Our First Christmas Tree!

As mentioned in the previous post, Jake and I have never had a Christmas Tree in our soon-to-be 4 years of marriage. I was determined to have one this year, but my highly active and extremely curious toddler has changed my mind. So, I had to go with Plan B. I have been meaning to decorate our maple tree in our front yard for a few years now. I have had the snowflakes and icicles for awhile. Not to mention, this tree is completely out of Kaitlyn's reach while she is within the walls of our home, but she can see it clearly from her bedroom window.

Yea for Christmas!

This morning was the annual Relief Society Christmas Party. It was a really good time to chat and catch up with the Sisters while making crafts and wrapping gifts. Not to mention, stuffing ourselves full of delicious soups and creme puffs. (I think I ate most of the creme puffs. I couldn't help eating a couple every time I walked past them! They were just sitting there staring me down!) If you weren't there, you totally missed out.

After the R.S. festivities, I went to K-Mart for their last day of "Coupon Doubling." I spent a ridiculous amount of time there trying to figure out what the actual price of items were due to the complete lack of organization at the Tallahassee K-Mart; which is why I never go there unless I know it's worth the hassle of sorting through the chaos. Anyway, this will be the 4th year that Jacob and I have been married and still no Christmas tree. I'm totally disappointed, but I went ahead and splurged on a few boxes of Christmas lights, because we have never had those either. They had a particular line that was 50% off this week.

When I got home, I grabbed Kaitlyn and went to our local Publix. Santa was there in all his fuzzy, red glory. Katie was not too impressed. No matter how many employees were coaxing her to go to him, she just stared at him with indifference. One lady, pictured below, even showed her what to do.

After we grabbed a couple of necessities, we went back home and I strung up the lights. Besides almost being scared to death by the ugliest, largest and most lethal looking of unknown insects I have ever seen, I think it turned out alright. Here is the finished product.

I wish we had more, but this will have to do for now. Tomorrow I'm going to string some snowflakes and icicles out in the maple tree in our front yard. Yesterday, Katie and I hung up our stockings, put out her advent calendar, the snowmen salt and pepper shakers, our nativity from Grand Cayman and that was it. We have a shockingly low amount of Christmas decorations.

Well, I hope everyone is getting in the holiday spirit. The Christmas season is such a beautiful time of year. It's a little easier to keep your thoughts and actions on the right paths. I love it!

Lost Footage

My Mom and sisters found this lost footage of my dad, brothers and Jake at last year's Christmas-get-together. Enjoy!

My Budding Pianist

Happy Holidays!

This is our favorite time of year in the Crosby household! (We're already listening to Christmas music.) Lets be honest, who doesn't love this time of year besides Scrooge? And even he came around in the end.

One thing we have learned so far this holiday season is to be terrified of the annual "Holiday Portrait" of our children. We only have one child... and the possibility of the Riebow-Crosby genes combining to create a duplicate Tasmanian Devil holds strong in my mind.

But as I mentioned before, we have learned that Kaitlyn will be taking a sabbatical from solo portrait sessions. She is incapable of sitting still for even 2 seconds! Thereby making the entire "Portrait Sitting" session a test of patience for both parent and photographer. A parental unit will have to be in the picture from now on to keep a nice, firm grip on the Katie Belle. The fact that there ended up being any shots of her in focus and not just as a red blur was a miracle. I was pleasantly surprised while Jake was completely dissatisfied.

The one on the top is a classic Kaitlyn kiss/hug with her doggies but is rarely caught on camera.

I thought that the setup for the two on the bottom was a little cheesy, but she thought the entire situation was fascinating and hilarious. In fact, she was the one who started dunking the fake cookies in the fake milk glass! Where did she pick that up?! My previous nights as a Riebow were filled with Chips Ahoys dunked in milk, but as a married lady I rarely indulge in packaged cookies. Kaitlyn's "Riebow Instincts" must have kicked in.

I think they're cute, Jacob just shrugs his shoulders in indifference. Oh well, we'll try again next year.

You know it is cold....

when your toddler comes toddling out of her room like this!

"Where are my toes?! I want my toes!"

Jake and I decided to get Kaitlyn some footed sleepers because the temperatures are dropping in Tally. Not to mention, she refuses to wear socks and always kicks her covers off. This was her response to our decision:

But she just looks so cute!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The Crosby Clan drove down to Tampa this past weekend
to go to the Temple and visit the grandparents.
On Saturday, we went to Grammie and Poppa Crosby's
and found this! Kaitlyn had a blast!

The other thing Kaitlyn became obsessed with was the recycling.
She passed some around to everyone. She's a good sharer.

Great Growth

I bought this dress for Kaitlyn's "One-year" pics.
It came down to her ankles.
Four months later, it's at her knees.

Black Friday

slickdeals.net started their Black Friday forum a little while ago.
Here is a link to check out the deals.
Happy planning... and shopping!

Grouch Bath Time

Many hours of preparation, reading, wiring and money have been spent trying to obtain a copy of Sesame Street Episode 3811: Grouch Bath Time. We don't know why, but this is the only show (and only episode of that show) that Kaitlyn will watch. As of midnight November 6th, it was no longer going to be available on ON DEMAND; and there is no copy of this episode for sale anywhere!

