Eliza's Christmas Tree

This year Eliza is very excited about Christmas, so I thought it might be fun for her to have her own little tree in her room. My original thought was that I wanted to get a pink tree for her room, but when I stumbled upon this little guy at the dollar store, I knew it was a perfect fit.

Eliza and I had so much fun decorating this tree and the best part was that I spent only $5 for everything. I picked up the tree, the beads, the jingle bells and two packages of the little stars for just a dollar each! Now that's a deal! We used left over orange and pick ribbon to tie into the colors in her room and the orange butterfly from the top of the tree is normally part of the flower arrangement that sits on her dresser. I really like the way it turned out.

Thanksgiving:The Sequel

This year we were lucky enough to have two wonderful Thanksgiving dinners with family. Our first one was on Thanksgiving, and our second one was on the following Saturday at Stephen's parents house.

Unfortunately I didn't get too many pictures from that day . . . . too busy stuffing my face with LOTS of yummy food! When I did remember to get my camera out, I soon realized that Eliza was not much in the mood for smiling or looking at the camera.

Eliza was very excited to see her Aunt Jeanne and even more excited to eat Aunt Jeanne's fabulous sweet potato casserole. She told me many times that "the orange mashed potatoes were her favorite!"

Daddy and his "mini me". I definitely think that Eliza looks like her Daddy.

Eliza wanted to have her picture taken with her Aunt Sonny because they were both wearing purple.

Our sweet friend Ellen came in to spend the weekend with us and Eliza was so excited to see her. She was even more excited when she realized that Miss Ellen had brought her a new game that included jewelry (Pretty Pretty Princess).

I had high hopes of getting a really cute picture of Eliza and her cousin Jacob, but by this time Eliza was pretty much done having her picture taken.

We had a great day and our blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives.

Thanksgiving

We had a terrific Thanksgiving break. On Thursday afternoon we headed out to Steve's Aunt Betty's house for a fabulous family get together. Besides the fact that some one's burnt orange shirt was ruined in what is now being referred to as "The Great Green Bean Debacle of 2010", we had a great time.



Eliza was quite enamored with Aunt Betty's piano. She sat there for the longest time "playing" and singing. But what really made me laugh was the fact that as she played the piano, she would occasionally flip the page of the sheet music as if she was really playing and reading the music.

Eliza also loved having sweet little girls to play with. Steve's cousin Mike and his family came in from San Antonio and Eliza was just thrilled that Quin and Delilah were there. Quin and Eliza had not seen each other in almost 2 years but they were fast friends and had spent the majority of their time running around the back yard with the dogs.

We don't see Steve's cousins that often but everybody always seems to have a great time when they are together. We had a great day spending time with family and celebrating all that we have to be thankful for.

3 Boyfriends

Today as we were driving to school, Eliza announced that she had three boyfriends. I was prepared to hear the names of some boys in her class but instead she announced that her three boyfriends were:

Diego wasn't that much of a surprise because every time she watches "Go, Diego Go", she says, "Diego is my boyfriend."

I really wasn't expecting to hear that Pablo the Penguin was one of her boyfriends. At one point in time, The Backyardigans was her favorite show, but it was knocked off the favorite post long long ago.

and then there was Paul. . . . . I guess he really is everyone's favorite Beatle.

So Long Mo Mo

From the very beginning, Eliza was a girl in love with her pacifier, which we refer to as MoMo. As an infant we gave her MoMo as much as she wanted. MoMo calmed and comforted her. We always made sure that we had plenty on hand and we definitely never left home without a MoMo. It didn't matter if she was inside or outside . . . . where ever Eliza went a MoMo was sure to follow.

After her first birthday, we began to limit her MoMo time. She was no longer allowed to have it when ever or where ever. . . . there were MoMo rules. She was allowed to have MoMo when she was sleeping (that included naps and nighttime). We also let her have it when she was sick or if we were in the car for over an hour. (That was really more for our sainity than anything else!)

Now that Eliza is approaching three, I knew the time had come to say so long, farewell to MoMo for good,but Eliza was not necessarily a willing participant in this endeavor. She told us multiple times that she really needed her MoMo.

