Slowly but Surely.......

I'm inching out my Christmas stuff. I told myself I would wait until after Thanksgiving but I have failed. My Christmas spirit has taken over and I have given in to the urge to cover my house in lights, garland, nativity scenes, santas, snowmans,trees and ornaments. Shay has been telling me all week that it is too early but then he went to work and left Mary Selwyn and I at home alone to dig out as many decorations as we could.

I started small. First all I did was rearrange my couch with three decorative Christmas pillows. The next day I got a little braver. So far my foyer and my dining room are decked out. Today we put up our fake tree in front of the window in our dinning room for the neighborhood to see. I wrap a ribbon around this tree and display as many Christmas cards as possible in it's branches, an idea that I am pretty sure I copied from Dona Stickler, there is never quite enough room. For breakfast this morning we even ate on some santa plates.

Mary Selwyn is loving my decorations so far.....she has no idea what is in store for her. I have a lot, and I mean a lot of Christmas decorations thanks to my Grandmother. Every year she goes to the after Christmas sales and sends me home with a whole new load of decorations by New Year's. Drives Shay crazy because we already have so much, but my motto is you can never have enough Christmas decorations. Anyway, MSN got so excited when I plugged my Christmas village buildings in and they lit up. The lights on the tree get several "OOOOOOOOHHHHHSSS" every time she walks in the room. So far she has followed directions with the whole look don't touch but I'm sure that will change when we get our real tree and fill it with ornaments. Still to come is my nativity scene and lighted garland that covers my kitchen and some of the dining room.

I know it is early but I will be out of town for a whole week starting Wednesday and I didn't want to wait a whole week after Thanksgiving to decorate. My plan is to get it all up by the time we leave Wednesday so that when we return it will be a Christmas wonderland at the Nichols house. I must say I feel very cozy posting my blog by nothing but the light of my Christmas tree. Here are some pictures that we took today, a very failed attempt at Christmas cards but it was just a trial run. We will get some great ones next weekend out at Meme and Papa's house.

P.S. I have always loved Christmas but I must say that it gets way more exciting when you have children. Oh and I just thought last year was fun, this year it is even more fun now that she is older. I look forward to it getting better and better with every year, especially when she is old enough to really understand the true meaning.

Sick little princess

This is what we were supposed to be doing on Sunday afternoon...... ...wearing our princess dress at Mary Townsend's 2nd princess birthday party.

This is what we were doing instead....... ...laying in Mommy's bed watching Blue's Clues with a fever of 102.7! We were so disappointed. Probably me more than MSN because I searched for the perfect princess dress for her to wear to this party and I happen to find this one at Toys R Us for $6.30. Not only a deal but the most perfect dress. This was her first princess birthday party and I couldn't wait to dress her up to go. I love children's birthday parties. I think they are so fun and special. I mean your birthday is the one day a year you get to celebrate you,and let's face it, it gets less fun to do this as you get older so I think you should go all out when you are a kid. If we are invited to a party we try our hardest to be there. Mary Selwyn enjoys all the kids and cake, of course and I enjoy watching her enjoy the atmosphere. So I was sad we had to miss it but Sunday morning she just woke up feeling yucky....what can you do?

It had already been a week of chaos. Shay's truck broke down on Wednesday leaving Mary Selwy and I stranded and stir crazy at the house. Thanks to Mitzi and Kristen I was able to get out and do some Christmas shopping on Friday, which was wonderful. We had to get my dad to come down Saturday afternoon to try and fix Shay's truck. Luckily he was successful and Mary Selwyn got to spend some fun time with her Grampaka.

After a couple terrible nights of sleep, or lack there of, Mary Selwyn has been feeling better and decided to play in her princess dress all day today. Here are some pictures I took of her. We even had the heels to match. I'm also posting two video's. One of the priss pot putting on some make-up.....which is really sidewalk chalk, gross I thought but it won't kill her. The other video of her just chatting it up and saying "I don't know," when I ask her questions. By the way if all that wasn't enough to make for a bad week....tonight I almost caught my kitchen on fire. I sure I hope our luck turns around soon...ha ha.


I could only get one video to post. I'll try the other again later because it is so funny.

By Special Request

A couple of weeks ago Ann Marie left me a comment saying she would love for me to do a post on all the words that Mary Selwyn can say. Ever since that comment I've been paying extra close attention, not even really on purpose and I will think, "I could add that to the list." So here it goes just for you Mrs. Cook....all the things little Melly can say.



