Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas Morning


Here are just a few pictures of Kassidy opening her presents under the tree once she got up at 10:30 AM. Yep....she doesn't have the concept of Santa yet so she was not rushing to get up. She amazes me how late she sleeps in at her age. I can only imagine what it is going to be like once she has to start getting up early for school but we are not even going to think that far ahead yet. It is almost 10 AM now on the day after Christmas and needless to say the mornings are when I get most of my work done seeing as I get up very early and she sleeps late. If it were not for that, I do not know when I could get on this blog and do all the updates I do. But enjoy the pics of her opening her gifts. The biggest hit this year was a last minute gift I picked up in the Disney Store after I had decided not to buy her anything else but it was a Minnie Mouse cash register and she loves Minnie Mouse so I gave in and got it and it ended up being her favorite gift. She gets a bunch of things that she just throws to the side but she played with that cash register all day yesterday. Whenever she would go from room to room she would carry it along with her. It was cute. She also got a Mister Potato Head and obviously thought the glasses looked better on her.

Friends From Afar













For several years now, Billy has been chatting via internet with a buddy in Idaho (The Kramer Family). It all started with some internet trading deals and has now matured into a close friendship. It is amazing the types of friendships you can build without ever meeting someone in person. It seems they have so much in common and have become really close friends. We all talk about how one day we will meet in person. They have two children, one boy and a younger girl. Their little boy, Jordan, thinks Billy is so cool because is a soldier. I guess he considers him his own personal G.I. Joe. :) Anyways, we got a surprise box in the mail the other day from them. They were so sweet and bought Kassidy a couple of really pretty outfits that you see her modeling in the pics above along with some jewelry that several people over the last couple years have sent to Kassidy that I still yet have not had enough guts to let her wear out any extended amount of time for fear of them getting lost. Also, there is a picture of a handmade camoflauge pillow that Jordan made for Billy. The wording on it says William Fight, Be Brave. He worked very hard on this pillow. He sewed on it for four whole days. I told Billy about it when he called yesterday and it really touched him. I thought I would put some pics on the blog and give a shout out to Jordan for all the hard work he did on it. We really appreciate not only their gifts but their friendship and we are hoping one day to actually meet them in person.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Christmas Eve with Gingerbread House and Pancakes



With us not being able to go home for Christmas this year, at the last minute I called up the girls to see if they would like to stay the night and then we would take them home on Christmas eve afternoon. They were able to come and brought with them a gift certificate for me to get my nails done (awesome) and a gingerbread house to help make with Kassidy. They did a rather good job as you can see in the picture of the finished project. The girls were dying laughing though because they iced the house and Kassidy would get the candy and they would dab a bit of icing on the candy pieces so she could stick it to the house. But....she was very meticulous and worked strategically to get them placed "just right" and if anyone placed a candy that she believed was not in the right place she would let them know and they would have to let her place in her already well thought out plan (yeah right). But we were getting a kick out of it. Most two-year-olds I think would have been taking the candy and just placing it in their mouths, which we did get one pic of her doing just that. Also, on Christmas Eve morning I made a bunch of pancakes for breakfast. Obviously, Kassidy thought they were all for her as she hogged the platter of pancakes and shook a spreader knife at me as I approached the platter to give everyone else their pancakes. She eventually decided she would share after getting a few laughs at threatening me to not come close to her pancakes.

Getting Cozy in Bed with her Blanket and Big Wheel Pics



Kassidy's great Aunt Emily made this blanket for Kassidy before she was even home from China. Now that Kassidy is using her own room and bed, she goes and grabs the blanket and puts it up on the bed. It is just the right size for her now and she is at the age where she can actually enjoy it and is always pointing out the kittens on it to me. Also, here are a couple cute shots I got of her going through the hallway with her Dora big wheel that MiMi and PopPop got for her.

Christmas Get Together







Kassidy and I had over Ms. Amy, Allie Kate, Grace, Amanda, Kristen and Marissa for a little Christmas get together. Ms. Amy made some good homemade broccoli and cheese soup and I made rolls and brownies and then we exchanged gifts. We had a good time as you can see in these pictures. Kassidy loves to have them over. Mommy gets a little boring after awhile and she needs a change of scenery.

Matching Dresses and Sunday Playdate



Ms. Amy, Allie Kate and Grace had recently bought Kassidy a holiday festive dress that matched exactly to one that Grace had. So we dressed them alike last Sunday. We thought that would be fun and it was. Here are some pics of the twins. Also, I wasn't feeling the best on Sunday so after Sunday school, I left out for home and Ms. Amy and the girls took Kassidy home with them for the day. They got a new doggy a few months ago and so when Kassidy goes there she gets her feel of having a dog. He is just the right size where he doesn't totally intimidate her. She loves dogs but hesitates at times being unsure of what the outcome would be if she got close. Here are some pics of them once they got home from church services.

