Christmas With Nai Nai And Aunt Sheila

I'm two for two with my in-laws.

The last two years we've cancelled Christmas breakfast on Christmas Eve. Of course, that's because for the last two years I've been sick for Christmas.

Last year I had food poisoning. This year I have a sinus infection and bi-lateral ear infections. I spent Christmas Eve at Mary Beth's with balled up napkins in my ears because I was SO sensitive to noise. Yes, you're right. I'm whining. I'll stop now.

There is an up side. This year and last year we spent all of Christmas Day in our pj's. It really was kind of nice.

Anyway, instead of having Christmas with Nai Nai and Aunt Sheila on Christmas Day we celebrated Christmas a day late.

Nai Nai and Aunt Sheila came laden with gifts! Our little ballerina received a cement mixer and a construction crane (amongst many other things)...and was absolutely over the moon!

Suzy and Sheila are always incredibly generous. Not only with Lily...but with me and Tony, too.

Princess The Bear And The Great Christmas Swap

I just have to share what will definitely be my sweetest memory from this Christmas...or maybe from any Christmas...ever!

Here's a little background info...

A few weeks ago Tony, Lily, and I attended Lunch With Santa. For Lily the best part of that outing was shopping in the Secret Santa Shop. During Lily's secret shopping excursion she bought a gift for me.

It was VERY difficult for Lily to not tell me what was in the green bag. I put the bag away in a closet thinking...out of sight...out of mind. Not so. When we put up our Christmas Tree the first thing Lily asked me was where the present was that she had bought for me. I brought it out of the closet and she proudly placed it under the tree.

Christmas morning when Lily walked down the steps and saw the presents that "Santa" left for her under the tree she walked right past them and picked up the little green bag and brought it to me.

How sweet is that? Lily absolutely wanted me to open my present before she opened hers. I tell you, our girl truly is beautiful inside and out. I opened my gift with tears in my eyes.

Who knew that a dark purple Beanie Baby named Princess would be my favorite Christmas present ever?



Okay, enough about me. Now, let's talk about Lily's Christmas. She had a great day.

When I asked Lily what she wanted for Christmas she had no idea. She doesn't quite get that concept...yet. Trust me, I know it's coming. Anyway, I asked her if there were any toys that her friends had that she might like to have. She stopped to think and then said, "Um, what toys of mine do I have to give to my friends?" I think Lily thought it would be the "Great Christmas Swap". Probably not a bad idea!

Around Thanksgiving Lily said to me, "Mommy, does Santa know I need a bigger guitar?" Ah ha...finally, a Christmas idea! A guitar and a few other things and we had the makings of a great Christmas.

We really do not go overboard for Christmas. We try to keep focused on the "reason for the season". After all, if three gifts were enough for Jesus...that should be more than enough for our family!

Christmas Eve

This year Lily was just a LITTLE bit excited about Christmas Eve at Mary Beth's. She was literally spinning like a top. Here's a little proof:



Who can blame her? Christmas Eve at Mary Beth and Ed's is one of my favorite nights of the year. They are wonderful hosts and the night is always perfect.

Mary Beth is our family's Martha Stewart (without the condescending attitude and jail time). Seriously, the company...the food...the decorations...are always just perfect. This year was no exception.

Mommy's Little Helper

Again this year I had a little assistant help me wrap gifts.

Let me tell you...our Lily absolutely LOVES scotch tape! And who knew that picking out the "right bow" could take sooooo long??? Let's just say that wrapping presents took a little bit longer than I anticipated...but...boy was it a lot of fun!

This year Lily wrote her own name on all the gift tags! She got the biggest kick out of doing that. Can someone please tell me when Lily got so BIG??

A Little Christmas Cutie

I hope your Christmas was as happy as ours! I'll post more about all the fun we had when I have a little more energy. For now, I'll leave you with this cute little tidbit:

From Our Family To Yours...

...wishing you all the beauty, all the magic, all the blessings of Christmas!!

