Who Doesn't Like Fireworks?

Spencer doesn't like fireworks, that's who.  I had everything all set up to in the backyard- my chair, my tripod, my lenses.  All in preparation to take some great fireworks photos.  But as soon as she heard the first one go off, she began begging me to go in inside.  She even said "Spencer's tired, I need to take a nap."  I figure if she's pulling out those big guns, then she must really be afraid.  So I packed it all up and inside we went.  Maybe I can take some pictures next year!?  Now I'm watching the Boston Pops, but there's something a lot different about watching fireworks on the TV.

Happy 4th of July!

Easter Sunday

I will tell you all about it tomorrow!  I have a nine AM anatomy test in the morning and I've got to spend tonight memorizing the cardiovascular system and all of it's many arteries and veins and other related tidbits.  (Not fun at all!)

But real quick I have to share this super cute Spencer story!  The children all sang a song during the morning church service called "Praise Ye the Lord."  In goes in a round and you sit down and stand up according to what part of the song you're singing.  Well, she just loved this song and wanted to sing it all day.  When we got in the car after church was over, she said she was going to sing "Crazy the Lord" for me; she thought Praise Ye The Lord was Crazy the Lord!  My girl cracks me up!

Jesus, Where Are You?

On New Year's Day my aunt had the family over to her house for brunch. After we ate, the men went in one room to watch football and us ladies went into another room to watch the parade. Since football just has to be watched on the biggest and best screen in the house (dripping in sarcasm), the boys were in the family room and we were in the living room.

Spencer and living rooms don't mesh well together; they're like oil and water, salt and pepper, Yoko Ono and the Beatles. She immediately went over to the Nativity and started playing with animals and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. I did NOT think this was a good idea, not at all, but my aunt was sitting beside her and said it was okay, that she was watching her. A few minutes later I was deeply engrossed in my new Kindle when I heard Spencer say "it's a missin'!" I didn't think too much about it because she likes to make things go missing so she can then say "I found it!" But then I felt a tug on my pant leg- I looked up at Spencer and saw she was holding a manger in her hands- a manger that was missing a particularly important baby.

And then I heard it.

Jesus, where are You?

There are some things that in this world that a person should just avoid, and losing the Baby Jesus is one of them. So we set about the house looking for Him, with Spencer continually yelling "Jesus, where are You?" It's not a huge house and my aunt is borderline OCD about keeping it pristine and clutter-free; losing anything there would be a challenge. But after 20 minutes of searching, the manger was still empty and Spencer was still yelling, hoping Baby Jesus would answer her. They men/boys were still fixated on football, telling us they had no idea where it was and they hadn't seen Jesus- basically, we were annoying them and they just wanted to watch the game in peace and quiet.

We eventually gave up our search, well, everyone except for Spencer. I've never seen her stay so focused on anything for that long, she just wouldn't give up! A little bit later she gleefully shouted "Jesus! There You are! I found it, I found it!" And guess where it was hiding? Underneath my dad- he was sitting on top of Baby Jesus. We probably won't let him live that one down for a long time! Of course my dad said he had no idea how that could've happened, he'd never even laid eyes on it before.

There are some things in this world that a person should avoid, and I'm certain that sitting on top of the Baby Jesus is one them.

Katie Had a Little Lamb

Yesterday, our church had the annual Christmas Pageant. It was supposed to be the Sunday before Christmas, but due to the blizzard that dropped a foot of snow on the ground, it had to be rescheduled. Spencer was a lamb in the nativity scene, although, stage fright prevented her from actually making it into the nativity. But she was a super cute lamb, if I do say so myself!

My Little Bo Peep, or I guess Spencer was her pet lamb. But that doesn't sound as cute, so I'm sticking with Little Bo Peep and not Little Bo Peep's Pet Lamb!

Maybe just a tad inappropriate for a church!





Not that she cared!

And still refusing to look at the camera.

