Christmas 2010

We had the best Christmas! It started with Josh being off Thursday and Friday. Wednesday night, we got a sitter for a few hours and Josh and I went to dinner then split up to do some last minute shopping. When we got home we wrapped presents together and watched The Family Man (one of my holiday favorites!) Thursday we took Alex to the doctor. She has had a persistent cough for 2 weeks and started running a 102 fever. She was also telling me the inside of her ear hurt. We wanted to get her in before Christmas in case it got worse. She just got an antibiotic and we were on our way. We let Alex stay up late every single night. We stayed up late snuggling and watching movies!

Christmas Eve we didn't do much. We snacked around for lunch and watched The Nutcracker. The only one we could find on Netflix was a version from the 80's. I didn't think it would hold Alex's attention, but she LOVED it. The girl loves her some Nutcracker music. We must have listened to it 20 times over the last 5 days.
When she woke up from her nap we made cookies for Santa! Alex loves helping in the kitchen.

M&M's are her favorite so she snuck a few before we mixed them in.

After her bath, we followed our Christmas tradition and let her pick 1 present to open! Alex trying to decide which one to open! She ended up picking a gift from Daddy. A set of 6 fairies from her favorite Tinkerbell movies!

Before bed we put out cookies for Santa along with a little card we made for him!

Christmas morning Alex was greeted by Bullseye! Santa knew exactly what she would love! (and thankfully Mommy and Daddy helped Santa find it months ago!)

My sweet husband spoiled me! He always picks the best gifts, including our family gift...and ice cream maker!

After all the presents we opened, we found one more gift Santa hid behind the couch! A pink Mustang! Alex hopped in the drivers seat and Bullseye took shotgun! Then we showed Alex how to push the gas pedal and she decided she was not a fan of the Mustang! haha After breakfast we took the car outside and after some coaxing we got Alex back in the car and Josh pushed the pedal for her. She liked riding in it, but not pushing the pedal. She finally pushed it herself and decided it was ok! lol

After we threw a few things in a suitcase, we headed to my parents. We had a little lunch then opened more presents. Alex helped everyone unwrap their presents!

Alex and Nomi unwrapping the gift for Nomi she helped me wrap!

Alex in her adorable new cowboy boots!

Then Alex and Nomi made cookies! Alex loves to help roll them out then using the cookie cutters. She says wiggle wiggle wiggle as she used the cookie cutters!

Loving on the sugar cookie mix!

We spent the majority of Sunday snuggled on the couch by the fire before we headed home!

Now we had a couple of days at home before we head to Dallas for Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa, both sets of my grandparents, Christmas with Josh's brothers/wives/kids, a rehearsal dinner and a wedding!

Sweet Memories

There are so many nights in our house that revolve around music and I LOVE it! While Alex napped yesterday, I made myself some hot chocolate, wrapped presents and got caught up on a bunch of recorded shows. Before she woke up, I turned the TV off and put on some music. When I went in to get her up, she had a HUGE smile on her face and said, "Mommy, it's the Nutcracker, let's dance!!!" We danced around the living room for a bit, then she curled up on the couch with a few books and looked through them while we listened to Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty. When Josh got home, we played, had dinner then danced around the living room while Josh played Christmas carols. Alex can sing along to Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bell Rock, and Last Christmas (you know the cheesy Wham! song?!) In the midst of our dancing and singing and just sat and watched Alex twirl around to the music Josh was playing and knew I wanted to remember that sweet moment forever!

Dance Party

Alex loves to dance. Josh plays Christmas carols on the piano and we dance around! Alex is also starting to be very vocal about what she wears...which is why she is wearing a tutu, panties and a tee shirt in some of these pics!
We had a lazy Saturday dancing around the house to the Nutcracker. Alex would copy everything I did!

Abby came over Sunday. The girls had so much fun playing and dancing! They are soo sweet together! It is so cute listening to them talk to each other. They actually carry on conversations now!

Vegas

Josh and I went to Las Vegas Saturday! We had such a great time! We ate, we gambled, we walked and walked and walked, we saw a show, we waited around for security to let us in our room because the lock was broken and we did a little shopping!

