Pumpkin the Elf

December 2010

We have had so much fun with the Elf from the book, Elf on the Shelf. Although Elf has been with us the last two Christmases, this is the first year that Amy really got into it. She finally named him...Pumpkin! Can you tell we asked her about the name shortly after we threw away our pumpkin from Halloween & Thanksgiving?! Pumpkin the Elf was very generous to Amy throughout the holiday season. He brought her several gifts from Santa, even BEFORE Christmas!! He brought her Santa jammies that she could wear all month before Christmas (though she refused to wear them until the week before Christmas!). He even brought her a birthday present on her birthday from the jolly old man himself. Amy would get so excited to look for Pumpkin. I meant to take pictures throughout the month of the different places Pumpkin the Elf appeared, but I forgot until the last week he was with us. A few days after Christmas, Amy asked about Pumpkin, though we reminded her that he had gone back to the North Pole with Santa after Santa brought her presents. However, we know that Pumpkin will be back next year...we'll have to keep our eyes open to spot him!!

Christmas Eve

Friday, 12-24-10

Christmas Eve...Amy was so excited for Christmas & Santa! Throughout the day, she kept wanting to bake a birthday cake for Jesus. So sweet. We enjoyed spending the day together...going to church, baking cookies, taking family pictures, having dinner together, eating just a few of the cookies left for Santa!!

Amy is saying "cheese" for the camera!

A Jolly Old Day

Wednesday, 12-15-10

Amy & I visited the Children's Museum today. We went a few weeks earlier and Amy really enjoyed the special exhibit they had for Christmas - Jolly Days Winter Wonderland. Amy & I went down the Yule Slide, that seemed especially fast, maybe it was me?? Amy enjoyed it though & even went "whee" as we slid down! I think her favorite part of the special exhibit is the Traditions Kitchen. She simply loves to "cook" especially the cupcakes, brownies, and cookies that they have in the Traditions Kitchen. She would bake the "goodies" and give some for me to eat and then for her to eat - she is so good about her sharing the yummies!

Amy checking out all the food...searching for the cupcakes & cookies!

She found a cupcake along with some brownies & ice cream

I can't remember exactly what she was telling me, but she definitely was telling me something!
Her other favorite part of the museum...riding the carousel!

Telling me all about the different flavors of ice cream that she had

Talking on the phone with Barbie

Having a special visit with Santa

Letting Santa know that she wants a doll house for Christmas

Amy & I had such a fun day at the Children's Museum. Amy already is asking to go back to the museum!!

Princess Birthday Party

Saturday, 12-4-10

Amy's 3rd birthday party was the Saturday before her birthday. I'm sure it will come as no surprise, but the theme of the party was princesses!! Amy helped pick out the party invitations as well as some of the decorations. She was excited for friends and family to come over and play with her!! We had snow Friday night through Saturday morning, which was very similar to her first birthday party. It made for some slow travels for some of the party guests, but fortunately everyone made it safe and sound. Amy wanted to wear one of her "fancy" dresses for her party and then she decided that she needed to wear one of her princesses dresses over her fancy dress, which was fairly fitting since it was a princess party! :) THEN, she decided that she needed to wear her pink cowboy hat...because what princess doesn't have a cowboy hat?!

Amy loved playing with all of her friends and family. She was so excited to see everyone and to be the star of the party! She didn't really want to eat lunch - she was too busy playing! However, she made time to have cake & ice cream! Amy still hasn't quite mastered the art of blowing, so she had some help from the other girls who were at the party. She enjoyed her chocolate cake & strawberry ice cream!! Amy enjoyed opening up presents and was thrilled with the different gifts that she received. All in all, it was quite the party.

We can't believe that Amy is already three years old! It feels like yesterday that we were bringing her home. At times, it seems like time goes by so fast. You get busy with the everyday and the next thing you know, days have gone by. I find myself trying to slow down and appreciate these days that I have with Amy. Although we have had some challenging days, I know that I will miss them as she gets older. She is everything to us and we will take the challenging days along with the less-challenging days. I remind myself on those challenging days that I prayed to be a parent for so many years. Thus, I will be thankful...even on those days where I want to pull my hair out! :)

Here she is

All peaches and cream

Our sweet little girl,

Our long awaited dream.

-Author unknown

What?? No Pictures?

Thanksgiving 2010

So, I'm not really sure how this happened. I still don't really believe that it happened. But...somehow I have lost ALL of my Thanksgiving pictures. Again, how could this happen? This is me we are talking about... pictures are SOOO precious to me. Those who know me well know that I take way more pictures than I need to, but I simply love pictures. So, imagine my surprise when I went to get copies of my pictures from Thanksgiving and I can't find them. They are gone. I downloaded them to the computer. And then they vanished. They apparently are floating somewhere in my computer, but where, I have yet to find. So, for now, the post about Thanksgiving will be without pictures. Which pains me to write. Because, seriously, who cares what I say, we want to see the pictures! :) I will keep looking for the pictures and when I find them (because I am still determined that I will find them), then I will do another post with pictures.

So, Thanksgiving was a bit different this year. This was the first year since Kurt & I have been married that we were at home for Thanksgiving Day. Kurt's parents came up on Wednesday evening and stayed with us until Friday morning when Kurt took them back home. Luckily, though, we went to Kurt's brother's house for Thanksgiving dinner (translation, I didn't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner!). :) (Thanks, Jane!) Similar to last year, I ran the Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving morning, though this time, I ran with my awesome niece, Emily! It drizzled/rained on us for most of the race. I felt fortunate that the temperatures were fairly warm so it didn't snow and/or ice on us while we ran. Afterwards, I returned home and cleaned up. We then headed over to Brian & Jane's. Amy simply loves going over to Aunt Jane's house. She loves playing with all of her toys!! Aunt Jane had left the doll house out for Amy to play with so she was content playing with it, though she dragged...I mean asked Rachel to go downstairs with her for sometime as well. Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful and Jane did an awesome job with all of the food! It was good that I ran that morning because I enjoyed the many different foods! Yum!! :) Amy enjoyed visiting with Grandma & Grandpa Meyer. I think Amy wore out Grandma Meyer during her stay here! :) Amy was sad to see them leave and is looking forward to seeing them again very soon!

On Friday, Amy & I headed to New Albany while Kurt took his parents back home. Then, Kurt came to New Albany for the Murphy Thanksgiving. Amy simply loves visiting with Grandma & Granddad Murphy. Samantha and Uncle Tim came over around lunchtime and spent the rest of the day with us. Aunt Thuydung came over once she got off work. Dinner was wonderful, as usual. My mom does an incredible job with all of the foods. We enjoyed visiting with each other.

This year, I remain thankful for so many things. I feel so blessed to have my friends and family in my life. God has been so good to me and I continue to praise him for His many blessings.