It's Official...

The holiday season is here!

I love Christmas time. I have a long tradition of putting decorations up the day after Thanksgiving and taking them down on New Year's Day. On Friday, Scott had the Christmas music playing throughout the house and Ryann and I decorated the tree. She's not as helpful as you might think. She is very good at taking the hooks off the balls and smashing the balls together. This year, it took a lot more energy than it has in the past. :0) Scott put up the outside lights on Saturday so we're all set.

Here's a picture of our new living room, complete with new furniture and a Christmas tree! As you'll notice, I haven't found the perfect things to hang on the wall yet. I'm still searching.

Pictures...Ugh!

A week or so ago, we decided to take Ryann to get her 18 month pictures done and have our family portrait done as well. We had a 6:20 appointment so I rushed home from work and we all got ready. We got there on time and waited 45 minutes for them to tell us that they didn't have us in the schedule but they'd fit us in. By then, Ryann was cranky and so were we. Her hair was also a wreck by then. The photographer was obviously in a hurry so she gave up easily when Ryann began to run away between shots. Overall, I'd say it was a pretty unsuccessful attempt. Here's what we ended up with.

Messy Business

I decided it was time to get Ryann some markers and teach her how to color. We always try crayons at restaurants but she's mostly interested in taking them out of the box and putting them back in repeatedly. I thought markers might be more fun.

I saw an advertisement for markers for 18 month olds and up. They are shaped like little animals and are "perfect" for gripping. They are made not to tip over, like weebles were back in the day. We find that the only thing they're perfect for is mess-making, as you can see.

The commercial neglects to tell you that, because they don't tip over, the toddler will pick them up by the ink side every time. Ryann likes to put her fingers on the ink part. She can't figure out the angle needed to get the ink on the paper. She just rubs the side of the animal on the paper then decides it's more fun to put her fingers in the ink again. I will say, she seems quite gifted in fingerpainting. :0)

A Little Progress

Scott and I spent some time getting more things settled this weekend. It's starting to feel like home. We still have a lot to do but we're getting there. Scott is working on painting our living room. We have new furniture arriving on Friday for it. We're excited. I was sure to have it treated for stain protection. I'm sure you can imagine why. I'll post a picture once we get that room settled.

Here's the kitchen. For those who saw our old kitchen...yes, it's the same color. I just love that "Pacific Pines."

This one is the dining room. We went with two colors, the "Pacific Pines" and "Bonjour Beige." The beige is the main color for most of the house.

This is where we spend most of our time, the family room. The wall behind the TV is "cigar." It was a risk but we like it. You'll notice a growing heap of toys. There's a basket under there but Ryann's things have outgrown the wimpy little basket.

So Much for Halloween

When I was in NY, I loved Halloween. It was one of the best parts of fall. I always decorated and had candy to give out. My brother and I even hosted a couple of Halloween parties with costumes and everything.

When I moved to AZ, I continued to decorate and give out candy. Last year, we dressed Ryann up as a pea. She was a very cute vegetable.

This year, I started looking for her costume over the summer but never found one I wanted that was the right size, right price, etc. So...I'm a bad mom. I didn't dress my child up this year. I wasn't that broken up about it because we had no where to go anyway. We don't have any family here to visit and our friends have kids that they take out.

We planned to stay home and give out candy. That part of the plan fell apart, too. We didn't get a single trick-or-treater! We assume that is because we are one of 3 new houses on the street. Next year should be different.

To top it off, I felt sick. I have some sort of cold again. Ugh! I opted for bedtime soon after Ryann went.

So, Halloween was a bust this year but Scott is glad because now he has the responsibility of eating the candy. :0)