We stayed at Caesars. It was our first stay there...and probably our last. The room was just ok, we like Paris better! They do have a few great places to eat like Beijing Noodles #9. The decor was interesting and fun to see...there were huge tanks of goldfish which bothered me. I thought I saw a dead fish and was just kinda creeped out the rest of the meal. It turns out it wasn't dead! Aside from the goldfish, the food was delish! I ordered a drink that had a lychee as garnish, it was odd. A totally weird texture and an interesting flavor.

We went a place called the Red Square (I think) for drinks and appetizers after the show. The food was yummy and they had like 200+ kinds of vodka!

Our last night there, we went to Mesa. We love Bobby Flay so we had been talking about going. I am sooo glad we did! Everything was spicy and wonderful! I had a rubbed pork tenderloin and a sweet potato tamale with pecan butter! Josh had a steak then ordered mashed potatoes with green chilis AND a twice baked potato that was amazing!!!

I didn't even take my camera so I do not have any pics to share! We had so much fun and we got to have some much needed adult time!!!

We were gone Saturday-Wednesday so we dropped Alex off with my mom on Friday. I may have crumbled into a ball on the floor crying when Josh got home because I missed her and I may have shed a few tears during the trip. 5 nights is a long time to be away from my baby! I was sooo excited to get home and hold her! I'll have to post pics later of Alex's adventures with Nomi and Popi!

2010 Christmas Cards

Our Christmas cards are in the mail!!! I tried taking many many pics of Alex and she was not into it at all, so we ended up using one we snapped with her playing under the tree! Here is our final product!

Love Stockings Christmas Card

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View the entire collection of cards.

Cone of Shame

Cooper has been a little neurotic the last few days licking his tail. Josh finally got a glimpse of it this morning and he had a huge bare spot that was raw. I called our vet and they told me to bring him in. They had to shave part of his tail just to see what the problem was. His tail has always looked huge since the fur is sooo long. Now it just looks like a 5 inch long hotdog with a foot of fur on the end. (I'll spare you a pic because it's pretty gross!) Anyway, the doc couldn't pin point what started the problem, but the base of his tail is pretty raw all the way around it because he has been chewing at it. She said it could have started with something as small as a bug bite then he became obsessed with it and now it's raw. If we would have left it untreated, it could have turned really serious. Since his hair is so long, it could have easily gotten infected. Since his tail is fairly thin, the infection could have caused us to have to amputate his tail. THANKFULLY we took in in before we are heading out of town!!! Anyway, Cooper is now on an antibiotic, had a cortisone shot to relieve the itching and is wearing a cone for 5-7 days. When the doctor was telling me everything I was worried about my poor Coop. Then when he got fitted for a cone, and Alex bust out laughing, I couldn't stop laughing either. He is hitting his cone on EVERYTHING and I can't help but laugh. It's easier to laugh now knowing he will be ok!

Alex's Room

We decorated the house a few weeks ago. (Pics will come later.) Alex's room has been an ongoing process. She started out with her small tree we've used in her room the last 2 years but I decided it was time for an upgrade! Here are a few pics of her room and the Christmas decor we have added!

The "A" Christmas tree hanging from her door

(It was actually a gift tag my sister made last year!)

Alex's new pink tree!!!
Her wicky wacky tree Nomi got her!
(and all of her Christmas books!)

Cute little stocking for her room!

Hanging snowflakes and a tree and snowman from Josh's childhood!

ICE!

We went to Dallas last weekend. While we were there we went to see ICE at the Gaylord. Alex liked it, but didn't love it. When she went down the ice slide, she tried stopping herself and fell forward in front of everyone and started crying. After that, she pretty much cried and said she was cold. She was very happy when we were done and walking around the hotel.

The Stafins (2009)

The Stafins (2010)

Mommy's Little Girl

On mornings that we don't have something to do, Alex usually showers with me. Then we get ready together. She sits on the bathroom counter and we brush our teeth together. Then we put on lotion, brush our hair and put on makeup. Alex has her own little set of mini make up brushes. I gave her a palette of cheapo makeup to play with. I love having my little girly girl in the bathroom with me!

Potty Training Update...

