Christmas Day

Christmas morning Scarlett woke up to see her presents from us, and when she spotted her tricycle she kept shouting, "Oh boy!" She loves tricycles or anything that "goes." She calls it her cycle (sickel). She spotted it when we had it hidden in our closet, and she's been whining for it ever since. She loves her sickel and is learning to pedal! She also loves the table and chairs we got her; they are just her size!





Only my child would feel the need to try to accessorize herself in the midst of opening gifts!



We were planning on leaving Christmas day to visit Chris's family. However, the snow storm changed that. The road conditions into Oklahoma were still very poor, and travel was discouraged. We decided to wait a couple of days and then head their way. So Christmas day was spent with just the three of us. We lounged and ate and Chris put together all of Scarlett's toys. It was a great relaxing day for our little family. Finally that night, Scarlett crashed on the couch in her new pj's.

Christmas Eve Adventure!

It all started when Chris warned us on Christmas Eve, Eve that a snow storm was coming. We actually laughed at him. It's never as bad as the weathermen say, we scoffed. Christmas Eve we (my sister's family, my parents, & my little trio) were all planning on heading to my grandparents in Paul's Valley, OK. When we woke up to leave, we started to believe him a little more. It was cold and rainy here in Texas, and snow and ice were starting up in OK. We thought about not going but eventually decided to give the 2 1/2 hour trip up to OK a try. Scarlett was indifferent; she just wanted to sit in her new car!
Bundled up and cozy, off our little caravan went.
Once we crossed the border into OK, the weather just grew worse and worse. Freezing rain pelted the car, and the temperature dropped drastically to 28 degrees. The road became very slick. We saw wrecks here, we saw wrecks there. We almost turned around several times.
We were pretty close at this point, so we decided to only stay for an hour and then head back to Texas. When we arrived and ran from the car to the house, I realized just how bad it was! I could hardly walk, wind and freezing ice stung my face, and we could barely keep the front door from blowing away! Once inside we hurriedly opened presents, ate, and snapped a few family photos.




Meanwhile, ever the worriers, Chris and my grandpa watched the storm.
We headed back out into the storm, not really sure what to do. Should we stay in OK? What about Santa? Since we would be following my sister's family and would be driving away from the storm, we decided to brave it. Things were definitely getting worse, and I'm glad we left when we did.
We saw things we just don't see very often such as low, low, temperatures,
and Chris pumping gas in a blizzard!
I really was afraid to be on the road, so I just tried to ignore it all and read my book!
Scarlett wasn't worried one bit!
Chris got us home safe and sound. As we neared Texas, the driving conditions improved greatly. My parents, however, left my grandparents' a few hours after us to head to their house, toward the storm. They weren't so lucky. Once they got on the highway, they became stuck in traffic. A barrier in the median prevented them from turning around. They waited and waited. Minutes turned into hours. The blizzard worsened, and all OK highways were shut down. They were stuck there for EIGHT HOURS! We were horrified for them! Luckily they had plenty of gas and were able to wait it out in a warm truck. They made it home after midnight.

That night, safe and sound at home, Chris put together Scarlett's table and chairs, and we set out everything from Santa for Christmas morning. Whew! What a day!

Christmas Eve, Eve

Christmastime is a bit tricky for us because our parents and extended family all live three hours away from us and three hours away from each other. It's nearly impossible to find a way to see everyone and still be home at our house for Christmas morning and Santa. This year, my parents came to us! It was very nice of them to haul loads and loads of presents down our way. So on Christmas Eve, Eve we went to my sister's house where my parents arrived, opened presents from each other, and ate a wonderful Italian dinner, compliments of chefs Mandy & Michelle thank you very much!

The weather was SO nice too! We were able to play outside even. I think it got up to 70 degrees!






Scarlett is still not really interested in opening presents. She just wants to get them out of all that dang plastic and play with them! She is so spoiled by her family and got a kitchen, a pink coupe, an art easel, clothes, shoes, pjs, books, dolls, and the list goes on and on and on.

