Wednesday, December 20, 2006
6:58 PM
The photos in this entry are the record of yet another attempt to try and get an "Official Holiday Portrait" of our daughter. Most of them are of my mom and Tom's butt as they try and coax Gracie to SIT STILL under the tree so we could get ONE photo for the cards. Didn't happen.
Confession: while my shopping is mostly finished, I have yet to write or send out a single card. Woops! This is the first year that I didn't get cards out fairly quickly after Thanksgiving. I love receiving them, and I love walking out to the mailbox with the fat stack to send. But this year? I couldn't imagine wasting any of the rare free time we have sitting and scratching out messages with a pen.
But I can't NOT send something, especially now that I have this incredibly cute child to send photos of IN the cards. So this morning I went to Office Max, got some holiday paper and envelopes and photo paper, and I'm going to do New Year's cards and letters and photos. Late, but at least it's something that's not a bill or junk mail, right?
I just finished *most* of my work that I needed to get done before Christmas. I had a bunch of last minute jewelry orders and I sort of needed to take all of them since I could use the cash. I took a lot of time off from my little jewelry business and I am hoping to get it back on track in 2007, now that Gracie is accustomed to sitting in my studio with me and doing her own "crafty" projects, which involve emptying EVERY SINGLE ONE of my drawers and mixing everything up. It's always a surprise here in the studio.
I have another huge project due (web design wise), but not until January 2nd, so I think I am going to take the next few days off and enjoy the holidays. We have no big plans- just dinner out on Christmas Eve, and a quiet dinner with my parents' on Christmas day.
I have no idea what Gracie is going to do on Christmas day when her toy supply suddenly triples. My husband and I only got her four things (a ride on, a ark full of little animals that make noise, and a little learning/music table) but my parents went absolutely berserk. What do babies do when faced with a bunch of different options in the toy department? She always has one or two favorites and they change weekly, so we sort of switch things out to keep it fresh.
When she first arrived, we mostly had stuffed animals and little soft learning cube stuff, and she never liked it, so we've acquired her toys one by one as we figured out what she DID like. What is she going to do when she gets a bunch of things that roll around, play music, light up, or require copious banging all at once? I can sort of see the smoke coming out her ears already. She's not a "whatever" kind of baby- she sort of keeps all the parts to her toys together and she puts things back before she moves on to the next thing (well, "putting back" as only a baby can, but almost all her toys still have all their original parts, which astonishes me since I can't even keep track of a PEN.)
One weird toy situation: we do have this weird orange half-ball thing with six "legs" that we can't figure out. We have no idea WHERE it came from or what it's supposed to be. Gracie remains silent about its origins, so it sits by itself, next to the pool where she sometimes uses it as a water scoop. Very mysterious.
So what's the big thing your kids want this Christmas? Is there anything, or do they not care? We did the best we could for Miss Cupcake, short of moving into the same neighborhood as the Backyardigans and becoming an animated family. My big coup was scoring a Chicco 4-in-1 ride on. It was sold out of every single store, online and local. I finally got one from an obscure online seller. I was very proud of it. I wish Tom would put the sucker together so *I* could try it out.
Of course, this means she won't ever use it or acknowledge its existence. Murphy Jrs law.
I think the first one is perfect for a card!! She is ADORABLE!! Have a very Merry Christmas with your precious gift.
Posted by Kimberly @ December 20, 2006 10:23 PM
I (heart) your holiday photos!!!! They are the best!
Ugh - gifts gifts gifts. Not looking forward to gifts.
My kids want a Nintendo Wii. They would trade an organ. They may put a hit out on Santa if it does not arrive. And also one of those FX light sabres that really light up that you can't really use. Beucase that's a fun toy. Oh and then there is Noah who is 4 and wants, more than anything, a Baby Alive: African American please. Sold out everywhere and then some.
I should just stop asking :-)
Posted by Nicki @ December 20, 2006 10:29 PM
I actually think all the photos are GREAT and shoulds be included in your New Year's Card/letter! Toys? JT doesn't care yet...the tissue rolled up and played with like snowballs is his favorite. Enjoy your holiday!
Posted by Nina/SOS @ December 21, 2006 09:10 AM
Love the Gracie photos!!! And your tree is amazing!!!
Posted by Amy @ December 22, 2006 01:20 AM
As always, Gracie is absolutely darling. That is so cute that she takes such good care of her toys like that.
As for gifts, this is the first year that Chloe knows about Santa and has asked for what she wants. It's just 4 things: Dora, Boots, a baby doll, and a teddy bear.
Posted by melinda @ December 23, 2006 10:44 AM
Is everything alright? Haven't seen a new post from you in quite a while, and I was a little worried. Hope you and Gracie and Tom and the kitties are all doing well! :o)
- SandyPosted by Sandy @ January 11, 2007 09:20 PM
