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- Christmas is just ONE week away – how is that even possible?! I mean, I’m ready – in fact, I’m more ready than I usually am at this “stage” of the game! All of my gifts have been bought & except for a small handful of items, everything is even wrapped! All of the gifts are organized & labeled & separated out in boxes upstairs – I kind of feel a little bit like: what am I missing? Because I have to be missing something!! (OH, I am missing one thing: I ordered ONE gift from a retailer that was not Amazon over Black Friday & it still has not shipped! I reached out to the company & they said “per the product’s description”, it is shipped in 2-3 weeks, so I’m giving them another day before I reach out again.)
- So, if today’s Abby’s Saturday photo looks familiar, it should! I have taken a “Silhouette” photo at the Christmas tree (almost) every year now & of course, this year is no exception! In fact, I think this particular photo is my most consistent photo – meaning, I have taken a version of this photo more times than any other photo (and I re-create my favorite photos all the time).
If you’d like a stroll down memory lane, here are the other Abby silhouette photos in front of the Christmas tree that I’ve taken – starting in 2013: #16, #74, #124, #177, #230, #278, & #330 (2014 is the only year I did not take an Abby silhouette photo & that’s because we were moving across the state at the time & living with my parents!) - Did you read our Christmas Letter this week?
And, if reading a 3,300+ word book isn’t your style, maybe you caught our 10-minute highlight video? - Who wants a potty training update? Tomorrow will be the last day of “Week 3” –
I feel like we are finally getting somewhere this week! He’s definitely recognizing that he needs to go more often than he’s having accidents (in fact, we had a 2-day “no accident” streak until yesterday when he peed on the couch – oops). He definitely “gets it” & understands that he needs to go on the potty – the trick is breaking thru distractions to get him to go before it’s too late. Especially when he’s deep in imaginative play with Braelynn or watching TV – those seem to be the two specific times that he’s least likely to stop & go to the potty (and thus have an accident). Otherwise, I’m SO proud of our little dude (and let’s be honest: myself) for how far we’ve come over the last 3 weeks!
The next major hurdle to get over is pooping on the potty (sorry if that’s TMI – but that’s just our reality at the moment). He pooped on the potty twice the first week we were potty training, so I (wrongly) assumed we would just continue down that path – nope. He hasn’t pooped on the potty since. He knows he needs to go, but refuses to sit on the potty long enough to go. I remember this being a challenge with Braelynn too, so I’m happy to continue to work on it!
Okay, enough potty talk! - Braelynn & I went Christmas shopping for stocking stuffers & little gifts for her friends this week – she did really really good! I was worried the entire shopping trip would be her asking for items for herself (which is what usually happens when we go to the store), but it wasn’t! She did drop a few “hints” here & there regarding items she really liked, but mostly she just wanted me to buy half of the store for her friends (yikes). Overall though, I’m really happy with what she found, the thought she put into everything she picked out, and how excited she is to give little gifts to her friends!
- Speaking of Braelynn, on Thursday night, as Derrick & I were putting the kids to bed, we had quite the interruption to our routine:
I was in Leander’s room putting him into his bed. Derrick had already left Braelynn in her room (she gets 30 minutes of “quiet time” before bed), so she was playing in her room.
When all of a sudden, I heard something that sounded like metal banging against itself, then a HUGE crash, and Braelynn was screaming – I ran into her room & she was curled up on the floor next to her Christmas tree – crying hysterically & pointing at her closet.
Her entire closet had disintegrated. She had a wire rack across the width of her closet that her dresses hung on and she had a few sleeping bags, blankets, a bin of dress-up clothes & some keepsake stuff on top. And the whole thing ripped out of the wall & came crashing down.
Thankfully, she wasn’t near it (a lot of the time, Braelynn uses her quiet time to sit at a tiny table she has set up – in her closet – to draw & color – but thankfully, on Thursday night, she had been playing with her stuffed animals over by her Christmas tree – otherwise, it would have fallen on her head!) So, she wasn’t hurt at all – it just scared her super bad.
Needless to say: she now has a brand new closet system! Derrick went to the store on his way home from work yesterday & got her a brand new closet system – complete with shelves, different levels of rods for hanging things – and he put it up last night. Braelynn LOVES it!
We just can’t figure out why the wire shelf fell? It was “newly” installed (meaning, we put it up when we moved into this house 6 years ago). It was properly installed with anchors & bars to hold it up (we can’t remember, but I’m sure one of our Dads installed it for us). There wasn’t anything on the shelf that was heavy in any way – it’s just a huge mystery! - Derrick is officially on vacation – so we are in full-blown Christmas mode! We’re baking Christmas cookies today (after we go pick up our Instacart order – I have about 1/4 cup of brown sugar and only 1 stick of butter in the house – obviously that isn’t going to cut it for Christmas cookies!) Thank God for Instacart!
And then – we have some special surprises for our kiddos coming up this week! It’s all super exciting & fun & I cannot wait!
My blog posts for this week have been all scheduled out – social media posts have been automated (for both Derrick & I) – the gifts have all been purchased & wrapped – everything is done & ready! And now, it’s time to relax & have fun!
Hope your week is wonderful & magical in every way!
[…] tree that I’ve taken – starting in 2013: #16, #74, #124, #177, #230, #278, #330, #382, and #434.(2014 is the only year I did not take an Abby silhouette photo & that’s because we […]