Happy New Years!!!

Happy 2012!!

We had a small gathering with some friends for NYE this year.  We ate tons of food, and played and had a grand time.  Then we played with glow-in-dark bracelets and the Muffin got to try out Sparklers for the very first time! 

At first she was a bit apprehensive, but she quickly caught on to the fun and I think really enjoyed playing with them, and even lighting them in the big candle.

The Muffin had a great time ringing in the New Year with her pal, but at this point the two of them were about as blinded by a thousand camera flashes (trying to find them in the view finder since it was so dark!) as could be!

And then of course Momma and Daddy had to get in on the action and take their yearly photo together!

Christmas with the Muffin

The Christmas season around here is pretty chaotic.  So here is a slide show of Christmas highlights for the Muffin.  The newborn in the photos is the Muffin's newest cousin.  The photo's span from decorating the tree, to making (and then eating) Gingerbread Houses at our friends house, to the Lights Before Christmas at the Zoo, to Christmas Eve with Momma's family to Christmas day with Daddy's family to Christmas evening here at our home.  This has been a very busy few weeks!  Enjoy the slide show.

This video is of the Muffin on Christmas morning.  Daddy and I decided we had to wake her up (Hey, it was gonna be a full day!) so we thought it would be fun to video tape her reaction to the news that Santa visited our house last night while she was asleep.

The Muffin also got a fishing pole for Christmas, so Daddy took her outside to learn how to cast.  She is a natural!

She seemed so excited opening this present (a ballerina doll named Tess) that I thought I would share it.  The funny part was that she didn't really react to the doll, much to our surprise and dismay...but she sure had fun opening the gift!

A short snippet of her opening some really sparkly shoes!

 

 

Hope you enjoyed all of the fun Christmas moments brought to you by the Muffin!!

The Muffin and Santa Claus

The Muffin gets to sit on Santa's lap...And then of course I left in a little shameless plug of my wee new nephew...

The Muffins Christmas Play - Our little star!!

The Muffin's preschool class put on a small Christmas Play for the parents on their last day of school.  The Muffin had the honor of playing the Star of Bethlehem (although begrudgingly because she wanted to sit down, lol).

The Muffin's First Program

Don't forget to pause the music in the player at the bottom of the blog before you try to watch the video.

Otherwise you'll hear music and the video.

Oh what a day!  The Muffin had her very first Christmas program just before Christmas.  Momma, proud as ever, video taped every movement the Muffin made!  You'll be able to see her in the bottom left hand of the screen during the program, and she is also the last one in line as they are entering the auditorium.  The Muffin was so happy to have her grandparents and even her Great Aunt M at her program with Momma and Daddy.  She was proud as a peacock and did a fantastic job singing, we were all so proud!

Christmas Time!

Merry Christmas!!

This was really the first year where I GOT this whole Christmas thing. Momma explained to me that Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus' birthday. She read me books (my favorite was "Who Was Born This Special Day) about his birth, and sang me songs! I want to hear "Away In The Manger" just about every night! I also like the "Little Drummer Boy" and have her sing that to me a lot too. We did all sorts of things this year to celebrate! We went to the Zoo to see the Christmas lights, we decorated Christmas Trees, went shopping, wrapped presents, made cookies... The list goes on.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Momma's family. We spend a few days before then at my Aunt & Uncle's house where my Aunt C let me help her decorate one of her Christmas Trees.

This is Aunt C. She's a good sport and sat still while I applied lots of play make-up to her. That was one of my gifts this year, play make-up and I just loved applying it to everyone who would let me.

This is Uncle C and my cousin J (I have lots of cousins with a J name). Uncle C's friend was standing in the doorway watching Uncle C play with J and I. He's a lot of fun and I loved climbing on him and having him hang me upside down. Everyone came over and hung out with us while we were in town. Aunt C hosted a "girls night" where we made necklaces and decorated Christmas Cookies. Daddy made Tacos for everyone.

I really liked the part where we decorated cookies! I put frosting on them, and glittery gel, and sparkly sugar and anything else I could get my hands on!

