Happy First Birthday Grace!

For those of you who live in our area, Grace will be making her television debut tomorrow! Our local news channel (NBC) does a birthday segment every day (because there is so much breaking news to report) and I sent in Grace's picture a few weeks ago. Sometime between 5 am and 7 am tomorrow, Grace will be on TV. Tune in - if you are awake!

For those of you who don't live in our neck of the woods, it will go a little something like this....

Happy Birthday to our amazing Grace!

Love, Mommy & Daddy

P.S. I've already got my DVR set to record and if there is a way to post the birthday segment on the blog, I will...if it's not too time consuming or complicated.

P.P.S. We celebrated Grace's first birthday this past Saturday. Pictures and post describing the big day to follow soon!

Meet Elfie

Elfie came to visit us on December 1st. Apprantly, Santa sent him to keep an eye on Grace. During the day, he perches somewhere in the house and watches over Grace to see if she is naughty or nice. At night, he flies back to the North Pole and gives Santa a full report. After visiting with Santa, he flies back to our house only to relocate somewhere else in the house. It is like a treasure hunt each morning trying to find Elfie!

Elfie would have changed my life as a kid. He may have stopped me from unwrapping and rewrapping all the presents under the tree prior to Christmas day, he might have stopped me from CASING the house every day after school, peering in EVERY hiding place imaginable trying to find any gifts awaiting wrapping and it may have even stopped me from eavesdropping on phone calls between my mom and grandparents discussing their Christmas shopping lists. Yes, I was THAT kid! Hopefully, Elfie can help us keep that part of my genetic make-up dormant in Grace.

There's Always Wine

For those of you who are having trouble getting fired up for the holiday season....this post is for you!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The good, the bad and the ugly of our Saturday (there were several...it was a looooong day).

The Good - Daddy & Me class. SOOO fun!

The Bad - While there, Grace fell - face first - into a shelf-type thing.

The Ugly - The shiner and the tears that followed.

The Good - Being organized and consolidating the to-do/shopping list by going to the amazing one-stop-shop - Costco.

The Bad - Losing my Costco card and attempting to get a replacement on a SATURDAY.

The Ugly - The tears I cried when I left Costco empty handed. No card. No groceries. Nothing checked off my to do list. UGH!

The Good - Started working on a "Christmas baking project." (I can't give too much away because the recipients might be reading this.)

The Bad - Anything and everything that could go wrong - DID! I dropped it, I couldn't get it just right even though I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and ended up wasting quite a few ingredients.

The Ugly - The tears I cried AGAIN because after an entire afternoon, I had nothing to show for it. Nothing had been checked off my list. No gifts purchased. No gifts made. No gifts wrapped. No cookies made. No Christmas cards sent. Nothing. Zip. Nada. If anything, I was BEHIND schedule!

The Good - We started a new family tradition! We attended the "Lighted Farm Implements Parade" in Sunnyside. Apparently, this parade is a big deal. It's even been featured on the Travel Network. It draws thousands of people each year and has been voted one of the top 10 light parades. Who knew I was living in the capital of lighted farm implement parades?!? JACKPOT!

The parade got off to a sloooooww start and Grace was a bit restless - not to mention FREEZING - as it was in the low 20's but we bundled up and managed to have a great time!

There were a TON of floats. Just a few snippets of what you missed.

And yes the music in the background IS in Spanish.

Our plan for next year?

Decorate and enter our own farm implement!!!

STAY TUNED!

Unfortunately, the way I've laid out this post, I have to leave it on an "ugly" note. What could be bad and ugly about a light parade you ask? On the drive home we were witness to a horrible car accident.

Hard to see but that is a minivan wrapped around a light pole.

We were the first ones on the scene and the first (and only) bystanders to call 911. (That's TWO calls to 9-1-1 this year! That is TWO TOO many if you ask me!!)

Luckily, no one was hurt but the driver-at-fault had an infant in the backseat and was pregnant! She was SO LUCKY! Witnessing the accident was a "good" reminder that you just can't be too careful and that other stuff that upsets you and frustrates you (see ABOVE) is just small potatoes.

Post Birthday Review

It was a good one folks! Thank you to all the friends and family who called, emailed, texted or Facebooked me to wish me a Happy Birthday. It was fun catching up with you or reading your funny emails. One friend in particular reminded me of all the "crazy" sleepovers we had when we were kids and that made me smile. I vividly remember those parties but at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago. My body may look and feel like that of a 31 year old but in my heart and mind I really feel like the same person that I was at 16. Is that crazy? Anyway, I am slowly in the process of calling, emailing, texting or facebooking you back but we got our Christmas tree on Wednesday. That means I spent ALL day yesterday stringing the lights. (What took so long you ask? Well, I really like lights. I think there are about 20 strands (350 lights per strand - you do the math) of lights on our tree. And because of the way they make the strands these days - where you can only link three together before you blow a fuse - you need PHDs in both physics and electrical engineering in order to supply your tree with power. AND I may have put about 3-5 strings on backwards meaning that when I went to plug in that particular grouping of lights, the "male" end of the light strand was at the top on three and the "female" end was "unpluggable inable" down at the bottom. OOPS! Like I said, you need a PHD in holiday decorating.) Anyway, I was so consumed by the project that I didn't even take a shower. Yes, that is what the holidays do to me folks. I get a bit "consumed" if you will!

On deck for this weekend, a gingerbread house! My first attempt ever! I am hoping to make it a new family tradition. Any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated!

While in the rush of trying to get out the door to head up to Yakima for my birthday dinner, I couldn't resist getting a picture of Grace. These aren't the best pictures because she was IN LOVE with her shiny, black-patent-leather Mary Janes. She kept running (and falling) all over the house staring at her feet. These are the best I could snap and that is not saying much.

Thank you again for the birthday wishes. I definitely felt LOTS of birthday love!

This Makes Me Giggle

In light of the fact that Sarah Palin was just in my neck of the

woods on her book signing tour

(actually she spent Thanksgiving in the Tri-cities -

that is where her parents and extended family live)

I JUST can't help myself....

We all remember the "newspaper"

interview with Sarah Palin, right?

Well, it seems that Grace is more familiar with the

New York Times than one of our most recent candidates

for Vice President of the United States of America.

Ouch! That was low...I know. But it's MY birthday and I'll blog what I want to....blog what I want to!

Granted it is the Style section and she was "reading" all about the engagements

of the well-to-do in NYC but STILL.

Ohhh December. How I love thee?

Today begins the countdown to Christmas! If you went to elementary school with me - or middle school or high school for that matter - than you KNOW I love a good count down. When I was a kid, I think my birthday countdown started around November....I mean October....OK OK September. I would scratch off each day that passed on the calendar and make sure every friend within ear shot knew how many days were left until my birthday. Luckily, I've out grown this annoying habit - almost. The point is, I like countdowns and there is nothing more fun than counting down until Christmas!

In our house, December 1st is a big day as you can finally begin opening your advent calendar that has been taunting you throughout the Thanksgiving festivities. The "Holy Grail" of advent calendars is the kind that have chocolates behind each of the 24 windows. But look what Grandma found for Grace this year...

- an advent calender bigger than Grace - FULL of chocolates!!!

As Grace is not eating chocolate yet, I guess I will just have to take one for the team and eat them. SHEESH! A mom's job is never done!