merry christmas to you & yours

simply put by bella, why we celebrate christmas -

" baby jesus' birthday"

Christmas countdown. . .

conversations with bella 4 days before Christmas . . .

'BIG' tree, with lights on it - while pointing up to the sky

santa. . . good boys good girls. . . presents

santa's watching. . .

shhhhh, gingerbread man sleeping - while pointing to the gingerbread house

jingle bell rock. . . jingle bell rock. . . jingle bell rock

she may have no concept of time, but she knows what's coming her way & i couldn't be more excited for her!

new dr.

this morning was isabella's 24 month well visit. . . we just switched dr.'s with the help of a referral from a good friend - 'thanks jenn'. since about 9 months old, isabella has absolutely despised going to the doctor - huge crocodile tears & all. i've been hyping the visit up for the past couple days & she seemed very excited to go & knew what she was in for. she was totally fine up until they called us back & the tears start. . . kicking & screaming while, 2, yes, 2 nurses (plus me) tried to weigh her and measure her. once we saw the dr. ( who was very nice & good with her) she opened up & by the end of the visit she was chattin' everyone up, waving, saying 'bye-bye' & blowing kisses to all the nurses in the office - you would have thought she was running for public office - it was way too funny! all in all, the dr. & nurses were really, really great & wonderful with her. we do have to go back for the next half of her H1N1 shot in four weeks. . . i dread sharing that news with her.

typical busy day. . .

a little christmas shopping, birthday shopping, grocery shopping, vacuumed the upstairs, 2 loads of laundry, changed bella's crib sheet & made lunch... all before 1pm with a tiny 2 yr old in tow.   now with a sleeping toddler, enjoying a peppermint mocha, a little christmas music & a book. . .    then off again to a birthday party - enjoy your sunday!!  

it's been just us girls this weekend while daddy's away.  we've been super busy christmas shopping & making snowmen.  we've been learning all about santa & reading 'twas the night before christmas' every night.  i'll have to post our snowman project next time.  these pictures are from last sunday when the weather was beautiful - not the current mid 30's we're feeling today.  isabella's so excited to make her gingerbread house tomorrow - stay tuned. . . 

 

 

tomorrow our angel turns '2'. . . 

still too hard to believe how quickly the time passes.

happy 2nd birthday pumpkin pie!!  

we celebrated saturday night with family & a couple friends.

 

bella playing with her new little people princess castle.

birthday dinner with her cousins. . .

 

the cake was a big hit this year, but thankfully she only wanted a few bites... 

 

she's super excited for her birthday celebration tomorrow.  she's been getting a present everyday since tuesday & she's starting to think it's the new norm.  today we decorated for christmas & she 'ooh'd & ahh'd' the whole time.  oh to be little again. . .

happy turkey day!

a breath of fresh air. . .  today i spent the first half of my day with my adorable daughter, then while she napped, miss kelley came over while i spent a few hours shopping by 'myself' & pampered myself with a pedicure.  all of which are extremely rare occurrences these days.  

even though i've already updated my blog with a 'christmas' theme, i can assure you i haven't lost sight of just how thankful i am. . .

i am thankful for:

• my daughter
• my life
  
• my health
• my husband
• my family
• pedicures
• a hot cup of coffee
• forgiveness
• having a job
• optimism
• cozy pajamas
• my daughter's kisses
• a good haircut
• my friends
• a warm home
• being a mom
• laughter
• tears - happy & sad ones
• nieces & nephews
• personal growth
• a hot bath
• mistakes that i have learned from
  
• good news
• memories
• love
• being a wife
• my video baby monitor
• sisters
• a glass of wine
• candles
• time
• gratitude
• our soldiers

what are you thankful for???

believe it or not christmas is right around the corner - how did that happen??

we've been telling isabella all about christmas lately & she's really excited to get a tree.  

since she's such a 'good girl' she deserves her own tree.  while out shopping today, we picked up a little tree, mini lights, pink balls, pink ballerina shoe ornaments, pink star & the cutest little pink tree skirt.  we decorated it tonight & it's now sitting on her bookshelf in her room.  christmas is going to be so much fun this year!  

 

 

 

 

 

i tell her everyday, umpteen times a day, just how much she's loved.
the cool thing is, she now tells me too. . .

we have very exciting news in the nitto household. . .  isabella went 'pee pee' on the potty!! 

we haven't officially started potty training, but i asked her the other night before getting in the bath if she wanted to sit on the potty.  she said 'yeah' & immediately went!!  we were soooo excited for her & she was thrilled with herself!  daddy gave her money to put in her piggy bank & she grinned ear to ear.  we have some exciting changes coming in the next fews months. . .  

here's a couple pics from earlier this week. . .  

daddy & bella doing 'fun' stuff while mommy wasn't home.

 

we had so much fun playing in the leaves on friday & since the weather couldn't 
have been more perfect, we spent this morning doing it again. . .   
& we had the camera this time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what a FABULOUS fall day!
isabella & i made piles of leaves & jumped in them for the first time . . .
it's so fun to watch how excited she gets tossing leaves in the air & watching them fall. no photos of our FUN, but pics from last week will have to do. . .

'friends'

friends tell 'good' jokes. . .

typical bella