Christmas 2011

Can you believe another Christmas has come and gone? I think this Christmas was the best so far. Of course I will think that every year as Baby Bean gets older and enjoys the day more. I thought for sure she would grasp the concept of Christmas this year, but she didn't get it as fully as I thought she would. She was, however, very excited to see that Santa had come as she came down the stairs that morning.

Baby Bean was lucky in that she got to have two Christmases this year too. We had one with her grandma and great-aunts on Thanksgiving where her grandma gave her a really cool digital camera for kids. Her aunts gave her this cute Tex.as Te.ch horse pillow. She also got some new clothes and a couple sets of Lego's.

That same weekend we also went to the Texas Renaissance festival and spent the day with Hubs' best friend and his family.

She would not let that camera out of her site from the moment grandma gave it to her.

Baby Bean got to ride a lama. She loves to ride either the ponies or the lamas.

After Thanksgiving, it was time to get ready for Christmas! I started a new tradition for our little family 3 years ago which involves making gingerbread cookies for my coworkers. Baby Bean LOVED to help add the ingredients to the mixer and turn it on, cut out the cookies, eat the cookie dough, and eat the baked and frosted cookies. She is my big helper.

She even helped me put up the Christmas tree. As was a tradition in my family, she will get a new Christmas ornament every year. This year I took her to the Ha.llmark store where she picked out a D.umbo ornament. This was the first year she was really able to pick out her own ornament. Let me tell you, giving a 2.5-year-old choices like that can mean you are in the store for a lot longer than you would like! "I want this one. No, I want this one. I want this one too. Why can't I have both? I want this one."

Hubs also got into the Christmas spirit and decorated the front yard.  I was amazed. He has been saying for years he wanted to, but this year he finally did it. We went to the store and he bought hundreds of dollars of Christmas lights and decor. Of course the picture can't do it justice, but we had the brightest, most festive house in our neighborhood. We plan on being "one of those houses" who adds something new every year.

And this brings us to Christmas Eve. Getting Baby Bean to stay in bed this past week has been ridiculous. Her dad and I took vacation so that we would have the entire week and then some off work. Baby Bean knows that she doesn't have to go to school right now, so even when we put her in bed on time, she will sneak out of it for hours after she gets put down. This made getting presents from my room to under the Christmas tree tricky. I never knew if she was actually asleep, or if her door was about to open and she would try to sneak out. But she eventually went to sleep and I was able to play Santa.

As you can see in the picture above, she got an art center as her big, unwrapped item. I tried to upload a video of her checking it out, but I got a new laptop for Christmas (!!!) with updated software that I have to figure out how to work. (My old laptop took its time dying. The CD drive went first. Then the WiFi, then the hard drive. That's when you know its time for a new one.)

Baby Bean's favorite present of the day? The doll house.

In fact, once she opened the doll house, she didn't want to open any other presents. Even though there was no furniture for it yet. The house came with a family of four and a table and chairs. That was it. But she was content. I told her to open more presents and she would say, "No thanks. I have this." And she would indicate her doll house. It took us hours to get her to open half of her presents (hence her not really getting Christmas). At one point I started taking some away to give her for her birthday, because all she saw was that doll house. Eventually she opened some of the furniture sets, or maybe I did for her, I can't remember. She did keep telling me to open her presents because she just wanted to play.

I mean, the doll house IS super cool. Hello, I bought it! I just wish I had saved it for last or something so that she would open her other gifts. She seriously couldn't care less that she got anything else. Hubs enjoyed this because he had told me multiple time that I had gone overboard. I kept telling him no I hadn't. She had three different classes of presents: 1) the doll house and all  of its furniture; 2) the art center and all of its supplies; 3) baby dolls and furniture and supplies for them. The third class is the one I held back for her birthday.

Every now and then throughout the day I would ask if she wanted to open more presents. Sometimes she would say yes and go open one, and others she would say no thank you. I think by about 8:00 that night, she finally opened her last present.

When I put her to bed that night I asked her what her favorite part of the day was. She replied, "Presents!" I asked her what her favorite present was, "My doll house!" My husband said you know you have done you job right when your kid opens the best present and doesn't care about anything else. He told me that to keep me from feeling bad that I had gone a tad overboard with the gifts. lol

This past week we have all had fun playing in the doll house and at the art center with play dough, markers, and paints.

I am so grateful that this little girl finally came into our lives and made it incredible beyond words. I might not always be the mama I want to be, but I try. I constantly remind myself that my job as her mother is to teach her to grow up to be kind and considerate, but it is also to make her childhood as magical as I possibly can. She is the most precious thing in my life. There is nothing like her sweet hugs and kisses. Most of all when I lay with her at night and on occasion tell her I'm sorry I'm not a better mama, but I'm trying, and she leans over and gives me a big hug and kiss. She knows I am trying. If I never got anything else in this life, at least I have her.

As for her daddy and I, well we spoiled each other too. Like I said, I got a new screaming laptop from him. The rest of my family gave me jewelry, body wash from VS, a heated blanket (that will get used as much as a French bayonet thanks to the fact that we are having more 70 degrees here than not), and some great chick movies. Hubs got a new and much needed leather jacket, some sunglasses, a new wedding band (its a long story), and a few other geek gadgets.

The dogs and gerbils were not left out either. The dogs got two big bags of rawhide chews and other tasty dog treats. Mags got a new pink collar because I hated her green one. The gerbils got an edible house and a toy ball. They also got their cage thoroughly cleaned, which doesn't happen often because it takes hours. Usually I just clean the main areas and replace the bedding, but this time I cleaned out all of their tunnels too.

It has been a great Christmas, and I am looking forward to 2012. I am going to give 2011 a giant boot to the @$$. This year was so brutal for me, but I took most of it in stride. I am so hopeful that 2012 will be our year. I mean, we already have a Cancun vacation booked and a California vacation in the works! We also gained some ground on the TTC front that makes me hopeful in a way that I haven't been in a long time. I hope and pray that we actually get pregnant this year. I have a good feeling so far. Its not going to be easy, but I at least feel like it is doable now. Very exciting!

I wish you all the very best in the coming year. I hope that you all have the kind of year you deserve and have worked so hard for. May the IF blogosphere bloom with pregnancy announcements all year long for one and all!