Snow Much Fun!

We had such a great time enjoying our little winter wonderland this weekend. Sledding, shovelling, baking, making and eating snow ice cream, more fun in the snow, more shovelling, more baking, more fun!

Okay, so maybe Tony didn't really enjoy all the shovelling...but other than that it really was a picture perfect weekend!

Prima Ballerina - Nanook Of The North Style

After yesterday's post, I just had to post this!

Prima Ballerina

Today was "Parent Observation Day" in Lily's Ballet and Books class.

It was *not* a recital. It was simply a day for parents to come in and observe an actual class.

Jen, Lily's wonderful ballet teacher, normally asks the parents to try and keep a low profile during regular classes. She finds (and it's true) that the kids pay attention better when Mommy or Daddy aren't in their sight line.

Since today is the last class before Winter Break, Jen invited all the parents to attend class and see what their children are learning.

As you may have figured out by now, in our family we travel in packs. So "Parent Observation Day" became parents, grandparents, and aunts observation day! Daddy, Dad Dad, Nai Nai, Aunt Sheila, and Aunt BaBa were able to come today and join in on the fun!

Lily definitely had the largest cheering section. I absolutely LOVED that...and so did Lily! (By the way, I did check with Jen first to see if it was okay to bring additional people. Without hesitation she said, "Absolutely! That's what "Parent Observation Day" is for.")

Lily absolutely LOVES this class. She loves the teacher, Miss Jen, and the assistant, Miss Mary Beth.

It cracks me up to hear the kids call the assistant "Miss Mary Beth". I can almost guarantee you that Miss Mary Beth isn't old enough to drive a car. Boy, have I turned into an old codger...or what?

Mary Beth's age isn't important. What is important is that Lily is absolutely star-struck with her! Thank goodness the feelings are mutual!!

Here are a few video clips from today.

I know there's a bunch...but they're all pretty short. I promise even though Lily's proud daddy videotaped the entire class...I didn't post the entire class on the blog! Honest! Listen for Tony laughing as he's watching Lily dance. Gotta love it!

This first clip is from the beginning of class. After the children finish their stretching it's time for the bean bag dance:



This next clip shows a dance move that Lily does all the time at home.

Plie Sauter:



Oh, wait until you see this one. Entirely too cute.

Releve:



The age range in Lily's class is from 3 years old to 6 years old. Check out the little peanut in the black. Can you believe she's 3?!?

Sissonne:



Check out Lily trying to staighten up the circles while "waltzing" during The Princess Dance. She just can't help herself. Boy, if she isn't her mother's daughter!



I know this is kind of off topic, but I'm so happy that there are other Asian children in Lily's dance class. As much as we may try, right now our life just does not have a lot of racial/ethnic diversity.

More from the Princess Dance:



I can't begin to tell you how much we all enjoyed Parent Observation Day! After today's little preview, I can hardly wait for Lily's actual recital in April!

The Hooker

This weekend Tony, Lily, and I decorated our Christmas tree.

Yes, you're right. We did chop the tree down last weekend. So, we had a naked tree in our house for a week. Is that a problem??? We don't like to rush into things around here!

Anyway, as we were decorating the tree I sat down and started putting hooks on a box of ornaments. Lily looked at me and said, "Mommy, you're really good at being the hooker. Have you practiced a lot?"

Being the mature creatures that we are, Tony and I literally laughed until we cried! Obviously, Lily had no idea why we were laughing, but that didn't stop her from joining in on the fun. The three of us laughed hysterically for about the next hour.

When all was said and done I had the hiccups, my ribs hurt, and the tree was decorated! Can't ask for more than that.

So Much To Learn

The other day Lily and I spent the entire afternoon and part of the early evening out running errands. As we drove down the interstate on-ramp to head home there was nothing before us but a sea of red brake lights.

To put it mildly, that was not what I wanted to see. All I could think about was was getting home, unpacking the car, getting dinner on the table, and putting Lily to bed. Sitting in bumper to bumper traffic certainly did not fit into my plans!