Words she says clear as a bell:
Mama, Mommy-Mommy is a new addition. She says it a lot and very loud. Especially when we are riding in the car or walking through the grocery store. I've recently nicknamed her the "Mommy Bird."
Dada-still a favorite
NO! This may be her most favorite word!!!!
Hi, Hey and Bye- and she knows exactly when to use these. It is really cute. If she just leaves the room she has to turn around and tell you bye.
Coin- I know this seems like a random one but she got this lion bank for her birthday that roars when you put money in it and she will spend hours putting money in. I just give her a cup of coins and she goes to town. I'm thankful for this bank because it taught her early where to put money she finds and not put it in her mouth. Thankful for a piggy bank? Who would have thought.
Bite- but it is much more drawn out...like biiiiiiiite.
Corn
Dog
Car- she says it very clear but with a Boston accent.
Cup
Sky
Spoon- it is probably more "poon" but anyone would understand what she is saying. Juice
baby
More
Peaaaaaaaaseeeee- please is my favorite word. She says it a lot on her own but if she forgets all you have to say is "what do you say," and she will respond with an appropriate please. Sweetest word....I love to hear it.
Meme and Papa- Shay's parents
Duh- that's right unfortunately my 16 month old can say duh. I asked Shay a question not long ago that he apparently felt deserved a "duh" and as soon as he said it Mary Selwyn looked at me and said "duh" in the exact same voice. It is a perfect "duh" and if Shay says "yeah" with that same inflection of his voice she will look at me and say "duh." Funny but not.
Door- she will go to any door and knock on it and yell "doooooooooor," which is her way of saying "open the door!"
Book- it is said kinda quite and fast but it is book.
Hat
Baaaag- just bag
We can do all our animal sounds very clearly. Meow, Moo, Baa Baa, Neigh Neigh, Tweet Tweet, Quack Quack. She can even roar like a tiger and grunt like a pig, however the only animal she calls by its actual name is dog. Everything else is referred to by the sound it makes.

Words that may require some interpretation
CooCoo- Chicken. She loves chicken nuggets.
WaaWaa- Applesauce....don't ask me why....I have no clue where she came up with that.
JuJu- snacks...one of her very first words that she has stuck with. This is for goldfish or fruit loops.
puuuuuuse- purse
dat- that
tookie- cookie
takie- candy....what can I say she's got a sweet tooth like her mama!
siiiiiide- outside or inside
waaaaaak- walk....or go for a walk
pumpy- pumpkin
balanalanalana- banana. She loves bananas.This is one of the words that people love for her to say, it's a real crowd pleaser.
poppy- potty. Don't worry we don't actually do this yet she just knows what and where the potty is. It's a start right.
Grampaka- Grampa...my dad.
Goon- Supposed to be Gran, my mom. Shay loves that she calls my mom Goon and will try to keep this going as long as possible.
Data- Aunt Daphna.
Cogur- color. She loves to color. We do this all day everyday. Peek- pink. Every color is pink right now, even though she knows green and blue too.
Boo- Blue, the color or the dog.
Cooley Cooley- is Clues or Blue's Clues. This is the first thing she asks for every morning as soon as she wakes up. Teve- is Steve naturally....back to the Blue's Clues.

She is saying so many things these days. I know I'm forgetting a bunch. She has turned into a parrot and she is even starting to put words together, which really excites me. She can say "Bye Teve," "Bye Boo," "I cogur," and my favorite is "hi baby," to my tummy. Sweetest thing. If I ask her to try to say a word she will at least try and repeat it and can either say it or get pretty close. Some words I can't even begin to think of a way to type them....she says some form of bath time and clean up but you will just have to trust me on that. We also do a little bit of sign language still. I think the only signs we still do are thank you, change and blue(those last 2 she learned from blues clues.)

She is quite the prissy little thing these days too. She loves make-up. I bought her some fake play make-up for Christmas and I'm tempted to give it to her now. She will bring me my make up bag at least once a day and cry to put on make-up. She loves bags and purses and shoes and hats. She is a mess and she cracks us up daily. Never a dull moment....I love it.

I've saved the best for last. Mary Selwyn is already a huge Auburn fan, despite this season, I'll spare you my thoughts on that though. Anyway, if you know us, you know that we have tons of Auburn paraphernalia so you can find an AU logo just about anywhere inside or outside of our house. Well MSN knows exactly what that AU stands for and she says a form of Auburn. Again I couldn't begin to type what she is saying so I got her to say it on a video. Now in this video she has just woken up from a nap, hence the nap hair and she was extremely grumptastic! So excuse the hair and whining but this is her looking at my cup and saying Auburn.

