Busy

We're here...just busy. Lots of fun things to blog about when I get a chance. Thought I'd post some pictures for now.

Jason and I got to go to his company's party Saturday night. It was lots of fun! Of course we had to get some pictures of us dressed up...and our favorite pic has our little girl in it too.

Karla helped Daddy put Christmas lights up outside. I stayed in where it was warm and took pictures through the window. :)

Karla LOVED this giant Rudolph we saw on Monday. She even wanted me to take her picture with him.

This morning Karla created her own dress. I just used some pins to secure it in place...she was getting a bit frustrated that it wouldn't stay on her. :) She spent quite a bit of time wearing this over her PJs. I was wearing a blanket tied around my waist as a dress...didn't get a pic of that though. :)

Preparing for Christmas

We have been putting our Christmas tree up in stages as we have had time the past two nights. Karla LOVED pulling out each ornament and was saying "oh, how beautiful, look at this one" every time she pulled one out. Her excitement was pretty contagious.

When she pulled the star for the top of the tree out of the box she said loudly, "Mommy, Daddy, look! A magic wand!" I was laughing too hard to take a picture! Then Daddy announced there aren't any wands/witches/spells at Christmastime! I don't know if she'll remember that or not.

She really liked the holiday stuffed animals I've accumulated over the years and the softer ornaments. Her favorite ornament was the Grinch (of course). Our neighbors have a Grinch in their yard which adds to the fascination. We haven't decided if we'll let her watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" this year or not. When she laid down for her nap this afternoon she asked me if I would sew her a skirt with the Grinch on it! I have made her 4 skirts recently so I guess she thought I could just quickly produce a Grinch skirt as well. May look into it but not sure I will have time...

Ever since Karla saw Santa at the mall (and Dora) she has told anyone who asks that she wants a "gray box" for Christmas. When asked what she wants inside the box she says "a doll for Mommy". This may be a tricky gift.... Then she added today that Oso wants a brown box ("to match his fur") with a little doll inside wearing big shoes. Oh boy. I have no idea where these requests came from! :) At least she is thoughtful...thinking of Oso and me.

Karla proudly helped "build" the tree.

She helped put the star on top of the tree.

She made friends with all the stuffed ornaments/toys.

Fun Monday!

Karla and I had a great day together today. I think maybe she wasn't feeling too well last week either because she was so happy and pleasant all day today (we won't count bedtime though). I guess something was working on us both last week!

We went to Karla's last gym class this morning. It was only 6 weeks long but it was fun. We'll probably try a new class in January. Now that she is 3 there are more choices available at the YMCA...and they are very inexpensive and involve me being with her!

It was fun to see Karla running around, talking loudly, listening to her teacher and even helping clean up. She was comfortable and not sticking right beside me the whole time.

I started cracking up once during our class. During "circle time" we sometimes sing a song called "Shake Your Sillies Out". The first verse is "shake your sillies out" (we all shake our bodies around) and then the next verse is "nod your noddies out". Usually we just nod our head very dramatically. Well, today Karla nodded very big - looked like a bow - and then instead of saying "nod, nod, nod" she said "YOUR HIGHNESS". I started howling. Can you tell how much she is into princesses right now????

Then we went to Chik Fil A with Austin, Chase, and Jen. Karla played in the play-place for quite some time with Austin and another little girl and didn't call to me or want me standing right beside her. It is nice to see her have more confidence and independence...but then hard to believe she's that "old" already!

While in the play-place at Chik Fil A (yes pretty much the only "restaurant" I go to anymore) I heard two girls, probably at least a year older than Karla, playing. One said, "Lets play princesses". The other one said "yeah!". Next thing I know they are saying "Help us. We're stuck in the dungeon!" I chuckled because that is what Karla says A LOT around here. She hasn't seen the Disney movies but she has read some of the books and one of the Barbie movies has a "dungeon" scene. I NEVER say "lets pretend we're in a dungeon" so I was glad to hear it must just be something they latch on to for some reason!

Speaking of dungeons....Karla talks about witches a lot too. I think because they are the only "bad" characters on Dora. Anyway, whenever there is a lull in conversation lately she'll just say "There is a witch in my castle. She real mean." She didn't say this today, thank goodness but she said it MANY times over the previous several days. Karla has told Jason and I that she has a castle "real far away" and that she lives there, we are allowed to live there, as well as good crocodiles and the mean witch. I don't know where she gets this stuff!!

This afternoon we made a craft project together. I should have taken a picture! We made a Santa Claus. It was fun and I was impressed with her willingness to sit at the table and work so hard to glue shapes together and color them. We made two...after the first one she announced she wanted to make more.



I got out some "feet-y" pajamas for Karla. I didn't think she'd like them for some reason...I guess because she seems so much older to me this winter compared to last winter...well, she LOVES them!! The other morning she was wearing them with a hat for some reason. Looked nice and warm though.

Baby Javier

Our friends were in Guatemala last week and got to go see Heidy, Baby Javier and family! They sent me pictures of Javier last night. Not sure how big he is or anything. Carey said he cried the whole time they were there and that he is still requiring medicine. He must have stopped crying for a minute...Here he is! :)

Odds and Ends

*Karla has been using facial expressions and sayings that are cracking me up everyday.

