Christmas Photos

Here are some photos [finally!] of Princess opening her presents Christmas morning [she chose to get dressed before she opened her presents!]:









The next one is Princess applying her "lipsicckk" [which came from Santa in the set which is the photo below it :)]. This is one of her favourite presents - whenever we are going somewhere, she madly dashes about the house collecting her things that go in the bag so she can leave.
The bag has recently needed to upgrade to her "bali bag" [a small handbag Nan brought back form Bali for Princess] because not all of her babies' things will fit in the princess bag!



AS you can probably tell, we decided to stay home tonight. A 1am bedtime for Princess is not good - and we need to get back to getting up earlier in the morning than we have been so Princess can get sorted back into her bedtime routine!

Will probably be back later :]

Funny Saying #6

This afternoon my Mum and 3 younger sisters headed off to the movies. As they were leaving, Princess called out to them, "have fun.... I love you" [awwww]

We did some gardening today - well I dug out the weeds, while Princess just dug up the dirt and made a "sandcastle".




She then got a hold of my camera [Canon PowerShot A410] and proceeded to take photos...




She needs to practice holding the camera steady so everything isn't one great blur - just she did get artistic with the angled shots!

My brother and his family are holding NYE celebrations at their place tonight, and I don't really want to go...
Yesterday SIL and I had a disagreement, and she said some hurtful things [apparently she said it all in a 'jokeful' way, but they hurt]. Usually we get along great but I don't want to see her and have to play nice when I still feel like sh!t about what she said....

Usually Princess has a great bedtime routine and sleeps great in her bed, but since Christmas Eve sleep has been all over the place, and I think it would be better for her to have a good sleep tonight. I wont be drinking tonight, and Princess doesn't understand the concept of New Years, so I don't see why its such a big deal.....

The jury is still out on whether we will go or not...

Goal Number 3

Goal Number 3 may be closer than I first thought...

My two older sisters A and M are looking to move - they want something bigger [they are in a townhouse at the moment], and have asked if I am still interested in moving out with them.

I think it was about the middle of this year that it came up, but then it kind of fell to the way-side.

It wont be a permanent thing, Princess and I will be on our own one day, but this is a big step towards it!

We just have to wait for the real estate to open after New Years and we will be heading over for an inspection of the place.

Princess will have her own room!!!

Today....

Today was a great day!

Yesterday, after finishing the cleaning, I helped Mum wrap her gifts to everyone and then we got ready to go to the evening Mass - a mouse decided to join in the service as well [eek!], which had everyone sitting near us jumping around like loonies and trying so very hard not to laugh!

When we got home, we opened some presents from family members, my youngest sister and another sister and her boyfriend and Princess and I handed out gifts.

There was a secret package addressed to Princess that magically appeared - I have no idea who it was from, but she loved opening it all! [I will have to get photos of all her stuff and post it on here - she was SPOILT!]

After we had a play with the toys Princess left out some milk and cookies for Santa and went off to bed with no fuss at all - it had been a long day and night for my tired girl.

I stayed up and put together with the help of sister A the kitchen set that Santa bought for Princess, it was a huge hit as well, and she absolutely loves it!

I didn't get to bed until after 3am :o and then was woken by the rain and the sun trying with all its might to break through the clouds at 6am!! I dozed for about an hour, but couldn't back into a good sleep so I decided to get up.

breakfast was pancakes and these ham and egg things my sister's make, but that wasn't until around 8.30am so I decided to just chill on the couch watching a Hannah Montana-a-thon :)

I woke Princess at 8.30 and waited for her to fully wake up before we opened her presents. She was very nest while opening her presents, and any wrapping paper that fell on the floor had to be picked up immediately!

We had all the siblings here for lunch, as well as my Aunty and her family. It was busy, but having spent every Christmas with a lot of people, we make it work quite smoothly!

Everyone had an afternoon siesta this year - maybe the weather added to our sleepiness - it was a cloudy day with a cool breeze - unlike most Christmases which are sweltering hot and sticky!

Too tired to try and add the photos - will do it in another post

Christmas Cleaning

Usually when you have a big event here, the cleaning is left until the day before because otherwise it will just need to be re-done, what with so many people here!