Well, we've had a little set back with potty training. Wednesday Alex started having accidents again. She had one accident Wednesday evening and 2 accidents Thursday. She has still been sleeping in diapers. For the first few weeks, her diapers were dry in the morning, but about a week ago, she'd wake up completely soaked and usually with poop. Yesterday for one of her accidents, she actually got in her bed and used the bathroom. We think it may be because we are letting her know it's ok to use the bathroom in bed since we put her down in diapers. We cut out her night time milk and have been keeping late afternoon/evening liquids to a minimum but it hasn't helped.

Yesterday we stopped diapers completely. She went down for a nap and for the night in panties. She woke up from both wet, but no poop. As soon as she got up this morning, we ran to the bathroom and she went poo poo.

I am back to asking her every hour or so if she needs to potty. I have been washing her sheets EVERY SINGLE DAY...sometimes twice a day. Ugh!

Christmas Pics

I decided to take some pics of Alex today so I could get a cute one for our Christmas cards. Here are a few of the outtakes. Actually, I didn't use any of the pics I took today. I ended up picking one we took last week. Our Christmas cards are now ordered! I can't wait to see them!

3 years ago...

Three years ago a skinny little collie stole our hearts. Josh and I had been talking about getting a dog and we came across the Houston Collie Rescue. We saw a super skinny collie named Max. We could tell he was beautiful, just needed some love and a few pounds! We emailed the group and soon found out Max was being fostered in College Station by a family that lived 5 minutes from us! They agreed to bring him to our house on a Friday evening. We saw him and immediately knew he was the one. Linda and Gary offered to let him stay for the weekend so we could see how he did with us. We were going out of town the next day so he only stayed one night then they picked him back up. On the way back in town, we stopped and got a few supplies. Cooper came home as soon as we got back. Our first mission was to pick a name. Max didn't suit him so we named him Cooper, after our favorite BBQ place in Llano! Cooper completed our family before we knew it. 3 weeks after we got him, I found out I was pregnant with Alex!

Cooper has his moments, but he is the best dog. He adores Alex and is soo gentle with her. He is a snuggler and will let me just lay on him and hold him. He is the perfect dog for our family!

Like Father, Like Daughter

We had a great weekend! I absolutely love my weekends with Josh and Alex!

Saturday afternoon we helped Axel celebrate his first birthday. The funny face glasses were one of the favorite favors!

Techie

Alex's favorite toy is my phone. I have a few apps that she plays with, but her favorite is ShapeBuilder. She will lay on my bed and do puzzles while I get ready. It's great! She threw a few fits when it was time to put the phone down so now I tell her we will stop playing when...I'm done getting ready, when I get out of the shower, or whatever. That has seemed to work so far! She also loves watching videos on my phone. My mom sends me short little clips of Bo, Annie and Stoney and Alex will watch them over and over and over again!

I am looking forward to our weekend. We are doing a little shopping Saturday then we have a birthday party. Sunday will be our day to relax (and there is a very big possibility all the Christmas stuff will be coming down because I just can't wait!) This is actually our only weekend with little to no plans until 2011.

Sleeping Beauty

Last Monday, Alex decided to stop napping all together. Since then she has taken 1 nap. It was on Saturday and only because Abby was here and she took a nap. I've been keeping our afternoons super busy so we don't go crazy at home. Today my windshield was being replaced (finally!) so we were at home from about 12:30 on. Alex actually cried because she wanted to leave the house. She gave me suggestions of Chickfila, Barnes and Noble, Target and HEB. She asked for a snack around 4:20 so I gave her a bowl of pretzels. A few minutes later I looked at her and saw...

It was hilarious! I grabbed my phone, took these pics and sent them to Josh. I then realized she still had food in her mouth so I woke her up so she could finish eating. I tried taking her bowl away and she cried so I took most of the pretzels out and let her keep it. She finished them and has been snuggled on the couch since. I know she's tired, but she won't go back to sleep. Actually, at this point, I don't want her to sleep since she'll be going to bed in a few hours!

Alex and Abby

Alex and her bestie reunited for a sleepover this weekend! We picked Abby up Saturday morning after breakfast and she spent the night with us. The girls play sooo well together and have had a blast. It was soo much fun having both of them together again!

Alex and Abby (October 2008)

Alex and Abby today!

ignore that Alex has on Halloween shirt! We had baked ziti

for dinner so I put this old shirt on her in case she spilled!

Toy Story time!