Christmas Tree Shopping

Usually, I use this blog to write about big moments in Addy's life, like her first Halloween and her First Thanksgiving. But today, I am writing about a first for all three of us; Christmas tree shopping!

You may be surprised to hear that neither Matt or I have ever gone Christmas tree shopping (at least not that we can remember). We always had a fake tree growing up and for the past three years of our married life, we've put up a cute little tree that Matt surprised me with for our first Christmas. I never knew what I was missing out on, in fact, before this year, I would have told you fake trees are the way to go. (Depending how much of a pain the clean up process is, I might say that next year too.)

This year, we wanted a bigger tree for our new house and after shopping for a fake, pre-lit tree, we decided to try a real one. We ended up buying one from Lowes but not before shopping around at a Christmas tree lot. Can you believe, this was my first time at one of these?

It turned into quite the fun little outing. I kept saying "This is so fun, I've never done this before!" and Matt would say, "Me neither!" We took pictures, bought Addy her first pair of shoes in between tree lots and stopped by Starbucks for an Eggnog Latte and Peppermint Mocha.

This photo is from a different outing, but I had to throw it in, it's too cute.

On the way home Matt said, "And you thought I was a scrooge." Clearly, I was wrong.

In the Shop

Remember Addy's pink car?

She hasn't been driving it much lately. It's been in the shop getting some work done.

Ever since she started pulling up on things, she hasn't wanted to sit in her car. She would rather stand around it. We like to say she's "working on her car."

 The tag is, of course, her favorite part. 

(Why is my house always in such disarray in pictures? There's a plant that goes on that stand.)

 "Looks like you're due for a tune up."

That's her little grease monkey laying beside her.

Good as new!

Addy's First Thanksgiving

I realize that by now, everyone is probably completely over Thanksgiving and into full Christmas mode, but for scrapbooking purposes, I thought I would share some photos of our first Thanksgiving with sweet Adelyne. But first, a little glimpse of what we were up to this week:

Exploring the living room.
This is how she likes to roll: no pants, one sock.

Helping Mom with the dishes.

On Thanksgiving morning, Addy played with the grocery bags and Mom burnt the bacon.

That afternoon, we went over to Cousin Carter's house. He had been busy fixing up a fine Thanksgiving meal.

Cousin Carter and Aunt M, our gracious host. We're so thankful for them.

How did Addy become so photogenic? She didn't get it from her Mom.

After dinner, Addy and Carter decided to browse the Black Friday ads.

So thankful for that big smile!


Hope you all had a wonderful day!

A Thanksgiving Day Guest Post from Heather

Hello friends and Happy Turkey Day! 

I am super excited to be doing a little Thanksgiving Day post swap with one of my favorite bloggers, Heather from Finding Beauty in the Ordinary. Heather is a treasure, she's beautiful inside and out, loves her hubby and her servant's heart just blows me away. 

---------------------------

Hi Life in the 505 readers!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm so excited to be here today.
I just love Katie & her beautiful little family.

As today is Thanksgiving, I wanted to share about the one specific person that I am thankful for today--
my husband of 5 years, Joshua!

 

It's hard to find the words sometimes to express the love I feel for him.
It's humbling to know that God has given me this man to share forever with.
I'm thankful that Joshua chose me.
Despite my quirks, idiosyncrasies and flaws-- he loves me for me.
You can read more about our story, the highs & lows of the past 5 years, and read our testimony here.
We have been through job losses, moving out-of-state, money problems, death of loved ones, and so many other things together.
He has been a consistently loyal and unconditionally loving person in my life.



Today I'm thankful for the blessing of being married to my best friend.
For the opportunity to wake up next to my most favorite person in the world.
We're not perfect, and we have our flaws, but I'm so thankful to actually grow with him.
I'm thankful for the time we have to better ourselves & grow together with God's help.

Now, hope on over and check out her blog.

You can also find her here and here.

Coffee Talk: I'm Blank Because......

Today's post was inspired by Little Miss Momma and Casey Wiegand. I've seen versions of this post around the blogosphere and I thought it would be perfect for today.

Happy Turkey Day Eve friends! The day before a holiday is always so chill. Back when I was working, these were usually the days when you took longer lunches and spent a lot more time chatting over your coffee in the morning. Nothing really ever got done and I don't really seeing anything productive happening around here today either. Today would be the perfect day for a coffee date.

Since becoming a Mom, most of my coffee dates happen at home since Starbucks isn't exactly kid friendly. If you were to came over to my house for coffee, you would be greeted by Addy peaking around the couch to see who was here. Depending on the hour, she might wave her hands in excitement or start crying as soon as you come near her. Try not to take it personally.