So today is the day for cleaning in preparation for tomorrow. Mum, Dad and my two youngest sisters went out shopping, so that leaves me, Princess and my 16yo sister home - guess who did the floors [sweep and mop], the bathroom [sweep and mop], the toilets, the dusting, the general once over of everything......

ME!

I hate cleaning [so much, that my space still needs to be done, but I am avoiding it by blogging :p], but I do enjoy the satisfaction of the cleanliness once its done! I also hate when things get too messy, so its a lose-lose situation!

Some days, I get the cleaning bug, and pull everything out of the cupboards and just go mental cleaning - but at the moment, they are few and far between!

I wish today would just hurry up!! I cannot wait for Princess to open her presents! I think my impatience comes from the fact that I did my shopping earlier than last year, so I haven't had a mad dash to get things and wish I had one extra day :)

I am not very good at keeping my presents 'under wraps' so to speak[!] and this year, people do not know what they are getting from me! I am very proud of this as usually everyone knows what I got them, but I have no clue what I am receiving!

Oh well.... better get back to the cleaning :(

The Dream

My dream from the other night went a little like this:

The next day (after seeing him) I had to take Princess to a park for something, maybe a meet up with her friends...

Princess and I were there with a male who apparently was my friend - on the way over to the park, he proposed to me (I have no idea who he is/was - just some random!), I didn't reply to his proposal because we arrived at the park and I had to get Princess out.

Anyway, while walking through the park who should be bump into again but him. Without a word to either of us, he gets down on one knee and produces this whopping ring and asks me to marry him?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I gave him a strange look and just kept walking. We meet up with Princess's friends, and he catches up to us, and I went off at him! Along the lines of, how dare he show up after over two years and just expect me to drop everything and go running back to him? What about his family that he left us for to go and create?? Did he even stop to think that we don't want to have anything to do with him after everything he did to us?? etc etc etc....

I have no idea what he said, because I woke up.

I suppose my dream was my sub-conscious getting rid of everything that I have wanted to say to him over the last two years.

Sometimes I want to hunt him down so I can yell at him, but I know it will go through one ear and out the other so it will be a waste of time - time better spent with my loved ones, my loving family and of course Miss Princess

She did it!

Probably a little TMI (too much information), but it happened, so I am going to blog it :)

Last night, Princess did a poop on the toilet!!!!! She has been letting me know that she needs to go when its already too late, its already made its way out...

She was so super excited last night, and now that she knows when to go to the toilet, hopefully the accidents become few and far between!!

I can't believe that Christmas is tomorrow! Last Christmas doesn't feel like it was a whole year ago, where is the time going????

Funny Saying #3 - #5

Last night Princess stayed over at her Aunties house - she had a blast as always and was a good girl.

As they were leaving from dropping her home, Princess went running up to them and said "Thank you for my sleeping over" Awwww - doesn't she just melt your heart! She turned 2 last month, and already has some great manners - lets just hope they stay with her!

While the Anties were here, she was showing everyone her acrobatics - she can do a handstand (one foot up in the air), and even progressed to getting both feet off the ground!! She wasn't vertical, but she did get some height!!
We had to get the acro mats out and Princess had turns doing forward rolls - which ended up looking like army rolls because she would drop one shoulder and go over on the side!

She praised herself after she would do it: "That was awesome"!

A couple more funny sayings that she has come up with:
I'll be right back
Back in a second/minute (and she holds up pointer finger to show me how long she'll be!)
And
Good/Great job! High five!!

The last one is entirely my fault - that is praise I have given her during her toilet teaching - I try not to say it a lot, but now its stuck.

I had the weirdest dream last night, but will save it for another post... it was weird!

Christmas Lights

Tonight, Princess and I and 3 of my sisters went out and looked at the Christmas lights. Some were great, and were entered into the local radios competition, and some were simple designs.

The simple ones all recieved an "that's awesome" from Princess, and the huge displays got nothing, unless there was a particular light/display that stood out - these mainly included the inflatable Santas (or any Santa really) and the flashing stars.

