'Tis the Season--Holiday Cards!

I can't believe it--it's the holiday season again! Seriously, where has the fall gone--how it possible that Thanksgiving is tomorrow?? And we all know that Thanksgiving signals the downhill slide into Christmas, whether we're ready or not.

Something I've been stressing about a lot this year is our annual holiday card. Each year that John and I have lived together, we've sent out progressively more humiliating cards of the dogs in some sort of holiday apparel. It's actually a lot of pressure--people always tell us how much they're looking forward to our card and that they can't wait to see what we're doing each year. Here's a sampling of some of the photos from past cards:

So there's pressure there regardless. But this year we added a new member to our family and I'm sure our friends and family are wondering (honestly, I'm sure they're not really sitting around thinking about our holiday card at all--I'm not that self-important. I have had a few people ask though, so it has crossed some people's minds) if the dogs will get ousted from the holiday card in order for Allison to shine, front and center. We of course wouldn't let that happen, so I started thinking months ago (I wish I was kidding) about how to incorporate all our "kids" onto the annual card.

Through some Googling, I found a few ideas that I thought would work but we recently got family pictures taken and they turned out awesome, so I wanted to include them as well...such a dilemma!! What to do, what to do....

Through some searching, I realized that thankfully photo card companies have wised up and realized that some of us need more options then just the simple, one photo card that we've utilized in year's past. I am in love with this option from Shutterfly:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/starlight-ribbon-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&fa=8&storeNode=93496&fe=1&fc=1
It's perfect--could put the dog/Allie pic as the big one and our family shots on top. Plus the colors are beautiful. However, it could look a bit strange since our family pictures are more, well, fancy I guess then our silly picture of the baby and dogs (yep, we've already got it taken, we're just waiting on the CD of images from our photographers). So maybe it would look weird?

No worries, there are other options then! Shutterfly also makes 5X7 folded cards, so we could put the big picture of the dogs and Allie front and center and put the family pictures, as well as a bit of a holiday update letter (we've yet to do one of those, but there's a first time for everything, especially with the big year we've had!!). Love the simplicity of this one...would really let the picture do the talking:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/starlight-ribbon-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&fa=8&storeNode=93496&fe=1&fc=1

Still not sure which way we'll go...stay tuned for an update on that! Speaking of our family pictures, we're totally going to do the easy way out this year with photo gifts for all the family--I know it's a bit of a cop out, but we're totally playing the new parents card. For John's side, it will be photo books and calendars, all of Allie. For my side, a photo book of Allie, but the calendar will also feature my nephew, so my parents can enjoy both of their grandkids. I've never done a personalized calendar before, and am just loving all the features of them--check it out, you can put in everyone's birthdays and anniversaries (with pictures if you want!!)!! Too cool:

http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

I know they'll be a big hit!

PS: Any other bloggers out there that are looking to send out holiday cards this year, check out Shutterfly's awesome promotion--50 free cards for bloggers!! You just can't beat that! Here's the link: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

PPS: In case, you haven't guessed, this post is a part of said promotion, but my opinions about Shutterfly's products are true, swear!

Allie's First Halloween

Allie was a beautiful ballerina for her first Halloween--someone gave us this adorable onsie with a tutu attached so I thought it would make a perfect costume (plus where else would she wear such a thing? it's so cute but notso practical). She wore it on Friday to my office to show her off and to her daycare's Halloween party, then we put it on her on Sunday night so she could see all the trick-or-treaters coming by. I'm sure she had no clue what was going on, but it was fun for us!
While we're on the subject of trick or treating, I'm going to get a bit judgey--I just don't get people taking their babies trick or treating when the kids aren't even old enough to eat any of the candy. I understand wanting to show off your kid and I think the experience would be somewhat fun for a child as well, but you could do it and not take candy. Seriously, parents, buy your own damn candy. It's not that expensive--hell, you could even wait until today to buy some at deeply discounted prices. I think next year maybe we'll take Allie out around the neighborhood in her stroller or a wagon, but I'll be damned if I use her to troll for candy. That's actually one of my main reasons for writing this post--so if by next year I've changed my tune, I can go back and read this to get a reality check.
And now for some pictures of all that cuteness:

Things I Don't Want to Forget Thursday

-Your hair is finally start to grow in, although pretty much just in the back. I love the way just a random piece of it will stick out--it makes you look silly and even more adorable than usual.

-Your brother Biggie (our 8 year old long haired Chihuahua) is finally starting to warm up to you and will come within your sphere of influence several times a day now. I can't even imagine how much he is going to adore you once you start having food to give him!

-It's going to be your first Halloween this weekend and I'm so excited to show you off in your adorable ballerina outfit. You look so beautiful in it!

-You're finally getting the hang of this solids thing and seem to actually enjoy the sweet potatoes you've been trying. We need to be better about feeding them to you everyday so you can really get it mastered.

-We took you to the park this last weekend (see photo below) and you loved the swing, even though you were so small in it. Wish it wasn't getting so cold here so you could do it more, but think how much fun we'll have in the spring when you're so much bigger!!

Wordless Wednesday

Drama Queen

Allie's had a shorter temper since getting sick (seriously, I feel like she's had this cold for YEARS! It's really only been 2 weeks but I can't really remember life before this cold), although, as she's pretty much the most easy going baby ever, probably makes her like most children her age (I'm seriously not bragging [well, maybe a little bit]--this kid's just super chill). What this has manifested in is crazy crying and screaming when she tips over when she's sitting. I understand the tears when she bumps her head on something, but more often than not, she just slowly rolls onto the pillow or blankets we have around her and breaks into high pitched wails. It's hard not to just laugh at her when she does this--at worst, she might be slightly scared by the fall, so I know it's not a pain-based reaction. She's really exploring her voice and will go up several octaves when crying--she's a very talented lady. She's also learned to couple it with very dramatic facial expressions--full on down turned mouth and pouted lip. It's adorable. It's not going to be adorable for long, I realize, but for now I'm pretty amused by the whole thing. In case anyone is worried about poor Allie here, I do scoop her up and cuddle her, so she does get the response out of me that she wants--out of respect for her acting ability, I do try to hide my smiles.

Splish Splash!

Giving Allie her bath last night, she figured out how to smack her hands down on the water and make huge splashes! She always likes to splash around in the bath but this was the first time I think she really understood how to do it and what she was doing...and she loved it! We got it on video thankfully although our Flip video was in serious danger of getting water damage--she was really sending the water flying! There is something so completely adorable about a wet baby anyway, and a wet baby that's so proud of themselves...well, it just doesn't get much better than that!

Things I DO Want to Forget

Allie threw up in my mouth on Thursday night. Was picking her up off the floor, had my mouth slightly open, and whammo! Kid's got a good aim I guess. I handled it much better than I would have guessed--John saw it all happen so grabbed Allie from me, I went in the bathroom and rinsed my mouth, then went upstairs and gargled with mouth wash. I've never been so glad that John prefers the horrible tasting original Listerine before, but that stuff basically cauterized my mouth and I couldn't taste a thing. I have a really easy gag reflex so I considered it a huge victory that I didn't puke myself. Guess it's just another awesome part of being a mom!