Christmas Recap

We spent a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my parents' home in Issy. Ron graciously agreed to spend the night even though it makes him feel like a teenager. Although this is a "bad thing" for him, it is exactly the thing I love about being at my parents' for special time of year! Thanks, Ron! We arrived in the afternoon on the 24th so that I could assist my mom in the kitchen, Ron could take a nap, and Lia could play trains with grandpa for hours on end. My brother, Eric, and his family joined us for my mom's traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings and the little, family program afterwards. After the program, we were surprised by a rare visit from Santa himself (well, really my parents' next door neighbor, but the kids had NO idea). My niece ran straight to him to give him a hug, my nephew (who is a year older than my niece) ran the other direction, and Lia just stared in amazement for several minutes before saying 'Santa' over and over again. After visiting with Santa and discussing the matter of naughty or nice, we tried to take a group picture with Lia on his nap. That didn't go very far (see picture below). Lia continued to say "Bye Bye Santa" over and over again after Saint Nick left. The most adorable moment was when I heard her say "Bye Bye Santa" after I had tucked her to bed and walked out of the bedroom. After everyone had left and my dad, Ron, and baby were all in bed, my mom and I turned off all of the lights (except for those on the tree) and talked til 11 pm. What a rare treat that was!
Christmas morning started off with a delicious breakfast and then the unwrapping of the gifts while dodging numerous phone calls. We all went our separate ways after a turkey sandwich lunch. Ron and Lia went home for Lia's nap and I joined my parents to visit Eric and Reb's house. My mom and dad dropped me off on their way to Port Orchard to spend the evening with my other brother. Ron, Lia, and I enjoyed a nice, mellow Christmas evening at our house where we ended it by watching Juno, one of my gifts from Ron, after Lia went to bed. It was a wonderful Christmas this year. Can't wait for the next one!

Like grandfather, like granddaughter. Lia cannot get enough of her grandpa's Lionel trains that date back to his childhood.

Lia crying her eyes out next to Santa and her cousins on Christmas Eve.

Helping Lia open one of her gifts with a doting grandma overhead.

Merry Christmas

From our house to yours!

22 Months Review!

Well, Lia hit her 22 month mark today. We are basically staring at her second birthday in the face at this point. So hard to believe. Lia is such a happy, energetic little girl that just brings smiles and laughter into our home on a daily basis. What a joy it is to be her parents! Here is a quick blow-by-blow of her developments the last month.

1. Lia found her first freckle and it is just the cutest thing. It is located at the top of her foot/front of her ankle on her right leg. When she first found it, I was sitting right next to her and she immediately thought it was an "owie." After I corrected her and told her it was a freckle, she started calling it a "circle." We finally got it straight and now we discuss and locate her freckle on a daily basis. She especially loves it when I kiss it!
2. Lia is obsessed with flushing toilets. Up until recently, she would go into one of our bathrooms and start flushing the toilet over and over again. Me no likey as we pay for every flush in our house! :-) However, we have recently gotten this under control as Lia is the designated flusher whenever I use the toilet for myself or one of her dirty diapers. Bet you really wanted to know that...
3. Thanks to Ron, Lia has fallen in love with having circles, triangles, squares, etc. drawn on her hands with ballpoint pens. She can often times be found requesting a shape with pen in hand. However, my dad truly took it to a new level the other day when he started drawing shapes on her belly. Is this going to lead to a full-body tattoo one day?
4. Lia has developed an aversion towards all things dirty. She constantly points out "messes" now and requests to have her dirty hands cleaned off half way through meals.
5. Since we TRY to keep Lia's pacifier sucking to her bed only (it doesn't always work), she is in the habit of taking it out once we pick her up out of the crib. However, she has gotten a little fancy on us and will now spit it out instead of taking it out with her fingers. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's so funny.
6. Lia discovered a new sport while hanging out in our bathroom recently. She enjoys "riding the tub" while waiting for me whenever we are in there together. If you don't know what "riding the tub means," just think of what riding a horse looks like and then substitute the horse for a tub.
7. Lia has developed an interest in certain songs and will now request them by saying the title. Her current favorites are "Jingle Bells," "Rockabye Baby," and "Twinkle Twinkle."
8. Lia's talking is out of control. She talks all the time. In fact, it has gotten to the point where I just expect her to talk out all of her wishes, concerns, and desires. I am not even going to attempt to record her new words of the past month, but some favorite sayings of mine are "Baby funny" when she thinks she is, well, funny, and "Carry you" and "Help you" when she really means "Carry me" and "Help me."
9. For some reason, Lia has developed a desire to take off her sleeper pajamas in the morning after breakfast. She can be found requesting, "Off," while tugging at her zipper. When I do give in, Lia then freely frolics around the house in her diapers while it is 30 degrees outside. Makes sense to me.
10. Lia has gotten to know some of her board books so well that she can quote some of the lines from specific pages while we are reading them together. In fact, she sometimes also uses these quotes to request reading the books in the first place. Such a smart baby.

The theme for the month's pictures are unusual spots where I have found Lia sitting:

1. In her baby doll's stroller while coloring.

2. In one of my baskets that she "drove" (like a car) into the kitchen.

3. On the coffee table that she dragged up right next to the TV where she watches Nemo while frying her eyes out.

Holiday Happenings...

