Christmas Time around the K&C house

I figured I better get my butt on here and write a post since I got a special request from my sweet bloggy friend :) 

What we have been up to...

We went to Santa's Village. It used to be so much cooler, but I'm sure Anika didn't care that it wasn't as great as it used to be...and that the toys they had out were the exact same ones they had when I was her age. NO JOKE.

My niece, Miss A and dada

My Uncle sets up his train set there.  Its pretty cool! Actually one year, he had a train made up that said "Will You Marry ME?" and a ring on top so when his now wife came up to see him,  he told her to look at the new train....and there was the ring....

A looks miserable in all these photos, but I promise she wasn't. Well, maybe she was. We did wait a long time to get up there.

She liked the red nose on Rudolph

Meeting Santa.  My niece was on his lap and then I Just tossed Anika on too. There was a line and I didnt even get a picture of her alone. Whoops.

 After Santa's Village we went out for my mom's birthday...and everyone was kind of tired, so we just went to Chinese where my mom sucked down too much scorpion bowl (in my opinion) and I told my dad to keep his eye on her! ha

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Hmm what else has gone on. We went to a Christmas Party down in MA. OVER 2 hours away.  We usually spend the night but we actually drove home that night- well Andrew did :)  I had some wine and then I slept most of the way home and we got home at 3 AM. We were both exhausted Sunday.

 The hosts have a baby, Stella, 7 weeks younger than Anika. The host, A, is a college friend of mine.  We meant to get pictures of Anika and Stella in their xmas dresses and then their xmas PJ"s but we forgot :(

Our little Family

I brought a pumped bottle for Anika to have before her bed time. SHE REFUSED it. 3 people tried and she screamed. I had to leave the room. IF she saw me, it was worse. She wanted Titty! haha. She has been a bottle snob lately.  It got bad for a bit, but then Finally Andrew got her to take it...and she did it in her own little position....

At one point, I peaked around the kitchen corner and she was on all fours, not even on Andrew with her head up drinking it. Everyone was laughing. BUT, other than that little issue, she was a party animal, LOVING the attention!  She did make Stella cry TWICE Though, by just touching her! Apparently we have a little bully on our hands . Funny because a few years ago when I brought Piri to this same friend's house, she had a little altercation with A's husband's family dog. SO, I guess Andrew and I have bully children or girls who just want to play and the other dog and baby are the snobs or as Andrew said, the wussies. with a p.

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This is a sweater her Nana and Poppa from NZ gave her when they came to visit in the spring. IT just fits now, and I LOVEEEE IT!

I also liked this preppy look on her... with JEGGINGS!

 I might have posted this one already.

And Guzzi?

I burned myself with a hot glue gun doing crafts. ON the face. IT is still there!  I have been putting coconut oil on it though and it seems to be healing. I also put my other great natural healer on it. You should guess what that is :) 

When we getting ready for swim last weekend. haha. She was so ecstatic to be in that bag. it was so funny.

The other morning or was it this morning? haha, I dont remember. I heard a "Knock, Knock, Knock"  while I was across from the bathroom taking nappies out of the washer and I went in the bathroom to see Anika using the sprayer to knock on the wall! Using it like a hammer. Then she was flushing the toilet! AND, boy did she seem proud of herself.  We also have her little potty in the bathroom. Every morning when I get up the first thing I have to do is pee. She comes with me, since usually she wakes me up. I sit on the big potty and I take off her nappie and put her on her potty. We both usually go at the same time. This morning though she pulled herself up (using my undies no less- ugh) stood UP and then peed ...and had a pretty decent aim! LOL.  SHE ALSO is taking 4 steps in a row unassisted now. She tries to sneak over to the stairs all the time. Then she will get on the first one and look around...and then YELL to get our attention...its like she KNOWS she is not supposed to be doing that so she wants us to know. haha

 . I put a few presents under the tree (Not hers) and I should have known...she tore them up.

I made this card holder thing! It was easy. An embroidery hoop, clothes pins, hot glue gun and Andrew spray painted it for me. I used ribbon I had!  I saw it on Twitter @LvdMoreThncrrts twitter. Then I looked it up on Pinterest to see it more closely. I need to add more clothes pins to it because its filled up.

And, tomorrow is a BIG day for our Family! Mr. Andrwe gets sworn in as a US CITIZEN!! YUp. BRIGHT and Early tomorrow Morning!!  So, I better get to bed :)

Christmas Photo shoot

This was Andrew's original Christmas card idea, but the idea just didn't come out well in photos...or we couldn't get everyone (Me, him, Anika and Piri) to look at the camera at the same time. He wanted to be pulling the sleigh with Piri and then Anika as an elf in the sleigh and me behind the sleigh as Mrs. sexy claus. And then it was taking so long and Andrew's knees were cold...so he got up.  He wanted to wear the orange hunting vest to be funny...you know since he is dressed up as a reindeer.  This corny picture Idea was all his!  I agreed because he had that dumb mustache for Movember, and he couldn't shave it until December. I didn't want to wait until December to get the photos taken. I had coupon codes to use!  I actually ended up getting 130 cards for like $30, including shipping.  A lot of the pics came out blurry. My friend Kate took them. Usually she is VERY good, but she was off that day! hahaha. Or the camera was messed up.

We ended up using one like this. After I already ordered most of the cards, an online mommy friend from an online group I belong to, offered to FIX the photos for me. She made them a lot more clearer and crisp.  I got to use the clear versions in my 2nd order of cards.

And this one (above)

Andrew wanted Anika to be an elf and for me to be a sexy claus. I decided I would be sexy...without showing too much leg or cleavage. hahaha. My mom made Anika's elf hat. Well, she bought the hat and then made the ears. The sleigh is my moms. An antique that she has taken pictures of me in as a baby. And my niece.

ha, I like how she is holding the branch!

Ha- I love how Anika is looking at Andrew.

The girl loves to pull my hair. Probably because she has none of her own!

Danielle made Anika's Christmas bow. We LOVE it. We were in a mall this weekend and she had the bow on. OH MY GOOD LORD. We couldn't even get through Macy's. At one time, THREE ladies from the make-up counters surrounded Anika in her stroller and ohh'ed and ahhed over her and her xmas dress and bow.  They would not let me by, and Guess who walked away and left me? ANDREW!  I could see him at the other end of the counters waiting. HE HATES the attention. Hates it. He gets all embarrassed.  At one point, she got sick of the stroller and wanted to be carried, so he was carrying her and people kept talking to her and I left him to deal with it :)

At one point, Anika and I separated from Andrew to get him a gift. I LOST her bow! But, I retraced my steps and found it on the floor in the women's department in Macys, where I had looked for a sweater for my mom. A little prayer to St. Anthony did the trick.

Anika's pet cat at my mom's house!

ANika had her first bug last week. She didnt even act sick. She just kept throwing up on me starting at 3 AM while in our bed. She puked in my face...and when I turned the lights on I realized there was puke all in our bed.  Then she just kept puking until 1 pm that day. I just nursed, nursed, and nursed some more. Mommy's magic milk helped fix her up quickly.  I had to stay home with her that day and while she napped I cleaned out our basement! ha. I really wish I got to stay home with her more often...except on days when she isnt puking all over the rugs. That part sucked. I had to change our clothes so many times that day.