Wednesday, January 13, 2010

She's Growing Up!

I can hardly believe it, but my little girl is a Sunbeam! I cannot believe how big she is getting. she is my little bud and I love her so much. It was actually quite emotional for me to take her to Primary that first Sunday - I cannot imagine what it will be like when she goes to Kindergarten. I had to work very hard not to go and check on her every five minutes - not like I needed to check on her at all since her Dad was right there and her Grandma & Aunt Sara were there doing music, but I just couldn't help myself! Time just needs to slow down....

Crafts!

For some reason, this year I decided I wanted to make a lot of the Christmas gifts I was giving. Of course, I couldn't be realistic about this and only make 1 or 2 things and just buy the rest - in stead I made almost ALL of the gifts we gave. I must be a glutton for punishment.

For most of the women in my husband's family and one of my sisters I made scarves. I found this beautiful pattern that had a kind of "waffle" pattern. It was really cool - my goal was to make seven (so I could include my Grandma's), but I ended up with five (sorry Grandmas!). I was really proud of how they turned out. For Tim & Julie's baby Hailee, I decided to make a blanket. I should have made these for EVERYONE - it was so easy!
For my two nieces, Kendall & Taylor, I decided I wanted to make them each a scarf and a bag. Pink for Kendal - Purple for Taylor. Well, in the end they got a hat, two scarves and a bag. I just couldn't stop making stuff for them!
There were a few other Christmas presents I made that I forgot to take pictures of. For all of Chris' brothers, I made a memory book of their Mom. I really enjoyed creating it for them and I hope they enjoy it as much as I do. Of course, as soon as I ordered it, I realized all of the other things I could have done to make it better, but oh well, I'm fine with how it turned out - maybe I'll do Volume 2 next year.
I also made Lacy and Rose each tutus. My friend Laura taught/helped me with those. She also helped me (well, she actually did 95% of the work) make Crayon Rolls for Allison. They turned out really cute, and I'm ready to make some more.
So, after all of this crocheting, you would think I would be DONE with crocheting for awhile. The problem was that I crocheted all kinds of stuff for other people, but didn't make anything for Allison - and she definitely noticed. She begged me to make her something, so I found this pattern for a flower purse and I made it for her. It's really cute, but definitely not really usable. Of course as soon as I made the purse, all she could do was ask where the hat was - so I had to make her one of those, too.
Then, once I made the hat for Allison, I had people lining up with orders, so I've made four more hats and still need to make another one...
By this point I had caught the bug and now I just want to crochet all of my gifts from now on (sorry Carolyn, definitely expect something homemade at your shower next week!). My friend Heather had a baby shower last week and I decided I wanted to make something for her. I found this pattern for an adorable little stuffed dog, and since they are dog people, I thought I would attempt it. Crazy person that I am, I came up with this idea the night before the shower, so I was a little nuts trying to get it done on time. Didn't quite turn out the way it was supposed to look, but Heather loved it, and that's all that matters...
I also made her a frog bib for her little guy. I think it's adorable and I have a few more I want to make.
It's crazy - I've been making so much stuff that now I have all these patterns I need to organize. Who knew I would enjoy it so much?

Christmas

Well, it's been awhile, so to catch-up, I'm going all the way back to Christmas.

The season started out with the Primary Christmas party. Allison was so excited to go, and was even more excited when she found out they were eating pizza. Santa Claus came for a visit. Since Allison happens to have a close, personal relationship with this certain Santa, I had her go back and see him before he came out to see the rest of the kids (I didn't want her ruining it for all of the other kids). It was super cute - we went into the room where he was waiting and at first she was really scared of him. Then, he started talking to her and all of a sudden she goes, "Wait, you're not Santa, you're my Grandpa!" It was really cute, and I was glad she had that reaction when none of the other kids were around. (By the way, can you tell that I let her dress herself on Saturdays? - Yikes!)
Of course, since she knew who it was, she wouldn't stay away from him.

The next party was the Ward Christmas Brunch. I didn't take too many pictures, but the one picture I did take was of Allison singing with the other Primary kids. It was so cute to see her up there with all the other big kids. She loved every minute of it.

Christmas Eve was spent with the Nadeau's. Allison loves spending time with her cousins Lacy and Rose. It is so nice that they all get along.
Allison got some amazing presents from her Papa and Brenda. She was super spoiled this year, but I think it was because she is the perfect age for Christmas and there are so many toys to buy for 3-year-olds.
Allison and her Daddy....
Christmas morning we woke up in our own home and had our own little Christmas with just the three of us. It was so nice and special to spend time as a family.

After we were done opening presents at our house, we went over to my Mom & Dad's. Almost everyone was there for at least a little while, but then some of my siblings had other parties to go to. In the end, Allison ended up being the only kid - which I think she preferred. She was the center of attention ALL day.
One of the things Allison got for Christmas was an Easy-Bake type toy. She absolutely LOVES it, while I absolutely HATE it. It makes such a mess and is not something she can do on her own. I think this toy may get lost in the garage sometime soon.....
Overall, we had an amazing Christmas and it was great to spend time with all of our family. It gets more and more fun each year as Allison gets older and starts to understand what Christmas is all about. Next year we'll have to work on focusing on the true meaning of Christmas and not spoil her quite as much....yeah right!