uganda be kidding me + american babe

In the midst of all my Christmas preparations I tried starting my twenty-third book of 2016. I am happy to say that after I got caught up on things, I was able to zip through Uganda Be Kidding Me in just a few days. Oh, it felt good to be on a roll like that!

My fav quote from the book: I stared at the smaller children with deadness behind my eyes, looked at Shoshanna, and declared, "I just don't get the upside of having kids." She regaled me with her perspective: "Chelsea, sometimes I wake up and Russell [three years old] touches my face and says, 'Mommy, you're beautiful.' I stared at her waiting for her to finish. Then I told her, "That's not enough." and went inside for more hummus.

Ugh, girl, I get you. I feel this way even after having some gremlins of my own! They demand all of your attention, all of the time. It's exhausting. Not one for the wary or for the 'on the fencers'.

My least favorite quote from the book: I looked around for somewhere to sit but there wasn't a chair in sight, so i just fell over on my side in the middle of the road and lay there like a melting snowman. I tried to think of a worse experience I had had in life, and all I could come up with was a James Franco art exhibit.

BACK OFF, BISH. I'll be damned if I didn't put the book down right then and there. Lucky enough though I was actually really enjoying her tales. But, don't get me wrong. The statement has gone unforgiven. Ain't nobody puts my baby in the corner! James, if you're reading this I didn't finish the book, I was just trying to appease Chelsea in case she's reading. *I know, right?*

Next up, for my final book of the year is American Babe; the third in the Babe trilogy.

I'm halfway through already so I'm somewhat on track to finish by midnight on New Year's Eve.

Love you, hate you, mean it.
Leia

kennedy's first hair cut

She's five and she has been wanting her hair cut for such a long time. Over the past 6+ months she's been having issues with accidents and we told her once that was under control we would happily reward her with a trip to salon. Well, after a few doctors appointments, testing, and some behavior modifications later I'm happy to say she got what she asked for!

Goodbye, sweet, long baby locks! I shall miss you but not the rats nests that accompany you.

I took her to my favorite salon. Since I haven't gotten my hair cut in over two years I thought the slight splurge on a nice joint was well worth it. She thoroughly enjoyed the hair wash and the scalp massage that you get at the end. My version of a happy ending.

Okay.. here it comes.. the first cut.

Yes, I'm probably totally annoying Bella taking pictures the entire time, but do you think I give a damn?! My first baby is hitting a huge milestone that I don't think I was ever going to be ready for.

She ended up getting it longer than she kept telling me. Each time I would ask her how short she wanted it, she would point to the side of her ears. Yeah, I probably would not have let her go through with that even though it is her hair but she decided on just past her shoulders and I'm happy with it. She looks much more mature and grown up and it honestly brings a tear to my eye.

You bet I kept a tiny lock, too.

Leia

merry christmas ya filthy animal: a photo series

Christmas was wonderful. We hosted my mom and sisters for breakfast and stayed home in our jammies for the rest of the day. Let me say it has been such a huge stress relief not traveling for the holidays. SORRY EXTENDED FAM.

^^ the girls got into their Santa stuff before I woke up since me and the jolly guy in red were up WAY too 'early' setting up. They didn't take off their shoes all morning - sleeping bags will be shared in a different post.

^^ such a grateful mess.

^^ the recipe from this mid-week meal share; substitute blueberries with strawberries and chocolate chips 😋

^^ we tend to be more photogenic than this (haha, who am I kidding) and I swear we do actually enjoy hanging out with each other aside from all the attitude captured in that snap.

We said goodbye to our tree already.

Leia

9th annual christmas brunch

Ah, yes. Brunch at The Gandy Dancer is something I look forward to each year. Since most of us have more than one designated stop on Christmas, my dad; now 9 years ago, planned that we would celebrate Christmas early with a special brunch with presents and refreshments afterwards at his house. Overall, it's a really special day but of course, pictures documenting everything are sparce.

 ^^ hey, we tried. At least their dresses look decent! Pretty proud of myself.

And now time for some presents!

 Little story about this coat. She saw it after we had finished Christmas shopping for her but later that day my dad and stepmom asked her what she would like from them. She promptly told them this coat. I got confirmation that they were able to find one in her size. On our next trip to Target she ran over the coats and was very annoyingly/longingly asking if Medium or Large was an Extra Small even though she already knew the answer and very loudly huffed, "DARNIT, THEY DON'T HAVE MY SIZE." Muhhahahahahaa. Well, really, if you don't change that attitude you won't ever get one in your size either, kid!

 And do any of you recall the little umbrella stroller Piper got for her birthday? Well approximately two days later the cloth seat was ripped after Kennedy was pushing Piper around in it, haha. So naturally she got an upgrade (hopefully more heavy duty version) for Christmas with the same not-letting-it-out-of-my-hand love.

SOMEHOW the front wheel on her new one is already bent. And it's pretty heavy duty so I'm not even sure how she managed to do it.

Eggs benedict fills my soul with cheer.

Leia

24 hour christmas preparation

Yesterday, December 23rd, will forever be known as the day that I was up for 25 hours preparing for Christmas. No, I wasn't wrapping, buying, decorating for this entire time as I spent 12 of the hours at work but I worked my tail off until the wee hours of Christmas Eve when I finally called it quits.

I was entirely too enthusiastic with the amount of handmade projects I took on. The sleeping bags from Santa (with last minute help from my mom), gifts for my sisters and before that, the girls holiday dresses (all of which I hope to give a run down on).

Now for sleep.

Leia

santa claus, the terrible

It's no surprise that Piper is not a fan of Santa, but this year really solidified that for me (and everyone else that was present). Arms out, reaching and all.

The Santa setup this year at our mall of choice was beyond amazing for the kids. In the past it had a woodland theme which turned into Frozen, but this year was definitely one for the books; Santa's Flight School. When you got in line the first step was making your child a badge. They got to take a picture and have it personalized with their name (along with their Elf code name) and which Elf was going to help them through the 'training activity'. Each badge was printed instantly and attached to a lanyard, From there they got to scan them and upon entering the attraction their names were displayed on a screen. SO COOL!

^^ look at her little stance 😍

^^ bahahahahaa, I'm a bad mom

Then they got to explore around, take a flight with their Elf, operate the controls at the North Pole and play with 'snow that never melts'. The flight that each child took was then emailed to you to have forever which was unexpected; I probably wasn't paying attention when they mentioned this.

Finally when we rounded the last corner before Santa, there was one last badge scanner which presumably prompted Santa with the children's names. We rounded the corner and he greeted each of them personally by name.

Kennedy proceeded to them him that, "I would like tall boots and a sleeping bag and Piper would like 2T size shoes and a sleeping bag, too." Such a sweet big sister with very interesting requests.

After we had our keepsake photos printed Kennedy told me she had a question so I leaned down and she very quizzically asked me, "How did he know my name already?!" And I told her it was all part of the magic of Santa. She was so entirely thrilled and it just made the season that much more special. I personally see Santa as a touch of magic instead of a huge lie. It's fun for me to play Santa while not going overboard and fun for them to bask in the glory of childhood.



Gonna find out if you're naughty or nice.
Leia