I feel more excited about Christmas this year then I have in a while - I suppose because Princess is understanding the concept of it all its more enjoyable...

I have decided on a couple of goals for next year:
1. Have my Ps and a car by June
2. Have lost all my extra weight by end of September for my role as bridesmaid in November for my best friend
3. Have found a suitable rental by Princess's birthday in November.

I just feel like I am stuck in a huge rut sometimes....

Funny Sayings

Princess has a fantastic range of funny sayings, but unless I write it down then and then, it just doesn't stick in my poor ol' brain!

The one that gets used a lot at the moment is "[whispering] its okay, I got you... you're alright.... you're alright" accompained by hugs and pats on the back. She is going through a stage of very rough play, and I get a whack every now and again, or if she is in a cranky mood she comes out swinging - so I pull out the old guilt trip to try and teach her that what she did hurts, hence why I get comforted by my baby mother!

I sat down to write about a hilarious thing she is saying at the moment, but it has slipped my mind! I have terrible memory at the moment, I should take the vitamin that helps you remember - only problem is I can't remember what it is called, and whether or not I take it everyday will be another dilemma - because I wont remember too!!

At the moment, Princess loves watching people in the shower! She takes a book or a toy into the bathroom to keep herself occupied and just sits on her stool - luckily her Aunties are not worried about her being in there, so she gets to watch lots of people :)

I came across a fantastic site: I Can Has Cheez Burger

Gives me a giggle everytime a new picture is up!

Old Ghosts and Funny Sayings #2

I remembered a funny saying of Princess's "your favourite girl" followed by a big hug! That all means that I am her favourite girl :)

Tonight we met up with my best friend to celebrate my birthday and have dinner. Today being the last Thursday before Christmas also meant that the shopping centre was open until midnight - seeing as my friend finished work at 6.00pm, we decided on a restaurant within the shopping centre complex.

It felt like every man and his dog was shopping! There were so many people about, and as we had to gather up a few last minute things before dinner at 6.45pm we were rushing!
Its like as soon as that though makes its way through your brain "I'm going to be late" everyone around you starts to walk/shop/etc at a snail's pace!!

Had a lovely dinner with my friend, and Princess entertained us with her antics as usual.

After dinner we decided to join the thousands of crazy people and do a bit of shopping, had to buy some new underwear for Princess, bought a beautiful Pumpkin Patch dress, cardigan and swimmers for Princess which will be wrapped up and put with the rest of her stash waiting the big day for it all to go in the sack! (which I still haven't taken a photo of - or put her name on!)

While on the hunt for the undwear who should we happen to pass but 'he who shall not be named' (i.e. Princess's biological father - in saying that, she doesn't have another father, but he is not entitled to any endearing names of affection because he has nothing to do with Princess), in the two and a bit years since we spilt, I have only seen him once while out and about! The last time was the day before Mother's Day and the emotions and all that go with it that I thought were gone and buried reared their heads to tell me that I hadn't actually got past some stuff, but tonight when I saw him and his 'new little family' I had no crazy whir of emotions!

I actually felt really sorry for him because he is missing out on something truly special - he will never be her 'favourite boy' or receive the most wonderful hugs and kisses that Princess has.

He did back track and walk past while carry his now one year old boy (gotta love the CSA for keeping you informed) to either a) get a look at Princess, or b) try to 'rub it in' that he has 'everything'. From what my sources tell me, they fight like cats and dogs - in front of said little boy, and he has not changed his ways one bit.
She (the new lady in his life) can keep him for all I am concerned! He was a very wrong choice on my behalf, and the only good thing that came of my relationship with him was Princess.

I should really get some sleep - need all I can get at the moment!

Santa Sack

For the last two Christmas, Princess has been too young to understand the concept of Santa, so I just used an over-sized gift bag for her - as I write this is feels oddly familiar, so sorry if I am repeating myself!

Anyway, yesterday I visited my local Spotlight and bought 2.2 metres of woolen felt, some gold satin and some gold rope and a tassel; and today I transformed it all into a Santa sack!!

I still haven't finished it completely - have to do all the fiddly bits like her name and the decorations - I am making a present and christmas tree out of the gold satin aswell.