You may or may not notice the random swatches of paint on our living room walls and I would explain that we are in the middle of choosing another paint color since we don't like the current one.

I would offer you tea or coffee and if you chose coffee, I would make it in my new french press and then go on to tell you how much I love it. Why does it make coffee taste so much better?

After allowing the coffee to brew for 4 minutes (the magic number!) we'd then move to the living room where we'd sip our coffee on the floor, because that is really the best place to have coffee, while Addy shows off her skills by crawling all over me and possibly you. 

 

We would talk about the upcoming holidays and depending on how well I know you, I might ask about your Christmas traditions or what your favorite Thanksgiving has been. And I might tell you that:

I am weird because..

I can't sleep with socks on
Clowns freak me out
I don't like pumpkin flavored things
Reba is one of my favorite shows
I love fill blank questionnaires or any kind of "get to know" you game

I am a bad friend because...
I hate talking on the phone
I tend to only answer emails and texts in my head
I am very easily distracted

I am a good friend because.....
I value friendship
I'm a good listener
Even if it's a couple of days later, I'm really good about responding to texts and emails
I'm always looking for an opportunity to help out

I am sad because...
Not all of my family will be at the same place for the holidays
Addy's growing up

I am happy because....
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and that means we get to decorate for Christmas is 2 days!
Matt has 4 days off of work
Addy is growing up
I have the best job in the world
Everyone in our house is healthy again

I am excited for....
Addy's first Thanksgiving
Christmas Trees
Playgroup
Pictures with Santa
Homemade Gifts
Holiday Cards

I might also tell you that 

my parents were in town for two days and having them here put me in the holiday spirit,

Addy has been eating and sleeping so much better this week and it makes this momma so happy,

Matt and I are addicted to Breaking Bad, which was all filmed here in the 505,

I am feeling encouraged by verses like this found in the Psalms:

"You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; My God turns darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God, I can scale a wall." 

Psalm 18: 28-29

But, enough about me. What's up with you?

P.S. I have an awesome guest blogger for you tomorrow!

 

One Holiday at a Time, Please!

(found via Pinterest, of course!)

In an effort to fight my "Winter Blues," I attempted to listen to Christmas music a week and a half early, but I couldn't do it! It just felt....wrong. This may be because I created a Michael Buble Holiday Pandora station. The jury is still out on whether or not I like him. I'll give the guy a second chance on November 25th.

I try not to be legalistic but when it comes to Christmas, rules are rules and I like to follow them. 

At the Danner house, Christmas decor doesn't go up until the day after Thanksgiving and we like to at least let our turkey digest before cranking up the holiday jams. But come Friday morning, you can probably find me singing along to Bing Crosby while decking the halls. That is if I can talk Matt into getting our tree that early. He likes to pretend he's a scrooge and every year he says we aren't having Christmas. But I know that deep down he's a lover of Christmas just like me. He actually surprised me with a tree for our first married Christmas. A true scrooge wouldn't do that.

This year Matt and I have decided to give homemade gifts to each other and a lot of our family members. I've already started on a few (I wouldn't consider this breaking the rules, just being really prepared). But since I have some devoted Life in the 505 readers in my family, I'll have to wait until after Christmas to share my creations. So if it seems a little quite around here for the next couple of weeks, it's because I'm busy playing Santa; making my list and checking it twice.

Happy One-More-Week-Until-Thanksgiving-Day Day!

The Winter Blues

Do you ever get the winter blues?

I usually get a bad case of them in January, when the holidays are over and it's just really cold. For some reason, I've been having some symptoms a little early this year. It's barely the second week of November and I'm freezing! I realize that compared to most of the US, our winters are pretty tame and some might not even call what we are experiencing "cold," but it's still been making me a little grumpy.

What happened to Fall? I want it to come back and stay a little bit longer.

I've been thinking about this all week and I've decided that I need to be proactive in fighting these Winter Blues before they take over and ruin the holiday season.

So,
I am going to get out of my comfort zone, ask other Moms to hang out and maybe join/start a playgroup
Get out of the house, even if it is just to walk through Target

Make some of these so that when I go out, I'll stay warm while looking cute

Create an upbeat play station on Pandora
Be thankful and remember that at this time last year, all I wanted to do on gloomy days was stay home in my PJ's. I could do that now, If I wanted to.

Shop for really good deals on cruises because by the time January gets here, I am going to be ready for this:

 Snuggle with Matt and Addy
Stay in the Word; scripture helps in the fight against even the worst kind of blues.
And I might even break the rules, go against everything I believe in and listen to Christmas music a couple of weeks early. Maybe.

What do you do to beat the winter blues? 

Addy is 8 Months Old

Miss Adelyne turned 8 months old today.

