Our adventures with Ralphie

I mentioned a while ago that we've adopted our first elf and his name is Ralphie. He arrived at our house the day after Thanksgiving and has kept us on our toes ever since. Cheyanne loves to find Ralphie every morning and see what kind of mischief he was into the night before after his long trip back from the North Pole. 

Want to see a few things Ralphie has been doing? I'll post more later.

Apparently Ralphie was tired one day because we found him napping in Cheyanne's dollhouse after a little popcorn snack.

We found him overseeing the nativity after laying out our advent baggies (obviously we were a day behind in that). Oops. Thanks Ralphie for the reminder.

 He loves a good tea party gabfest with the gals. I'm not sure in which way, but I assume the best because he seems to have a thing for the orange haired fairy doll. Chey enjoyed finding this in the morning as she loves tea parties.

Like I said, he seems to have a thing for the orange haired ladies. They rode the stocking choo-choos.

 Messy Ralphie.

Apparently toilet paper can be used as Christmas decorations… who knew?!

Its a bird! Its a plane! No, its Ralphie flying around on the fan!!

We love our Ralphie! I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. Speaking of which… its late… gotta go! :)

Uh oh Ralphie, you're in trouble now

As one of our advent tree activities, we made Christmas cookies last week while Daddy was home on a quick work break. I think they lasted for all of 24 hours in our house.

Cheyanne's favorite part of decorating cookies is eating the sprinkles of course. She really couldn't care less about the cookie, but don't mess with her sprinkles.

Well, during nap time, Ralphie apparently got into her cookies and had a little snack.

She is pissed. Not just a little bit. I mean, she gave him the stare down and pointedly said "No Ralphie" when she discovered what he had done. She insisted on eating his cookie that he didn't finish.

She sat like this staring at him the entire time eating her sprinkled cookie. Ralphie, I think you crossed the line this time. You don't mess with Chey's sprinkles.

Some things to know

There are some things I'd like to remember and let you know about our 27 month old Cheyanne since I've been behind on blogging details recently. This is my attempt to flash catch up.

1. She is ob.ses.sed with her daddy right now. This phase is a favorite right now, one I never actually thought I'd see. Literally overnight she switched to a daddy's girl. I did NOT see that coming.
2. She hates getting her hair washed because she still can't stand any water in her face despite my usual best efforts to keep her face dry during baths.
3. Tea time is a daily activity in our house. "Tea party mom!"
4. We've figured out that she can actually say a lot more than she does, except only in times of need does she willingly use her whole vocab. She fluctuates between her usual few word sentences or in "crucial" times she will use speak full conversation sentences. It depends on what kind of mood she is in. Other times she still points.
5. Lollipops are her favorite. Blue ones especially. Just the plain old school Dumdum kind. I just realized that every picture I have of her with dumdums, they are all blue. What are the odds?

6. She is still not a fan of getting close to Santa Claus- maybe next year. And, she is not a fan of all animals bigger than her being too close. Loves them from a distance, still not a fan of getting up close.

7. She loves to say her prayers at night. We go through the list of "God bless"es each night with hands folded and she usually asks for more at the end.
8. Her hair is light brown and very curly at the bottom but stick straight on top.
9. She is quite the artist. She'll draw, color, or paint on anything if you let her.
10. She has a (little) bit of temper.
11. She is bashful when she first meets people but warms up quickly when given the chance to on her own.
12. Once she has warmed up to you, she'll talk your ear off and bat her eyes to make you do anything she wants.
13. She has more energy than most reasonable 2 year olds should have!! At least for this mucho preggo momma she does.
14. Potty training is not a favorite thing in this house right now (for anyone).
15. Blue and red are her favorite colors.
16. She loves most anything with peanut butter .
17. Her favorite game to play is hide and seek. She's not the best hider (miss impatient) but she LOVES to be the counter and then announce "Ready or not! Here I come!"
18. She loves to count "1,2,1,2,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16." Yes I meant to type 1,2,1,2,5. For some reason 3 and 4 are her least favorite numbers.
19. We love to pretend. We pretend to be animals and chase around the house. We pretend to play house with her dolls. We pretend with our tea parties. We pretend a lot. I love this stage of learning to pretend. It is amazing to watch her creativity explode with possibilities, real or not.
20.  She is by far the world's messiest eater. I was prepared for messy toddlerhood, but I had no idea it would be like this. More often than not, she eats practically naked because the food gets everywhere. It is amazing. As good as she is with her utensils, somehow it still becomes a mess-fest. Miss Independent however must do things herself, so we just clean up our "messy mess" afterwards. One day she'll eat without getting her food all over herself, right?!

There's 20 things about Chey Chey that you should know :) I don't know why, but you should.

