family shots... fall 2010

Well... what a day it was... family photos. At least they are over... we never have to take any again, right!?!? The details are not important... I behaved terribly (quite possible worse than ever).... I know that it is hard to believe, but I cannot lie, it is true.

Thankfully, our photographer, Crystal @ Sprinkle of Grace Photography,

is nothing short of a magician! She was able to come up with some darn good photos of our family. As usual... Ardynn was at the top of her game... smiling & making flirty eyes with the camera the whole time, so there are tons of her by herself. I have promised mommy that I will never do that to her again.... and that should be easy, because we'll never take any more family photos, right!?!? haha!

forgive me, Ardynn... our little grinch

Although you do not have a clue as to what I am about to divulge to the whole planet, my dear, beautiful Ardynn, I must go ahead & ask for your apologies ahead of time. Let me preface this statement by saying that you are quite possibly the most adorable doll baby there ever was... anyone who has read my posts & seen your beautiful little face would agree! You are all smiles about 99.9% of the time & mommy loves you for that (more than you'll ever know). But.... the 0.1% of the time that you are upset, you make a face that reminds mommy & daddy (and numerous others, who shall remain nameless) of none other than the cute baby Grinch baby on Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas movie.

Like I said... you may some day hate me for this.... so I will go ahead and tell you that MOM MADE ME DO IT.... she said that I needed to document the good, the bad, & the ugly, so that some day - you could get a little chuckle out of it.

If it makes you feel any better, they compared me to Elmer Fudd when I was about your size. Just to soften the blow, I have included comparison photos of me, too. I love you, I love you, I

love you! Forgive me, please!?

isn't she the cutest grinch ever???

and although I think this is COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED....

a whole lotta tree trimmin'

How many trees does one family need you ask??... well, all I know is that my mom must think that 1 is not enough ;o) This week has been all about Christmas decorating... we did our lights outside & then our mini-tree (especially for Ardynn & me) & finished off with our big tree... it has taken us a few days to get it all up 'n' running, but things are looking an awful lot like Christmas around here!

On Sunday after church, mom got out her ornament crafty stuff & let me make my very own Christmas ornament... complete with as much glittery stuff as I could possibly find to add (I love me some sparkles!). After my hand-made ornament was complete, she let me decorate our little tree all by myself. I must say, I am thankful that almost all of my ornaments are plastic, because getting them hooked onto the branches can be a little tough for my hands... I only dropped every other one, though. Ardynn tried to help a little, but more than anything... she just wanted to dump out my basket of ornaments & eat all of them balls.... I guess that is a baby-thing!? What do you think of my finished product?? Not bad - not bad, at all.

Later this week, mom pulled out our first Christmas present & let me open it early. It was a pair

of Christmas pjs for Ardynn & me. Now, we can wear them every day until Christmas, so I think... you better get busy doing laundry daily, mom ;o)

Oh... and one more thing to add.... I am still a little skeptical about the cute little guy that showed up

on a shelf in the living room earlier this week. Do you people know anything about a little Christmas elf that comes to visit children's houses from the North Pole??.... and every night he returns back to report to Santa if I have been a good girl or a bad girl? After daddy ready me the book about The Elf on the Shelf, I went ahead and gave him a name - - - CHUCK (it started as Jingle Jake... then I changed it to Elfy... but finally decided that he looked more like a Chuck). I am still a little slow to approach him every day when I find his new hiding place... he makes me a little nervous with his "magic" and all, but he seems nice enough. I even got the courage to tell him that I would like for Santa to bring me a dollhouse & a ballerina baby yesterday night. Hopefully he'll relay the message to Santa.... and hopefully I can remain a perfect angel when I am in his presence ;o)

making my ornament

trimming our mini-tree

our new Christmas pjs

do you see little chuck's hiding spot on the mantle??? ;o)