Afterward, we had a little Christmas party, hence the costume change. Spencer LOVE, LOVE, LOVES my brother, and he told her to look at me and smile, so of course she listened to him! I took over 100 pictures yesterday, and this is the only one where she's looking at me and smiling. Oh well, at least I got this one!

Picture Page

My Snow Queen





Loved the toy solider teddy bear, but





She was afraid of Santa Claus...

Until Christmas morning, and then Mr. Claus become her new BFF when she found all of the toys waiting for her under the tree

Although, she still wasn't all too keen on looking at the camera, or keeping her tutu down

But she jumped for joy on her new trampoline

And then finally granted me a look at the camera- in this splendid picture


We had a great Christmas and New Year and I'm ready to tackle to 2010! I put myself on a computer and internet hiatus over our break so that I could just focus all my energy and attention on Spencer. It was a wonderful break, but now I'm ready to get back to bloggy business before school starts again next week.

Christmas Predux

My spell check is telling me that predux isn't a work, but it should be, so I'm using it. These next few days are going to be busy- biizzzzeee (that's how I say it). Tomorrow we are going to see the Legendary Santa, and since he's the real Santa, lines are usually 2+ hours. This is the same Santa Claus I used to visit, well not the exact same, since the REAL Santa died a few weeks ago, this one is his son, so it's almost the same.

We are lucky that Spencer's Mimi is getting there at 7am to start waiting in line (some crazies get there at 5am) and we'll join her around 9am. By about 10:30am we (she) should be on Santa's lap- hopefully! After that we're going to spend the day with the PGP's and do gifts with them before heading to my parent's house to spend the night with them. I have to watch Home Alone and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before going to sleep- it's just my thing I do every year.

On Christmas morning we'll do gifts and everything and then my aunt will come over for lunch/dinner. And then everyone will pass out around 7pm from sheer exhaustion. Then the saddest day of the year will be here, December 26. It's just such a sad day, isn't it? So that's my Christmas predux, be prepared for the redux that will be sure to follow.

It's Christmastime!

We had a lovely, albeit stressful, time at my aunt's house yesterday. The food was delicious and we watched Home Alone on repeat the whole day. Spencer didn't take a nap yesterday and she fell asleep on the way home at 7pm and slept the whole night through! I went to sleep almost as soon as we got home, too, and I'm feeling a tad more rejuvenated.

I'm really excited for Christmas! We watched the parade yesterday and Spencer really seemed into Santa Claus- not wailing and turning unworldly shades of red while hiding her face. So I'm taking that as a positive thing :) I've started a little of my decorating outside, a few Christmas trees and such. It takes such a long time to run all the extension cords and make sure everything is safe and secure. Once all that is done, the outdoors setup is pretty easy.

Tomorrow we're going to the PGPs for Thanksgiving with them. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on some of my school work that MUST get done this week! I'm in full on avoidance, Scarlett O'Hara, mode where that's concerned right now- I'll think about it tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a lovely Holiday and you have a great weekend.

Say Yes to the Christmas Dress

These are the dresses that are in the running for Spencer's Christmas dress- the one she will wear for her annual Holiday photos and when she goes to see Santa Claus. Two of these I really like, but I put some others in there just so there was some diversity in style, etc. So, take a look-see and tell me which one(s) is/are your favorite(s). They are in no particular order.








So that's it! Let me know which ones you like and which ones you don't like! This one here below is not in the running for her Christmas Dress, but I thought it would be really cute for Christmas day, since it's not as formal. What do you think of that?

The Pumpkin Patch Birthday Trip

Our trip to the pumpkin patch was great! The weather was a perfect, breezy 78 degrees, the sun was shining, and the crowds were nonexistent. We got there around 2pm,, about an hour before the elementary schools let out, and we had the place almost to ourselves. I'm so glad we got there then, because by the time we left it was packed and the lines were long. The only complaint I have is that Spencer (who otherwise was an angel) was in one of her "I'm NEVER going to look at the camera and smile" moods. I took about 200 pictures, most of which are of the side of Spencer's face, or her back, as she'd whip right around as soon as she saw me with the camera. But if that's all I have to complain about, then I know I;m a very lucky mommy.

