The Adventures of Buddy the Elf

Buddy has flown back to the North Pole.  Christmas was the last day we saw him.  Alannah was pretty sad that he left.  For at least three days she talked about how she missed him and maybe he was just hiding in a place where we couldn't find him.  She went from being a little nervous about him...to treating him like a member of the family.  I didn't think his leaving would be so sad...but we have something fun to look forward to next December.

Buddy had a lot of fun while he was watching over Alannah.  Our favorite was when we found him waiting in the car for us when we went to Disneyland.  He had his seatbelt on and everything! Another morning we found him taking pictures of himself with our computer.  Alannah thought that was hilarious!  He sure is a silly elf and I can't wait to see what he will be up to next year! 

The Merriest Place on Earth

A couple of weeks ago we went to Disneyland...the happiest merriest place on Earth! We sort of made a tradition of going on Alannah's birthday the year she turned two.  We also went for her third birthday and had planned to go for her fourth birthday (one month away!) as well.  Buuut, I love Christmas at Disneyland and it had been years since I had been...and I knew Alannah would love it.  So we decided to go for Christmas instead of her birthday.  It was a good decision! We had so much fun! We decided to go on a Tuesday to avoid the crowds (I will never go to Disneyland on a Saturday again if I can help it).

This is the best time we have had at Disneyland with Alannah.  It was so pretty! And we got to go on some rides that aren't always open in January because they are still removing holiday decorations.

Alannah was much more into the rides this time and only got scared when we tried to get her to go on Splash Mountain (I'm scared of that ride).  Of course, most of her favorite rides were in Fantasy Land, but she also loved driving the cars.  

The highlight of the day was the Christmas parade.  We waited over an hour...but it was well worth it.  The excitement on Alannah's face was the best part of the day.  Disneyland is magical on its own...but seeing that magic light up my daughter's face is one of the best feelings.

           

 

We got to meet our share of characters too. We saw a few princesses and Tigger and Pooh.  

I think this may have been the best time I have had at Disneyland! We made magical memories that will last a lifetime! 

Happy Holidays

Santa: Take Four

It only took four years for Alannah to like Santa! We were expecting a repeat of last year, but she totally surprised us when we went to visit Santa.  We wrote him a letter the night before:

 
Her letter included a picture of herself and Santa from last year...which Santa got a kick out of! We have seen the same Santa every year and we love him! He is so nice and good with Alannah (even when she has been not so nice to him).  This year she walked right in and gave him his letter and a hug.  They talked for a few minutes and she smiled for her pictures.  It was super windy and cold...and she was sick...but it was a great visit!!

And here is the progression of Santa...

Alannah has been a very good girl this year so I'm sure Santa will bring what she asked for <3

Buddy The Elf...What's Your Favorite Color?

We have a new member of the family.  Meet Buddy:

It all started when we were reading The Elf on the Shelf before bed one night in November.  The story is about magical little elves that help Santa by watching children during the day and reporting back to him at night.  To our surprise, we saw our own little elf waiting out in the hallway for us when we were done reading.  Alannah, being the naturally paranoid child that she is, was a little scared of him at first.  We explained that he was nice and silly, and she has since warmed up to him.  Naturally, we named him Buddy (huge fans of the movie Elf). 

He has found some pretty sneaky places to hang out during the day...



He's also done some pretty silly things around our house...

We found him throwing Alannah's socks out of her sock drawer in her room...

He turned Alannah's milk green...

And we found him eating chocolate out of the candy jar!

He is a silly little elf, but Alannah adores him! The first thing she says every morning is "I wonder where Buddy is!" and she starts her hunt to find  him.  The things he does crack her up.  I love, love the magical things that Christmas brings! It seems to get more fun every year with a child.  Thank you Buddy for bringing more magic to our Christmas this year.  I hope the magic lasts for many years to come!

 



New 'Do

Alannah has a new, short 'do! She got her first haircut back in June, but it was really just a tiny trim.  We've been talking for a while about getting her a short bob haircut to get all that dead, thin baby hair off.  She has thin, stringy hair...and those ends were just looking bad.  I found a picture of a cute little girl with a bob haircut and Alannah loved it! I was secretly hoping she wouldn't like it so we wouldn't have to do it, but in reality, it really needed a good cut.  She kept mentioning the haircut, so the day after Thanksgiving, I took her back to Cool Cuts for Kids to get it done. 

Apparently everyone else had the same idea that day and we waited over an hour.  I suggested to Alannah that we leave and make an appointment for another time, but she wasn't having it.  When it was finally our turn, she chose the car station again.  I braced myself for the big cut.  I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a little when the stylist cut that big chunk off. 

The stylist styled it so cute and put pretty sparkles in it! Alannah absolutely loved it! This is the smile I got when she looked in the mirror:



She is so happy with it! And that makes me happy! It was hard for me to cut off all that baby hair, but she looks adorable and is happy, which is all that really matters.  Of course we did a photoshoot when we got home because I forgot to take my camera to the salon. 

 

My baby is looking and acting more and more like a big girl every day! 

Halloween 2011

Alannah was so excited for Halloween this year! It's so much fun now that she actually knows what's going on.  She's been talking about dressing as Cinderella since LAST Halloween! She was the most beautiful Cinderella I've ever seen! We went over to my dad's like we do every year and trick-or-treated with the whole gang.  She did so good this year.  She wasn't scared of anything like she has been in the past.  And she made sure to say thank you to everyone who gave her candy...made mama proud!

I was looking back through the past few Halloweens since Alannah has been born.  It's insane how fast the years have gone by and how much she has changed.  From a cute little ladybug...to my beautiful little Cinderella...

Picture Catch Up



I am way behind on pictures.  I just put pictures on my computer the other night and realized I hadn't done it in a couple of months.  I am even more behind on backing them up, ordering prints, framing, etc.  I can't talk about it too much or I'll get anxiety.  Seriously.  Here are some of my favorite photos from the past couple of months.  Just for memories. 

Fall Festivites

Fall is quickly becoming my favorite season.  I love the cooler weather (when we actually get it in Southern California), the colors and smells of fall, pumpkin spice lattes, and all the fun activities we get to do.  We've done some fun fall activities the past few weekends. 

We headed out the the Live Oak Canyon Pumpkin Patch a couple of weeks ago.  We have gone to this one since Alannah's first Halloween so it has become tradition.  It is a huge pumpkin patch with a ton of activities.  It wasn't a very fall-like day (with the temperature being in the high 80's), but we still had fun. 

On the giant haystack...the first year she climbed it all by herself.

One of two jumpers she had to go in.

Posing next to our giant pumpkin after we got home. 

Ruby wanted in on the action too.

This past weekend, Alannah and I headed out to the Claremont Harvest Festival with my dad and Cindy. Had to get a few pictures of my pretty girl in her cute Halloween attire before we left.

On Sunday, we headed up to Oak Glen with Nick, Vanessa and Evangeline. My dad used to take us every year as a kid. Last year we started the tradition up again with Alannah. It is so pretty up there!

I'm going out of town for work this weekend so my October weekends have been cut short.  I'm looking foward to getting home and going trick-or-treating with my Cinderella!