Hunting for the perfect Christmas tree

When I was growing up there was this little Christmas tree lot filled with live Christmas trees--right in the middle of Long Beach! I have so many fond memories of running around looking for the perfect tree and having my dad cut it down for us. A couple of days ago Chase sent me a link to a coupon for 50% off a live tree from a tree farm in Los Gatos. Was there any question?? Yes! Yes! YES!

So we drove all the way there today and spent a good hour perusing all the trees they had to offer.

Livia was excited beyond all reason, and was a little hard to keep track of amongst all those trees!


This one was Liv's favorite, but it was a little too tall.

The final choice!

Livia got such a kick out of watching Chase saw it down, and I'm loving the scent of fresh pine that now fills our home. I understand why some people prefer a fake tree, but for me it's just not the same unless it's fresh! We decorated it tonight, and only lost one ornament to our resident toddler. Luckily just a small piece snapped off, so I'll be working some magic with super glue tonight.

I love Christmas trees. Ü

It's finished!

Remember this?And remember how I said I would finish it by the end of August? Well, that didn't happen. I'm blaming it entirely on morning sickness. Once I felt like a human being again at the end of October, I picked my project back up and finally, on Thursday, I finished it!

Here's a partially done shot, just after I'd finished embroidering all the animals/objects.
A few close-ups

And....ta da!

Definitely not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty well! It ended up looking pretty much how I imagined it, which is rare for me. Everything is hand embroidered, including the letters. The only thing I used the sewing machine for was sewing on the squares and backing. And may I say, that that was the least fun part of the entire experience?! I really do prefer needlepoint to sewing with a machine. It may be slower, but it's much less frustrating, and requires virtually NO unpicking! I like detail work. I liked this project. But I'm also liking the fact that it's done!

This and that

Prepare yourself for some rambling...

Christmastime is officially here, and I couldn't be more excited! Little Livvy's really getting into it this year, too. We kicked off the season by attending a Christmas tree lighting at Chase's work. Gotta love fake snow!

I helped Livia write a letter to Santa. The first thing she asked me to write was "I'm hungry." What the??
But then of course she clarified by asking him to bring her some treats. Oh, okay then. Ü
I honestly think she's more excited about the candy in her stocking than she is about getting any other presents! I did manage to get out of her that she wanted a soccer ball (to be like her aunt emily), a backpack, and boots. (She already has boots, however, and I think was just thinking about them because it was raining that day.) She colored the letter ever so carefully, and was so proud of the finished product!

Other news: Livia is officially day-time potty trained! I am SO glad to cross this off my list of things to accomplish before the new baby arrives! Night-time training will be a longer process I think, but I'm not even going to worry about it right now.

I remembered a story from Thanksgiving...
We were sitting around the table eating Thanksgiving dinner when Livia grabbed some olives off a plate. She took mainly black ones, which she loves, but also grabbed a green one. I wanted to take it away immediately, knowing exactly what kind of reaction she would have to it, but Chase encouraged me to "just let her try it." She was sure it was a grape, and wouldn't listen to anything I said about its being an olive. She left it on her plate for awhile, and I went back to eating my dinner. A couple minutes later, a very panicked Livia was spitting out a green olive into my hand. Shaking and gagging uncontrollably, she fell out of her chair! Can't say I blame her--what would your reaction be if your "grape" ended up tasting like a green olive?? Totally gross! Poor girl! (Though I have to say it was pretty dang funny too. Ü)

Livia update:
Liv's a little chatterbox, and her pronunciation is so good it astounds me. There are still occasions of course when I'm not sure what she's saying, and she mixes things up sometimes (alligator for elevator, or antonio for pinocchio), but pretty much everything she says is perfectly correct (including words like anemone, spaghetti, and Snuffleupagus)! The only thing I can think of that she always says wrong is chapstick, which she pronounces "chasmic." I haven't been correcting her on purpose because I think it's cute. Ü

She knows almost all the letters of the alphabet and can count to 20. Sometimes she'll go past 20, but doesn't always get the order right. She can also recognize several written numbers. We read constantly. I spend a couple hours a day reading to her, and she'll spend another hour or two reading on her own (during quiet time because she rarely naps anymore). She likes to memorize bits and pieces from her books and quote them to me throughout the day. Same with her favorite show, Little Einsteins.

Let's see, what else? She still sleeps in a crib, because she has yet to learn how to climb out. Well, she tried once and fell pretty hard, so hasn't tried since. And that is absolutely fine by me! We'll keep her in there as long as possible, probably up until the baby needs it. She is still a terrible eater, and also still loves her milk with all her might. She has a very strict milk quota during the day, because otherwise she wouldn't eat at all! One of her favorite things to eat is toast, which she insists on buttering herself. When she gets bored she tends to wander over to the fridge and look inside--reminds me of a teenager.

She loves to chew gum, and handles it remarkably well, chewing it for up to an hour, and then always spitting it out in the trash or in my hand. She is starting to dislike brushing her teeth, but we've scared her into letting us brush her teeth anyway by telling her all about cavities, which she has decided she does NOT want.

Some days/moments Livia is incredibly cute and sweet to me. Other times I think I'm going to die from frustration and struggling to hold my temper. She looks so much like Chase, but she acts so much like me! And that I think is why we have SO many power struggles.

Thanksgiving

Every single Thanksgiving that I can remember from childhood was spent at my grandparent's house. I feel so lucky to live in the bay area now too, so we could easily keep up the tradition! My family also drove up from Southern California, so it was a fun, family-filled weekend (though we missed Laura, Austin, and Jon!).

Emily, David, and Livia were practically inseparable, which was fun for me to see (and nice because it meant I could relax and chat!), and our time was filled with lots of visiting, cooking, and laughter.

