December Daily 12/2-12/7

I've been keeping up on the pictures even though I don't have my book ready yet. It's been a busy December already, I am just glad my shopping is done.

December 2 - A typical morning the boys eating breakfast together and me heading off to work. Nicholas had a doctor's appointment and he weighs 27 pounds now. He still is pretty little for an almost 3 year old. But a cutie just the same.

December 3 - A typical night after I get home from work. After dinner the boys play a bit before bath and bed time. Jackson is such a character.

December 4 - This week was not a good one for naps. But they can only fight it for so long. Nicholas conked out watching a movie. See his bear?

December 5 - We started a busy weekend off with Nicholas and I doing the Sunrise Safari at the Phoenix Zoo. The other family did not show up so Nicholas and I had the tour guides to ourselves. Nicholas fed chickens, turkeys, horses, sheep, cows and goats. He had so much fun. Mom made dog treats and a sock puppet because Nicholas was more interested in the trail mix they had for a snack. We did a bit of shopping after the zoo, I cleaned out my closet and made Snickerdoodles in the afternoon.

(oops! I didn't rotate before uploading)

December 6 - We went to the mall for Christmas pictures. Jackson was a bit out of sorts and Nicholas didn't like his sweater, but all in all we were happy with the pictures. After pictures we had lunch at BJ's Brewery and did a bit of Christmas shopping.

Coming to a Christmas card soon.

December 7 - A cold rainy windy Monday. After work I met up with my old freind Suleman for dinner at Oregano's. Great food and catching up. After I got home, Mike checked his stats on Live 365 and found his alternative radio station "Flashback Now" is in the number one spot. So cool!

Now I am caught back up. Hopefully this week will not be as crazy as last week!

December Daily - 12/1

I'm going to give the December Daily album a try. I thought it would be fun to document our life in December this year. Nicholas is starting to understand some of the Christmas things going on and it's a good time to establish some family traditions. Some traditions are extensions of things Mike and I have always done and others are new. I spent a lot of time before this month began planning and shopping to hopefully let us have a bit less stressful holiday season. With my job it is not always possible for December to not be crazy, but we are going to try. I have cut back on things, like not making Christmas gifts or cards this year. I have been working on a few crafty things, but they are for us. If I get behind or don't get them done I don't have to stress out about it. So we'll see how it goes.

One of the traditions I wanted to start this year was a countdown/advent calendar. Jackson is still a bit too young for this, but I made one for Nicholas. So tonight was time to open our first drawer. I had to work late (of course) so I barely made it home in time to do it before bath and bedtime. (I didn't even have the drawers filled!)

Nonetheless, I snuck some Hershey Kisses into the day 1 drawer and we brought Nicholas to open his first drawer. He has already been counting with all the numbers on the calendar since I put it out over the weekend. He was excited to see his Kisses and couldn't wait to eat them.