Beca's magical season

Besides the typical 4 year old doesn't understand the whole spirit of the season (it's about giving gifts, not getting them), Beca has been so much fun to watch with lights and decorations for Christmas so far.  She needed to be intricately involved with every aspect of helping with lights on the tree and putting ornaments up and setting up her own little tree in the bonus room and checking on Daddy's professional light job out front (those blasted LED's are bright!).  And today we got our first Christmas card from my aunt and uncle (Beca's godparents) and my youngest cousins, Andrew and Rachel, who Beca's just calls her cousins because its easier and they are much closer in age.  I read her the outside of the card "It's for the Cottle Family" and she said "ooh, that's us!" and then I showed her the card.  "That's my Aunt Dee and Uncle Troy and my cousins Andrew and Rachel and oh, look at their cute little puppy.  Awwww." The rest of dinner and after, she kept saying "I got an invitation from my cousins Andrew and Rachel.  They are my cousins.  Did we get any more invitations for Christmas for the Cottle family?"  Isn't that sweet???

On the other side of her magical season is our Elf, Smith.  Smith sits on the shelf and then he reports back to Santa Claus each night on whether the kids in the house were good or bad.  Smith was named after a joke in Mary Poppins (if you don't remember it, watch the movie again - it's good for the soul to sing along).  So we have to remind Beca that we can talk to Smith and we can tell him good or bad things.  Some of the tantrums are shortening significantly with Smith around.  I'm going to miss him when Santa takes him home to the North Pole.

Clear My Head

Usually I think products that certain doctors and such carry is "crystal-gripping, hippy nonsense" (per Kari on Mythbusters).  But my PT's office has one that I love!!  It helps me sleep all night.  It is simply called "Clear My Head" and it's a combination of oils and herbs in a jar.  You just open it on your desk or wherever and then close it up when you go away to help maintain it.  And it really clears my head!  They've also got this little roll on for headaches.  That has worked for certain kinds of headaches pretty well.  So, if you are looking for something to clear up the stuffiness in your life, try this stuff.  And I haven't found it cheaper online than what Total Body Rehab in Cary is selling it for.  Kelley probably owes me money for this.

Princess Possessed

So, Beca has taken to getting very angry when she doesn't get her way.  And then she becomes possessed.  Like little demons have invaded her body.  And she will spend hours screaming at us - things like "I hate you" and "You are awful/bad/horrible/mean parents" - and then general screaming and shaking and "ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH".  On one hand, it's amusing.  On the other, it's rattling.  While we usually just have her suck it up, there have been days where we are all exhuasted from the fits.  We used to be able to stem it off by "pulling the crabbies off" of her but now its just screaming.  We're sort of enjoying telling her "no" and creating an environment of disappointment.  But then, we innevitably cave at some point (because I just want peace and quiet sometimes!!) and she gets the object of her desire.  And we start all over again.  *sigh*

Christmas wishes

Beca has a long list of things she wants, as any 4 year old does. But I've been trying to keep track of her favorites as everyone asks - "what does Beca want for Christmas?"

Definitely good things:
*Ballet themed items - she loves ballet.
*My Little Pony - she especially wants the baby pony that has a bottle/paci, but any MLP's would be fine
Games - she's enjoying more games now.
Puzzles - she's bored wth 25 and under pieces. 50 is getting easy for her too.
Crafts - Beca loves to build, make, paint whatever. We are trying to encourage good writing skills so we'd prefer no marker projects.
Books - Beca has lots of Board books - now we need longer stories. We have some good ones but we don't have Pinkalicious or Purplicious and Fancy Nancy books and Charlie & Lola books. she's got gobs of Disney books (because I found my stash from when I worked at the store). Just send me a note if you want to check on a specific title. UPDATE 11/29/09 - I bought Pinkalicious - it came with some PJ's in a store where everything was 1/2 off.  It was too good of a deal.
Pajamas - nothing smaller than a 6 - she's too long. She would most love nightgowns but gets cold in them so I prefer PJ's.
Dress-up stuff - we have a bunch but more is not a bad thing as she is outgrowing the smaller sized stuff.
Lego's - She's ready for legos that are not the baby legos. And Daddy will be so proud.


Not needed:
Stuffed animals - we are donating 2 large bags of stuffed animals soon. Her allergies mean she shouldn't have a whole lot of stuffed animals around her.
Figurines - We have lots
Little dolls with plastic clothing - Daddy dislikes these very much and they end up thrown away because they are torn easily.
Clothes - she has a lot of clothes but if you find something she has to have, pants are a regular size 5, dresses size 6, shirts size 6.


