Where All Our Dreams Come True Part 1

It's one of my favorite things to decorate my house and make it a warm, cozy place to be. I like curb appeal, too, and being able to pull into my driveway and say "ahh...home."

I wouldn't mind if people walked around and gave out "cutest house" awards. Someday I would like to win one of those awards.

My favorite house style is probably old country farmhouses with welcome lights in the windows and big front porches that at Christmas time can have garland strung along the porch railings. I do not yet live in an old country farmhouse, nor do I have a big front porch, but I do have welcome lights in the windows and several years ago David and I built a fence for our front yard that I think added thousands of points to our curb appeal score.

(I was very entertained by the meter reader who once asked if our lights in the windows were some sort of zen thing. Um, no, thanks for asking. And clearly we live in Portland to get a question like that.)

Anyways, if you can't string garland along a front porch, I think stringing it along a front fence is second best.

This year, a dream of mine has seen reality as I finally got myself some garland and strung it right up. I even put white lights in the garland. (If that's what you can call the LED solar lights that are labeled 'clear' but instead give off a blueish tinge...)













It's quite lovely and very festive.

David's Christmas dream for our house has been to own a train that can run around the base of the Christmas tree and this year we finally bought one. Since all day long I hear a little voice asking "watch the train?" I think it's a hit.












Her high chair is in the perfect location for eating/train watching. The train is in the perfect location for little hands to grab it off the track and hide train cars all over the house.

And now that she's in bed it's time for me to go on my evening scavenger hunt to find them all. Wish me luck.

Let the Birthday Celebrations Begin

I realized this morning that we are going to be celebrating Christmas from the 23-27th. One party on the 23rd, one on the 24th, two on the 25th, one on the 26th and one on the 27th. That is some serious Christmas.

Daphne's birthday celebrations have already begun, with her first party celebrated with Gramma K on Sunday.

Look at that face! She loves blowing out candles. It's an added bonus to have people sing to her.


















Triple bonus if the candles and singing are followed by presents.












She opens her gifts with the intensity of a marathon runner, which is a skill that will come in handy Dec. 23-27.

O Tannenbaum

I think that this year we have the most beautiful Christmas trees ever. Daphne loves them, because like I said before, she is naturally Christmassy and seems to love all things December related.































This morning we went downtown to visit the new H&M (H&M and I are officially friends) and to let Daph visit the giant tree. I love her face as she checked out the biggest Christmas tree she's ever seen:


















She did not love what David did to her in this next photo, and her screech was so loud I think the entire city stopped for a second to wonder at the ruckus.


















(She was mad enough at him that later when it was time to go and he tried to pick her up, she threw herself flat on the ground and yelled "no! up a-Mama!")

But do you see that guy in the photo in between the pickup truck and the tree base? That there was Daphne's brush with Portland fame, as he is one of the news guys doing something newsy. He's so famous I don't even know his name, but I've seen him before, maybe doing the weather?

I took some more pictures of David comforting Daphne; AKA David, Daphne and the semi famous guy.














Anyways, in all actuality, Daphne's favorite part of being downtown was chasing the pigeons.



















Because while she does love Christmas, she also loves all the animal creatures. Like she was excited about the elevator at the parking garage because she thought I said 'alligator.'

Gotta love the parking garage alligators.

Civil War

To quote my friend Dub who said on Facebook: "In the category of phrases that sound really odd out of context: 'I'm really looking forward to the Civil War.'"

To quote a stranger in Fred Meyer: "I don't even like the Beavers, but I think I do now because she is soooo cute!"

















(Just doing her part to change the world, one non-Beaver fan at a time.)

Nativity

Many years ago, before we had children, David found a Playmobil nativity set and purchased it thinking we would at some point have little people in our house who would like to play with it.

Good purchase David, good purchase.


















The only thing I don't love about it is the many small pieces it comes with. Mary's head piece comes off; the 3 king's capes and crowns come off; you practically need a microscope to keep track of baby Jesus. All staffs, halos and crowns are currently kept hidden away.

But Daphne asks several times a day to play with Baby Jesus, and I think having a nativity to play with is helping her realize that the story isn't about Baby Jesus and Baby Joseph like she previously thought.

Just one baby in this story, Daph.

Tree Hunting

We got our Christmas tree on Monday, since David had the day off AND it wasn't raining. Two important components to Christmas tree hunting.


















Obviously Daph needs a little help when it comes to choosing the perfect tree.














Better:














While we loved her mini tree choices, we found the perfect full-sized one to take home with us.


















Then the lady who own the tree farm sat Daphne in a pile of wreaths and for some reason she was really happy there. I think she feels a deep love for this season and all that comes with it, being born on Christmas Eve and all. She is naturally Christmassy.

Two Good Things About Today

Cooped up with a small one this winter? Need to get out of the house but can't walk to the playground like you did so many times this summer?

Enter GigiBar; SE 59th and Division.

Despite the word 'bar' in the title, this is not an alcoholic joint for small people. Rather a coffee bar with yummy espresso, bagels, sandwiches and chalkboards on the walls. And toys and books and pillows and a huge rug to play on.














A nice place for mommies and babies. Daddies too.













It's such a nice place that if you happen to leave your diaper bag on the roof of your car, a passer-by just might call the cafe to let the worker know so they can tell you. (Not that I would have any experience with that.)

And if you order and then realize you left your wallet in the car, they will gladly continue preparing your food while you head back out to find your money. (Again, no experience here.)
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Looking for some super soft slipper-type shoes to cover your child's unusual footwear? Added bonus if the slippers are so beloved by your child that he or she will cry buckets of tears when you take them off?

Enter Fred Meyer and a multitude of coupons.


















They practically paid me money to take these things home.

It's a big deal when you get to buy your baby her first pair of shoes that cost under $1000.