Carrie Underwood and Christmas

The last couple of weeks has been a bit of a blur. We have tried very hard to do it all. We had three family birthdays (including Mike and I) as well as Christmas with both of our families. Mike took me to Carrie Underwood for my birthday! She was awesome.

The view from the car on the way to the concert

We spent the 23rd and 24th with Mike's family and then came home to host Christmas for my family. They all arrived Christmas Eve. Including us, we had four sisters, three brothers-in-law, three babies, my parents, my grandma, and an uncle here. Thankfully a pastor from our church who was away let us use his house. Even with the extra house it was a delicate balance trying to ensure that all three babies got their naps. I think we (and they) did pretty good. I must also add that if you wrap the turkey in bacon it creates magic.
 

We finally got a photo of Laney doing her "tripod". She does it all the time.

Me and the three cousins

My next youngest sis and her hubs in their jammies

Laney with her Nana and Grandad

On Boxing Day we had our little Laney dedicated at our church. After that we had all of the above people, sans uncle, as well as one of Mike's brothers, sister-in-law, and parents here for lunch.

Mike thouroughly spoiled me. I actually don't want to share it with you because I'm kind of embarassed. I will show you this though.

Hopefully, it will mean better pictures showing up soon. They will probably be worse to start with though. 

Now, the house is a little quieter with two of my sisters gone. We are also in quarantine mode right now as my parents are both fighting a stomach bug. We got a call from my next younger sister and she, her husband, and baby all have been throwing up. I'm just hoping that 1. Laney doesn't get it and 2. that it is the same bug I had a few weeks ago so I don't get it again (oh and 3. that they all feel better tomorrow).

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Happy New Year!

Deck the halls

I've had my decorations up for about three weeks now. What I hadn't done until now is photograph them.

First of all, we have to cover the tree. Sadly, we are fakers. I love real trees, but I like to have them up for longer than a real tree will allow. I am also terrible about remembering to water them. I am thinking about going real next year. Our tree looks much prettier out-of-focus (thanks fun SLR). This is partly due to the fact that there are no ornaments on the bottom third of the tree (thanks baby) and partly due to my lack of decorating skills (thanks genetics?). I know it's kind of themey with the blue and all. I had planned on decorating it in blue and green when I found a large tub of blue ornaments for cheap. What do you think? Should I add some green?

Every year I look forward to pulling ornaments out of dusty boxes and looking at each one. Because they all have memories attached to them.

...Memories of loved ones who are no longer with us.

...our first Christmas married.

...and our first Christmas with Laney.

...And decorations that remind us what this season is really about. While I am thankful for our first Christmas with Laney, it doesn't even come close to how thankful I am for the first Christmas of all.

A few randoms

-Laney has croup. Poor little one. I've tried taking her outside to breathe cold air and we have been doing a lot of snuggling. She is now on breathing medications. She doesn't exactly enjoy having the mask held over her face. Have any of you guys dealt with croup before? What helped?

-Winter arrived. Last night we had a winter storm warning. It's days like this when I'm glad I don't have to leave the house if I don't want to. The temperature dropped significantly and we now have a lovely white blanket covering everything outside. During times like these I always wish I had a fireplace to snuggle up in front of. Hence, the Wooden Wick candles I bought. They crackle a bit and smell great.

-I got my Christmas decorations up. The tree looks a little funny as I've had to move all the ornaments out of Laney's reach. That's alright though. I'd rather have my Laney and a funny looking tree, than a department store tree and no Laney.

-I got the job! I start in January which is exactly what I was hoping for. Now I get to enjoy a couple more months with my little one before starting work. It is five shifts every fourteen days. I wouldn't mind a little less, but I am so thankful that I do not have to work full-time. Now I'm just nervous because it seems like I have forgotten everything and it has been awhile since I have had patients depending on me. I am so thankful that my old job wouldn't extend my maternity leave giving me the impetus to quit. I probably wouldn't have quit even though I wanted to.

-With a sick baby, my house is a disaster zone. Seriously. I need to do a good clean, but I am lacking energy after spending most of my time tending to Laney.

-I've also now missed two days of the 30 day shred. I am making myself do it tonight after Laney is sleeping for the night.

Need some Christmas shopping ideas?

I am starting to think about Christmas shopping. During the year, I always come up with great gift ideas, but I never write them down. This leads to last-minute-I-guess-it's-going-to-be-another-necktie kind of shopping.

This year I am determined to be prepared.

For Laney:

I love this Christmas dress.

I have a dresser I want to refinish for Laney's room and I would love to get these monogrammed knobs.

Isn't this kid's apron the cutest?

 I found this doll. I am debating getting it for her and keeping it aside until she's a bit bigger.

I could (and probably will) devote an entire post to the books I want to collect for Laney to read and cherish. For now, I will just pick one of my childhood favourites for the list.

 For Mike:

I want to get this for him. It is called Ladder Golf. I played it for the first time and it is tons of fun and I don't usually like games. It is perfect for the backyard, picnics, camping, you name it.

Our game collection is seriously lame. We have maybe three in our cupboard. This is one I know that Mike would enjoy.

You can never have enough of these living in Canada. Mike would like this.

This won't happen anytime soon, but Mike and I once saw a really nice foosball coffee table. He still talks about it. I would love to surprise him one day with one.

For me:

If Laney is going to have a cute apron then I want one too.

The weather lately has me craving a nice jacket.

I like jewelry. Period.

I thought this idea is so neat. It is a personalized world travel map. This would be so cool to have in our future family room.

 For the record, I have no affiliation with any of the companies/products on this list.

What's on your Christmas shopping list? And does anyone know where I can find a ladder golf set?

It came and it brought some disappointment

I was so excited when the Wish Book arrived yesterday. The Wish Book is something I looked forward to as a child. When it arrived, my sisters and I would spend hours pouring over the toys, each circling the ones we wanted knowing all the while that chances were slim that we would get any of them.

I remember drooling over the kid's cars that could actually be driven. I knew that wasn't going to happen, but a kid can dream right?

 So, I spent yesterday evening with a Sharpie in hand going through the much anticipated book. Something caught my eye. Can you guess what? Bottom right corner. Right underneath the cartoon snow tubes and to the right of the Disney pillows.

I kept seeing it over and over again. Even after finding the items pictured below, I found more going through the book a second time.

I really don't think Playboy items need to be displayed with Dora the Explorer. Who knows, maybe Dora will go the way of Miley and Britney, but for now let's let her stay innocent.

So what do I do about it? Do I give Sears another chance? As of this moment, I have decided I won't spend a dime there this Christmas. Should I write them a letter and see what they have to say?

I don't know if these items have been in their past Wish Books as it was probably easier for me to gloss over them before I had a daughter. Do I really want my daughter to think that Playboy is cool? Hmmm Mummy, I can't decide between the Disney princess pillow and the Playboy pillow. Yeah, so not going to happen. I want Laney to grow up respecting her body and herself. 

If this year's catalogue is any indication of the direction Sears is taking, Laney won't be getting the Wishbook to look at as she grows. Does anyone know of any other fun Christmas catalogues that don't promote trash? Do you think I am overreacting?

Update: I sent a letter to Sears and this was their response. I guess it's a fairly we-don't-really-care response. I am done with Sears.

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Sears, your comments are appreciated.

At Sears Canada we service a very broad and diverse customer base, and there are times when not everyone will agree with all of the lines of specific items we select for our stores and catalogues.  However, we try to respond to the demands of the majority of our customers. We will forward your comments and concerns to the appropriate department for further review.

Again, we thank you for taking the opportunity to write us to express your concern regarding this matter.

Regards,
Dianne