Love this girl.

But Ralphie beat me to it

Gingerbread Tradition

With this being the Giant's first chance at making holiday traditions with Cheyanne, we are covering our bases this year. He really wanted to make sure he helped make Cheyanne's first Gingerbread house.  She loved it- decorating the house, eating the candy out of the bowls, picking the candy off the roof and eating it… she loved it.

Busted Chey Chey.

She was so proud.

And then she held this pose eating the candy until I got a few pictures. 

Look at that house!

Now if I can just keep little hands off of it long enough to dry and last a while.

Same ol' Santa

While lots has changed this year with Cheyanne, one thing hasn't… her feelings for Santa Claus.

As you can see Santa's hand/leg in the picture below, this is as close as Chey Chey would let me get this year. Not even a Nemo book from Santa would entice her to get closer. 

If you remember, this is the scene from last year. Not much has changed in a year.

2011.

Poor Santa.

The Giant does not handle his little girl being so upset well so he was already hesitant about taking Chey to see Santa at the Children's Christmas Party on base knowing how she did last year. I had higher hopes for this year since we had been really talking up Santa Claus since our Ralphie elf made his appearance here after Thanksgiving.

I was wrong. She's still not a fan. Sigh. At least she had fun at the rest of the party- away from the big guy.

This girl loves a good bouncy house.

And playing with her daddy.

Our favorite part is the mini Daddy plane that they always have at children's events on base.

Family picture. Can you see us all?

 She did get a jingle bell band that helped make the traumatic visit worth it. Eh, maybe next year.

Day 30 of being thankful

DAY THIRTY.

I'm thankful for…

supportive family and friends. Tonight is my Scentsy launch party and I am so excited!!

I have no idea how it is going to go, I'm hoping successfully, but I'm just excited. I'm very thankful for friends that are willing to come be a part of my new business venture and family members that are being supportive from afar.

Not just in this new venture, but just in general, I am truly grateful for all the love and support that I personally have received over time from loved ones. I have great friends and even greater family. I don't know how people in our lifestyle survive without a strong network of support. It would be physically impossible to have such a fabulous life that we have without our loved ones.

Thank you all so much! I am eternally grateful for you.

Day 29 of being thankful

DAY TWENTY-NINE.

I'm thankful for…

medical care (and for my husband being home to help out with today's medical care needs).

After fighting a cough the last few days, Cheyanne woke last night throwing up which required a middle of the night complete bed change, bath, and all night cuddle session. Hoping it was a fluke and knowing that my daughter is just a sick puker, I thought we'd see how today went without any doctor intervention. By 10 this morning I knew that wasn't going to happen. When she practically couldn't catch her breath from coughing so hard all morning, I made the call to our base peds. I'm so thankful they had an opening within an hour. And I'm so thankful that the Giant was able to be in the waiting room waiting on us to arrive instead of being away like I'm used to.

The doctor decided we needed a chest x-ray to clear out any pneumonia possibility. Me being pregnant, I couldn't go in there with her for the x-ray so thankfully her daddy was there to take over. Just listening to the terrified screams from the other side of the x-ray door was too much for this mucho preggo Momma to handle. At one point, I actually thought about busting into the room despite the obvious, but knowing she was in good hands made it easier to keep my feet planted. While all of that was going on, I ran to the nurses station and had them give me a lollipop and stickers to have ready for Chey when the trauma was over. Ugh my poor baby.

Thankfully, the doctor called and told us the xray looked clear and she feels that Cheyanne is battling a bad cold and possibly something else so she put her on an antibiotic since we've been dealing with her cough and diarrhea for over two weeks.

I know today's incident is nothing compared to what so many other families deal with medically, but for me, this was a first and boy was it rough. I'm so thankful for the care that my daughter received right away and that her daddy was here to help her through it. Some things Momma just can't do these days apparently.

Say a little prayer that she feels better soon.

Day 27 of being thankful

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN.

I'm thankful that…

I inherited my dad's creativity. I wish I had inherited my Mom's constant ability to organize things as well though. I think that would probably have been a good pairing with my constant creative/craft thoughts.

Sometimes craft ideas run through my head so fast, I can't keep up. That's where I think my Mom's organizational skills would help me keep it together. Walking through craft stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby is like setting off fireworks in my head- mind blowing. Its sometimes (always) overwhelming. My husband can't even go in those kind of stores with me anymore because my mind runs faster than my mouth can explain my ideas and it becomes all too much for him. If we go together, he typically waits in the car and sets the timer.

Charleston got our first Hobby Lobby last month, and lets just say its a good thing that I live a solid 35 minutes from it, or it might very well become my second home. Craft stores are to me what Lowe's is to my husband and that is putting it mildly. I went today with my girlfriend Leslie and I think I might have even overwhelmed her with my creativity. I gave her fair warning.

