Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.....please??

I know I should be thankful that we're having some beautiful weather in December (at least warmer- thumbs down to the rain), but I am just having such a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit without the fluffy white stuff that should be on the ground! I need the inspiration so I can finish my Christmas shopping- can you believe Christmas is only 11 days away?! I realized how behind I have been in my holiday duties when we received our first Christmas cards in the mail around December 4th. So this past weekend I dressed Cailyn up in a dress I bought her in October to wear for Christmas- but one she will soon, I realize, outgrow.

Keeping her occupied during the photo shoot was not the problem- maintaining her attention to the camera was so hard! I had so much to compete with...I always thought I was more interesting than a box, but she begs to differ....

It's just so funny to see how she is so attentive to everything around her now, reaching out to touch and taste everything within reach. And if it's not in reach she props up on all fours and flings herself forward onto her chest with a big "grunt!"

All I want for Christmas is SNOW!

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I used to blog in my "free time"...

Turns out I don't have much of that anymore. Since just before Thanksgiving, Cailyn has pretty much given up her 2 hour early evening snooze in favor of a 15-30 minute cat nap sometime between 5:00-7:00. That little nap gives me about enough time to get my jammies and clothes for the next day ready and maybe have a child-free snack or dinner. Don't get me wrong- she's been great about spending time in her exersaucer thingy, or playing on the carpet, or being toted around- but time just flies after getting home from work and the next thing I know it's time to prep everything for the next day!

On another note- I shall do my best to post Thanksgiving pics tonight sometime. We've just survived our first really crummy baby cold and it just dragged on, poor little girl.

See you for a more fun post later!

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Thanksgiving Week(end)

I put the "end" in parentheses because it was definitely more like a WEEK than just a couple of days. I now know what people are talking about when the discussion arises about traveling with kids. It's a good thing we only have Cailyn right now- any extra kid would have to have been strapped to the roof of the car (I'm kidding of course- we would just strap Jerod to the roof of the car in the event we had no seats left).

We lolly-gagged our way to southwest Iowa on Wednesday, making a stop in Ames and taking Cailyn to the library for the first time while Jerod donated plasma. She even got her picture taken for the children's librarian's presentation. We were looking at a baby sign language book- she LOVES to see the little babies in the pictures- and the librarian asked if she could take a picture because it was perfect! After picking up Jerod we napped a bit in the car and jaunted out to Jordan Creek- which is already a crazy mess of people, then dropped by Jerod's Grandma Carole's on our way to his parents' place.

Grandma Carole and Cailyn rocking after a bottle.

"Caught red handed!" This is Jerod's cousin Lisa's little boy, Ethan. He was born a month or two before Cailyn and it was so funny to watch them interact and see another baby!

Don't worry she can stand her own ground and took to her own investigating of this other little person when they got to the blanket on the floor.

Grandma Deb and Cailyn, early in the AM, good thing she and Bret are early risers anyway.

We spent Thanksgiving Eve and Day with Jerod's parents and his mom's sisters before leaving to Sioux City, I couldn't miss my Black Friday shopping!! (We landed ourselves a steamvac for the carpets, which will come in super handy now that Cailyn is MOBILE- yes, she's inchworming her way around the living room already, stinker!)

Cheap entertainment-baby girl discovered wrapping paper and fell in love. She got really mad because we had to keep replacing the papers she was playing with so that she didn't swallow them.

Her first bath in a sink, she was sliding all over the place so we had to dunk a towel under water for her to sit on. Pay no attention to the bottles in the background, we grown ups needed to unwind after so much shopping and food!

There are 3 birthdays within a week of each other on my side of the family. My brother Gabe turned 10 on the 19th of November, I turned 25 (again) on the 24th, and my brother Matt was 14 on the 25th. (This is Matt)

One thing a baby is great for (besides being the light of your life) is snuggling and napping....

.....and what's especially great is that she's an equal opportunity nap snuggler :)

Happy late Thanksgiving, hope your Christmas season is bringing you good times with friends and family!

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