We have been a little busy these past few days participating in some of the festivities of the season. Although we are best known as social recluses, Ron and I actually had three Christmas parties this weekend...one on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. How on earth did that happen? In addition, my mom, Lia, and I headed into downtown Seattle on Monday to soak in the holiday fun in some of the hotels and department stores. I don't know about Lia, but after all of this, I think that I am ready for a long winter's nap! :-)

Lia decked out in her snowflake, holiday sweater ringing a jingle bell before Ron's work party on Friday night.

Lia jingling all the way. She has fallen in love with this holiday song and requests it all the time.

On Saturday night, Ron and I hosted a little Christmas party for anyone in our church that wanted to come. Only 15 people showed up, but we had a good time anyway dining on potluck goodies and playing a rousing white elephant game. We had Lia all ready for bed before the group showed up. After grazing off of our plates, she spent most of an hour trying on our guests' shoes and walking around the house in them before being put to bed. Such a funny baby!

Serving up!

After most of our guests left, Ron and his two UFC boys found their way to our couch to partake in some of the "UFC's Best 100 Fights of All Time." Good grief.

Sunday wrapped up the weekend o' parties with my mom's extended family Christmas party at my aunt's and uncle's house. Here is Lia in holiday sweater #2 looking as cute as can be!

The Hartland Fam. Ron and I look really tired in this picture...I think we need a vacation.

My uncle starting up the family program portion of the evening.

Riley and Lia climbing over their favorite jungle gym during the program..a.k.a. grandpa.

Monday, my mom, Lia, and I headed to Seattle to check out a few of the holiday sights and sounds. First stop was the Sheraton Hotel to check out their annual gingerbread house display in their lobby. This year, the theme was Christmas movies. Above is the Nightmare Before Christmas gingerbread house.

And The Polar Express gingerbread house.

After the Sheraton, we wandered around the Westlake mall and hit up the food court for lunch. Here is Grandma and baby in front of the large Christmas tree outside of the mall.

We went to both Nordstroms and Macys to take a gander at the outside window displays and the decor inside. Here is the traditional star outside of Macys building that originally was the Bon Marche. Glad to see that this tradition has stayed the same as so many of the other downtown ones are now gone.

Lia and I inside the holiday section of Macy's where Santa and the long waiting-line can be found (that we did NOT wait in).

As close to Santa as Lia got that day. Sorry baby!

An ornament my mom found on one of the Macy's trees. I need to make it my mantra as I don't take to those Plan B's so well. :-)

The End of Summer

I know, by the title of this post, you must be wondering what is going on. The end of summer in December? I actually ripped out all of our gardens in November and, as a result, picked a HUGE bushel of green tomatoes off of our four plants before pulling them out of the ground (do you like how I had a reason to use the word "bushel?'). Anyways, over the past several weeks, I have slowly been using up this massive crop of tomatoes a little at a time. Whenever a green one would start to ripen and turn orange, into the house it would go from the garage. When I would have enough red ones, I would then make a huge batch of salsa that we would then eat over the next two weeks. At that point, a whole new batch of tomatoes had ripened and I would make the salsa all over again! Well, yesterday, I officially used up my last ones for a family Christmas party we had at my aunt's and uncle's house. Pretty amazing considering it is December! However, I'm actually a little relieved as I have been juggling large amounts of tomatoes for many months now and am ready for a break and ready to have the space back on my counter top. But, I must say that I am a little annoyed at the thought of having to pay for tomatoes for the first time in FIVE months! Geez.

What I started with...

What I ended with...

A Bownanza of an Evening!

I recently learned how to make both flower and ribbon bows for my daughter's hair. As a result, I went a little crazy one night making a bunch for her. Surprisingly enough, they didn't turn out half bad. Here is the picture of some of my finished products that I managed to snap off the top of my model's head who was very much a "moving target" during this mini photo shoot!

Below you will find the picture I took while madly chasing after my daughter with camera in hand. Although Lia appears to be comfortably settled on the floor playing with her tin o' treasures, she is actually in the midst of a quick floor slide while trying to escape from me and my lens. Love that bow covered head!

Is this normal?

Is this what most one and-a-half-year-old toddlers can be found doing in their crib after being put to bed at night?

My Christmas Gift...

All wrapped up with a bow on top!

P.S. Thank you, Lola, for sending the beatuiful Christmas dress.
P.P.S. Sorry to the person who sat on the pew after us at church today. I hate to be the one to tell you, but your church clothes are COVERED in sparkles from my daughter's dress!

The We-Didn't-See-Santa Parade

There are a few things that I really love about the town I live in and one of those things would most definitely be its small-town traditions. Puyallup hosts a fair each fall, runs a farmer's market every weekend through the spring and summer months, and holds a Santa Parade each December through the old, "main street" part of town. Since Lia is now old enough to appreciate such things, we decided to brave the cold snap that the NW is currently experiencing and head downtown to watch the parade. From the vantage points of papa's shoulders and my lap, Lia thoroughly enjoyed witnessing the many participants of her first Christmas parade from lit-up tractors to marching high school bands to hordes and hordes of girl scouts. And, even though it was a toasty 37 degrees outside, we actually lasted an hour before throwing in the towel (or should I say scarf?) and heading home. The only problem with our early departure was missing Santa on the finale float. Oh well, there's always 2010!

Lia from her observation deck.

Just a really silly picture of my little bug.

Mother and daughter and the December twilight.