I was very good at it!! I liked adding the Red Hots a lot too, and licking my fingers, and tasting the frosting and putting the spout of the get tube in my mouth when no one was looking! I was very proud of my work! We all got together on Christmas Eve Morning and celebrated together. We had breakfast and played together until it was time to open our presents. I waited so patiently!! I got all kinds of great presents this year! One of the things I really enjoy doing these days is playing dress up, and cooking! Uncle D and Aunt C hit it right on the head with my new Chef's dress up clothes that went along so nicely with the cooking toys I got from Gramma and the big girl baking set that Uncle B and Aunt J bought for me!! It even went along wonderfully with the Cool Bake oven that Grandpa and Grandma got me, but I didn't know that until the next day! Here I am putting on my oven mitt and my cousin J leaned over for a great photo op! I had so much fun getting to know her and playing with her! She's about three years older than me so she was still young enough to want to play with toys that I like.And of course I had to pose in my full Chef's get up! Momma about died when she saw this!! But who wouldn't? I'm so darn cute!!

Later that evening we went to my great Aunt M and Uncle L's house to celebrate Christmas Eve with Momma's huge family! Right now I am the youngest, but soon there will be new cousins to play with! Otherwise, when my Cousin J isn't in town from SC, the closest cousin I have in age is several years older than I. My cousin I and my cousin T adore me when I don't have anyone else to play with. They keep me busy and let me play with the big girls. My cousin I is the one on the far left in the picture below. She thinks I'm just great!!

Momma's family is really big and can be a little overwhelming. For the most part I jump right in and play with the kids, but sometimes I like to sit on daddy's lap while he plays cards.
And then of course Gramma is always there to rescue me from the masses when I start feeling a little insecure.

The big event of the night is that we get a very special visit from Santa Clause! Last year I was so not into that, but that was our first meeting. Momma and Daddy took me to the Zoo a few weeks before this and I saw Santa there. I decided to go up and have a chat (I mean, he had candy canes after all!!) so that Santa and I could do a little one on one and get to know each other. So when he stopped by on Christmas Eve, I wasn't scared!!

My gift was the very first one he pulled out of his sack this year! I willingly walked up and sat on his lap! No tears, and if I was scared, I was pretty good at hiding it! Momma got it all on video, and this was the picture Daddy took with his phone, so its sort of blurry. When I saw Santa a few weeks before this and he had asked me what my favorite toy was, I tolled him a dolly. And that's exactly what I got from him on Christmas Eve! A Baby Alive who coos and bounces up and down! I love her!!

Christmas Day...


After the party with Momma's family we drove back home so that I could wake up in my own bed and we celebrated Christmas with our little family early that morning before going over to Grandpa and Grandma's house. As soon as we got to their house we all opened our presents!

I sat next to Grandma a little bit while I opened my gifts, and I sat on Momma's lap a little. I decided to try on all of my new jammies, and my robe...all at the same time!!

And of course all of my jewelry from my new Princess game, and my new boot slippers!

Grandma made a great dinner with Lasagna and Chicken, both of which I really love! And My Aunt M and Great Grandma came over, and my Aunt L and Uncle R and of course Uncle Nigh Night and Uncle T were there! It was so much fun opening all of my gifts and playing with the puppies. Even the puppies got presents!! I really enjoyed Christmas this year! Its a busy couple of weeks with lots of traveling, but I love seeing all of my family! And the food is really good too!

Christmas/Birthday Gift Ideas

Here are some Christmas/Birthday Gift ideas for the Muffin this year. Please be aware that there are MANY people who will see and use this list and perhaps you should let me know should you choose to purchase anything from this list. Some of the items on this list have links attached to them so that you can see a specific item. Most things are subjective and need not be identical (unless stated) and are here as a reference only.

Wears a 3T-4T in clothing. She loves all things glamorous (Tu-Tu's are #1).

Wears an 8 Wide to a 9 Wide in Shoes. The glitzier the better. Boots are huge too (she would need a size 9w).

Money (which will then be put into a savings bond for her).

She has an 18" Darla Doll from "You & Me" (Toys R' Us) and would like clothes and accessories for this doll. She also has a 14" Doll from Mattel, along with a 13" and an 11" doll. All of these dolls could use clothes, shoes, diapers, accessories. (We have a stroller, a shopping cart, a high chair, and a baby carrier and a bed). She does not have a boy doll. Please refrain from ANY Bratz brand items.

