Ariella - Snow Angel!

We had our first snow of the season a week ago, and I dressed Ariella up in 2 layer of pants, 2 layers of shirts, a winter coat, socks, boots, and gloves! We were only outside for maybe 5 minutes. But, Ariella made a snow angel, and I pushed her on her little round snow sled down the hills in our backyard. Fun times for her first snow!!!

I feel soooo much better today!

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Ariella's had a cold for the past 4-5 days, which has meant stressful crying in the morning when I go to clean her eye (clogged tear duct which is really bad during a cold) and clean her nose. Also, for the past 2 weeks, she had stopped sleeping through the night and was waking up to eat once or twice a night!

Last night, though, Ariella slept from 9:30pm to 4am! And, there was no crying in the morning when I had to clean her eye (which was MUCH better) and her nose (which was also MUCH better). The reason - we bought a Vicks warm air vaporizer thing. We had been using a cold air humidifier (which is what the doctor had recommended the first time Ariella had a cold - she's only been sick 2 times so far), but it wasn't doing anything really. So, I asked Tyree to get this one on the way home.

I feel soooo much better today! It's amazing what a little extra rest and a non-stressful morning can do. :-) So for babies with stuffy noses/cough/cold, if you don't have the Vick's warm air vaporizer, give it a shot. It was like a miracle thing for me.

Ariella Meets Santa!

Last night we went to a Winter Social hosted by our local school system. Ariella was able to meet Santa, and he was a huge hit with her! After a short time of just looking at him in fascination, she started smiling and laughing. Then, she and I posed as snowmen. It was a fun party. There were a lot of older children (2 years old and up), so it was hard to find babies her age to try to meet other parents. I did see a lady from the playgroup that we attended last Thursday, though. It was sponsored by the same group. Hopefully as I go to more of the play group meetings, I'll be able to start to make some parent friends. It meets about twice a month.

Our Shutterfly Christmas Card 2010!

Here's what we decided on!

Scarlet Script Frame Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly.com for elegant Christmas photo cards.

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My "Me" Day

I'm on my "me" day today. I took a vacation day today, and I went to open aerial trapeze class and practiced my routine 4 times! Then, I got dry ice and shipped off my 2nd and probably final milk donation - 265oz. On the way home I stopped and got the oil changed in the car. Now I'm home, just pumped and am watching some tv, just relaxing and wrapping some Christmas presents! It's been a wonderful extended Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving!

For Ariella's first Thanksgiving, I decided to go all out and make a full Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey and whole dinner came out amazing! I had one of those turkeys with the buttons that pop up once they're done. Ariella had turkey, green beans, and homemade cranberry sauce. She went to town with the turkey and green beans. She picked it up with her hands and put quite a bit in her mouth.

She made the funniest face with the cranberry. I guess it was too tart for her. I mixed it with apple sauce, but I guess without added sugar, it wasn't that great. But, I liked it well enough, so it didn't go to waste. She's really gotten the hang of eating with her hands. She ate a lot of turkey and green beans! It was very exciting.

I also made gravy, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, creamed spinach, canned cranberry sauce (for Tyree and his mom), and apple pie (pre-made, just had to bake it)! It was a full morning of cooking, but it was well worth it.

Holiday Cards - Shutterfly

We haven't traditionally done holiday cards, but with Ariella here this year, we're extremely excited about making our cards to send out to friends and family.

I immediately thought of using Shutterfly to make them, since that's where I've made Ariella's photobooks in the past. Here's the most recent one that I made:

Click here to view this photo book larger

Then, for Christmas, I made 2 ornaments:

Blank Project Pewter Ornament

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

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and

Blank Project Ceramic Ornament

Unique party invitations and greeting cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Now it's time for the Holiday cards. I think I'm going to do this one:
Scarlet Script Frame Christmas 5x7 folded card. I think it's very classy, and it lets me use 2 pictures - 1 main picture on the front and another on the inside of the card. Plus, I can add a personalized message.

I also made a desk calendar for Tyree for a Christmas present (Ssssshhhhhh! Don't tell!)

It's so much fun doing pictures and making picture projects since we have a baby! I can't wait to see how our Christmas photo cards turn out. There are so many choices to choose from, and it's so easy to upload my pictures. The hardest part is going to be figuring out which pictures to use. Ariella is beautiful in all of the, so it's going to be hard to decide. :-)