Ho Ho Ho

At Sassy's house after having pictures made for Christmas cards

Sassy got them matching Christmas nightgowns--they are so cute!

I just had to post this video. Mamie says "ho ho ho" and I think it's adorable. I've had a hard time getting it on video, and this is not the best example, but oh well! She'll even say it sometimes when she sees Santa in a book--so cute! Please excuse my hideous voice. If I could take it out, believe me, I would.

Did you know that Santa Claus is watching you all the time? When we went to the mall to have the girls' picture made with Santa a couple of weeks ago, Lilly had a life-changing experience. She has been known to be less than kind to her little sister and loved to hit her and push her over. I always told her, "Santa's watching you," and it worked somewhat, but what happened at Cool Springs mall has forever changed her little life. First let me start by saying that Lilly was SO excited to go see Santa she could hardly stand it. First, I gave him her Christmas list, and then he talked to her and she sat in his lap. The conversation went something like this:

Santa: Have you been a good little girl this year?

Lilly: Yes

Santa: Are you SURE?

Lilly: (looking a little worried now) Yes?

Santa: Well, last week when I peeked in on you, you were hitting on your little sister, and that's not very nice. Big sisters are supposed to take care of their little sisters and be sweet to them--not hit them or be mean to them.

Lilly: looks like she might cry for a minute--I feel terrible and chime in that she's really a pretty good girl.

At this point Santa gives her a big hug and kiss on the head and asks her all about what she wants for Christmas, to which she responds "princess stuff" and then she sat in his lap as happy as she could be, but also in AWE of this super power that Santa seems to have. You could just see her thinking, "How did he know that?" She has talked about it and talked about it, telling everyone that Santa sees her all the time and that she has to be nice. She hasn't hit Mamie once, and has been so sweet to her it's unbelieveable. I wonder how Santa knew?

Christmas Chaos

Do you think she likes it?

Checking out the kids' table

You want us to be still while you take a picture? Yeah. OK. Sure.

Here are just a few pictures of our family Christmas on my mom's side. My uncle has 13 YOUNG great-grandchildren, plus the two of mine, making a grand total of 15 kids. It is crazy! Not everyone could be there (my cousin Eric's wife just had the 13th!), but almost everyone was. It was actually a few weekends ago, and the weather was beautiful. We tried (in vain) to get a picture of all the kids. It was basically pointless. Some of them kept running out of the picture, and half of them were crying, but at least we have proof that we tried! It's so cute to watch them all play together and they all get along so well --most of the time! They all got to open gifts from my aunt and uncle, which are their great-grandparents. Lilly got a Sleeping Beauty doll that sings. She was so excited and has slept with it every single night. She loves "sleeptin booty."

Debbie Downer

Those of you who know me well know I am a complete freak about things like MSG & other chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics in food, artificial sweeteners, plastics, Teflon, pesticides, lead paint on toys, etc. Well, now I am going to be scared of cosmetics. Jon came home today telling me about an article on MS NBC about Minnesota banning mascara and other cosmetics containing mercury. It turns out, most mascaras and eyeliners contain it. Anyway, I found a website that will let you search cosmetics by name and find out how they score and how safe they are. You can even search baby products such as diaper creams and baby washes/shampoos. It was very interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I have wasted my night (that desperately needed to be productive) sitting in front of the computer typing in every single one of my cosmetics, moisturizers, shampoos, conditioners, and baby products. I was amazed at some of the things I thought would be so harmless that were ranked really poorly--Neutrogena moisturizer, Huggies Baby Wash--it's crazy! Also, when I was doing another search about products containing mercury, these common household products came up. I was surprised by how many I have used. There are truly hundreds of them, but these few really surprised me and I thought I should share them.

Ajax powder
Comet powder

Soft Scrub

Dove soap (bars)--can you believe that one?

Ivory dishwashing liquid

Joy dishwashing liquid

Most soft dishwasher detergents

nasal sprays (afrin, etc.)

laxatives

BLEACHED FLOUR--how scary is that!?

here's the link to the cosmetics database
http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1

Sorry to be such a downer at Christmas! I promise to have a happier post next time!

sweet mamie

A couple of weeks ago Brooke took Mamie's 9 month pictures and pictures for our Christmas card. I don't have the link yet to share them all, but I just had to post this one. I know I'm slightly biased, but I think she's pretty darn cute. I love her little teeth showing--I can't ever seem to catch them in a picture. Brooke is fabulous--if anyone needs a photographer, she's great! I've been using her since Lilly was born, and people always comment on the pictures she's done when they come over to our house.