Thursday, January 14, 2010

Makeover

December 31, 2009
After a lazy morning and a few piles of laundry, Pearl needed something fun to keep her entertained. She's getting to be quite independent... well at least she wants to be. Not only does she prefer to pick out her own clothes, put her coat on herself, and get her own plates and bowls but she also loves, loves, loves to paint her fingernails. Thanks to grandma and our neighbor Vickie we have quite the assortment of colors to choose from. Today's choices were hot pink and a sparkly, tamer pink for the toes. After proudly displaying her work (but not wanting me to take a picture of it), she decided it was mom's turn for a little makeover. Luckily I learned my lesson from the last time I let her paint my nails and had some fingernail polish remover handy to repair the damage after she went to bed.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

PANTIES!

December 27, 2009
I know, I'm out of order here with my days but I still wanted to post this picture. Pearl got panties for Christmas, a lot of panties! In fact I should post a video of her opening her very first present... panties! We didn't plan that it's just the one she happened to grab and boy was she excited! We hoped by having some Tinkerbell, Elmo, and Princess and the Frog panties around that Pearl would suddenly have the urge to get potty trained. Boy did she prove us wrong this morning! It's not that she isn't excited about the prospect of wearing panties, it's just she doesn't get that she needs to tell us BEFORE she pees that she has to pee. After two outfits, pee on the floor and carpet, and some tears we decided to try again another day. What I don't get though is that with a bit of peer pressure at daycare, she'll use the potty no problem. Must be her way of rebelling at home with us that she doesn't seem interested in potty training.

Winter sidewalk chalk fun

December 28, 2009
I saw this great deal at IKEA for an art easel, complete with white board, paper, and a chalkboard and knew we just had to have it for Christmas. I left work early one day and drove to IKEA and couldn't believe my luck when I snatched the last two art easels (one for Pearl and one for her cousin Ruby). Talk about some luck! If you've read any of my blog posts from the summer you'll know we are BIG fans of sidewalk chalk. Jeff is quite the sidewalk chalk artist and Pearl loves to help him. So tonight, after days of movie watching, we decided to break out Pearl's new toy from Santa. Now if we could only find a spot for it in the house!

All tuckered out

December 26, 2009
After four days of sledding, playing at two sets of grandparents, movie watching, present opening (and some jealousy that your cousin got better toys than you did), eating popcorn and candy, and staying up WAY past bedtime, Pearl was worn out. She didn't even make it through her new movie Snow White - the only thing Santa could figure out she wanted - when we got home and set up Jeff's new present (surround sound and BluRay). But isn't this what Christmas is all about when you're a kid?

Special memories

December 25, 2009
This little ornament could very well be the demise of my siblings. Actually there's a whole bunch of these little handmade treasures but every year we argue over who will finally get them from my mom. I of course, being the oldest and only one of two siblings to have actually been present when they were made, claim full rights to them. My mom says I have to share though.

When my brother and I were little my grandma had us help her made these. I think it was mostly to keep us busy one night but I'll never forget it. She had made this little round ornaments then got out a box of old Christmas cards she had saved and helped us cut out pictures to clue in the center of the ornaments. I remember going through all the cards searching for just the right scenes to cut out. And I remember each ornament, my favorite was this puppy in a Christmas stocking. We even have a blank one that didn't get a picture put in it... I'm positive this was the one, single ornament I gave to my brother Jesse to make. Once we were done my grandma decided they didn't match her tree and gave them all to us. We have loved and fought over them ever since.

Little do my siblings know that I've got a talented mother-in-law who not only found variegated yarn like this, but also knows how to make these little things. And I've got my own box of Christmas cards I've been saving so one day I can have my own special treasures.

Counting

December 20, 2009
I'm pretty sure our attempt to teach Pearl to count to 24 was only exciting because it involved chocolate. And not just any chocolate... the good kind. Dove, at Jeff's request. After finishing my advent calendar Pearl and Jeff would spend a few minutes each night counting to the next available square of candy. She LOVED this tradition and couldn't wait for Jeff to get home so she could "count." Thankfully all our practicing paid off and she counted to 12 all by herself. Who says bribery is a bad thing?

Scared of Santa

December 16, 2009
I thought this year would be different... Pearl might actually want to see Santa Claus. Hopefully next year we might be able to at least walk into the room with the Jolly Ole man seeing as how this year it took me 20 minutes of walking around my building before convincing Pearl to join her friends to see what Santa had brought. At least this year Pearl kept the screaming to a minimum and just clung to me instead. So this picture is as good as you'll get with a frightened two-year old and a prego mom who was just a bit freaked out herself by how much Santa wanted her to sit on his lap. Guess I can't blame Pearl after all, I was kind of weirded out myself afterwards.