All of that changed when I heard a sweet little voice from the backseat say, "Wow! Mommy, look at all those red lights. Aren't they beautiful?!?"

You know what? Lily was right. It really was kind of beautiful. As I sat there trying to see the lights as Lily saw them I was reminded...Lily has taught me so much more than I can ever hope to teach her.

Enjoying an unexpected snowstorm...in the mall!

Our Little Lumberjack

Today was our annual Christmas Tree hunting expedition.


It is so hard for me to believe that this is the third time we've searched for the perfect tree as a family of 3!


To see how much our little lumberjack has grown click here and here to read about our first two Christmas Tree hunts.

Tony really got off "easy" today. Lily was so excited to help Daddy with all parts of Christmas Tree hunting. And, as we all know, everything is easier with the help of a 3 year old!


The last two years we've stopped at a Mexican restaurant for lunch after finding the perfect tree. This year when I mentioned going to the restaurant Lily said, "I don't want to go to the same place again and again. Can we go to Panera instead?"

I laughed so hard. Of course, I'm sure that's only funny if you know that Lily would eat all 3 meals every day at Panera if she could.

Snow And Santa And Snow And Santa

Yesterday was quite a fun and busy day! I can sum it up best like this: It started to snow...then we had lunch with Santa...it snowed some more...then we had dinner with Santa.

Several weeks ago I made arrangements for the 3 of us to go to "Lunch with Santa". I know that Lily is not a huge fan of Santa, but I still thought she might enjoy the lunch. Luckily, I was right. Lily had a great time...but had absolutely no interest in sitting on Santa's lap!

What Lily was interested in (that surprised Tony and me) was doing a little shopping in Santa's Secret Shop. The shop was for children only and no parents were allowed.

There were little elves at Santa's Secret Shop to help the children. Lily happily went with her elf to do a little holiday shopping for Mommy and Daddy. I think what sealed the deal for Lily was that the elves were older children and teenagers from a youth ballet troupe all dressed in their costumes from The Nutcracker. Lily LOVED that!

Before we left for lunch it started to snow a little. Lily was so, SO excited!! Lily said several times, "You know Mommy, winter hasn't even really started yet and it's already snowing." Who knew she was the Season Police?


When we left lunch Lily was ecstatic to see that it was still snowing. As we walked out the door the first thing Lily did was walk right over and pick up a hand full of snow and eat it! I guess she didn't get enough for lunch!!


The entire way home all Lily talked about was playing in the snow. As soon as we walked in the door she literally started getting undressed so she could put her snowsuit on. Lily just could not wait to go outside and frolic in the snow. Oh, and have Daddy pull her around in the sled!


While Tony and Lily were outside freezing I was inside nice and warm. No, I wasn't reading a book or taking a nap! I was making appetizers to take to the McDonnell Family Christmas Party. I'm not sure what it is about this party but it seems that "McDonnell Family Christmas Party" is synonymous with "bad weather". Seriously. Maybe my grandmother and her sisters were really from Iceland and not Ireland!! Anyway, you can almost guarantee whenever the party is scheduled the weather is going to be nasty. I think we might need to start having our family Christmas party in July!

Since it was so cold and icy I opted not to put Lily in one of her Christmas dresses. Instead, she went in jeans and a holiday vest. Lily was very disappointed to not get "all fancied up", but it was just too cold and slippery out to be fancy!

It's strange. When Santa appears at this party Tony always disappears. Go figure! This year for the very first time Lily willingly got within 10 feet of Santa. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures and I am SOOOOO disappointed!

I think something is wrong with my camera. A few weeks ago when we were at the Irish Festival all the pictures I took indoors turned out blurry. I assumed I must of had the camera on the wrong setting. However, the same thing happened yesterday and I definitely had the camera set on "Party/Indoor".

To clarify, Lily didn't actually sit on Santa's (Daddy's) lap. She did get close enough to talk to Santa/Daddy and more importantly for her...to get a candy cane! It was priceless!!


