The Galles’ invited a bunch of us over for a holiday get together.  There was a “surprise” visit from Santa Claus!

Kenna brought her bestie Alaina a Christmas present.  She kept forgetting that it was Alaina’s present to open and not hers!

The Goetz girls with their adopted sister Kami and niece Alaina!

Watching the little one’s faces was priceless when the man in the red suit came walking through the door!

Ella was the first one to step up to the plate!  It was really cute watching her look into his eyes telling him what she wanted for Christmas this year.  Lily wasn’t quite sure she liked Santa and tried to wriggle out of Ella’s arm to get away from him!

Kenna wasn’t too sure about Santa either.  She started out by putting her head down on Matt’s shoulder so that she couldn’t see him.  Santa gave her his bells to hold and this took her mind off not wanting to see him!  Mommy was proud that we didn’t have any tears again!  When her turn was over Santa gave her a present to open, a new Barbie!

It was magical watching each kid sit next to Santa!

After Santa finished passing out all of his presents he grabbed down Alaina’s Elf of the Shelf from the hutch.  You should have seen the looks everyone was giving Santa!   (You aren’t supposed to touch him!!)  He quickly explained that Santa is allowed to touch his Elf.  Phew! :)

Taking down “Belf” was probably the best thing Santa’s done all year in my eyes!  This seemed to draw the little ones (who were scared earlier) in and they soon had a connection to each other!  Before you knew it Santa had a crowd of little girls around him.  They wanted to show him their new Barbies and they were interested in the baby toy that he’d brought and was holding.

Now that the girls felt comfortable we thought we’d try for a couple more pictures.  McKenna was already trying to sit down next to him so I plopped her up on the bench.  She looked right at me and I quickly snapped a couple pictures.  I so wish Santa was looking at the camera too!      Violet was next and she did great.  Heidi and I were so proud of our girls for sitting next to Santa all by themselves!

We wished Santa could have stayed all night but it was time for him to get back to the North Pole to get ready for Christmas!

The rest of the evening was spent eating supper and hanging out with friends! 

Violet and Jani LOVED Lily.  They both wanted to hold her on multiple occasions!

We wanted to get a picture of the 2 year olds but thought it might be easier if we held them.  We still had a hard time getting everyone to look at the same camera at the same time!  Crazy to think that three years ago we were all announcing our pregnancies and now we have toddlers!

We put in a movie for the little girls hoping to buy a little more time before having to go home!   Kami brought down Alaina’s jammies for the girls!  A pj/movie party with your best friends.  Not sure life can get better than that at 2! 

The big kids did a great job entertaining each other.  It was really nice having some extra hands so that the adults could enjoy some time together!

What a FUN night!  We’re hoping the Galles’ are planning on making this a tradition every year!!

Danielle, my mom, and I made goodies again this year.  It’s a tradition that we were not willing to let pass this year!  With my dad just getting home from the hospital we had the girls stay home and come out later in the evening for supper.  We didn’t want him to be overwhelmed with the commotion of our crazy girlies! 

While we were baking Phil and Ann came over to visit my dad.  With the weather being so nice they decided to walk over with their dogs.  Buddy is one of JayCee’s puppies so we were excited to see him!

Duke is known to be mischievous.  He has come over to my parent’s house ALONE on numerous occasions, crossing Union Road (very dangerous) all by himself.  We joke we’re going to attach a video camera so that we can figure out his path!  Well, as we were baking we heard the door knob turn and we thought someone was here.  A couple seconds later the door opens and a big black nose pushes open the door!!! DUKE!!!  We all died laughing when the Swishers told us they have to lock their doors so Duke doesn’t get out!  A little while later we heard the door knob turn again so I ran to get my camera.  I caught the culprit and his partner in crime!!  Too funny! 

Kenna being a froggy with Mommy’s and Auntie’s matching slippers!

We had an Ugly Sweater day at school!  Our students has just as much fun as we did.  One of my former students said, “Mrs. Lindgren, I think you might win because your sweater is really ugly.  Oh, and I really like your earrings!!!”

One day after school Kenna used her stool to reach the container of decorated cookies.  She begged me for one.  She had part of one leftover but was not interested in finishing it.  “That one.  That one’s my favorite,” she said, pointing at the LARGE gingerbread man!

