A last 2011 shout out to the Giant

Happy New Year!!!!!! *kiss kiss kiss*

It is a brand new year where you are. 

How's it looking on the other side? Better? I still have a solid 7 hours left in 2011.

See you next year, Love. Literally.

And all you other following loves in blogland, happy new year to you too!!!  Thanks for another great year. 2012 is going to be even better. I promise bigger and better things here.  

But for now, I think its time I go get a start on my new year's resolutions list. What's on your new year's resolution list? Anything I should put on mine?

Just call me a thief

I'm stealing my friend Kate at Barefoot Daydreams' idea of starting to conclude the year on an Oprah inspired note "my favorite things." I thought I'd make a little of my own though. 

With so many friends that have just had new babies, are having babies, thinking about having babies, I think I have some valid insights here. How about "My favorite things as a Momma in 2011"?

Here are a couple of my favorite things that we absolutely could not live without this year.

Ready?

Cheyanne's sound machine. Could. Not. Travel. Without. It. When she was born, we used a heartbeat machine to soothe her. Since then, we've evolved into this gem. Where we go, it goes. We've gone from heartbeat to ocean and now to the wind sound. Ahh peace.

These cute little sparklies never fail to get us a little extra attention when we're out and about. Cheyanne's Skechers Twinkle Toes are a little different than these (and way cuter) but I couldn't find an actual picture of them. Not only are they cute and always get compliments, but they work as great tantrum distractions. She is such a girl- just compliment the shoes and suddenly the world's a whole lot brighter.

Our "cadillac" as we lovingly call it. This Graco stroller system rocks. There is really nothing else that can be said. I loved the car seat when she was little (we moved her up to a bigger car seat at 12 months). And the stroller is just the best. 

Don't ask me what it is about this thing that babies love, but my word my little one sure does. The Sophie the giraffe toy was (maybe still is) the hottest toy on amazon for a while. It squeaks with almost every touch. It is soft and squooshy. It can be bit and chewed on in every possible direction. Its a winner.

I know I've mentioned this one before, but it still stands true 12 months later. It This Mud Pie paci holder is much cuter in person than this picture shows. It holds on well to any clothing, keeps it pretty appearance, and is really easy to clean. of course without all that, I was still sold on it because of the monogram. I'm a sucker for all things monogrammed.

I'm also increasingly becoming a sucker for all things smocked. Giant, stop rolling your eyes. She's wearing it- that's final! I have discovered a local smocking shop Shrimp and Grits Kids in Charleston that I am now an avid follower of. Although, per Kate's top favorite things list, there might be some stiff competition.

Santa, can you come back? And when you do, can you bring this in a romper size 24-36months please? And if there was a big red starred hair bow attached, I wouldn't complain either. Thanks.

Two words. Life. Saver. Ok so maybe technically its only one, but the emphasis is necessary here. If you don't have a car dvd player and you are about to have a toddler, invest in one. This has saved many a eardrum on those long car rides.

And lastly, this is for the sake of MomMom's sanity. While there are many different tasty kinds that would do the job, this recently discovered deliciousness called Menage a Trois is a never fail. And no, it does not have to be enjoyed in the company of three (har har), it tastes just as lovely on a lonely night sitting on the couch while husband is away. 

While I'm sure I could make more of this list, I think that's a pretty good gathering of my favorite things in 2011 as a MomMom. Hope this helps a few other MomMoms out there or maybe gets the juices flowing if you've got a baby shower coming up. Need other suggestions? I've got plenty! Enjoy!

Thank you Skype

For bringing my husband to me on Christmas.

Once I saw my his face, Christmas only got better. 

Peapod loved her Christmas too. Look at that smile in her new Radio Flyer wagon. That's one happy girl.

I'll post more later on our merry day. With a full hour left on the clock, I want to wish you the very merriest of Christmas. No matter where you are or who you are with, Merry Christmas to you!

Merry Christmas Daddy

My daddy is an Airman 

Doing all that he can do

To protect our land, keep it free

Its causes great and true

And while he is away from home

I want everyone to know

My daddy is my hero

And I love him so

Merry Christmas Daddy wherever you are.

We miss you and wish you were here. Be extra safe today. We love you always.

Love, Your girls

And Merry Christmas to the rest of the 15th who are away from home this year. We hold you in our hearts and prayers. You are dearly missed and loved this Christmas season, more than you know. 

______________________

"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; 

he is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10

Oh Christmas Tree

Leaving our house for Christmas last week was a little bitter sweet. I was more than thrilled to be heading home to spend the holidays with my family, but I really struggled with the idea of leaving our new home right at Christmas time. Before we bought our house as I looked at homes, I envisioned Christmas things. Some people think of where to place their furniture (and yes I do that too), but I first think of where a Christmas tree will go. That's how I saw empty space and judged if it could be our home or not. I thought about where our Christmas tree would go. I envisioned all of our decorations on the walls and a fireplace hearth decked with stockings. Is that weird?