The list of projects grew today, but thankfully, the supplies to complete those projects were checked off so I can finally start getting things done here. I say that slightly sarcastically because things are ALWAYS getting done here. If I told you how much we got done this weekend, it would probably be too much to read. Our small list: nursery painted, bonus room transformation into bedroom supplies purchased, bonus room transformation into bedroom begun, 2 walls up, Christmas decorations up, fall decorations put away, etc, etc… All this weekend. It never ends.

I hope Cheyanne inherits a healthy mix of her Mommy's creativity and her Daddy's practicality- or we're all in trouble!

Day 26 of being thankful

DAY TWENTY-SIX.

I'm thankful for…

the extra pillows that my husband put in bed for me tonight. The time has come where I can no longer lay in bed comfortably without extra pillows in between my legs. I mentioned it last night as we laid in bed, asking him to remind to get some the next night because I was too tired to go get them out of the room that night. Well, of course after that I fell asleep and forgot completely. Tonight, I got to our bed and Hubs had already laid out the extra pillows for me.

Ah, I love that man- and my extra pillows! Thanks Hubs!!!

Day 25 of being thankful

DAY TWENTY-FIVE.

I am thankful for… Christmas traditions.

I love that finally the Giant and I get to start brainstorming and create our own Christmas traditions with our daughter. Its about time!

Coming soon.

Day 24 of being thankful

DAY TWENTY-FOUR.

I'm thankful for…

post-Thanksgiving Christmas Chaos.

It's one of my favorite days of the year. Pulling out all of the Christmas decorations to arrange where each and every piece will go. 

I'm usually (a little-ha) OCD about my tree and how decorating it goes, but this year, I threw caution to the wind and made use of my helpers. 

So what if all of our red balls are on the lower left side of the Christmas tree. Its how Cheyanne wanted it so I let her do her thing.

I swear our tree isn't miniature, it just seems to look it next to the Giant.

Yes our tree does have over 1000 lights on it, why thank you. The Giant made sure that it twinkles just right. 

And our star may be a little crooked at times, but its pretty perfect to us thanks to Chey Chey.

I love the chaos that comes from making memories. And I love even more the chaos clean up that happens after bedtime! More pictures of Christmas decor to come.

Day 23 of being thankful

DAY TWENTY-THREE.

I'm thankful for…

TUMS!!

33 weeks pregnant and the day after Thanksgiving. Need I really say more?

Day 22- Our first family Thanksgiving

The day started early and perfectly yummy. 

Knowing that we had friends coming over to join us for thanksgiving, we started most food prep the night before. I'm so glad we did that. All we had to do the morning of was a few side dishes, dessert, and the turkey. Oh, the turkey.

Long story short, someone very tall who shall rename nameless came home from the grocery store with a rather large bird- 30 pounds to be exact. After a mild heart attack and MAJOR pregnancy meltdown which included a rushed call to the grocery store to plead using my "I'm very pregnant and might cry so please accept my returned bird", the 30 pounder was returned and an appropriate 13 pounder was brought home for cooking instead.

The 30 pound monstrosity

The delicious apple/carrot stuffed honey/orange juice glazed Wood bird- bird #2

The feast!

Proof that people ate my Thanksgiving feast!

I'm getting stuffed just looking at all that food again. Between us all, we had almost everything that I could even imagine for Thanksgiving. Oh my gosh. I literally feel my stomach growing as I look at this. When I say that I could not move by the end of the day, I'm not exaggerating. At one point, once everyone was gone and I sat on the couch watching Miracle on 34th Street with the Giant, I actually considered asking him to pick me up and carry me because I was so uncomfortable from my fullness. Pregnancy NOT to blame.

I apparently ate for three instead of two because my little turkey didn't eat a single bit of our Thanksgiving feast. Well that's not completely true. She did devour some homemade pumpkin bread. I had no idea she was eating so much of it (I thought she was just munching slowly on the same piece) until I followed her into the dining room and caught her on her tippy toes grabbing two whole slices of it on her own. Sneaky turkey.

My sweet silly turkey loved her first Thanksgiving with Daddy so much that she didn't even want to stop all the fun to take a nap. She didn't want to miss a minute of Turkey Day. I can't believe she went strong ALL day without an ounce of napping.

We had a wonderful first thanksgiving all together and hope that you enjoyed your day as well. We (I) have so much to be thankful for this year. I truly can't even begin to express my love and appreciation for life right now and all that I've been blessed with. 

I'll leave you with this picture of my little Indian butterfly. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

DAY TWENTY-TWO. I'm thankful for... my life in every possible way today.