On Saturday morning I found a copy of this book at my favorite resale store and I quickly added it to my basket.

After reading this book multiple times on Saturday and changing the word "pacifier" to "MoMo", we faced our first MoMo free bedtime. We all survived and can now proudly say that we are officially a MoMo free home.

Even though I am super proud of what a big girl she has become, I have to admit that getting rid of her MoMo's made me slightly sad. It is just another reminder that she is no longer a baby . . . it is this type of realization that makes me wish that I could slow time down. . . . just a little bit.

Want Something for Free?

I remember once that Oprah did a episode about the odd and unusual things that people would take if you offered it to them for free. Oprah is known for giving away cars and vacations, but on that particular episode she gave away shoes without a match, used make up and stacks of used printer paper and amazingly people took them.

I am all about the free but . . . . .used printer paper? Seriously?!? Lucky for all of us Shutterfly is offering all of us something really useful . . . . . 50 Free holiday cards!!

(Click here to check to learn more about this opportuniuty.)

I have used Shutterfly in years past to create our holiday cards and I love that their selection of card choices goes on and on and on. No matter what kind of card you are looking for . . . . classic, contemporary, fun - loving . . . . . they have it. You can click
here to view their selection of holiday cards.

Here are a few of my favorites for this year's card:

I really like how the brown looks with the red and the green snowflakes.

I think the pictures inside of the ornaments are so cute and I like that there is enough space to write an actual message.

I like this choice because I don't have to just pick one or two photos, there is room for all of my favorites!

The other reason I LOVE Shutterfly this time of year is because you can also create personalized calendars . Each year the grandparents recieve an "Eliza" calendar that I have easily created thanks to Shutterfly.

You can also find stationery, wall art and invitations at Shutterfly.

If you haven't done so already . . . .take a few minutes to check out this site. You won't be sorry!

Trtick or Treat

Eliza was very excited about the idea of going out in the neighborhood to get candy, however she was not very excited about posing for pictures first.

I think I took at least 40 pictures of her and in 90% of them, she is looking away.

In August, when Eliza decided that she would be Snow White, she also decided that her Daddy would be "the monster". Luckily she has a Dad that is willing to do just about anything for his girl.

Our sweet next door neighbor was dressed as a fairy and Eliza kept saying, "Her wings are butiful Mommy!" In case you are wondering why Eliza's mouth looks slightly blue, it is because she had already started eating the candy that her Aunt Kristin brought her.

Eliza really enjoyed trick or treating but she wanted me to go to the door with her - she wasn't quite brave enough to go it alone - maybe next year.

This picture makes me laugh because the nicest couple live in this house but their blow ups and scary music were enough to send this princess running for her mom and dad.

Pumpkin Painting

Artificial Pumpkin . . . . . . on sale half price at Michael's for $2.99

Paint and paint brushes . . . . . Free - luckily we already had plenty of paint to select from in the craft box

Disney Princess Stickers (applied after the pumpkin dried) . . . . . . . $1.99 from Michael's

A beautiful afternoon spent on the patio painting with my little Picasso . . . . . priceless!

Halloween Parade

Last Friday, Eliza's daycare held their Halloween parties and parade of costumes. Eliza was so excited about having the opportunity to wear her costume to school - she talked about it all week long. Since this was her first Halloween party (her day care only allows those two and older to have parties), I decided to take a personal day so I could be there.

Snow White was excited and ready for the parade to begin.

Each class had the opportunity to walk around the school and show off their costumes to the other classes. I was amazed at how well all of the kids in Eliza's class behaved. The lined up with ease and followed all directions to perfection. I have always liked Eliza's teacher, Miss Dina, but I now realize that this woman really does have the patience of a saint. Eliza's class has 17 kids in it, only 4 of which are girls . . . She is my new hero!

Apparently Disney characters are big with the two year old crowd. . . two of Eliza's buddies were Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell.

I think the Cat in the Hat was my favorite costume - truly precious.

After the parade was over, it was time for a fun lunch and treats. I guess parade walking makes you very hungry because these kids chowed down.

I know Eliza had a great time because she keeps asking me when she gets to wear her costume to school again . . . . only 363 days to go . . . Let the countdown begin!