All Dressed Up

It's not often that the whole lot of 'em are all.dressed.up
:: here are my three very best gifts ::
My baby. My boy. And my little beauty. 

Smallish Style.

The Christmas Eve edition.

Christmas 2011 in pictures

dressed up//sparkly balls and bitty birds//izzy//crackers//ava and the gift//daddy's girl//
for santa//christmas morn//brotherly love//orange goggles and pink cars.

It might just have been the very merriest.

Countdown to Christmas :: Traditions

It is almost Christmas.

Here's what we do around here.

every.single.year

10. The exact same decorations go up throughout the house. Including this nativity set that was sent to us from the husband's family in Rome. If anything and I mean the tiniest thing is missing from somewhere, Julian will totally realize it and go crazy looking for whatever it is he thinks it might be. He is always right.

9. Notice the baby Jesus is missing. He is hiding under Mary's dress. And does not make an appearance until Christmas morning since, you know, he wasn't born until then and all.

8. The kids get chocolate advent calendars before December 1st. I don't care if Isabella is 13 now - she still got a Tinkerbell calendar and will until she is married. Maybe even after that.

7. They also get new pj's every year and open these on Christmas Eve. Here are two of them in last year's. Smooching even.

6. We celebrate with my family on Christmas Eve and the husband's family on Christmas Day. It works out perfectly.

5. We eat only fish on Christmas Eve. Not sure if everyone does this. Basically, I starve.


4. I choose a color theme for gift wrap each year (this years is all about candy colored sparkle :: all wrap is from here) and almost all of our wrapped gifts include an ornament. My mother does this too. As does my brother. Usually something to do with the person who is getting the gift. Sometimes not. 

3. The kids have their own little tree in the basement. They decorate it however they like and I don't help in any way. This way they don't get to touch mine. Can you say brilliant?

2. We don't do Santa pictures. I never have except for last year when there was a free "fishing with Santa" thing in front of Bass Pro at the local mall. Free is good :: so was no line ups.

I don't want to talk about that elf's hat. 

1. Santa visits us every year. And he is real. We know this because the wrapping paper that his gifts come wrapped in is different than our's. And the kids at school? Their gifts are also wrapped in green please don't ever let me run out Santa decorated paper. Julian asked. And they confirmed. So there.

Wishing you and yours the happiest of holidays.

Stay Small

Our Ava is 21 months old today.

And in an ode to staying small...here's to purple polka-dotted pyjama's with feet at bedtime.

Pyjamas - Carter's

And crazy curls just after bathtime.

"You lookin' at me?"

Know that although she looks sweet and innocent...she uses the converter in the pictures as a weapon. Often.

She will hit tap me with it until I give in and put on an episode of Dora or lately, the Bubble Guppies.

"I win. Again."

Nice.

What I Wore : Stripes and Such

It is Christmas in just a few days! 

My Julian has asked Santa for only one thing.

 That it snow. 

Now...how am I supposed to make that happen on Christmas morning?

Blouse - Vero Moda | Necklace - Marciano | Watch - Michael Kors | Pants - Halston
Suede Boots - Michael Kors

And that's what I'm wearing on Wednesday.

Last Year

Last Christmas,

I gave you my heart...

What a difference a year makes.

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

Ava is the star of our eco-friendly cards this year ~ truth be told, I captured this shot quite by accident.

She climbed onto the coffee table and grabbed both Christmas balls off of the angel candelabras they were placed on. I scrambled to get my camera and capture the moment. Et voila.  Christmas magic.

Randomness

Some random going's-on for you this 8 days before it's Christmas Friday.

Julian lost his $1000+ retainer. We have looked everywhere. The school has done the same. It is nowhere to be found. Seriously though, who thinks it's a good idea to give a removable retainer to a nine year old boy? Quite honestly, I'm surprised it lasted this long.

The good news is, it is now being replaced at minimal cost to us.

Julian says we can take it out of his Christmas money.

Ava is fighting the sleep again. Tell me this is normal with a soon-to-be 21 month old. I don't remember. That's what I get for having a baby 9 years after the last.

She fights to go down. There may be some screaming. Sometimes on and off for a couple of hours. And sometimes, she tricks us by being quiet for half an hour so we think she's asleep and then waking up and screaming again. She is also getting up at least once per night and demanding milk. 

Growth spurt? Please agree with me. 


We got my mom a new kitten for Christmas. Her name is Lily. I am ridiculously jealous and have taken to visiting her every day. and pretending she's mine.

I am officially done my Christmas shopping. Although I always tend to keep shopping. Keep feeling like I missed something. Or someone. 

It is raining. A lot. It is December. And I live in Canada. And no, not in Vancouver. 


Due to said rain I've decided I want a pair of red Hunter rain.boots for Christmas. Since they'll be practical and all. 

 Isabella is an angel. And her feet are now officially as big as mine. so we could share the boots Santa.

That is all.

*all images courtesy of Pinterest*

Mirror Image

Little Miss has been somewhat obsessed with the mirror as of late.

I could watch her for hours.

Dress - Blue Moon by David Charles London {circa 2000}
it originally belonged to another curly-haired cutie aka her big sister

She will periodically turn away. Look down.

Testing to see whether or not that baby will still be there.

 She always is.

The perfect playmate.