Lily had absolutely no idea that Daddy was Santa. None. In fact, later Lily said to Tony, "Daddy, I'm so sorry you missed Santa. Here, let me show you what he did. Come on. Sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas." I really wished I had videotaped the entire experience. It was so incredibly sweet.

To see posts about Lily's first two McDonnell family Christmas parties click here and here.

Little Pink Snowsuits

Then...



and now...

The Longest 3 Hours Of My Life

Well, I think it's safe to say I won't be winning Mother of the Year after my performance yesterday afternoon.

99.9998% of the time Lily is an absolute joy to be around. Yesterday afternoon was the .0002% exception...in SPADES!

Here's a little background that lead up to the melt down of the century...

Tuesday afternoon when I took Lily to preschool she looked and felt fine. When I picked her up two hours later her right eye was a green, goopy mess. We're talking serious yuck!

As soon as I got her in the car I called the pediatrician and they were able to see us right away. Just as I suspected Lily had pinkeye. We left the doctor's office and went straight to the pharamacy for prescription eye drops.

I gave Lily two doses of eyedrops Tuesday and one dose Wednesday morning without incident. All of that changed when I attempted to give Lily her second dose of eyedrops Wednesday afternoon. Then...well then...to put it mildly...all hell broke loose. Seriously.

This might come as a surprise to you, but I tend to exaggerate. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you how AWFUL it was trying to administer the next dose. Our normally mild mannered, sweet, reasonable Lily turned into a sreaming banshee with her eyes squinched tight.

I reasoned, begged, pleaded, bribed, yelled, punished, reasoned some more, pleaded some more, and tried some wrestling moves that would have made Hulk Hogan proud all to no avail. It was absolute insanity. Lily was absolutely hysterical and I wasn't far behind!

After literally a 3 hour steel cage match Lily relented and let me put the drops in without batting an eye. Um...no pun intended.

After all was said and done Lily appeared to be no worse for wear. Me, on the other hand, I was completely exhausted...both physically and emotionally.

The good news is that Lily took all 3 doses today effortlessly. Thank God!

On a happier note, here are some cute pictures of our little grocery shopper. Do you think she likes the little carts and hand held scanners much??

Christmas In Bawlmer, Hon!

We had a fun weekend spent getting into the holiday spirit!

Saturday night we welcomed Santa (riding in the back of a fire truck) to our little town. It was pretty cold...and REALLY crowded...and we could only see the big guy from a distance. You know what? That was perfect. Really. It's just the way Lily likes fire trucks...and Santa...from a distance!



Sunday was such a mild day that we decided to go to Hampden and see the lights. We go to Hampden every year and it always seems to be the most bitter cold night. Not this year! It was lovely out and we could actually take the time to really appreciate how over the top and gaudy the decorations truly are!! I mean, where other than Baltimore would a crab sleigh being pulled by eight tiny crabs, the Natty Boh guy, and a Natty Boh beer can angel be considered Christmas decorations?



Lily is so excited about all things Christmas. This holiday is going to be so much fun!

So Thankful

I am truly humbled by all the blessings in my life. For my husband, our daugther, our families and friends, my home, my health, and too many other things to list...I give thanks.

I Know I'm Partial...

...but this child positively takes my breath away!


We had such a nice weekend...playing at the park with friends, raking leaves, and just spending some quality family time together.

Friday Ballet Day

Fridays are quickly becoming Lily's favorite day of the week for one simple reason...BALLET!

Lily loves, Loves, LOVES her Ballet and Books class. It's really very cute to see how excited Lily gets about going to class. She's absolutely having a ball!

During the week Lily shows no interest in wearing her leotard, tights, or ballet slippers. But...when Friday rolls around...all of that changes! Lily's eyes are barely open before she asks to put on her ballet outfit and it doesn't come off until she's ready for bed. In fact, I'm sure she would sleep in them if her parents weren't such party poopers!