My personal Thanksgiving is not complete without a visit from Santa. Livia promptly announced that "It's not Santa, it's Uncle David!" which made us smile (and hopefully didn't bother David too much!). My dad even took time off work to come, which hasn't happened in a long time, so we were all extra excited to see him!

We spent some time playing at the park--another fond memory of mine from Thanksgivings past

I didn't take any pictures of the Thanksgiving feast, but we sure enjoyed it!

And just for kicks, here's a belly shot at 19 weeks.

Christmas cards

This year Shutterfly is doing an amazing promotion where bloggers can get 50 free Christmas cards just for blogging about it!

So of course I had to go on their website to check it out, and I found myself totally impressed by their darling Christmas cards.

I love these 5x5 cards

(That blue one might be my favorite. Can't you just see Livia's face there??)

And they have some wonderful 5x7 cards as well...all sorts of styles of course, but plenty of simple yet cute cards, which is what I always go for!

Typically I have a hard time finding cards I really like, but this year I don't think that will be an issue! More likely I'll just have a hard time picking a favorite. Ü

I still haven't gotten around to getting a family picture taken, but hopefully I'll get that done this week, and then I can get these cards ordered and sent out!

While I was on Shutterfly's website, I took a look around at their other products and thought they had some cute birthday invitations:

And, more importantly for me right now, birth announcements!

Wouldn't this be a fun card, if I have a girl?

And a completely darling card if I have a boy?

(Speaking of which, it's not too long until we find out what we're having!)

P.S. This promotion is open to anyone with a blog, so check it out!

The Challenge

When Livia turned two she started showing signs of potty-training readiness. You know, telling me when she went to the bathroom, having dry diapers for several hours (and sometimes even overnight!), and becoming physically capable of pulling her pants up and down. I thought, "Great! Let's do this! I'm tired of paying for diapers."

But then she proceeded to have accident after accident. She would often sit on the potty chair, not go, and then stand up and pee all over the floor. I took that as a sign that no, she wasn't quite ready yet. I tried a few more times over the next 6 months, and each time it was just as frustrating and stressful.

Last Monday I decided to take the plunge again. I definitely want her toilet-trained before the next baby arrives. Mainly because I don't want to deal with potty-training with a newborn in my arms. And I wanted to get it done early enough that Livia'd be pretty well established in it before her whole world turned upside down in April.

And so I put her in underwear, and we began. Several hours went by--no accidents, but no successes either. I could tell by the way she was walking that she needed to go, but she wouldn't sit on the potty and kept asking for a diaper. That didn't sound like potty training to me, so I said no, and 5 minutes later she had a small accident. I rushed her to the potty chair, and lo and behold, she finished going in the potty! I decided to ignore the accident and praised her over and over, handing her a piece of candy for having been successful. She asked for a diaper again, and I put one on her because it was almost nap time anyway.

What was my surprise when for the rest of the day she went in the potty, all on her own, every single time! She was still wearing a diaper, but she'd just announce she had to go, walk in the bathroom, pull off her diaper and go. I grew very hopeful.

This continued all week. She got a piece of candy each time, and though she wouldn't wear underwear she rarely actually utilized her diapers.

On Saturday I decided her perpetual sugar-high had to go, so I switched to a chart, wherein every 5x she went she got a piece of candy. I braced myself for rebellion, but she handled it fine! And when she filled up the whole chart I gave her a small present. She was thrilled, and so was I because for DAYS the only time she'd gone in her diaper was when she was sleeping, which I knew would take longer to learn anyway.

This experience has been SO different from the past times I tried to train her. I never would have guessed that just leaving her in diapers would work, but it's actually been really nice because I have ZERO stress. If she doesn't make it to the potty in time I don't have to clean it up! I don't have to ask her constantly if she has to go, or make her sit on the potty every 20 minutes...she just tells me when she has to go, and she goes! And often she goes without even telling me!
This time around I also just tried really hard to be in-tune with what my particular child needed. Not every method works for every kid. Some kids fight potty-training til they're 4 years old, and others are perfectly willing and capable to train very early. But for Livia, who bristles everytime I try to force her to do something, being relaxed about it (and offering rewards) is what worked. I know we're not done yet. In fact, this morning we had a small regression because she woke up grumpy and refused to sit on the potty until it was nearly lunch time. But I'm not really worried about it. Slowly, slowly, we'll work her into underwear and being fully trained.

For now, I'm pleased (and hoping that box of diapers in her closet is the LAST one I have to buy!)

Halloween

I think Halloween must seem very magical to little kids. You get to dress up, and then people just GIVE you candy!

Livvy had been looking forward to Halloween for weeks, and I think it fulfilled all her expectations! We went to two halloween parties and went trick-or-treating twice (both on Saturday), so she had LOTS of delicious treats, and had ample opportunity to wear her ballerina costume.
Chase and I dressed up as a pair of scarecrows. He's not typically a fan of dressing up, so this was big news!
Here she is with her cute little friends at one of the parties we attended.

Carving pumpkins this year went a lot more smoothly than last year (when, if you recall, Livia flipped out because we'd carved up her precious pumpkins). This time she was excited about it, and helped Chase design the face she wanted for her jack-o-lantern. She would have nothing to do with the goop inside the pumpkin, and she's definitely too young to help carve, so she ended up just sitting and watching the entire process. I was worried she'd be bored, but I think she rather enjoyed it!

Livia likes to "floss" her teeth every night, and that night she ran out and started flossing the pumpkin's teeth! Too funny.

The finished products:

We had a little funeral ceremony for our jack-o-lanterns today. So long until next year!


Buried in candy (and thrilled beyond all reason!)

Happy Halloween everyone!