12 Christmas Joy's

My 12 Joy's of Christmas 2010

12. We have a real Christmas tree that lights up the house.

11. For the time being, our dogs are not trying to escape for the 65th time.

10. I pre-bought myself a $25 mani-pedi for Christmas! What a deal.

9. We went Christmas caroling around a friend's neighborhood! (a family tradition)

8. Clare love's my family's Anise Cookies, though most people hate them!

7. I made a gingerbread house with two 2 year olds, and no one ended up crying or fighting!

6. My sister is about to give birth to her first child any day now. (Come on, Anthony!)

5. Clare can sing the little drummer boy song with her own twist (what a pum pum)

4. I was able to take a "whole family" picture for our Christmas card this year (see above)

3. My Mother in law, Father in law, and Sister in law are all coming to our house for New Years to celebrate!

2. We are headed to Panhandle for Christmas, and I haven't gotten to celebrate there for 6 years

1. We are in our beautiful new house, full of joy and love!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Clare!

Happy Birthday, my baby girl! You are two years old now, and grow more and more each day. Here are some of your highlights:



You finally started walking. It took you a long time, but we knew you had to do things your way.



Kisses and Hugs. You love them so much and request them on an hourly basis.



My little helper. From pushing the laundry basket, to loading the grocery cart, to 'helping' me cook, you've really stepped up around the house.



Singing Girl. From "Winnie the Pooh" to "Little Drummer boy", we can hear your little voice singing short little lyrics all over the house. Pa rum pa pum pum..... Pa rum pa pum pum....



Bookworm. As always, you are still obsessed with books. If I could read to you every second of the day, you would gladly sit and listen. You've even surprised us with the level of books you'll listen to. The Bernstein Bear books are long and wordy, but you insist we not skip a single page.


Summer Pool fun. This year you had your first swim lesson and membership to the splash pool. We spent hours this summer learning how to kick and slid down the kiddy slides.

You grow and learn every day, but it's nice for you to still request to be "held like a baby" every once a while. Love you, munchkin!