Here's a cute shot of our little Prima Ballerina from today.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling...

...it's because they saw our precious Chirish girl enjoying the musicians and step dancers at the Irish Festival today!

Unfortunately, most of the pictures I took of Lily inside the festival today did not turn out. It's funny how that happens when you don't have your camera set to the right setting! The good news is...I was able to get a picture of Lily and her Irish Dad Dad.


Here are a few cute shots that I took outside this morning before we headed to the festival.




Can you guess whose preschool teacher likes to stand with their arms crossed and to sort of flick their hair over their shoulder???

Oh, and one more thing. I know I just did a Lily-isms post yesterday, but I just have to share. On the way home from the Irish Festival Lily asked me if she had to get married when she's a big girl. When I told her that was entirely up to her she told me she would never get married because she always wanted to live with me. My Irish eyes were smiling...and a little teary!

Help With The Vacuuming

I know, I know. I always say when I do a cute Lily-isms post that it will be my last. Obviously, I lie.

So, this time I'm not even going to bother saying I won't do another...because we all know I will! Instead...what I will say is...here is the latest installment of comments that have made me laugh out loud in the last 24 hours:

Yesterday, out of nowhere Lily said to me, "Mommy, the day I get braces on my teeth I want to wear my hair in a bun. Okay?"

Um, sure honey. Nothing like planning ahead.

This morning during breakfast as Lily was buttering, cutting, and pouring syrup on her pancakes she looked at me and said, "You know Mommy. I'm getting so big now the only thing I really need your help with anymore is doing the vacuuming."

What? What! What?!? Doing the vacuuming??? I guess no matter how big and independent our Little Miss is getting she still doesn't like loud noises. And, hey, it's good to know I'm still useful for something!

And, here's one more.

This afternoon as we were leaving another dreadful...oops...I mean delightful birthday party for one of Lily's friends Lily turned to me and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry you didn't get to hit the pinata or get a goody bag. But, don't be sad. You get to drive. That's something children can't do."

How sweet of Lily to look out for her chauffeur.

Lil4 20 10

It seems like Lily not only goes through growth spurts, but also through ability and knowledge spurts. Well, right now, Lily's going through all 3 spurts simultaneously!

The shirts I bought Lily at the end of summer to make it through the Fall/Winter are now showing off her belly button and the pants...yikes...let's just say calling them high-waters doesn't do them justice. There will definitely be another Fall/Winter shopping trip in our immediate future.

Not only is Lily growing by leaps and bounds, she's also learned how to write her name. This is not something we've "worked on". In fact, Lily and I don't "work" on anything. I'm not a big fan of "working" on letters or numbers or whatever with kids. They are only little for such a short time. I would much rather spend our time having fun...not "working" on whatever. Lily's preschool also takes the same approach. There is no "letter of the week" or any kind of formal teaching. Their philosophy is the same as mine...children learn through playing.

Okay, let me get off my soapbox. As I was saying, a few weeks ago Lily said to me, "Look Mommy, I wrote my name." When I looked at the paper I was shocked to see she had in fact written her name. Of course, my little perfectionist then said to me, "Mommy that Y looks like a 4."



Lily has also learned how to count to 30...and beyond. Sometimes when Lily counts she goes from 29 to 20 10. She is so funny. If Lily says 20 10, 20 11...she will catch herself and say in the funniest little voice, "20 10??? 20 10??? I mean 30, 31..."

That little cutie absolutely cracks me up!

Happy Birthday Big Brother!

Today is my big brother Don's 46th birthday.

Since our birthdays are so close together, growing up Don and I always celebrated our birthdays together.

Speaking of growing up, it seems like just yesterday Don and I were taking each other's friends to the prom, going to Jimmy Buffett concerts together, and having more fun than we'll ever tell our kids about. It's hard to believe 30 years has past since then.

Don, I'm looking forward to the memories we'll make during the next 30 years!

Thomas Goes Trick Or Treating

Our little train loving girl had a wonderful Halloween!