My 2nd annual Cookie Exchange Party was scheduled for Tuesday the 20th.  At 4:00 that afternoon daycare called to tell me McKenna had just gotten sick.  I arrived shortly after to find McKenna sitting on Shannon’s lap in their front room.  She was crying and they both were covered in puke.  I am forever grateful for Shannon and the way she treats McKenna as her own.  I don’t know many people who allow someone else’s kid to get sick (three times to be exact) all over them! 

As I carried McKenna home (I didn’t want her to get sick again in the car) one million thoughts were going in my brain- “How am I supposed to have a sub the day before break?”  “Why couldn’t it be Wednesday at 4:00?”  “Maybe it was something she ate.  She was totally normal Monday night and all day Tuesday.”  “Maybe it is the flu.  Jordann was sick over the weekend.”  “Should I still have the party at our house keeping Kenna downstairs?”  “Should I cancel the party altogether?”  “Do I dare call Danielle and ask her to have the party in 3 hours?”  After making a few phone calls we decided to have the party at Danielle’s house (she had offered by the way!).  I knew everyone had gone to a lot of work to prepare for the party and I didn’t want to have to cancel because I knew we wouldn’t be able to reschedule.  I sent out a text as well as Facebook message letting everyone know about Kenna’s status.  This allowed them to make the call about whether or not to come!

Well we didn’t scare everyone away!  We had 15 total people which I thought was a great turn out.  (Mandie and Erica left before I got my camera out!)  We had a variety of goodies and enjoyed time to chat with people we hadn’t seen in awhile!  Next year we’ve decided to share the recipe so that we can try out some of these yummy desserts on our own!

McKenna ended up getting sick three more times while I was at the party.  I was proud of daddy for handling her on his own so that I could stay at the party for awhile!  (Even though I felt really guilty leaving my sick girl at home.)  Kenna made it through the night without waking up or getting sick.  This was a relief because I was worried about being up all night with her and then having to work all day!   Matt was able to stay home with her for the morning and I was able to come home at 1:30 since it was an early out day for my students.  She did great all day and was pretty much back to herself by that evening. 

**We found out Wednesday that Shannon, Gene, and two of their kids were up all night Tuesday getting sick.  Can you imagine having both parents sick and two out of four children getting sick at the same time?  Hearing this made Matt and I nervous about who was next to get it!

Thursday the 22nd was our first day of Christmas break!  We snuggled in bed watching PBS before getting up to see the snow that had fallen over night! 

During breakfast I got my camera out to take pictures of her Christmas jammies.  Kenna was finishing up her antibiotic for her ear infection and she decided she would do it all by herself.  Quite the change from the first day she had meds!  I thought I better capture this moment too!

Danielle had sent me a text to tell me there would be a surprise at our door at 9:00.  Sure enough the doorbell rang at a little after 9.  Guess what the surprise was?  A five year old dressed in her winter gear ready to play with her cousin in the snow!!  I kindly sent Danielle a text back saying,  “Thanks for choosing me to play out in the snow!”  :) 

I quickly bundled Kenna up and we all headed out to play in the little snow that was on the ground!  Kenna did not want to be pulled in the sled.  I was surprised as this was her FAVORITE thing to do in the snow last year!  Ella found out quickly that Kenna was boring to play with in the snow so she asked Audrey and Isaac to join us! 

Kenna and I headed in early and we watched the kids play from our picture window.  A little while later I heard something in our garage.  I figured it was the kids bringing Lexi back home.  Nope!  It was Ella and Audrey getting their snow gear off.  They wanted hot chocolate! 

This was Kenna’s first time for hot chocolate.  I’m pretty sure the marshmallows are what sold her on the drink!

After Kenna’s nap she helped me begin wrapping Christmas presents.  Part of the reason I had waited is because she wanted to open anything that was under the tree!  Sure enough her curiosity kept trying to get the best of her.  She kept picking up the wrapped presents telling me she wanted to open them.  I caved and let her open the present under the tree from Matt’s Uncle Chip and Aunt Jill!  A new dolly for her to play with while mommy continued to wrap!

Shannon stopped over a little while later with a gift for Kenna and one for our family.  A fake fish tank for Kenna and a Santa’s Milk and Cookie set for our family!  Kenna LOVES watching her “fishing pole” go round and round.  She’ll lay on her belly and stare at the fish swimming when it’s plugged in on the carpet.  It’s now her nightlight in her bedroom!

We got a call from the Garvins Thursday afternoon to let us know that Matt and Ella had been hit with the flu bug.  They’d just gotten to Davenport to celebrate Christmas with Matt’s family.  : (  Soon after Matt came home early from work because he wasn’t feeling well.  Oh boy, here we go!! 