Terrible Twos

We have officially entered the “Terrible Twos” era at our household even though Scarlett won’t be two until April. Recently, little miss woke up and started hitting right out of the clear blue sky. I once thought kids who hit had to have seen it from somewhere: daycare, other siblings, etc., but since Scarlett is involved with neither of those, I’ve come to realize it must be just a natural compulsion deep down inside them that they just can’t wait to let loose! Scarlett mainly hits when she’s mad at me for telling her no. She’ll hit me, or the cats, or the Christmas tree, or Chris, or whatever poor object or person is closest when she’s mad. The other day, she and London were fighting over a toy. Scarlett hit London, then turned around and also hit poor Lily who wasn’t even involved! Chris woke up the other morning, and came into the living room where we were, groggy and bleary eyed, and she whopped him good before he even knew what was going on!

Thankfully, for now, Time Out works wonders on Scarlett. I don’t believe in fun, cutesy, Time Out chairs so she has to sit on the tile in the corner by the front door. And she HATES it. She cries uncontrollably the entire time (one minute, mind you), and to my complete surprise, she has never tried to get up or walk away. She knows she has to sit there until I say she can get up. It breaks her heart to be in Time Out. And it does put a stop to the behavior for usually the rest of the day. The other day, I said she would have to go to Time Out if she threw, hit, slapped, or whatever it was at that moment, again. She got confused that this was just a warning and marched herself right over to the corner and put herself in Time Out! I couldn’t help but laugh.

Her little emotions and moods are so very volatile right now. (And come to think of it, that probably means from now on; Lord help us!) One afternoon she’ll scarf down a whole cup of green beans, only to spit them out in disgust the following day. One day she’ll go right down at bedtime, and the next night she’ll scream bloody murder, crying so hard she chokes and gags, so that I have to lay down with her to get her to go to sleep. But she never has problems going down for her naps! Some days she’ll let me brush her teeth for five minutes but won’t let me get near her with the toothbrush later. And the list goes on!

I love her passion and strong will. It’s what makes Scarlett, Scarlett. She makes me laugh many times a day, and she certainly keeps me and Chris on our toes. She is still very loving and adoring of us. She loves to give hugs and kisses. She says “Love you!” and demands, “Hug!” a lot. And when she runs full blast down the hall toward me, arms out, ready for a big hug, I forget about all that hitting and drama because at that moment I'm the happiest mamma there is.

You Would Cry Too

Scarlett had her picture taken with Santa last night. She knows what Santa looks like, and she can even say, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" when we ask her what Santa says. But, the inevitable occurred when in his presence as it does with all kids 12 months and up. I plopped her down on his lap, and there was about a 3 second delay before the tears began. She was truly afraid! If you think about it, he is pretty scary! The picture they captured was the moment just before the meltdown.



And last year...so sweet and trusting! Just content with whoever!

Let it Snow!

This morning it snowed!! This is a big deal for North Texans in early December. I think our air conditioner was on just last week! Scarlett has never seen snow so when I noticed the huge snowflakes coming right down this morning, I bundled her up and out we went. I haven't even bought gloves for her yet this winter so we didn't get to stay out long. The snow is already gone so I'm glad I took her out to see it. It might have been my only chance this year!

A Typical Day

Throughout the day, Scarlett is my little shadow. She'll play alone in her room for small amounts of time here and there, but she usually just wants to be wherever I am, doing whatever I'm doing.

She likes to "help" put the groceries up.


And she loves to sweep. I can't wait till she can scrub toilets too!


And she LOVES to talk on the phone. She will listen to my mom, Chris's mom, my sister, or whoever for as long as they'll stay on with her. She babbles back to them as she walks around the house with the phone between her shoulder and ear. I have NO idea where she learned to love the phone so much!


When she gets quiet in her room, that's when I know she's up to no good. This was the case the other day when I found her like this, pretending to sleep. She looked up at me and proclaimed, "I go sleepy!"

Climbing out of the drawer was quite a scene as well.

I really think she's ready for gymnastics!