Nai Nai, Aunt Sheila, and Dad Dad came over this evening for dinner and to see Thomas pull out of the station. Boy, did they get quite a show! Let's just say that Lily was really wound up before any sugar was even added!! What a riot!!!



If Lily was this excited about Halloween I can't begin to imagine what Christmas will be like!



I would love to take credit for this terrific costume. Unfortunately, I can't. My sweet friend Erica made it!

Spooky Creatures

Another day...another great outing at the state park!

In honor of Halloween, today's topic was "Spooky Creatures". How's this line-up for spooky: bats, vultures, tarantulas, and snakes? Yep. Pretty spooky!

As always, Clare did a fabulous job sharing information in a kid-friendly way. Lily was riveted the entire time!

Here's a small sampling of the information Clare shared...and Lily hasn't stopped talking about!

Did you know that a bat eats half their body weight in insects every day? They do.

Did you know that Lily weighs 40 pounds? She does! Clare weighed all the kids today and then chose Lily to do a little demonstration.

If Lily were a bat she'd have to eat 20 pounds of bugs a day. Yuck! Clare didn't have 20 pounds of bugs handy (thank God)...but she did have 20+ pounds of dry goods and had Lily weigh it all out.

Lily had so much fun piling more and more food on the scale and even asked a couple of her buddies to give her a hand.



Did you know that a vulture urinates on itself to cool off? Pretty gross, huh? Lily got quite a kick out of that little tidbit!



Did you know for most people the bite of a tarantula is less painful than a bee sting? The bite is only fatal to those that have allergic reactions to the venom.

Since you don't know if you're allergic until you're bitten...we admired this spooky creature from behind glass!



Did you know that reptiles can carry Salmonella? They can. That's why the children had to wash their hands immediately after petting the snakes.



Next class at the state park...Worms. Can't wait to hear all the dirt on them! (I slay me sometimes!)

Three Quarters Of A Century

Today is Dad's 75th birthday.

To celebrate, last Wednesday all of Dad's kids...and their kids...surprised him by showing up at "Irish Night" at a local bar/restaurant. It was nice to have an opportunity to celebrate Dad's birthday with his friends.

Lily is absolutely crazy about her grandfather and had so much fun being part of Dad Dad's big day. Lily danced all night (or at least until 7:30), flirted shamelessly with Brendan (the singer), and even had an opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to Dad Dad using the microphone (as part of a trio and solo)! Talk about a great time!

This morning we continued the celebrating at Dad Dad's favorite breakfast place. Mary Beth and Don had to work, but Uncle Jack and Aunt Pappy were able to join us for a birthday breakfast complete with birthday candles and singing!

Happy Birthday, Dad! We love you so much more than you know!!

All I Want For Christmas....

I can't believe it's only 8 weeks until Christmas. I also can't believe I've gained 25 pounds in the last 6 months!!!

How can that be??? I'm hardly recognizable to myself!

I would love to be able to blame my weight gain solely on my steroid use, but the truth is that I've been eating like it's my J.O.B.

I have struggled with my weight my entire life, but the last 6 months have been especially hard. I have had the most voracious appetite! Even if taking steroids does increase your appetite...you don't have to act on it. I mean, steroids don't force you in to the kitchen and make you open the refrigerator...and your mouth. Right?? Right!

What has happened to my self-control? I have none. Zero. Zilch. Zippy.

Okay. Here's the point of my post. I want to lose 15 pounds by Christmas. That's all I want and it doesn't cost a thing!

My hope is that by putting this out here in blogland I might actually stay out of the kitchen...and reach my goal.

I'll keep you posted (pun intended) on my progress.

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday Lily's preschool went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch.



The absolute highlight of the trip for Lily was being able to ride to the pumpkin farm in a "real school bus". She was positively giddy about it. Ahhh...life's simple pleasures!



Throw in a hayride, beautiful weather, and the fact that Daddy was able to join us and I don't think we could've asked for a more perfect day!