This one may just be the worst yet…
It’s been a while since I’ve had any good Fashion Police material. Wow, this week, Ry had a doozy.
The morning started off like any other. Somewhere around 4:45 AM I woke up to a toddler knee in my back. I rolled over and dozed back off. My alarm went off at the all too early time of 5:35 AM. I rolled out of bed about 10 minutes later and proceeded with my typical morning ritual. Ry was still asleep, sprawled out on our bed. {How such a small little person can take up so much space is beyond my worldly knowledge.}
As Andy is getting ready to leave I tell him to go ahead and wake her up. Her groggy eyes open and she lifts her head onto my lap. As Andy gets up to leave she jolts up and puts her arms out.
Eskimo kisses for Daddy.
As he turned to walk out to door she said, “WAIT! One more kiss!”
Kisses for Daddy.
“Wait! One more hug!”
Big hug for daddy.
“WAIT! Last kiss…”
After we are up and moving we head to her bathroom where she announces that she is not going to sit down. It takes me a second to get what she is saying. It clicks right about the time she faces the toilet, buck naked and starts pinching her belly button!! {NOTE TO SELF: no more Rylee in the bathroom when Daddy is going potty!} As I proceed to explain to Rylee that I know it’s a bummer, but girls have to sit down to go potty and boys like Daddy can stand, she finishes up. I wipe her sweet little tush and she spins around, looks at me and matter-of-factly says “I love you Mommy.”
The first unsolicited L word from the monster. My heart skipped a beat.
Next it’s time to get dressed. We head into her bedroom and we talk about what she will wear today. We start with her chonies {AKA: panties but I refuse to use that word}. While my back is turned away from her and toward her dresser to grab some pants and a shirt, she sits down on the floor and picks up a book. “Love you Forever”
I know you know the book. It’s the one that makes every single mother cry every single time she reads it.
I turn back around to face her and I see her rocking “back and forth, back and forth, back and forth”. She looks up at me, smiles and sings “mumble, mumble, mumble…LOVE YOU ALWAYS”.
Just reliving the morning makes my heart all sorts of full with warm-gushy-meltyness. What a kid, I tell ya. What a kid.
Can you hear that? Listen closely. Still can’t hear it? It’s Christmas music playing ever so faintly in the back of your head. Don’t fight it. Christmas is just around the corner.
Now, normally I am a HUGE advocate for NO CHRISTMAS until AFTER THANKSGIVING!!! {yes, so passionate that it requires all caps}
One of my favorite things about the Christmas season? Christmas cards. Sending and receiving. I especially love them if they include photos. Let’s talk Christmas cards for a minute, shall we?
Everyone wants their Christmas cards to show a perfect little family. Matching, or at least coordinating, outfits. All smiles. All happy. My track record so far isn’t great. Observe…
When I was pregnant with Ry, I was supposed to have my ultrasound to find out her gender the week before Christmas. I had this great plan that in our Christmas cards I would include an ultrasound photo announcing it to all of our friends and family. Then our ultrasound got pushed back until after Christmas and I got so annoyed I didn’t even send out Christmas cards.
The next year…well, actually I can’t remember what happened that year. It’s all a blur.
Last year Ry was so sick in the weeks leading up to Christmas with swine flu and pneumonia that I literally did not have the energy to put Christmas cards in the mail.
But this year? It’s all going to change. I’ve already started planning. I’ve already started shopping. And, we’ve already taken family photos. For your enjoyment I’ve included a link to our blooper reel HERE because we’re not actually all perfect.
It’s never to early to start planning. Remember? I’m kind of Type-A.
Enter: Shutterfly
They have hundreds of holiday cards to choose from. Like I said, the photo ones are my favorite. If you are lucky enough to get more than one “perfect” family shot, they have cards that allow you to display all of them like this one:
However, if you’re like my family, with a 2 year old, a grumpy husband and toss in a dog for good measure, it was hard enough getting one really good one. Luckily, Shutterfly has tons of options if you have to go the one photo route. I love my holiday cards to be simple and classy and not too commercial (ie no Santa). I was not disappointed with the selection. There are two different card designs that I love!
And in my true Type-A style, I can even get matching return address labels. SCORE!
If you want to be anal retentive cool like me and start planning early, Shutterfly is offering 20% off all holiday cards. Just go HERE for more details.
Now, get to planning! But, before you go…help! Which of the 2 designs do you like better?
This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. In exchange for my post I am receiving 50 free holiday cards. If you have a blog and you want to know more, go HERE.
Because sometimes your two-year old doesn’t want to hold Daddy’s hand…
We did in fact get a great photo. And no you can’t see it…yet. It was actually the very first photo we took. Shhh…don’t tell Andy. He hates doing things like this. All in all he was a pretty good sport.
And that’s all you get for now…
No, I am not talking about the 7 minutes in heaven you would have played in middle school. Get your mind out of the gutter. And, for the record, no, I never played that game. Oh stop, I know you were wondering.
A rare thing happened the other night. Rylee asked me to put her to bed.
She grabbed my hand and groggily lead me into her dark bedroom, dragging her blanket behind.
As I settled in on the floor next to her bed, I saw her sit up and point across the dark room. Without a word uttered, I instantly knew what she meant. I silently stood up, scooped my baby up off her bed and we made our way across her bedroom.
I was impressed my legs were able to navigate so easily to her desired destination. It seemed like it had been ages since I had done that. Nevertheless, there we were.
I sat. Rylee on my lap, facing me. She spread her blanket across the upper part of my body.
Silky side out, of course.
Once her blanket was arranged to her liking came the task of settling herself. It didn’t take long. She remembered, just like I did.
Her legs curled up under her.
Her arms fell to our sides.
Her head nestled down on my chest.
My arms wrapped around her. My head cocked to the side. My cheek resting on her head.
And we rocked.
For a mama whose baby fever has overcome her like the plague, this was pure bliss. And I soaked up every blissful minute with all I had.
I was in heaven.