I guess I should say she is turning 8 months old today since she won't really be 8 months until 6:39 pm this evening. Anyways, tonight we might got out for ice cream to celebrate Addy's dad being employee of the month! Yeah dad!

Here are a few fun facts about our little 8 month old:

She's adventurous and wants to crawl/climb on everything

She gets tired of her toys, sounds ridiculous but when we introduce something new or a toy that hasn't been around for awhile, she gets really excited.

She's perfectly content to play with tubberware

Her hair is starting to grow over her ears

She's a snuggler, she goes and goes but when it's sleepy time, she loves to snuggle

If we'd let her, she would play with our phones all day, especially Grandpa's iPhone

She's a talker

She loves little kids

Instead of crying when I leave the room, she's figured out that she can follow me.
Currently, her two favorite toys are a rubber ducky and the laundry basket, when flipped over, it's the perfect size for her to stand up and play on.

HAPPY 8 MONTHS SWEETIE PIE!

Thoughts on Blogging

Last week was one of those weeks; one of those weeks when you go to Costco and find out your debit card is expired at the check out line. And then after going home to get the new card, you get your items home and find out you bought the wrong size of trash bags; 500 of them.

The three of us took turns being sick and after waking up on the wrong side of the bed one morning, Matt lovingly suggested that I take a break from things like blogging and Pinterest and get some rest. During my much needed break (husbands can be so wise), I ignored my to-do list and moved a little bit slower. Instead of running around trying to get things done in the mornings, I set with Addy and ate breakfast as she played. It's funny how I don't usually take time to just watch her play.

I also has a lot of time to think about this little blog and I've decided a few things.
WARNING: This list has sub points

1. I like blogging, because:

   A. It's a great creative outlet for someone who spends most of her day with a little girl who can't really hold a conversation

   B. It's easier and less expensive than scrapbooking. I love that I can easily document big(and little) moments in our life in minutes. 

   C. It's a fun way for family who don't live in the 505 to a be a part of Addy's life. (That's you Mom, Dad, Uncle Perry and Aunt Nic!)

2. I really like the great friends that God has placed in our lives. The great community we are a part of is a huge answer to prayer and I don't want to take them for grant it.

3. I really really like my little family, they make my heart happy.

4. Points 2 and 3 have led me to this conclusion: I need to spend less time online.

I've had this little blog for awhile and just recently, I've really tried to grow my readership by participating in link ups and button swaps, which are all great but time consuming. And really, let's face it, there is absolutely no monetary value coming from any of it and I am totally fine with that. I want this to be something I like, not a chore.

So, as we enter the holiday season, I am going to make a conscious effort to spend less time online and more time investing in the relationships I have here in the 505, whether that means more play dates or just more time spent praying for my family. But don't worry, this blog isn't going away, I like it way to much to say goodbye. (see point 1)

These photos were taken my sweet Sister-in-law, Morgan. I really like her. (see point 2) :)

Addy's First Halloween

Addy's first Halloween in photos:

 A little pre-party photo session in the park

 Addy and the Cow and Grandma

 Addy the Cow and Grandpa

 Addy the Cow and cousin Jamie

 This cow can move!

 Cousin Cater, the Pillsbury Dough Boy and I think that might be a Pink Octopus's finger

 A very cranky cow and her little buddies

 Sleeping Beauty tried to console her

 We had a farmer, an orange fish, a pink octopus, a frog prince, Sleeping Beauty, another Prince, a cow, THE Pillsbury Dough Boy and a duck!

The babies

 Addy and her buddy Sophia

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

Linking up with the Paper Mama for Wordlessish Wednesday!

Partied Like a Rock Star

I think this photo pretty much sums up how we're feeling around her today: tired.

Addy's first Halloween was a blast. (Pictures to come)

But today, we are feeling the aftermath of possibly partying a little too hard.

Addy woke up from a good nap yesterday at 2:30 and didn't go to sleep again until 10:30 last night. She was awake for 8 hours straight and that's like two days in baby time; way to long for this teething, stuffed up, almost 8 month old little girl. By the time I tried to put her down at 9:30 last night, she was spent; over tired and feeling the pain of that tooth. It took over an hour for her to fall asleep and she woke up several times throughout the night. Finally, at 5 O'clock this morning, I brought her to bed with me.

There's definitely a tooth in there!

Matt is at work with a cold and the lack of sleep has me feeling almost like I'm hung over which is kind of funny because after our little get together last night, my kitchen looked a lot like a frat house this morning.

Everyone has a touch of something here in the Danner household. Looks like we might have another low key couple of days ahead. Hopefully that tooth will come through soon and we can all get some sleep and kick these cold symptoms in the butt!