ChristmasCard2010

Charming Little Trees Holiday 5x7 folded card

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It's looking alot like Christmas here at our house!

Finshed the tree yesterday. I had lots of help from little hands. The tree is in a constant state of change- the ornaments come off and get put on somewhere else constantly. They get carried around from room to room and even taken to bed.

So here's a little sneek peek at our Santa photo. I mentioned to the girls that we could go see Santa and they were all over that idea! It was pretty easy to get them dressed. The little girls are wearing "vintage big sister" dresses and Olivia gets a brand new dress of course. So we head out to Metrotown and line up for Santa. It took us about 30 mins from lining up to when we were finished but I feel so good that it's done. I was worried about Lexie but she did well. I sat her on the stool next to Santa and she was good with that. When I handed Cassidy to Santa, she cried a little bit but I distracted her while the lady took the picture. She took a couple pictures and then Cassidy turns around to look at Santa. It was classic- her little face turns so sad and she starts wailing! She turned around again but she couldn't stop crying! I told the photographer to take the picture b/c this would make a great shot for the scrapbook! We have to wait a couple days before we can get the photos- I can't wait!!!!

On another note: Dan and I had a great shopping day. We were able to get a software "book" for a gift for Christmas super cheap- regular $27.99 we paid $12.50! And then there's the sweaters I sent Dan to gymboree to get- $12.33 for super nice knit sweaters!!! We had our own little Black Friday.

Capturing the wonderful moments of life

November 22, 2010 first snowfall of the year for us. The girls had so much fun playing around in the snow.

Check out the reindeer on Cassidy's bum!

I had bought all three girls new Christmas pj's. My plan was to get them dressed up and take a nice picture. Cassidy woke up first and got her "I love Santa" pj's. We get downstairs and as we sit down, I smell it....a poop. I change her and the poop has gotten on the onesie. I am determined to get the picture taken and really, it's not much. Then the big girls come down and Olivia is really excited to see her new pj's. Lexie, not so much. She looks at hers and says "I don't like those pj's". She refuses to wear hers. She wanted to sit next to her sisters and this is the shot I got. I also don't have much of a hope for the Santa shot either. Lexie and I saw Santa in the mall and she was terrified of him!!! She does not want to sit on his knee. It will certainly be interesting to see how the picture goes.

3 sick kiddos plus sick momma

How many times can a mom say "don't touch her head!!!" Apparently not enough b/c someone's germy hands touched Cassidy and she's sick. We're all sick except Dan. Thank goodness. Can't handle another man cold around here. Have you ever heard of a man cold? Here's a good definition:
The expression derives from the premise that there is a clear gender divide when it comes to coping with everyday illnesses like common colds: women knuckle down and soldier on regardless, looking after children, preparing meals, going to work, whilst men take to their beds and proclaim incapacity for several days.
Yup that sums it up. No comment here.
Having 3 kids is lots of work but during a cold it's multiples infinitely. Okay, I exagerrate but still it does get rough. Especially at night. The worst night it was like playing a nightmarish game of whack a mole. I'd get one down then another would be up. Things have gotten better but who knows what each night will bring?

Beautiful Shutterfly Christmas cards coming at ya!

Capturing that perfect Christmas card picture has been hard. You can plan and plan but it all comes down to how the little ones are feeling that day. Check out these photos from the last few years:

Olivia's second Christmas. The first she was too young to be scared. This time around she was wondering who the heck this man is? I was about 5-6 weeks preggo with Alexis and was probably trying really hard not to barf on Santa.

Alexis's first Christmas. Olivia was still not loving Santa. Nobody, including me, wanted to be there.

Same Santa as two years ago. Back to Metrotown to try sitting on Santa's knee with no mom and dad. Nope, still not buying the whole deal about sitting on a strange man's knee. Good girls! I wish I had combed my hair though. And put on nice shoes.

So we decided to try Oakridge b/c there's never any line ups there. Um...$27 for one photo? Crap, too late to go to Metrotown. Damn, I didn't comb my hair again. At least you can't see what I"m wearing. Check out Olivia's self hair cut! I came home from work and after a few minutes, I see something on the floor. Is that hair? Wait a second.....Olivia!!! She had cut one side of her hair off, as well as the beautiful curls at the back of Lexie's head. At first I was so stressed out but then I realized I had to let it go. Plus, I can use it at her wedding and we can all laugh.

Do you see the theme for all our "BIG Holiday Family Photos"? Yup, Dan and I are in them. I take so much time to pick out the outfit for the girls, get them dressed and ready for the photo but I always forget about myself. You'd think by the 4th photo I'd learn my lesson and get myself dressed up in case I'm in the photo. I love all the photos but just this once I'd love to NOT be in the picture. I've got the dresses picked out, all the accessories picked out and I'm starting to prep the girls. (ie. Santa is AWESOME! Santa brings you such nice presents. Santa is a good guy.) This year we're going to take it a step further: we're going to do Christmas cards!!!! Thanks to Shutterfly that is. I always have grand ideas of what my Christmas card will look like and how I"ll get them out so early. But then stuff happens. Like I don't get the photo I want, I'm pregnant (past tense!), I'm tired etc etc.

So Shutterfly is doing a promtion for bloggers. 50 free holiday cards for doing a write up about the cards. Hey that's me! I'm a blogger now. Weird, who knew I had the extra time? I am so all over this one. I love their stuff and of course I love free stuff. Check it out here: http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Shutterfly isn't new to me. I just had the opportunity to make a photo book through Shutterfly. http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books It was so fun! It became my new obsession. Every night after the girls went to bed I would go on and work on my photo book. It was fairly easy too. They have this Storyboard feature where you can place your photos and play around with layouts easily. And at first it was just the layouts and backgrounds that I tinkered with. Then I discovered that I could play around with font and colour! I spent about 2 weeks on it and I'm starting a second book too.

Well, I need a little help choosing our Christmas card. I can't decide which card I'll use. Check them out here and let me know which you like: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/flat-stationery-cards

I tend to like ones where you can have multiple pictures. Now that we have 3 kids we need that.

I like this one: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/elegant-cranberry-damask-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

And I like this one too but maybe it's because it's the beach and that's where I wish I was at right now:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/peppermint-bliss-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93479

On to another topic: little Miss Cassidy. She is getting so big. She's already 8 months old! I was going to look for birth announcements on Shutterfly but as I was looking I realized that she's closer to a year than she is to a newborn. I'm shedding a little tear as I type...I like to plan ahead so I might as well start now seeing as how we've now got 2 birthdays in March. I'm off to the link below to start planning her first birthday:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/baby-birthday-invitations/baby-girls-1st-birthday-invitations

I am loving fall!

The weather has been really mild and we've been able to get out and spend time in the yard. With no coats!!! We walk to Olivia's school everyday and they get to play outside after class. Miss Cassidy is so wanting to be a part of whatever it is her big sisters do. These 3 girls will be close. Ya, sure they'll fight and hate each other sometimes but the bonds they're forming are amazing to watch. Cassidy is the happiest baby I've ever known. The girls crack her up constantly. Her eyes follow every move they make. When it's just me and Cassidy I can tell she's searching for them. The quiet is strange to her. I can't wait to dress them up all for Christmas! You know I'm all over that. They won't be matching but they'll be so well coordinated they'll look like a gymboree ad.