Zhu Zhu Pet tracks (we bought her the Fun House with Patches, Jilly, the ball, the spiral, the garage, the skateboard turn, & the bedroom/bathroom)

Wagon (for her to sit in, not her dolls)

Slippers that have rubber soles or grippers. Needs to be sock like, not slip on. Boot like would be fun too, size 9-10

Dress up clothes (she has Disney Princess ones)

Play make-up (not actual make-up, things that look make-up like)

Any type of Pass or Membership to anything kid related, like Green Field Village, Detroit Children's Museum, Imagination Station, Ann Arbor's Hands On Museum, etc. We have a Toledo Zoo pass.

Mellisa & Doug Brand Art Easel (its compact for easy storage)

I have also created a Wish List at Toys R' Us of things I think she would enjoy. Don't feel like you have to buy specific things listed, they're just ideas and references.

Muffin loves these:

Anything with stickers, and crafty things.

She loves anything that requires dexterity (like putting the checkers into the slots of Connect Four, or putting pegs into wooden blocks, or playing with the tiny pieces of games like Blokus, Memory, Dominos) and anything that let's her match things, put things together, or place small bits into small spots.

She loves games.

She seems to enjoy all things Mellisa & Doug Brand (we have lots of puzzles and string/bead/card threading toys)

All things water fun

All things cooking fun

Dress-up

All things dolly

Snow fun (though we do have a few sleds)

Things she has a lot of:

Crayons, Coloring Books, Paint, Markers, etc.

Stuffed Animals

Baby dolls (but I doubt she'd mind more)

Books

Legos (we have the table)

Tinker Toys

Lincoln Logs

Clippos

Dollhouses & Accessories

Play phones

Play food, dishes & kitchen toys

Puzzles

Instruments (Piano, Guitars)

Play-Doh (we have the desk and lots of accessories)

Bikes and other ride on toys

Magna-Doodle

Aqua-Doodle

Things she's not real "into":

Character's, the exception being Elmo or other Sesame Street ones. She likes Princess themes too, and on occasion Dora (though she doesn't know who that is).

TV/Movies

Kids Music (CD's)

Instruments

Dolls or Characters that are animated and/or talk (Tickle Me Elmo)

I hope that helps. Please keep in mind that there are gifts on here ranging in all prices categories because I will be using the list myself when I shop. Please do not feel offended or pressured to spend more than you had in mind on any gift. If any of you have questions, let me know. I will probably add to this list as the weeks go by (you will not get those changes via email and will have to visit the blog to see them), and I will certainly add to her Toys R' Us Wish List.

Trick-or-Treat!!

Halloween. The Muffin really got into all of the festivities this year! We started by decorating our pumpkins. The Muffin had a fun Mrs. Potato Head kit for her pumpkin, while Momma and Daddy "cheated" using templates.

Then it was time for getting on her Ballerina Dragon Costume!

You know she's super cute!!

Stopping to pose by our three pumpkins!

So excited to get started!

So...Off we go!

It didn't take me long to get the hang of it! Trick-or-Treat!! She marched up to doors, knocked and said "Trick or Treat!" and waited patiently for her candy!

We walked and walked.

And stopped for some Cider and Donuts...then walked some more! We were out for an hour and a half before she announced that she was tired and wanted to go home! Before going home we stopped in at Great Grandma's and Aunt M's to show off her costume and begging abilities! Walking up the front walk Muffin said "It's so hard to walk!" which we assumed meant her legs were heavy and tired and the costume was adding to it! But once home she perked right up and began digging through her fat loot! She even got to eat a few pieces! She was thrilled to see that she got Play-Doh, Crayons, Pencils, a Toy, a Ring, Money (some dude gave her five bucks!!), chips, pretzels, crackers and lots and lots and LOTS of candy!

She was so happy! We even let her keep quite a bit to snack on in the days to come! After we were done Daddy read her her favorite Halloween book "By the Light of the Halloween Moon" (also known as the tickely toes book in this house) before bed.

Clearly she just LOVES her Daddy! It was a great day and everyone had a ton of fun!

Trick or Treat!!!