I had arranged plans with some high school friends to meet down at Toads for a couple drinks that evening.  The only way I was going to be able to go was if I took McKenna along…  It’s a good thing half of our group are moms because they could understand my pain!  McKenna would NOT sit for anything.  She ate/drank everything I had brought for her in the first five minutes and could have cared less for any of the toys I brought along.  Even my phone didn’t keep her attention for longer than 3-4 minutes.  The night consisted of me starting a conversation with someone, getting up to chase her down the hall (she was obsessed with running down the hall by the bathrooms), sitting back down with her, starting up the conversation from where we left off while trying to hold a wiggling child on my lap.  (She wouldn’t say seated in the high chair- there were no straps to keep her locked in!)  It got to the point where she was dodging waitresses carrying platters of food so that’s when I decided we were headed home! 

When I got to the car I had a text from my sister saying that she was now sick and another one from Matt saying that he also had gotten sick.  My stomach instantly started hurting because I was nervous I was going to be next!

Friday afternoon during Kenna’s nap I was able to make some more goodies that I was hoping to find time to do before Christmas.  I started by dipping the Nutter Butter round cookies in chocolate.  We usually like to dip them in white chocolate to make snowmen but they didn’t have any peanut shaped ones this year!  I decided I would make them into reindeer.  This idea came to me while stirring up the chocolate so I had to think quickly on what I could find around the kitchen to help turn them into reindeer!  A red M & M for the nose, black dots from a sprinkles mix, and almonds for the antlers was what I came up with!  I also made some more snowmen with pretzel rods and Oreos.  I was just finishing up the pretzel rod snowmen when McKenna woke up.  She of course wanted to see what was going on in the kitchen.  I had a couple broken rods left so we decided to dip them and let McKenna decorate!  She did NOT like when the chocolate got on her fingers.  This happened every time she went to put something on it!  I was able to capture the face she made each time this happened!  I wiped her fingers off and then about two seconds later I’d have to do it again! 

Making Christmas goodies is a tradition I would like to continue with McKenna.  This is something Danielle and I love to do with our mom and we want that for our kids as well!  Kenna was very proud of her two cute little snowman and her mommy was very proud of her too!  Can you figure out which ones are hers in the pictures?!

Friday late afternoon we met up with the Petries and Oaklands at KT Inflatable Park.  Tom and Jamie were back for Christmas and we wanted to make sure we got to see them!  With the flu recently going through our house as well as the Oaklands, we decided to meet at a neutral location.  After getting there (and seeing the cliental for the day) we laughed because we were probably picking up LOTS of germs being there!

All the kiddos were super busy running from one bouncy house to the next.  Baylor and Jordann taught McKenna how to climb up the really big slide.  She wasn’t going to be the only one not doing it!

Jamie is expecting baby #3 (a girl) in March and Alex is expecting baby #3 (a boy) in May so it was really fun getting to see their growing bellies.  Even though our kids go to the same daycare, it’s not often that I actually see Alex!  The two of them are super cute and we can’t wait to meet their little ones! 

After KT’s Kenna and I joined the Oaklands for supper at Buffalo Wild Wings.  Daddy was still not feeling all that great so he had to stay home.  This was my first time at BWW and we had a great time!  The kids were pretty hungry so it made trying to entertain them a bit tricky before we got our food.  Our sweet waitress brought them some orange slices from the bar after seeing that they were eating the limes of our drinks!  After supper Justin Beiber’s Baby was on the radio.  Kenna and Jordann had a little dance party to the song.  We had a quick picture of what the two of them are going to look like up at the Shark Tank on the Hill in 18 years!

McKenna had her fourth hair cut on Christmas Eve day.  We had been growing her hair out because I wanted to be able to fit it in a pony tail.  We’ve recently found out that McKenna does not like pony tails.  She bawls while I do her hair and then as soon as I’m finished she rips it out!  Kristi cut a lot off and it looks so much better!

Ella had wanted so badly to make a gingerbread house this year.  While at Target I saw them on sale so I thought I’d pick one up so that we could do it over break.  Uncle Matt was home watching the girls because Danielle had to work.  I knew he’d be good help!  : )  Together we were able to hold the pieces together to make the house.  We should have read before we started because it said to wait over 30 minutes to let the house set!  This was not easy with two extremely anxious kiddos! 

