we had a great christmas even though lizzy has been sick off and on all throughout december. this is a first for us since she's usually super healthy!
it's been hectic and a little crazy with everything: recital and lizzy being sick, and shopping and everything in between.
i haven't been sleeping very well… i could go for a nap right about now!!
so lizzy- she started throwing up on 23 dec- a festivus treat for me! and that was a few days if pukey good fun. NOT.
i don't like throwing up- but lizzy is like her daddy, it doesn't phase her.
and you know when a kid is sick when she declines on any snacks or treats bacause she isn't feeling well.
as of today she seems to have her appetite back. but i'm still keeping an eye (more like two) on her – just to make sure she's all better.
last night she stayed in bed- and didn't do the middle of the night throw-up session.
christmas morning was nice. we all woke up and openend presents. josh and i don't exchange anything on christmas- so thanks to mom we had a few goodies under the tree to open too! and even the pugs got a few treats from nana and santa.
speaking of santa he did a pretty good job this year- and with the help of his elves (or is it elfs- ie family) lizzy got all sorts of stuff: a barbie glam house, the glam pool (thanks to aunt KT) a bunch of the littlest pet shop toys, lots of art stuff, books (even one that reads to her- which is great because she listens to it in the morning- thanks aunt W) and dress up stuff- she loves all the disney princess outfits- i think we might have them all except aurora (that one had to be retired it was her first one- and she wore it all the time) christmas ca$h that and a train set for her and daddy to play with.
now we're lookng into a loft bed i think for her b'day- so she will have more room to play in her room. all those toys are taking up some space 😉 i found one i really like- and might see if we can get a custom bed made- it may actually be less expensive than buying from a store. and i found a guy that makes custom beds in the area. so after the new year i'll be getting an estimate on that!!
in the midsts of all this we are getting ready for new years eve now! it's going to be a quiet night here. just us having dinner and then staying up to watching the ball drop at midnight. i need to head out tomorrow morning and get our lobster tails and steak and black eyed peas and stuff. it's our new years feast every year so it seems.
the weather has cooled down- christmas day was a little warm but now we're feeling a nice chill in the air! lizzy and the pugs are all cuddled up on the floor together sharing their blankets that santa brought, and it seems that they are taking over her spot. it's a pug pack pile up!
of course new years weekend is when i take down the christmas stuff… lizzy is already asking when the next holiday is and what are we going to decorate with… she's so funny. flipping through the decorating magazines to give me some ideas what we should do.
but first we need to straighten up the house and get all the christmas stuff back into storage!
well i think this has been a chronologically challenged post. all out of order and jumping around- see i really could use a nap!!
it's been a while since we've had really great sushi.
our neighborhood doesn't have any sushi places.
we could head to ybor, but this new place is so much better!
we found a great little sushi place- funny enough right near where we used to live in T&C – of course.
we had some amazingly great sushi for dinner and got to fill our bellies with yummy raw goodness. we were stuffed!! the best thing is this place is on the way home from dance class- so monday may no longer be a pizza night; i may have to petition for it to become sushi night! i know lizzy is on board!!
speaking of dance. lizzy had rehearsal and the lineup changed. i'm a little bummed about it because now she isn't able to finish her acro act because her combo piece is right after and of course we have a costume change! oh well, what are ya gonna do… just have to go with the flow.
and to make matters even more bittersweet, miss O is leaving for cali in a week- so we're getting a new combo teacher. the time has already changed to be an hour later than the original schedule, and that puts us going across town in rush hour traffic and having a later than usual dinner… not sure what we're going to do yet.
hopefully we'll know more once the recital is done and a new teacher is assigned after the holiday!
lizzy has only a few items on her wish list for santa.
she has been writing it out all week.
on the verbal request was a new kitchen, a puppy (which is to be born sometime around christmas – waiting to hear what happens, so if that happens we'll get her around v-day) and a princess jasmine outfit.
now the princess jasmine outfit is only sold at the WDW store around halloween, and whatever that have through the holiday, but it's not re-stocked throug out the year.