I know its a little silly since we aren't even home at the holidays, but I decorated anyways. And I loved every minute of it. It might have taken me three weeks to get the tree decorated after I put it up, but I think its safe to say that it's our prettiest Wood tree yet. It will look just as pretty in March when the Giant comes home too. That's right. Three months of Christmas in the Wood house. Don't judge- I have an excuse. And don't worry- I'm not a Griswold- yet.

Wanna see what I left behind? This is just the beginning.

So far, this is my year of DIY.

My DIY tissue paper trees. Another great Pinterest find.

The DIY coffee filter wreath

 I made a red velvet Christmas card tree to display one of my favorite parts of Christmas- CARDS!!

A thing of beauty

My Christmas play tea set from my Mamaw

Do you have a pickle to hide?

Aww- us :)

There will be more to come when we get back home to clean up on all the post-Christmas sales. Two years of missed Christmases will be waiting for my man.

It's Official. It's over!

Not that this affects our family too much since my husband is still over there flying high and will be for some time, it is historic and needs to be shared. And, in sixteen years, if Cheyanne ever looks back at her old Momma's blog, I want her to know what she was doing the day that the Iraq War ended.

Today, Chey met someone new in her family to love. Since we've been back home with my family, we've been soaking up as much family time as possible.

Especially Cheyanne. Little miss shy Chey has become quite the social butterfly. At least in the family, that is. Since she was so shy as a younger baby, I tended to shy away from groups of people or unfamiliar faces with her because it caused her such distress. Well, something in her switched. She still definitely does better in small groups, but she is not half as intimidated by people like she used to be. Today, we finally got to test this new phase out. My parents and I drove up to West Virginia to see our dear Aunt Phyllis. While she is technically my dad's cousin, she "practically raised him" as she likes to say. She is a special and vital member of our family from WVa, and I have been itching for Cheyanne to meet her. Of course, like the horrible blogger that I've become, I didn't take a single dang picture during our visit. ::Ugh Sigh:: What was I thinking- or better yet- what was I not thinking? I was definitely not thinking about pictures because I was too busy keeping an eye on Cheyanne who was more than happy to chase be introduced to her Phyllis' 3 cats today. My daughter is 15 months old and has rarely seen a cat before. Yeah, we're completely dog people. So, needless to say, I saved a few cats lives today from a curious tail pulling toddler. And just in time for the cats to learn that Cheyanne wasn't giving up easily, they disappeared into their hiding spots which clearly meant it was time for us to go. Anyways, this post is not about cats. Its about our day on the day that the war ended. 

That's what we've been up to. Visiting and soaking up some extra attention. Extra attention definitely isn't scarce here. With grandparents less than 50 yards away, I'm loving the family time and Cheyanne is loving the many open arms and laps. 

Here she is tasting her first cherry. Despite the grimace on her face, she actually loved them. I know this because she not only ate Nana's but she ate mine too (along with my eggnog milkshake).

So, what were you doing on this historic day?  Anything worth jotting down? You might want to because in sixteen years, who knows who will be asking you as they read about it in their history books. My Giant, Chey will definitely want to hear it from you. I'm sure your day was much more worthy of a jot. Mahoney, Graves, same goes for you… 

In other important news… Auntie T comes east bound in 24 hours!! Even though she won't be here at home until Thursday, DC is waaay closer than San Francisco so I'll take it. I think I can hold out for a few more days… but just barely! Come home fast Sister!

Santa, we'll try again next year

Obviously our round two with Santa didn't go much better today. And by "not much better" I mean much much worse.

That is about as close as she would get to Santa Claus this time. What you don't see here are the water works that ensued. I think we're done with Santa this year. Cheyanne's been traumatized enough for one year. 

But didn't she look cute at the base Christmas party despite the trauma?

It was so cold in the hanger (since they still had air conditioning blowing) though, we had to keep our coats on. Thank goodness I brought it last minute. Who has air conditioning blowing on a chilly drizzly day? Despite freezing our tails, it really was a fantastic party. 

Who knew that Santa flies on a Globemaster when the reindeer need to rest?

We were all waiting at the hanger doors when we heard he was in the area.

(I love this picture)

Here he comes!!!

All in all, we left happy and in the Christmas spirit. What more could you ask for?

This is the one good picture of Chey and I in front of the model plane. I should have gotten a picture of us inside it. Kids were all over this guy.

Ho Ho Ho-ly terror

Ahh Christmas and all those lovely, sweet precious Christmas moments that we hold dear to our heart from year to year.

Well, actually, Christmas hasn't started off so fantastic for Cheyanne quite yet…

I don't know who I feel worse for in this picture, Cheyanne or Santa Claus. Keep laughin' back there Mrs. Claus. That will get you on my naughty list real quick.