While we waited McKenna kept getting into the box of Gingerbread people.  Ella kept asking what candy she could eat.  I wasn’t sure we were going to have anything left by the time the house was dry!  It is still a mystery to where the Gingerbread snowman went.  We aren’t sure if Kenna ate it, if Ella ate it, or if the dogs ate it.  We’re now thinking it may have been Nahla because a couple days later she ended up eating the rest of the people from the box!!

Lily woke up in the mean time so we had yet another helper!  I was not planning on it taking all morning to work on the house but it did!  The girls did a great job of deciding how they wanted to decorate.  Ella was into making patterns (a Kindergarten skill!) and it rubbed off on Kenna.  I would put the frosting on and the girls would put the candy on.  I promised Ella that I would get one again next year, but this time it will be at the beginning of December!

Grandpa and Grandma brought over McDonalds after Grandpa’s doctors appointment.  Then it was time to play with Grandpa’s new cane! 

Olivia watched Kenna while I went to Waterloo for a routine dermatology appointment and a pedicure!

That evening we went over to Parent’s house (aka Dr. Reed and Carol Brenden’s) to watch the Iowa State and Iowa bowl games.  Kenna had a blast playing with Camden (almost 3) and Grace (3).  They were upstairs, downstairs, and back again.  Every now and then we’d find her in the bedroom watching t.v. snuggled under the covers!  Iowa State and Iowa both had rough nights on the field, each loosing by two touchdowns.  Maybe next year!

Daddy ended up getting sick again (this was now the third time in less than ten days) so he stayed home New Year’s Eve while Kenna and I rang in the new year with the Habincks.

McKenna figured out how to make noise while blowing the horns this year!  The kids taught her to put a Hawaiian lei in the horn and then blow it out!

The Habinck kids got Just Dance for Christmas for their Wii and everyone took turns dancing.  Even Kenna joined in on the fun!

Matt and Danielle stopped over for a little bit when she got off work.  Her and I spent a lot of time snacking in the kitchen!  They had AMAZING food!!  Shannon even picked up New Year’s Eve Scratch cupcakes:  Raspberry Vodka & Red Bull, Mudslide, Champagne Vanilla, and Guinness!

We headed home around 10:00 and I’m pretty sure Kenna could have stayed until midnight!  We got home to find daddy was already asleep.  Mommy gave Kenna an extra New Year kiss before putting her down and snuggling in bed herself!  Lights were out by 10:30!

As the year comes to  a close we are reminded to count our blessings.  God has blessed us with amazing family and friends, as well as good health and for that we are thankful.  Looking forward to seeing what the new year has in store!

 

Kenna moments we don’t want to forget:

She LOVES playing at the Garvins.  Sometimes when Danielle picks up Lily from daycare she’ll take McKenna with her.  She’s even started requesting to go to Auntie’s in the morning before school and she’s not happy when I try to tell her she’s going to have to wait until after school!

When putting Kenna in her Christmas dress she said, “I don’t want to be a pretty girl mommy!”

She officially knows all her colors and is working on recognizing letters.  Right now she knows M, K, J, S, and L.

When I ask her who she wants to pray for at the end of our prayer she says, “nothing!”

Hide-and-Seek has become a new favorite game.  “Ready or not.  Here I come!”

Sleeping with one million things is still a must.  It’s beyond ridiculous!  Having her blanket (s) on her back is still sometimes a request.

She likes doing “Up high.  Down low.  Too slow!” with Uncle Robby.  He said he didn’t teach her this so we aren’t sure who did!

Kenna refers to things as her favorite.  Waffles and GoGurts are favorites and have become a staple in her diet.  She will go in the kitchen, get out the waffles from the freezer, get the syrup from the fridge, and get the toaster out from the cupboard!  Fruit snacks, juice boxes, and chocolate milk are also favorites, although she only gets them on special occasions :) (out to eat, church, etc.).

She’s added the word delicious to her vocabulary. 

 The Polar Express became her first movie that she watched from beginning to end.  We were able to snuggle together in my bed the afternoon I was home with her when she was sick.  I happened upon it while flipping through the channels and I was super excited to have that be the first thing we did together over break!

We’ve started letting her watch George before bed hoping that would help her settle down and go to bed easier for us.  It’s definitely helped calm her down but I can’t say it’s been our “cure” for getting her down earlier.

Our one downfall this month was not getting rid of her paci!   She only has it when she’s in bed (unless when she’s been sick!), so that’s a positive, but my plan was to get rid of it at the end of the year.  I guess we’ll just have to add that to our 2012 to do list!