Haircut Follow-up

I know it's not that bad. I really do. And I give all the credit in the world to my hairdresser. He spent so much time on her, making sure everything was even and layered just right. He did exactly on her as he would've done on me. My biggest mistake was saying, "See those wings? Be sure to get rid of those." I think that statement led us to the Pixie Cut. Which is very in style, ya know, IF you can wear makeup and people know you are a girl.

I looked back at her pictures and her hair was as short as it is now around 9-10 months. It was almost to piggie tails (the whole reason I'm sad) by her 1st birthday and definitely in piggie tails by 14 months. It is much thicker now and I think now that it is cut, it will really start to grow in faster. Everything should be back to normal by summer, but with shape and not so straggly. I think it is worth the sadness.

He also used a blowdryer and comb when he was done, straightening out all the curls. I bathed her last night and good news! The curls are still there and cuter than ever! (My camera was in my car, which was parked outside in the 10 degree weather but don't worry, there will be more pictures soon.) And more good news this morning! Bedhead is super cute. Aaannd gave me a styling idea - which involves wax. Is using wax on your 18-month old bad? I think it screams, "HIGH MAINTENANCE ALERT! HIGH MAINTENANCE ALERT! You are creating a monster and are going to have a HIGH MAINTENANCE TEENAGER!" Oh well, I guess I'll deal with that later.

A Sad, Sad Day

(The before picture)

Well, I did it. Peer pressure got me. And I was/am sad. And so was Tylee. See? She was absolutley fantastic! She just sat up in that little chair like she had done it 1,000 times before. She got a little restless toward the end, so she sat on my lap for a bit. Then we pulled out the big guns...
a sucker!And that got us the rest of the way through. It's my pleasure to introduce you to: Little Boy Trollope

See? A sad, sad day. Stupid peer pressure.

Big News...Coming Soon

Finley Family Christmas

And #4 of the weekend, the Finley Family Christmas! Which is probably unbelievable to some, but normal to us - all 50 of us. (Maybe more, I don't feel like counting.) G-ma Katy's was always Christmas Day throughout my childhood. We would have Christmas at home on Christmas morning, eat breakfast, and get around and head to G-ma Katys. Early on, there were 5 brothers, 5 wives, 13 grandkids, Grandma, Grandpa, and sometimes some close family friends. Everyone would get all dressed up, usually in Christmas clothes, load up their present from Santa, and head to the Pavillion to compare and share gifts. I remember my cousins and I arguing with the adults every year as to whether we had to eat first or open presents. "But we arent' hungry!" Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Now, 25 has turned into 50 of us and my brother, sister, cousins and I are the adults, along with my Aunts, Uncles, and Grandma. Our kids are now the ones getting dressed up in Christmas clothes and loading their Santa presents in the car to take to the Pavillion. 25 more people hasn't stopped Grandma Katy, a true shopper at heart. She starts shopping for the next year the days follwing Christmas and shops all year for just the right gifts. For all 50 of us. Not a person left out. Since we are grown with families of our own, Grandma Katy has graciously switched her Christmas to the Saturday after Christmas. Although it's nice not to cram everything into one day, it sure makes for a long weekend for the little ones! We are in the midst of rearranging naptime and Tylee usually sleeps from 11-2, which was exactly when we were to be at G-ma Katy's. It didn't take her long to get warmed up once she saw all the presents. This "opening session" was by far her most interesting yet. Presents were coming fast and she was wanting to open as fast as they came. I had a hard time keeping up! Tylee got some really neat things from Grandma Katy. Must be the years of experience shopping for 5 growing boys of her own, 13 grandkids, and 6 great grandkids.

And that wraps up Christmas for this week. One more at Nanny's on New Years Day and then we can figure out what in the world we are going to do with all this stuff! Thank you everyone for a wonderful 2nd Christmas. We are more blessed than we could have ever imagined.

(And a sidenote for those who care, I went back and journaled on the posts below!)

Same story, another day

Tj's Mom and Allen came out Christmas afternoon to celebrate their Christmas with Tylee. I guess Tylee must've been a super good girl because she got her presents from them a few weeks ago. They bought them early and just couldn't wait! She helped Mommy open her presents but I think was somewhat disapointed when all that was in the box were some square toed cowgirl boots. Mommy sure was happy though!We ate a fabulous lunch, courtesy of my husband, and then watched Tylee play with her old toys. Exactly what you want to watch when you've spent umpteen dollars on new Christmas gifts.It was still soooo cold outside so rather than take Tylee out to the snow, we brought the snow in to her. She loved it.

Cathy and Allen left and called to warn us that they highways were still in really rough shape. We decided we better take gravel to Chanute but realized within 1/4 mile from my house that that was not an option. I called my Mom crying, upset and scared I was going to miss Christmas. That kicked Tj into high-gear and we did what we had to do to make it to the highway. It took us 1.5 hours but we finally made it to my Mom's. It was a wonderful evening with lots of chaos, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I cannot imagine what we even did before we were married with children. How boring! (Except it wasn't boring, I have wonderful Christmas memories with my Mom, Brother, and Sister. It's just strange to think about it just being the 4 of us now that there is 11.5 of us.)