The outside of the Berry Farm. This is where we get all of our pumpkins, seasonal fruits,
and our Christmas tree.

There were so many pumpkins to choose from, I had a very difficult time making my decisions. I know I'd have bought many more if I could have carried them. As it was, I thought my arms were going to fall off hauling my two large pumpkins to the hay ride wagon, up to the weighing station and then to the car. I guess that's probably a good thing though, I don't really need, or can afford, twenty pumpkins, haha!

This was just a small portion of one field that they have. Unfortunately, I'm an anthropomorpher, and I kept imagining them all saying "Pick me, Pick me!"

It really was a gorgeous day. I think God was smiling on my 28th birthday :)

On the hay ride to pick out our pumpkins. Spence LOVED it! For the rest of the day, every time we'd see one passing us, she'd yell "Truckter!" and begin running towards it.

One of the rare pictures I got of her actually looking at me. I was bummed that it turned out kinda blurry, but oh well. The hay ride was super bumpy, and it was hard to keep my camera steady and focused, even in AI Servo.

Of course Spencer went right to the biggest pumpkin she saw! She spoke to it, gave it a hug, and then had me do the same. I would've taken it with us, but it was ridiculously heavy, and I just couldn't carry it. Luckily, Spence didn't seem to mind too much.

Another "Pangkin" friend she made along the way.

On our way back from the patch and she's still refusing to look at me. But she's still so darn cute.

__ 

The bunnies were a big hit with Spencer, those and the chickens were her favorites. I couldn't get any pictures with the chickens, as I was trying to keep her from getting her hands pecked. She'd run towards them, they'd run away, and she would yell "No, No, No Chickie!" The bunnies were a different story though, they really seemed to like Spencer- running up to her and staying there while they let her pet them.

There was a toddler area for the kids and they had this barrel/wagon/train ride. That's Spencer in the red barrel car. She had so much fun on this and since it wasn't crowded, the man driving the tractor, which was pulling all the cars, took them around for almost 10 minutes!

She took her driving very seriously- this was the only time she ever looked over at us! The rest of the time she was intently steering the wheel. At first I was a little nervous that she was going to be upset out there all by herself, but I was SO wrong. I think the only reason she didn't get really upset when the ride ended was because she was about to fall asleep.

And fall asleep she did! About 2 minutes into our drive home she just passed out.

I am so thankful that everything worked out as well as it did. I was a little nervous since more than a few of our outing type adventure trips often end with both of us in tears. Somehow everything just came together in the best possible way and I couldn't have asked for a better 28th birthday. This was the second year that we went to the pumpkin patch on my birthday, and I think we'll be doing it for (hopefully) many years to come!

A Retraction of Sorts

For as much as I thought it was really going to suck, it wasn't all that bad. In fact, I'd have to say it was a pretty good day!

My dad bought me and my mom corsages to wear out to brunch where I had a delicious cheese omelet. He then gave my a new cell phone, since I've been without one for about 8 months now. Note to parents of teething toddlers: Don't give them your cell phone. They will kill it!

My parents really went above and beyond because they got me the Blackberry Storm!!!

I can't even begin to explain how happy I am to have a cell phone again, much less a "smart" cell phone. I haven't downloaded any apps yet, but as soon as I get some time, I plan on it!

After brunch we all went to the cemetery to visit my MeMa and my Grandma- all of my grandparents are at the same cemetery. The place was packed- people were everywhere! We had to search for a place to park, that's how crowded it was.

When we were done there, Spencer and I went back to my parents house. "Spencer" had gotten my a Mother's Day present. I had to wait til I got home to take pictures of them because I forgot my camera, plus I wanted to put them in my favorite vase.

Aren't they beautiful? I think Spencer has great taste! She was such a good girl yesterday, it's like she knew it was the day to behave. I feel kinda badly for being so down on the day when it turned out better than I could have possibly imagined.

I really appreciate everyone's kind words to me about my last post. It really means so much to me!