4 years and counting!

Thursday marked the fourth year that I have been married to my wonderful husband. On one hand I can't believe it has been four years, it feels like just yesterday. On the other hand I can hardly remember a time when we weren't married, feels like we have been together forever. To be fair we have been together for a total of 10 years this year, so the feeling like forever isn't too far fetched.

What a great four years it has been. I have absolutely enjoyed every minute of being married to Shay. Even though Nashville was a weird time for me I'm so thankful that we had that whole first year away from our family. It was a fun experience learning to rely on just the Lord and each other. I'm even more thankful Shay decided to stay married to me after that crazy year...ha ha. Granted we still don't live in the same town as our family but the hour and a half drive is a lot different than the four hour drive to Nashville.

Shay is truly my best friend. I feel very lucky that he agreed to our blind date 10 years ago. We got to spend the end of high school and college together. We really "grew up" together. I have the best memories of all of our years together. I love Mary Selwyn with all my heart and I'm thrilled that she is in our life but I think it is okay to think back on the days where it was just the two of us and long to relive one of those days every so often. I used to feel guilty thinking that but I'm thankful that those days were great enough that I would even want to relive one of them.

I believe that I have a fabulous husband. He is such a great caretaker and spiritual leader. He has given me a sweet, sweet family that I love more than anything and we are loving watching it grow. He is absolutely everything I could have ever imagined in a husband and father to my children. MSN adores her daddy. Enough with sap, I'm just thankful that the Lord has blessed me with Shay! Happy Anniversary to us!

A picture from our younger days.....what I wouldn't give to look like that again!

Scaredy Cat

Mary Selwyn loves, loves, loves cats. Of course she calls them "meows." She sleeps with a stuffed cat named Caviar and she loves our real cat Silas. I rescued Silas from the humane society when we first moved here. He was my first little baby, unfortunately for Si he has taken a backseat since the arrival of Miss Priss, but I don't think he minds too much. Mary Selwyn and Silas are so good with each other, I was a little surprised but thankful they love one another.



So before Halloween we got some kids magazine in the mail with different costumes in it. Mary Selwyn immediately found the "meow" costume and carried it around for days. So I decided I was going to find her a "meow" costume and it had to match Silas perfectly. Silas is a pretty black and white. It looks like he is wearing a tux so I call him a fancy cat. I was so excited when I found a costume that looked almost exactly like Silas. Mary Selwyn loved her costume and wore it several times around the house just for fun. I couldn't wait to get a picture of her and Si together. One night he came in to eat and I decided it was a perfect photo op, so I dressed up MSN and brought her in the room with Silas.

I have never in my life seen a cat more terrified in my life. Silas could not get away from her fast enough. He peeled out of the kitchen and went and hid behind the chair. His hair was standing up and his eyes were as big as baseballs. Shay opened the back door and he shot out in a hurry. I guess to him it was like looking in a fun house mirror where your reflection is twice your size. It was hilarious, however, I was super disappointed because it didn't look like I would be getting my perfect matching picture. So I figured I would just have to post a picture of her and a picture of our cat seprately.

Mary Selwyn had the best time on Halloween. She and I sat on the front porch with our candy bowl and waited for the trick or treaters. Surprisingly Silas actually made an appearance while we were passing out candy and I guess he had warmed up to her in the cat costume because he didn't run from her. The other dressed up children yes, but not our big kitty. He even hung around long enough for one kid's dad to appreciate my matching cats. This was still the best picture we could get of them...a cat and 16 month old, not the easiest of targets. Anyhow, Mary Selwyn enjoyed Halloween so much that the next morning she grabbed the candy bowl and said "side peaaas," which of course means outside please. So even though I knew there would be no trick or treaters at 8 a.m. Saturday morning we sat on the porch with our candy bowl and waited patiently. It was a lot of fun.



Here are some more pictures of our little "meow" and some with her cousin Kate the bumblebee, that was Mary Selwyn's costume last year.




We also went to the peanut festival on Saturday. Mary Selwyn loved feeding the goats carrots in the petting zoo and all the lights on the midway. They have the best food at the peanut festival. That is the part I look forward to the most. They have this roasted corn that they slather in butter....it is like a little slice of heaven. Well MSN loves corn too so there was no way I was getting out of sharing it. She ate that corn right off the cob....I'm sure it is still stuck in her teeth but she loved it.