Well we tried. We have round two with Santa again this weekend at the Spec Ops Base Christmas party. Maybe this time, we'll have better luck. I've been talking Santa up all week so we'll see if she caught on.

Thankfully, she recovered quickly as soon as she turned around and saw all those fishies. Monday, we attended the SC aquarium's member Christmas party with a new squadron friend and her daughter. Besides this traumatic captured moment, the entire event was unbelievable! I can't wait to make this a yearly tradition with Hubs next year. The party was catered with yummy food and free drinks (both kiddie and adult beverages- YES)! 

We loved watching a special Christmas scuba dive show in the tank, as seen below on this precious girl's face.

Another memorable and hilarious later regrettable moment at this party was when Cheyanne tasted her first donut. People, sugar highs and drops are real. I'm a witness to this. I should have known, but since Chey doesn't really get much sugar, all I had to go off was her birthday party and somehow that fun never came to my mind- until now. I'll just show you in pictures.

All from the first bite. Eyeing it down.

First taste.

Mmm sprinkles. Did I mention that it was a fresh chocolate and sprinkles covered Krispy Kreme donut?

M.O.R.E!

 And so it begins…

Up!

Up!

Up!

Ahh, Ecstasy.

And…. crash.

Of course, the crash only came after she ran around banging on the tank glass yelling at the fish like a wild normally-would-have-been-embarrassing-if-I-hadn't-been-laughing-so-hard child. Ahh these precious Christmas memories.

Why my tree is still not lit?

Any other questions? I'd say these pictures are pretty self-explanatory. I'll get it done one of these days.

Our thankful weekend

How cheesy of a title is that?

Go figure what this little post is about… our Thanksgiving weekend! Ding ding ding.

What I should call it is Our thankful weekend that turned into a bout of the flu that has us housebound. But that just seems too long.

That's right. Thanksgiving came and we had a fantastic time and then somehow as if I'd set it on timer, along our drive home, I grew increasingly sick. I'll get to that in a minute.

The Thanksgiving weekend was actually fantastic. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Cheyanne and I headed to North Carolina to be with the Giant's family. Up and on the road by 5:30am to be giving hugs and greetings by 10:30am.

Here's my one picture with her from the whole day.

I don't know where my shy little girl went, but she was very much replaced by Miss Sociable all Thanksgiving. Something just switched in her because she became a whole other child. She didn't meet a single stranger in the family crowd. I am so proud of her! My how time has changed (even since September at her birthday party when I couldn't leave the room without her by my side). She was like "MomMom who?"

I was the worst at taking pictures all weekend. I didn't even bring my camera out until everyone was almost gone Thanksgiving night. Oops. That would be why I have about 30 pictures of just Chey by herself (and Sunny the dog). Exhibit A.

Doggy up. Baby up.

 Doggy down. Baby down.

Chey even learned the right way to give puppy her treats.

Puppy kisses!

Doggy begs. Baby begs. HA!

That girl cracks me up.

It really was a nice trip away from home. We spent time with family that we just don't get to see enough. And with grandparents that have gotten increasingly feeble over the last year, it was really important that we got up there to spend some time.  This trip only reminded how thankful I am to be in my beautiful family. We are so blessed. The Giant really has some of the best aunts and cousins in the world. I'd say we are both pretty lucky in that department. Here's just one of those great cousins who Cheyanne instantly adored. Yay for Mary!!

End of photo dump…

Anyways.

We stayed in NC an extra day which had me on the road home early Saturday morning, again 5:30am. As I said, along the drive home, I somehow got sick- quickly. I left the grandparents house feeling just fine, sleepy but fine. Three hours in, I thought, "Hmm, I'm so stiff." By the time I stepped out of the car at home, I thought, "Lordy is it nap time yet? My joints are killing me and I have got to lay down before I fall over." We finally got to take an afternoon nap and I woke up with a throbbing throat and body. Yeah, that's not fun. Within 24 hours, I was doing everything I could to not receive The Worst Mother of the Year Award. At one point, I was laying with my back on the floor while my daughter crawled over me, trying to keep my eyes open long enough to see that she made it to the other side without banging into the wall, only to be thinking to myself "Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake." I'm not sure if I was successful or not. She seemed okay.

Well, today is Wednesday and its the first day I'm starting to feel a little like myself again- despite my creepy old man from Family Guy voice. For the first time this week, we've been eating veggies. Don't judge. We survived this long. Now fingers crossed, I'm on the up and up and baby girl will keep healthy and flu free. (Say a little prayer please).

My cute cheese ball that kept me "entertained" during my puniness.

We missed Daddy all weekend but thankfully he was able to call and speak over speakerphone to the whole family at one point. I think that made everyone's Thanksgiving a little better. I know it did mine. This time last year, I was yet again clinging the phone in hopes to hear from him. Not much has changed, huh? Well, maybe just a few thousand miles.