A December to Remember

Well, December is halfway done and the year is just about over.  This Christmas season has been the best one yet since we have our little girl to share it with!  I have always loved Christmas.  As a kid, of course I did, but even as an adult, I love this holiday.  But it has taken on a whole new magical meaning now that we have a child of our own. 

She is still a little bit too young to understand a lot of it, but she does understand a whole lot more than we probably give her credit for.  And seeing her get excited just makes me that much more excited.  From looking at Christmas lights, to finding Christopher (more on that later), to examining the Christmas tree, to wrapping presents..... I could go on and on.  But she lights up seeing all of these new things, and that's such a joy to witness.

Here are Addy's 45 week pics: ( I meant to put her in a Christmasy outfit every week this month, but I forgot this time.)

Touchdown Steelers!

The next morning my Dad and Step mom came down for a visit, and we had such a nice relaxing time with them....

for the most part, ha ha!

 

 Take two!  (Note the whole one sock on, one sock off fashion statement Addy is digging these days.)

I'll tell you what, getting a baby this age to look at the camera and not cry is a feat in and of itself....at least, with my baby it is!

On Saturday morning we finally decorated our tree.  It had only been sitting there bare for, oh, six days or so ;)

Trying desperately to get a family photo.  Thumb in mouth, and check out that scowl!  She gets points for a festive headband and shirt though :)

Then we figured, let's throw Daisy in the mix.  Now lets try to get a baby and a dog to look at the camera.  No prob.... yeah right!

While my Dad and Beth were visiting, we had such a great time with this little guy....

I'm going to devote an entire post to him, but for now, let me say that this is a great tradition to start with your little one....even if they are still very little!

Mike and I went to a wedding one night of Dad and Beth's visit, so they stayed home with Addy, which was great.  But you know what was even better?  Them offering to get up with her in the morning!  Yup, Mike and I slept in until 10:00!  I seriously can't remember the last time I did that.  It was definitely before Addy was born.  And it was fabulous! 

Beth also cooked 2 awesome dinners while they were here.  Hmmm, help with the baby, cook meals, why don't they come down more often?!  Ha ha!  We also had milkshakes all three nights, and all three nights we would all claim that we probably weren't going to finish them.....but all three nights, we all did.  If you've ever had a Cookout milkshake, you'd understand.  In fact, Dad even downloaded the Cookout Milkshake menu onto his "favorites" on his phone.  Ha ha!

Sadly, on Monday evening, they had to leave, and it was back to reality for us.  But it's still the Christmas season, so I couldn't be too upset!

Onto 46 week pics:

She loves Nittany :)

I got these cute ones with smiles and everything, and then I decided to try to make her outfit more festive and throw on a hat and some socks.

And I got this...

"No more paparazzi.  I'm done."

...Until Daddy walked in the door of course.  He came home from work at just the right time.  And out came Addy's precious grins.

Look at her!  Hands clasped and everything...she is soooo pumped to see Daddy!  If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times.... It completely melts my heart to see the way she looks at Mike (and the way he looks at her :) ). 

Ha ha, you can tell exactly where he is standing by where Addy is looking in these pictures :)

While Addy and I were busy being little elves and wrapping gifts yesterday, I came across this little gem...

Hard to see with the tree in the background, but note Addy's headband!  It was a Christmas gift from Aunt Lauren, and I kept all of Addy's gifts hidden away until I started going through it all yesterday.  This gift is one that is meant to be used early.  You know I can never resist a photo op!

And you know that Addy can never resist trying to remove her headbands ASAP.

So I have to get creative.

I thought if I stood her up she'd have to hold on with both hands, so she wouldn't be able to take her headband off.

"Amateur move Mom.  All I have to do is ram this thing into the couch so that it'll stay there, and then I can safely remove a hand to take this dang headband off."

(P.S. How creepy does Daisy look all blurry in the background?  Daisy is always on the move :))

 

 

"And if you manage to stop me from removing my headband while I'm standing, all I have to do is get spaghetti legs so that I can sit down, and then I will definitely succeed in getting rid of this thing once and for all!"

Addy has a plethora of headbands, for every season and every occasion.  And she hates them all.  I used to be able to distract her so that she'd forget that she was wearing it, but she's getting too smart for me.  I'm gonna keep trying though, because there is nothing cuter than a baby girl in an adorable headband!

This morning as I was writing this, Addy had a fascination with the Christmas tree.

"Ooooh that's a beautiful ornament!"

"I think I'll try to get it."

"Got it!"

"I need to examine it."

"Trying to eat it seems like the best idea."

Hope everyone else is enjoying their Christmas season as much as we are!