(And...can you believe I don't have a single picture? I think Lindsey got some but she is having trouble getting the pictures on here. I may come back and post any cute ones she got.)

Christmas Morning

I couldn't wait for Tylee to wake up Christmas morning. Tj and I were both awake for a long time before she was. He even showered and got around before the little sleepyhead woke up. Although I had time, I just couldn't pull myself to shower. Who opens presents Christmas morning clean? Definitely not my family! We definitely did not get the reaction we were hoping for when we showed her that Santa came. She was not excited in the least. I guess she was confused? 1st a tree and now a kitchen, all right in the middle of the dining room! What are these people thinking? My plan was to let her play with each gift as long as she wanted and not rush anything so that she could enjoy each and every gift. We moved on quickly from the kitchen to the presents - which did not impress her either. We didn't get her very much. A couple things of food, a toy broom, some Color Wonder markers, a fake kitty, some big lego-type blocks, and some shoes. Half of those sat unopened on the couch until late afternoon.

She was so into all the bows and paper last year, I really had myself psyched up this year. Note to self: 18 months is not a good age for Christmas. They get distracted easily and do not understand the concept that there is another toy in that other wrapped box and it may be really cool!

Santa Came!

Christmas Eve

Snow, snow, go away! Come again another day!

I had big plans for Christmas Eve, which involved making a big breakfast, baking cookies, looking at lights, and having a fancy dinner. 1 out of 4 of those things happened, which really put a damper on my day. I just never got that "Christmas feeling" that I was hoping for. I'm gonna blame the snow.We did bake cookies and I probably should've put a disclaimer on the tray before serving them to Santa. I hope Santa doesn't mind double dipping from a slobbery 18-month old. Against my better judgement, I begged Tj to go out in the blizzard and look at Christmas Lights. Good thing he is the logical one of the two of us because I'm not sure that we would've made it back home. We threw the Reindeer food out the door quickly... sat out cookies and milk, got Tylee all snuggled in bed, and waited to see if Santa would come...

One Down, 5 To Go

We had my Dad's Christmas last night and it didn't take long for Tylee to remember what to do. I remember being suprised on Tylee's birthday how interested she was in opening the presents. Christmas didn't fail me either. She loved every second of it. The first present of the season. Remind me what to do, papa! Okay, noooow I remember. Thanks Papa and Janis for everything you got us. We had a great time!

Merry Christmas

"The" Card And the "Runner-Up"

Technicalities

• Tylee had her 18-month pictures this morning with Lasha and ohmygoodness! I don't think Tj and I's compromise of 1 outfit/1 picture is going to work. I saw over 20 to-die-for smiles and poses. Tylee did everything from playing peek-a-boo from behind the set wall to sitting so perfectly with her little legs crossed at the feet. Then! Oh then! When I thought things couldn't get any cuter, we went outside with an old rustic chair and some wagon wheels and Tylee totally cheesed it up for the camera, AGAIN! Why doesn't she cooperate like that for me since my pictures are FREE! Isn't that always the way it works? Her outfit was perfect, her hair cooperated, the set was beautiful - everything just went great. Can you tell I'm excited? I cannot wait to see them and share! (This isn't the outfit. These are from the other day.)

  

• We ditched Tylee's highchair a few weeks ago and got her a little booster. It isn't working out quite like I'd hoped but haven't decided what we are going to do yet. It works okay but the table that came with it isn't quite big enough for her to color on and she isn't quite big enough to reach our table. We may get the highchair back out once the tree comes down but it's kinda nice just pushing the booster under the table when we are finished eating. I cannot believe she is this big already!

• We have such a busy week planned but I am so excited to get things started! Today was pictures and 18-month Well Baby Visit (we are headed there now so I may update when we get home. Although, I'm sure I'll have nothing exciting to share.) Tomorrow is my Christmas Dinner at work and then Christmas with my Dad in Chanute. Thursday is actually free but I'm planning on making sugar cookies with Tylee for Santa. Then Tj and I will do our newest tradition of putting on Tylee's PJ's and going to look at lights, coming home and getting her to bed, eating the cookies, and putting together her Santa present. I've dreamed of doing that for years! I cannot believe I have a little one old enough that it is all going to happen! We will have Christmas with the 3 of us at our house on Christmas morning and then his Mom is coming out for lunch. No rest for the weary - then off to Grandma Ann's for Christmas with my family. Then we'll do it all over again one more time Saturday for Grandma Katy's Christmas with my Dad's family. I am honestly worried that Tylee may actually get tired of opening presents. I'll be so sad when it's all over but never fear - we'll have one more Christmas at Nanny's on New Years Day.

I'm sure I'll update the blog along the way but I wanted to be sure to wish you all a very safe and wonderful Christmas with your family. Thank you for following us on our journey.