*Went back to the orthopedic doctor for my wrist yesterday and unfortunately I am going to need surgery for a torn ligament. :( Won't be till end of Jan or early Feb.

*Thanksgiving day we had 11 people for dinner - both sets of parents, two Tios and Mammy and Pappy. It went well! Lots of yummy food and lots to be thankful for. I didn't take many pictures for some reason. Too busy I guess. :)

Friday we went to Ohio to see more family. My sister and her husband came home for the long weekend from CA so it was nice to spend some time with them. Saturday the 3 of us came home, took naps, then went to see Tio Ryan to celebrate his birthday with Jason's family.

Sunday morning we went to church and our family got to light the first advent candle. Karla is still talking about being "up on stage". She says she wants to get back on stage and have everyone come up with her.

We were going to have a family portrait taken on Sunday afternoon but decided to cancel. We were all really worn out. Then Jason and I had some little bug that thankfully was only bad for one day....still making us tired though.

This week is going fast..I feel like I'm not keeping up...and it is almost Friday :)

*I'm going to be an AUNT again! :) My (little) sister is going to have a baby in MAY! We are all very excited...I'm just selfishly sad they are in California now. Thank goodness for digital cameras and email! I want to start crocheting baby stuff after the holidays...hope it doesn't take long to recover from surgery! I have another friend having her first baby in May also. :)

*This week I experienced having great difficulty obtaining Karla's asthma medicine for her nebulizer. Basically all generic has been pulled off shelves due to lawsuits between the generic and brand name. It is "only" about $150 more a month (with insurance) to have the brand name. Ha! Then I waited too long to get it so we went a few nights without it which really stressed me out and made me feel guilty. Luckily I called Karla's great doctor, explained the situation and he gave us 2 weeks of samples! We went to pick it up at his office today. We go for Karla's check-up next Friday so I'm hoping we can figure something out then... I think the generic is supposed to come out again on Jan 1. I hope!

*On Thanksgiving evening Karla played her first game of Candy Land. Can you believe it, she won!?! :)


*I'm hoping for a more relaxing next few days....and energy returning would be nice.

Noodles

Jason and I have made homemade noodles for several years now for Thanksgiving. It took us quite a while to perfect but we've got a system down now. We enjoy doing it together. I had originally done it by myself (maybe once) but it was too much cutting for me without help. My grandma gave us a pasta maker a few years ago so now we don't even have to cut them...just roll the dough through the pasta maker.

Today I was making the dough before Jason got home since it takes a couple hours. I had just added more flour to my dough and then left the room for a few minutes. When I came back in the room this is what I found...


Karla had watched me lift the bowl (my dough was under it), add flour and work it into the dough. So she climbed up on the chair spooned flour onto the table and was busy "making noodles." So much for clean clothes...

I hadn't really planned on her being part of the noodle making process. I thought Jason and I would work on it right after she was in bed. But I decided since she had such interest that she should help us this year. I don't think we've ever had so much fun making noodles! Karla LOVED helping. She was jumping up and down because she was so excited to turn the crank on the pasta maker. She stayed focused for the entire project...even reminding me to stay on task when I got a little side-tracked. She knew just how many times to turn the crank before pulling the noodles out. Jason and I really thought she was entertaining. We each had a job and it went smoothly. Of course I pulled out the camera!



Yes, we were all covered in flour when we were done! We are all very excited to eat the noodles tomorrow!

On an unrelated note...How many 3 year olds do you know that will eat (or at least try several bites of) fish, yam and corn for dinner?? That is what Karla ate tonight!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Meet Dora and Wake Up Santa

At a local mall last night they had "meet Dora and help wake up Santa" night. Not sure we'll ever do that again but at least we can say we did something that crazy now.

I don't know that the mall anticipated such a crowd. Anyway, kids could "meet" Dora (who looked a little creepy) and then Dora, Mrs. Claus and the elves woke Santa up so he could get ready for Christmas. They actually rolled Santa out on a bed fast asleep. The kids had to yell and ring jingle bells (and say "here we go Steelers") to wake him up! Jason and Karla had a view from the second floor (I was in line holding our place) during the show. Karla really liked waking up Santa.

There were several times during our wait to meet Dora that Jason and I thought we should just leave because it was pretty ridiculous BUT it was all worth it to see how excited Karla was. I don't think I've ever seen her quite like that before....and yes it brought tears to my eyes. .....maybe part of the reason I had tears in my eyes was because I was so relieved to be out of the line and able to go outside to get cooled off...hmmmm. No, it was REALLY great to know we did something that made her so excited. :)

Do I really get to meet Dora?

Oh my! I can't believe it!!

This is awesome!

It was worth the 2+ hours in line to see the look on Karla's face when she "met" Dora (for all 30 seconds). :)

Karla also really liked the "Long Lady" as she calls her. She was actually a queen. Karla calls her the long lady though. She was really impressed with her.

After nearly 3 hours of standing around/waiting we made it to Santa (the line for him was actually short)! Karla was afraid but we managed a picture. She told us on the way home that she would see him again and not be scared. So maybe we'll go see him again before Christmas.