My Christmas wishes:
Mostly, I just want more time to get all my little projects done. I know, it's impossible to gift that.
So, I have really been enjoying music more and more lately - I especially like my iTunes. So I know asking for gift cards is hokey but I really just want to download lots of fun stuff from iTunes. And I'd love suggestions of music with them. A favorites music list would mean a lot from whoever gives me that.
I like to eat. And I like to eat out and meet friends for lunch. Or take Beca out - which she loves to do too.
I also like seeing live performances - musicals, plays, etc. top the list.
I mostly enjoy time with friends and family - meeting for dinner, etc.
We have so much stuff that I am recycling right now but so much other stuff that is just not useful and has to be thrown away. So, this Christmas, consider reducing, reusing and recycling or personalizing to find unique gifts rather than just something to give to someone. I know I need less crap in my life.
ADDITION (12/2) - an electric hot water pot - I could warm up my tea at my desk this way.


Addition - Steve's Christmas
Starbucks GC, iTunes GC, World of Warcraft subscriptions, Starbucks, Lowe's GC, Starbucks, Best Buy GC, Starbucks.  He wears XL Tall shirts - anything that isn't tall doesn't last long.  Other than that, he claims to be content.  Without a PS3, which is what he really wants.

hiatus

Good gracious - that was a forever break from blogging. I've actually missed typing something in on here. I've been actually obsessed with several things but one main thing was watching all the Grey's Anatomy episodes. Lifetime aired them starting in September and ended with the last of the 2008-2009 season in late October - with 2-3 episodes taped every day, I was obsessive about trying to keep up. Then I started this season too. I realized I never started watching it because it started when Beca was born. I just didn't do much of anything else for a while that wasn't directly related to a task that had to be completed for the next day. Like, finishing my scrapbook from our Disney cruise before we went back to Disney. The cruise "album" ended up being 2 volumns and was finished last night, except the journaling. I've also been making cards on occasion, though I enjoy collecting that stuff almost more than I enjoy using it. And then there was the disney trip the end of October, then a beach break the weekend after. Just craziness.
So, now our DVR programming is more in check. Our bonus room is finally painted (3.5 years after moving in!) and can currently be used for all kinds of activities, including watching TV - we now have 2 working TV's in the house again. Coming up - more house work! There's not much wall space left that we haven't painted and it is looking sad and ugly! Oh yeah, and Christmas. Not entirely sure what we are getting Beca for Christmas - so many ideas (most of which go with our bonus/play room) and we have to narrow it down to something soon!! But I know it will be fun!!

Another picture for Stephanie

Everyone will appreciate the irony of this dress, although Beca told me one of her teachers does not like it (not entirely sure if the teacher was kidding or not). The nurses , doctors and staff at the ear doctor thought it was very funny. The dress started out well below her knees but the 3+ inch growth over the summer means that it actually just below her knees already.

A close up - the fabric is a david & goliath pattern with the little girl's hands over her ears and it says "Not Listening". Highly appropriate some days.

Fun visit with the Spruill girls

Beca was so excited to go visit the Spruill twins! She worried over Evelyn crying and helped with blankets and was really good. After the girls ate, she got to hold them.
Here's Jessica:
Holding Jessica with Jason making sure they are both good.

Holding Evelyn, with some paci help from Cynthia:

Cuddling Evelyn:

Beca agreed to give some of her old sunglasses to the girls - Evelyn's pretty sure she needs to grow a little to fit into them but she likes being a cool baby!

Pictures (mostly for Stephanie)

Forever ago, I promised Stephanie I would post some pictures of Beca in the dresses that were made for her. So, here they finally are - Stephanie's sewing work, which will conveniently be passed down to Emily!




And a few others of Beca, opening presents, getting her hair braided, twirling, and nap.

Dance Dance Wherever you may be

So my own little Angelina Ballerina took her first ballet lessons yesterday. Oma gave the lessons to her as a present, bought her a pink leotard with a skirt attached, pink tights, and black ballet shoes. The black was my request. I love the contrasting pink and black together. The little girls loved running around together. Beca's class is her best friend Kate and 2 other girls. This is going to be really fun!

My baby's in Fortune magazine!!

I know I haven't posted anything in a while and I'll try to catch up at some point but we got the coolest news today!! Beca is going to be in Fortune magazine! Well, her picture - not really anything she did, except hold up her art! She's on the left, not looking at the camera (per her usual). She was involved in both days of photography that were done at Children's House!