I am so impressed that I didn't stuff it up! I am not a creative person by any means, so to not ruin Mum's sewing machine was a huge plus :)

Off to make Princess's dinner and try to finish the sack - or at least take a picture of it :)

Best Birthday Present!!

Monday was my birthday, I recieved fantastic presents from my family! A locket from my Mum and Dad, beautiful pairs of earring from my sisters as well as a pedicure voucher! (heaven!!), driving lessons from my borther and SIL and a ticket to Le Grande Cirque!! from my sister and her boyfriend.

The best present had to be from Princess - she has made a huge jump in her toilet learning!!

Princess woke in the morning with a dry nappy - hadn't done a wee all night, or during the morning ritual of trying to wake her up with tickles.

I bit the bullet and put her in underwear even though we were heading out that day - she is quite fussy when she spills something (drink) on herself and needs to be changed ASAP so I haven't ventured into the land of undies while out!

We went over to a friend's house to celebrate my birthday and so the kids could have a play and Princess did really well - only the tiniest of accidents in her pants, more because she was caught up in playing than anything else. I recieved a beautiful bunch of roses from my friends and some yummy chocolates.

After we left, Princess fell asleep in the car (about 10-15 minutes) and was dry when we got to the shops (where we had another spilt drink incident)

Later that afternoon while we were at home she had an accident, but I figure it was the excitment of playing with her Aunties and tiredness.

We went out that night for my birthday dinner and I popped her in the nappy pants just in case.

Yesterday we also went out with underwear on, and she did great again. A little accident, but stopped and held the rest in until she got to the toilet
AND was dry after two sleeps - one about 15-20 minutes, and one about an hour!! AND in the movies!!!

This morning Princess yells out that she needs to go to the toilet, so off we go at a fast pace down do the bathroom when something falls out the leg of her pj bottoms :yuck:

For as long as I can remember Princess hasn't done a poo while out (unless at her Aunties!), even though she wears (or did wear) nappies while out - I put it down to needed to be in her comfort zone to do it

The last 2 days have been pretty busy - we went out to dinner for my birthday on Monday night, and last night we went shopping and then had dinner while out with my sisters, so another late day which means no time to actually do a poo.

Its great that she knows she needs to do it on the toilet - we just need to work on the timing!!

ETA - she also tries to do it on the toilet.... Sometimes while sitting on the toilet, she will say "ohh need to do poo.....[and then making pushing sounds].... another day"

Christmas Meme

I came across this while reading another blog, but I don't remember whos it was :o

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper and ribbon.
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? 1st of December - hopefully it becomes a great family tradition with Princess and me.
4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's Day
5. Do you like eggnog? Never had it - plan to this year.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Ummm.. I am completely stumped! Wil get back to this
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yeah
8. Hardest person to buy for? SIL and my older brother.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Princess and my younger siblings
10. Worst Christmas? I can't think of a Christmas that has gone wrong.
11. Mail or email Holiday Christmas cards? Mail
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street and Santa Clause
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? End of November. But if I see the perfect gift earlier in the year, I'll grab it and stash it in my closet.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mangos and cherries!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Jingle Bell Rock - Princess is getting good at it.
18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Stay at home.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Yeah, they are listed n one of Princess's Christmas stories (all I read at the moment!)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Both - ones from my older sisters are usually Christmas Eve, and then the rest Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The fact that Christmas now starts in October, and the hordes of Christmas shoppers!
23. What I love most about Christmas? Time with my family

Wrapping Presents

I love wrapping presents, love making it all nice and neat and fancy :)

This year I am going with a gold wrapping paper and red ribbon (proper gift ribbon - not curling ribbon!) and they look mighty fine - even if I do say so myself! That is for the presents for the family - Santa will be wrapping his presents to Princess, but in a more kid-friendly paper (pictures of Santa etc - kind of green)

Today Princess, my sister and I did some more present shopping and my sister found the perfect present for Princess: Princess on the Go Collection

I still have Mum, Dad, sister-in-law, sister & her boyfriend to buy for, and I cannot think of what to get them!!