Post-Christmas Letdown

It happens to me every year. That dreaded moment when you realize that all the preparation and organizing for Christmas is over...and all you're left with is some crusty old snow. Usually it hits me on the 26th. But that didn't happen this year, so I thought I was in the clear...until today. We were dealing with about a day and a half's worth of snow that came several days too late, and today it started to warm up and melt...so everything is grungy, and wet and grey. Not the prettiest weather, nor is it fun to try and keep a toddler entertained when there's nowhere to go, and nothing to do. But we made it through the day, and here we are at evening...alone with my computer, Y&R and Clean Breeze melting in the Scentsy. Ahhhhhh.

But a look back at better times shows that we had a wonderful Christmas. Maisie was so excited this year...about Santa, and presents, and Christmas lights...and we watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 150 times or more over the course of December...no kidding.

She was totally overwhelmed and hilarious. The favourite gift that she had asked Santa for was her Calico Critters dollhouse. It was set up so beautifully and lovingly, and ever since, the furniture has been strewn around the outside of the house and it looks like a yard sale at a frat house. But she still enjoys it, and that's all that matters, right? Right...

Then there were more gifts at Gramma & Grampa's, and even more gifts at Nana and Papa's. It makes sense that most days since she has asked if Santa is coming again to bring more presents! No dear...Santa is exhausted.

It's almost the New Year, and I'm ready to get back to normal...no more people on holidays, no New Year's resolutioners at the gym...just the regular group of stay-at-home moms who grocery shop, hit the mall and the gym with their little ones. And hopefully no snow. I don't want any more snow. 

Hope your Christmas was great!

Playing Catch Up

This blog has fallen into a neglected state of disrepair! Between Christmas and the toddler vortex of doom, I haven't been able to drag my butt off the couch to do anything other than eat. By the time evening arrives, my intentions are so good, but I'm so pooped.

Prepping for the Christmas season seems to have been going on for about a year now, and I'm totally ready for it. First time I've ever been a couple of steps ahead in my whole life...shopping done, baking done, wrapping done...now I'm waiting for the day, instead of the other way around! Usually Christmas is waiting for me to catch up. Not this year, dude...I beat you to it.

We've been doing a lot of Christmas Fun...here's your catch-up:

Christmas Tree:

We made the typical trek to Little Tree Farm to get our gorgeous tree for this year. They always have apple cider, cookies and candy canes to snack on while you tree shop. And we found the perfect tree in about 4 seconds flat.

Winter Walk:

On a long, boring, snowy afternoon in Toddler-No-Nap-No-Man's-Land, we went to a park for a winter walk. Mainly just because I wanted to take a picture of snowy trees...I was in the mood for snowy trees. Can you blame me?

Maisie tracks!

Rabbit tracks! 

Kids Christmas Party:

Every year, Mike's work puts on an amazing Kids Christmas Party for all employees kids under 12. It's a sugar-filled, over-stimulating, child's freak fest...but it's fantastic. Maisie eats candy for dinner, melts down as we're leaving, tries to fall asleep in the car and then bounces off the walls for about an hour after we get home. But it's once a year. And it's fun.

Why yes, that is a bouncy castle in the middle of the office!

So now you're all caught up! Ready for Christmas, we sure are. We have a bit of snow right now, but it's not supposed to last until next week...we're supposed to have some rain in there somewhere. But for right now it's festive. Ho ho ho :)

Gingerbread Project

We have restarted the dreaded potty party again. I'm pretty sure we're going to see it through this time, and not give up until it takes. She now loves putting on cute undies, and I bought her some new potty rewards (Swedish berries and gummi bears!) yesterday which are tantalizingly displayed in a clear plastic jar for easy motivation. However, today we had a 0% success rate, complete with two pee episodes on the carpet. She would sit on the potty for hours at a time, be off for 15 minutes for a break, and then she'd pee on the carpet! Not the best start. But, we are powering through, and we will do this, even if it kills us! I am totally exhausted though! This is hard work!

When Daddy came home from work today, he brought our first gingerbread house kit!

There's not a lot for a toddler to do on a gingerbread house, but we made some projects for her!

The finished product!

Sunday was Mike's birthday, and Maisie and I made our famous Ugly Smarties Cake!

It may be ugly, but ohhhh lawd, was it tasty!!

Watch later this week for more Christmasy stuff, and hopefully some potty updates!

Santa Day

Well, it's been a long while...and it's a little weird going from a Halloween to a Christmas themed post, but it's just that time of year. And I say, bring it!

Today we were at the mall to pick up a few things, and saw that Santa was on his perch in the centre of the mall. I wasn't sure if Maisie would be at all interested, as she hasn't had much exposure with Santa yet this year. I had planned on walking her past Santa every time we hit the mall. But upon asking her if she wanted to visit Santa, the answer was a sure-of-herself YES. Hmm...who are we to argue with that?

She did great. She said hi to Santa, and stood beside him, and he pulled her into his lap. I handed her a candy cane, and we had time to snap one picture before the wailing began! But at least we got our shot!

Although they both have the sort of deer in headlights look, and Santa is probably thinking "seriously, I have to do this for another 32 days?", it turned out great, and is one thing to cross off our holiday list.
(My goal this year is to get all the "have-to's" out of the way early so that I can enjoy the "get-to's"!)

After some lunch and a nap, the Toronto Santa Claus Parade was on TV, so armed with hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and crayons to write the all-important letter to Santa, we were ready!

The whole thing started off on an iffy foot, as Maisie was mildly moody. Perhaps due to nap, I'm not sure.

But roll out the hot chocolate, and it solves all the world's problems.

And since Maisie was too nervous to actually talk to Santa and tell him what she wants for Christmas (which she was very concerned about!), she wrote her letter to Santa during the parade.

Maisie was so excited to see Santa at the end of the parade! Then it was off to cook dinner! She loves lining up the little bowls of ingredients!

When asked "Who likes cooking?!", they both said "I DO!!"

We had such a fun day. I think Christmas is going to be super awesome this year. She really knows what's going on, and she's excited. I can't wait!

Bring it.

Cuteoween

Finally, I am getting a chance to sit down and blog! Between colds and Halloween, it has left little time for doing anything interesting. We're having a lazy day today, as we try to get ourselves on the mend and back towards health. Colds suck. Colds with toddlers suck even more.

With Maisie almost 3, Halloween was fun this year. She gets it, and she wants to participate in everything. We carved our pumpkin on Sunday, so Mike could do it with us.

She wanted to do a little bit of everything...but mostly, she wanted to draw on the pumpkin with marker.

She even wanted to help me weed through the pumpkin guts to pull out the seeds. She kept saying "eeew...gunky!"

On Halloween, we had our arts & crafts class in the morning, and we made a spider trick-or-treat bag. She was so excited to get dressed up in her costume! She even let me french braid her hair!

She wasn't feeling well for much of the day, and I was surprised she didn't nap. So by the time we got to Mike's work to pick him up, she was sound asleep. Then we were off to Gramma & Grampa's and Nana & Papa's for some trick-or-treating.

She had a good time, but was pretty hopped up on sugar afterwards! It took her a while to fall asleep, but once she did, she was out like a light. Today she has been wearing her costume all morning! I think it's going to make for some prime dress-up!

So Maisie's third Halloween was a success! And now, my brain turns to Christmas. Sigh.