What Phase Now and Christmas Prep





It's is so funny to see kids and the phases they go through and how they change so much over the years or even weekly or monthly at times. Kassidy from the beginning started taking a liking to Dora like most little girls her age. Recently, however, I have been seeing a change over from Dora to the Disney Princesses. She still likes Dora but when faced with the challenge of choosing either Dora or a Disney Princess pajama, cup, etc. she tends to be leaning more and more towards the Disney Princesses. As you can see in one of the pics, we recently went to get her some new sheets for the bed she is now using a lot now a days (note days not yet nights, but we are getting there). Walmart had the same set of sheets in either Dora or Disney Princess and I automatically went for the Dora and handed it to her and she threw it back and pointed to the Princess sheets. It is so funny to see how children as young as her have a mind of their own. The sheet set come with Princess pillow cases and so throughout the day whether she is in the living room sitting on the chair, in her bedroom laying in bed or going to take a nap or retire for the night she has to have her one of her Princess pillows with her. I thought it funny when I noticed her all decked out in Princess accessories while she was sitting on her bed one day. She was sitting on her princess sheets with her princess pillows in her princess pajamas and drinking out of a princess cup. Maybe she is an aspiring princess to be. Who knows? But then again, as far as her daddy and I go, she is a princess already to us. The other pics are just Christmas pics I took leading up to Christmas with her stocking hanging by the fire, our Christmas tree with a few gifts wrapped under the tree for her to open whenever she wakes, and the other is her hand-painted chair I got for her at the Arts and Crafts Fair in November which I just thinks looks so pretty sitting by the fireplace. Also, could not resist another potty chair scene. This potty training is for the birds. I have almost became qualified as an official person with ESP capabilities. I can tell from her positioning, her manner, and her facial expressions when she is about to go in her pants so off we are running to the toilet. I am right 9 out of 10 times and I am pretty proud of that statistic, however, I much rather not have to use that ability and just have her go on her own. Patience, Patience, Patience....I keep telling myself that anyways.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Christmas in WV....or NOT!


Well...it looks as if Kassidy and I will not be spending Christmas in WV afterall. After a rather hefty snowfall this past Saturday, many people lost their power, water, and some phones both land lines and cell phones. I had no idea that everything would still be off by the time I went to pull out to go visit them. I had told my family to call me by this morning if the electric came back on but so far no news so I am assuming nothing is working yet. The rumor seems to be that they may not have power until Christmas or even after. I cannot imagine going that long without electric, water, etc. and it all happening right at Christmas too. What a bummer. Although this will be the first Christmas I have ever had away from my family in WV, I just cannot seem to make any sense to leaving here and going there with the situation as it is currently. Even if the problems resolve tomorrow or at a later date, I am still not going to go yet because I would be getting stuck in all the other traffic with everyone on the roads at the last minute. That was one thing I was glad to have was a flexible schedule so I could leave earlier and avoid the wrecks and back-to-back traffic. Also, my grandmother who has the big Christmas Eve party/dinner for about 50 members of our family on my dad's side is one who does not have power either so that is another issue and a big reason for me going home. Having said all that, I have decided to wait until after all the Christmas traffic dies down and everyone is back home before I take off to WV. I will get there but it may be closer to New Years instead of Christmas. Kassidy and I will do just fine celebrating Christmas with just the two of us. We have a chimney too that I'm Santa Clause will fit nicely through. Hope you enjoy the winter snow picture I got from online. It was not one I personally took, however it is a picture from WV on a snowy day which I thought to be an appropriate picture for this post. Here's to hoping everyone has a safe, happy and WARM Christmas holiday. Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Hodge Podge



Here is a hodge podge of pics. They include us at the Japanese Steakhouse that PopPop likes to go to when he visits, a cute pic of Kassidy by the fireplace and Kassidy and Billy's stockings hanging on the fireplace mantel. Also you will see rather funny pics where Kassidy has her panties pulled over her pants. I tried a few weeks ago to start the potty training phase but after a couple days I broke and went back to pull ups. She knows what she is supposed to do but the initation of actually getting on the toilet before she goes in her pants is not registering. Yesterday we started again but are still having some problems. I know this is not an overnight accomplishment but I sure wish it was. It can get pretty nasty at times without going into detail. So when I put the pullups back on her she would go get her panties out of the drawer and just pull them over her pants. She was determined she was going to wear them one way or another.

Visit From MiMi and Pop Pop
















Billy's parents came to visit a couple days before Billy had to leave. Here are some pics of Kassidy with them and on her Dora Big Wheel they got her. She cannot reach the pedals yet but she has the concept down so now we will just have to wait until her legs stretch. But for the meantime she gets along on it pretty well. Marty ordered her some body paint for bathtime from Avon and here she is painting herself in the bathtub. Her and Marty went on a walk a few times while they were here and there is a pic of them gearing up to go walking with sunglasses intact.