Christmas

Well Christmas has come and gone once again! We had a very good Christmas and of course Shelby made out like a bandit! Santa brought her a kitchen set among other things, she got babies, coloring books, a Thomas the Train set and much more!

Auntie Kimmy

Shelby helping Grammie

A train set!

We have a little tradition in our family, you hold your present up to your head to try and get a "vibe" of what is in it!

We hosted my families Christmas Eve dinner this year, here are a couple of pictures from that:

Cousin Eric and Aunt Debbie

Mamarene, Suzy, Katrina and Barb Cousin Amy, my mom and Papadewey

Santa took a break to come and visit us, Shelby was less thant thrilled!

Santa Train

Every year the railroad Mike works for does a Santa Train for employee families. They have an old passenger train that we ride, which lasts about an hour. This year they had a theme, The Polor Express, the conductors and people working it were dressed up like the conductor from the movie and they had the music from the movie playing on the train. Santa comes and talks to each child and this year he gave out bells and candy canes and each family got a Polar Express Gift Set with the book and CD. Shelby loves trains and always points them out and she knows that daddy works on trains. Santa, she isn't so sure about!

She seen Santa coming and wanted to escape!

GOOOOOOOOOO she said!

Ok maybe he isn't so bad!

Little Miss Diva!

Shelby dressed herself up the other day! And she was very proud of herself, crown on wrong and everything!!

Shelby

Maybe just a little OCD

Ok, maybe she is just a "little" like me!! She did this all on her own and it kept her busy for a while!

In other Shelby news her speech therapy is going good. She is saying a few more words, there hasn't been any huge changes but baby steps, and I am ok with that. She is starting to actually ask for things more using words instead of whining, which is nice. And no sentences yet. But her speech therapist noticed she is a mouth breather and asked about her tonsils, which my mom had also mentioned about 2 weeks before that, she also noticed her upper lip structure was off. Her upper lip arches more than what a normal persons would (mine is the same way). Which is a sign of being a mouth breather. She looked in her mouth and her tonsils were almost touching! And she isn't sick. So we went to her pedi this morning. He didn't think there was anything wrong with her, but mother's know best and all of my mouth problems growing up were a result of having undetected enlarged tonsils for 7 years. And I do NOT want Shelby to go through that if I don't have to. He told us to go to the ENT doc adn have her tonsils and adnoids checked and ask him about obstructive sleep apnea (since she snores, possibly from the enlarged tonsils). The pedi tried to tell me that most kids have enlarged tonsils and that he doesn't think Dr. Sobel will take her tonsils out anyways since she is only 2. We are still going however. I am interested to hear what he has to say. So that is what is going on with Shelby these days!

Things I love

A few other bloggers have done this and I thought I would too. Here are just a few things that I love.

The Shark Floor Steamer: If you have certain kinds of the tile you know you aren't supposed to use chemicals or even sometimes soap on them and in some cases not even vingar water. My mom told me to get the shark floor steamer to clean my new tiled floors and I love it. It is so easy and fast. And there is a terry cloth pad on the head that you just throw into the washer

Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner: For years I used Sno Bowl since we had hard water and I "thought" that was the best for that, then on a whim I tried this cleaner and It is the best, it does have bleach in it, so if you don't like to use products with bleach it isn't for you, but I think there is nothing like the smell of bleach to let your know the toilet is clean!

Method Hardwood Floor Cleaner: Okay, I have real hardwood floors now and I have tried SEVERAL floor cleaners and hated all of them, they leave streeks or just don't work very well. I googled hardwood floor cleaners and this one got good reviews so I gave it a try and I will never go back! Plus if you aren't familiar with Method products they are non-toxic and biodegradable if that is important to you. I am not fanatical about that kind of stuff, but seriously, why not?!?!? Especially if you have little kids like me. Anything to make our living environment safer. Method makes a mop with a washable pad to use with this, but I already had one, that I am using with it, or you can use the swiffer but those pads are not washable obviously. You can get Method products at Target (my fav store) Chocolate GoldFish: O M G, these are addicting, I have a bag next to me right on my desk at work! I just happened to see these at the grocery store a while back and they are the best and not that bad for you either! Shelby won't eat the chocolate goldfish so I buy them for myself!

Organic Cascadian Farm Granola Bars: Okay, I have always bought the Quacker granola bars and then I seen these and they weren't much more than the Quacker and I thought for organic I will give it a try. If organic is an option and the same cost or cheaper I will give it a try. In my opinion these are SO much better than the Quacker ones (Mike disagree's though), they are chewy and good. I have only been able to find these at Walmart, but Kroger might have them too.

Excedrin Migraine: Anyone who knows me knows I get bad migrains a lot. Several years ago I tried and over the counter migraine pill and it didn't do squat. Since then I have been on many different kind of perscription migraine meds and some are rather costly. One night I was at Kimberly's, I had a migraine, didn't have any of my meds and she had these and said take 2, they will work, I thought she was nuts but took them anyways, and bam my migraine was GONE, I was shocked and couldn't believe it. I haven't refilled my prescription since! Miraculous! I just try to take 2 when I first start to feel it coming on, I can't wait too long.

Kashi TLC Cookies: I have only tried the Dark Chocolate and Oatmeal cookies, but they are SOOOOO good and healthy for you!

Kashi Strawberry Fields Cereal: Okay once again this is organic and I still like it. Not all organic foods are good but I think this is.

The Twilight Turtle: Okay, this is more Shelby's thing obviously but it is SO neat! I bought this originally for her Christmas but when it came we had to check it out. She doesn't usually leave it on while she goes to sleep, she usually turns it off, but she likes to play with it. It projects a real constilation up onto the ceiling and it is so neat, there are three different color to change between and it automatically shuts off after 45 minutes. I got it Barnes and Noble, but several other places have them too. This would be a good baby shower gift or someone who is having #2 or #3 baby!

On the move

They moved our old house a couple of weeks ago, I wish I could have been there to watch it but Mike took lots of pictures for me to see. I think it made him a little sad, but happy that they dump wouldn't tear it down. And the couple that bought it is just thrilled to death to have it! So that is a good thing. They put it on a full basement and plan on redoing some of the rooms. I can't wait to see what they do to it. They said it stood up really well to the move and only had a couple of really small cracks around a couple of the doors. So I was impressed! going out onto the street

just starting down Hill Rd.

Going down Hill Rd.

Power company had lots of lines to move

Pumpkin Patch

We recently went to Black Bart's Pumpkin Patch in Warrensburg. I was afraid of how Shelby would do since she had not had a nap and fell asleep in the car on the way there, but as soon as she seen all of the pumpkins she was wide awake and ready to go. We started down the first aisle of the pre-picked pumpkins and she instantly found THE pumpkin and she just had to have it, she stood by it, yelling for us and pointing at it! So of course we had to get it, but daddy secretly swapped it out for a better one when she wasn't looking. I have never seen a better selection of pumpkins, they were all shaped good and BIG, not very many small ones at all.

This is THE one Shelby's favorite part of the pumpkin patch!

How tall am I this year?

Daddy being silly

Wait for me grandpa

It is almost as big as me

Here Auntie Kimmy, let me help you out

I don't think they both fit!