After debating the rental of a DVD Recorder or the purchase of one, Grammie, Katie and I took a trip to Thomasville to buy one from a guy off of craigslist. Then, 5 hours of my day on Nov. 6th was dedicated to wiring, re-wiring, going to Wal-Mart for new DVD-RWs, reading the downloaded instruction manual, and attempting to record the hour long show 3 times. (I couldn't get the sound to record to save my life.) Then, Jake came home and had it working within an hour.

So, we have successfully recorded the only thing that gives me an hour of peace each day. In fact, we made 2 copies so that we could stash one in our fire proof box.

The Museum of Florida History

Today Kaitlyn and I went to meet some other ladies and kiddies at the Museum of Florida History. Even though I have lived in Tallahassee for 3 1/2 years, I haven't really participated in any culturally or historically driven activities. I love to get out and do things, but I'm also happy being a big, fat hermit. But I have to say, it was fun (and free) going to see the Annual Quilt Show at the museum. I would highly recommend it and a visit to Grandma's Attic.

We Came, We Saw, We Froze

Wednesday, October 15th: And so, it begins-

At 5:30am we set out for our journey to Albany, New York! Why Albany you ask? Because that is where Gwen is! Gwen is our little niece/cousin that was born on March 21st, 2008 that we had yet to meet in person. Gwen lives with her Mommy & Daddy, Jared and Ashley Crosby (Jared is Jake's younger brother).

After one layover and two sleeper holds for a squirming toddler, we landed in Albany around 2pm. We picked up our rental car and we were off to see New York in the fall!
The weather was beautiful when we landed!

If you ever get the chance,
you should definitely see New England in the fall.

There are plenty of Bed and Breakfasts to choose from if you don't have any family in the area to mooch off of. This picture doesn't do the scenery justice.

Thursday, October 16th: A Historic Gathering-

This morning Gwen and Kaitlyn had their first playtime together. Gwen was very well behaved. Her cousin, on the other hand, wanted everything Gwen had and would promptly take it away from her. Gwen would sit quietly and contently when such a crime occurred. Despite the thievery, the two cousins did love sharing kisses with one another.

She is such a pleasant and happy little baby!

That afternoon, we set off with Aunt Ashley and Gwen to visit the New York State Museum. Our real intention was to ride the Carousel they have on their 3rd floor, but a little history on the side couldn't hurt us right? Wrong. Kaitlyn had her first public tantrum. Yea! She threw herself on the floor and began rolling and rolling! I was very grateful that we were there on a weekday and that there were very few people in the museum.

We also got to play on one of the original subway cars. Kaitlyn's favorite feature was the stairs. Up and down she climes, over and over again.

We also got to learn a little about Sesame Street! Kaitlyn's favorite show. This was one of her few happy moments at the museum.

We then ventured up to the 3rd floor to ride the Carousel, only to learn that the operator had gone on break and would not be back for an hour. So, we cancelled that plan and headed back home.

In the car we saw Gwen going to town chewing on her favorite toy....
an empty, plastic Ricotta Cheese cup. Mmmmm, mmmmm.

Friday, October 17th: Time for an Adventure-

We ventured out into the backyard today. Jared and Ashley have a beautiful backyard and Kaitlyn thoroughly enjoyed it. She loved picking up the leaves and handing them to Aunt Ashley.

Aunt Ashley tried raking some up for Kaitlyn, but she didn't pay much attention. Later, Kaitlyn took notice of the rake and liked dragging it around.

She also liked swinging on the swing on her belly and spinning it around.

Later that afternoon, once the babies were energized and fed, we headed out to Bowman Orchards. It was a really great trip because Katie finally got to see real, live animals instead of just reading about them!
She LOVED the horses!

Then we went and took a look at the goats and the sheep. We paid a quarter for some cracked corn and they licked it out of our hands. They would keep licking even if your hand was empty. I was distracted taking pictures and didn't even notice that one of the goats had Kaitlyn's entire hand and wrist in its mouth! Luckily, Kaitlyn didn't mind and the goat didn't bite.

We also took a walk through their pumpkin patch and took advantage of their plywood cutouts for some picture ops.

Saturday, October 18th: Saratoga Springs, Here We Come-

Saturday afternoon we headed out to Saratoga Springs. It's a quick drive from Jared and Ashley's home. It is a really beautiful community with a lot of history. It is also home to the National Museum of Horse Racing and the National Museum of Dance. There was a really beautiful park in the center of town where we finally got our carousel ride!

We then ate lunch at a cute bakery with delicious sandwiches and even better desserts! Then, we walked down Main Street and window shopped at some cute, overpriced stores. The weather was just a little chilly and windy, but very pleasant when you kept moving.

Sunday, October 19th: Hello, Jack Frost-

We woke up to 33 degrees this morning. Each morning has been frosty, but this one especially chilly. Maybe it's because I haven't been wearing socks. I love the scenery here in the fall, but I have a feeling Winter would have me begging for the humidity of Florida.

After church, Kaitlyn and Gwen started another round of "Kissin' Cousins." Gwen picked up on this habit fairly quickly.

Kaitlyn has also shown signs of regression while we've been here. She LOVES playing in Gwen's stand-alone toy. It is her favorite thing! I think that is mainly due to the fact that it makes barn animal sounds.

Monday, October 20th: On the Road Again-

We hit the road at 4:30am this morning to make sure we made it to the airport and on our 6am flight. Needless to say, we were sleepy and sad to leave our family! Bye-bye New York Crosbys!