We went all over town today for Halloween fun!  Ok, ok.  So the fun was more for Momma's sake than anyone's, whatever.  First thing this morning we went to a little costume parade and Grandma joined us.  I was dressed up in a little monkey costume and thirteen layers of clothes because it was so cold and the wind was whipping around.  Then later that day we went to a little Boo Bash that had Pony Rides.  I got to sit on one of the Ponies, my first ever!!  Then we went to visit Great Grandma and Auntie Maddie.  Who just think I'm the cutest thing EVER!!

I mean look at me!  I am the cutest thing ever!!

Later that day we were off Trick or Treating in our neighborhood.  I went last year when I was only 9 months old, but this year I got to walk around and carry a little pumpkin and beg for my own candy (which Momma has already confiscated and probably eaten).  We took Kaida too!  We saw another Mastiff who was a puppy and way bigger than my Kaida.  Daddy walked Kaida, but I tried my hardest to get him to let me do it.  I guess he "helped".

This is my first stop.  This is Daddy's cousin Carol.  She dressed up in a really cool costume.  When she put the first candy in (a big handful!!  I guess it pays to know people!) I just stared at her.  What is she doing??

I had to investigate.  Had to figure out what this "Trick or Treating" was all about.

Ooh, looky there!!  She put cool stuff in my pumpkin!!  Let's do that some more!!

I had so much fun!  We crunched through the leaves up and down my street.  Daddy threatened people not to scare me! :)  I got tons of candy, chips and cookies that I won't even get to taste this year (Mu-wah!!  That's Momma saying that!), went for a nice walk in a fun costume and saw lots of little kids and even dogs that were dressed in funny costumes.  Then we went back to our home and passed out candy for a little while before I had to go to bed.  I loves weeing all of the kids dressed up and coming to the door saying "Trick or Treat".  Everytime Momma said, "Muffin, someones coming!!" I ran to the door to see.  Kaida tried to also.  It was such a fun day, but when we were all done I was pooped!!

Easter Afternoon at Grandma's

Mommy couldn't resist and even though it was silly, Mommy bought me a new yellow Easter dress and a pink shrug. I looked so dang cute!!

So of course Daddy had to get his cute mug in the photo's too...

And then Mommy couldn't be left out...

We went to Grandpa and Grandma's house for Easter lunch. We ate Lasagna, City Chicken, Potatoes, Rolls, Corn, Salad and Cake! I love cake. Grandpa & Grandma also had an Easter Egg hunt for me, and I ran around and picked a few eggs up.

Grandma was explaining to me how to open the eggs up to get my treats out.

But I'm a pro...and I opened the eggs up with ease. Each time I opened an egg with a treat in it I was so surprised. Everyone had a great chuckle watching me.

I rolled around in the eggs too. Wallowed in them. That was great fun!

Then I had to stop for a quick play break in my kitchen, and to talk on my phone.
And then I spotted a little gift from Grandma & Grandpa!! And Grandma opened it up for me as I stood on my tippy-toes to get a better look.

Easter was so much fun!

Easter Morning

Happy Easter my little bird!!

Daddy and I hid a few Easter eggs for the muffin this morning before heading over to grandma's house for lunch. She came walking down the hall way with her little Easter basket in hand and spotted this egg right off the bat. She ran over to it and grabbed it. We placed one dollar bills in a few eggs because she has a real liking of money (who doesn't right?) and then we placed a few toddler treats in a few other eggs. She dug that. In fact, she liked the ones with the treats more than the ones with the money and if she opened one with money in it she seemed bummed out and would drop the money and look in the egg for a treat. And so it begins...

Then, she looked over and spotted her Easter "basket" which was really a watering can, sitting up on the buffet amidst a bunch of junk. We weren't hiding it for her, we just hadn't given it to her yet. So we were both really tickled when she walked over to the buffet and tried to get her basket down.

So we handed her the basket and the first thing she pulled out was this packet. They're Pringle's Stix. She loves these. I thought it was pathetic that she recognized the package, but hey. We also packed it with some fruit strips and twists and some money and two little wind up toys. She seemed to really like the wind up toys. One was a hoping bunny, the other was a car that spun in circles. It was noisy and she seemed a little freaked out by it.