so i head to the store and that's when i'm educated on the availibility of this particular item. i ask if it's something that is stocked at downtown disney, or on property, but the sales CM had no idea.
so i got the aerial outfit- her second choice.
i got home and hopped on ebay and all the outfits were going for 50-70$ – the retail on this outfit at the store is usually 49-ish (30 when on sale- which was what i paid for the aerial little mermaid dress) so i decided to give up.
so yeah- ebay totally came through. NOW we have everything done for christmas. we might head out and grab a few small extras for her stocking, but really now everything is done!
so i asked lizzy what was the best thing about christmas and she of course said opening the presents. i explained to her that presents are fun to open, but that christmas is also about spending time as a family, and that not everyone is as lucky as us, since i get to spend every day with her while daddy goes to work.
15 days to go- and i can't wait to see her face on christmas morning.
yeah because she's going to get some of the things on her list and she's going to be so excited, but because she is looking forward to having a whole day of mommy and daddy together home to play and watch movies as a family ALL DAY LONG.
what wouldn't be good with a daiquiri?
to be honest ina is my favorite female host (miss paula deen is a very close second— and if we're talking about the men, i like guy fieri and michael chiarello just in case you were wondering.) so yeah there's something about ina's cooking and demeanor that resounds with me. apparently table scapes drive her crazy and she likes to keep things simple, along with a nice cocktail in hand. and i've actually used a few of her recipies and have been really happy with them. she's classic, kinda like a juila childs of today's more modern kitchen. but that's just my opinion.
so today she's doing a roasted shrimp and orzo… lizzy has requested to have this for dinner along with the coconut cake, and roasted egg plant dip. sounds like i'll have a sous chef for this meal.
speaking of lizzy, she's still sick. we're missing the dress rehearsal tomorrow. we have a lot of getting better to do and a lot of practicing our 2 dances over the next week so we can hopefully be prepared for the recital. since she's missed 2 weeks of classes with being sick, and missing tomorrow's rehearsal, i'm just hoping she's ok for the actual recital. so far the meds haven't seemed to help her illness out. so we're laying low as much as possible.
right now she's cuddled up on a blanket on the floor in the living room, flanked by the pug pack, they're keeping her warm and toasty and company. thumper has his head on her shoulder and sebastian's head is on her arm. bambi's on the other side by her leg.
they're all snooring at different intervals- it's music to my ears.
after many years of insisting that we have a "real tree" for christmas, this year i took a different approach.
we are now the proud owners of a wallyworld special.
we also got the mantel done. we have all our christmas houses up. EP was so cute, telling me where to put all the people and trees.
sitting and looking at everything- with the tree lit up- feels real cozy here at the house!!
i guess you could say it's beginning to look a lot like chiristmas!!
in other news, lizzy isn't feeling well. she has a sore throat and had a little fever this afternoon. i'm hoping she's ok this weekend, she has a party to go to!
another thing i am thankful for is my neighbor rodney.
he's my go to person when we need a small fix/ repair or the guy that knows a guy to do the repair. today he came over to measure the cage that goes atop the chimney so that the critters are less inquisitive in invading the house!
hopefully tomorrow the piece will be made and then we can work on getting a flue. you'd think after 6+ years in this old house we would have somehow had a flue put in but no, we haven't. rodney is always so busy, so it was great that he came down to measure everything for us!
so yeah- the fireplace has a large frame in front of it to keep the cold in when it's hot and the heat in when it's cold… and today was the day i cleaned out the entire fireplace and got all the ash and soot and stuff out the little trap door. of course that meant that i was on a full tirade and decided that everything might as well get done. so the sofas and dvd shelves and tv armoire were all pulled out and the floorboards and floors we done.
i'm working backwards on this one.
then i went and cleaned the windows on the inside, the pulled up the rug and swept everything that didn't get caught by the vaccuum… and if i'm feeling super frisky tomorrow i'll tackle the ceiling fan.
yep totally backwards. i usually go top to bottom on a room. the fan is usally my first point to tackle, but not today!!
yeah we're living dangerously here — breaking all the rules. haa haa haa!