December Daily: Days 11- 25

So, as promised, here is the final half of my December Daily album.

Day 11

The "e" in the word eleven fell off.  That happens when the album is handled often.  It's okay.

Journaling: As a final adventure for GrandTiti and Uncle Jack, we took them down t the Wiregrass Mall where we met up w/ Faye & Jim.  It was so nice being together as a collective group.  Good times.

Day 12

Journaling: Oh, Addie, you bring Daddy and me such joy.  You have a confidence in your personality that I am so proud of.  You don't care what others think.  You are yourself at all times.  Love you!

Day 13:

Journaling: Day Thirteen

• Addie continues to amaze us on a daily basis with the things that she says and knows. Here are a few recent examples.
• She stays dry at night and during her nap time. Woohoo, no more diapers or pull ups!
• She closes her eyes when watching T.V. And something comes up that she should not see.
• I didn't get to remote fast enough to mute the magic word at the beginning of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and she said, “Mommy, no magic!”
• I love when she says, “Oh, Mommy, I miss you all over!”
• After telling her for the last 2 and a half years that Daddy goes to work so Mommy can stay home with Addie, she now says it for me.
• She loves to help me no matter what I am doing, from whipping up pancakes to making coffee.

Day 14:

Journaling: Where is Addie?  Before Daddy goes away tomorrow, we made sure that we had a night of family fun. One of Addie's favorite games is Hide n' Seek.  Daddy is always great at finding fun hiding places.... like behind the pillows on our bed. It was just the cutest thing walking into the room, seeing Daddy standing next to the bed to make sure that a certain little person was always safe, and seeing two little bare feet sticking out from under the pillows.  Hearing her giggle was the cherry on top.  I love when our family is together.  I am going to miss Brian while he is away.

Bottom photo: A Game: Point out the proofs that Addie was here.

Day 15:

No journaling.  The top photo shows that we ran a lot of errands and the pocket holds the receipts from those errands.

Day 16:

Journaling: Since Daddy was away, I really had no "get up and go".  We spent a lot of time coloring with each other.  We talked about Baby Jesus as we colored this picture.  Later tonight, Grandma & Grandpops came over for a bit.

Day 17:

Journaling: Addie is fascinated by all of the Christmas lights that we see as we are driving around.  I am so happy that she is enjoying every aspect of this month: the Nativity scenes, lights, Christmas movies, and shows.  One hing I know she is anticipating is the opening of the gifts under the tree.  She has been getting excited over commercials that feature toys.  I can't wait for Christmas morning when she can open her gifts.

Day 18:

Journaling: Brian had worked out of town since Wednesday and we were expecting him home in the late morning today.  However, because he couldn't sleep at the hotel because of a soccer team on the same floor, he left the hotel and drove all night.  He got in at 4:30 a.m. Addie was attached to him all day.

Day 19:

Journaling (done right on the gift tag of the gift that my in-laws gave Addie.  I love how Mom signed it using how Addie calls them.):  Grandma and Grandpops L bought you your very own rocking chair from Cracker Barrel.  For now it sits next to the Christmas tree but it is going to permanently stay in the living room.  It's too beautiful to hide.

Day 20:

Journaling:  After the excitement of yesterday, today felt a bit draggy.  We went about our normal schedule, had our school time (I have taken most of December off in the school department- just too much going on from having company over to making sure all of our Christmas shopping is done.), and then went out to run some errands.  I decided to make the week's meals a less stressful process for myself.  I bought a frozen lasagna for dinner tonight and other premade, boxed, or canned foods for the rest of the week as well. Brian is very understanding (even though he is a "meat and potatoes" man.)

Day 21:

Journaling (Hard to see because it blends in to the background): It is becoming a tradition for us to go to the R's home around Christmas time to plat with their Little People set up.  It is a very good tradition.

Day 22:

Journaling (done on the actual photos and there are two photos in the envelope):  Grandpa night.  He always brings you a little something.  Today it was a little book of friendship prayers.

You and Grandpa have a "thing" you say to each other which he actually started.  He has always told the kids in our family, "You're gonna get a beaten'."  Then he tickles them.  Because of your personality, you say it right back, but yours comes out as "You gonna BEAT!"  Grandpa always gets a laugh out of it."

Day 23:

No journaling or words.

Day 24:

Journaling: Addie has been so good about not opening any of the gifts under the tree, so we decided to reward her with a gift under her tree to open on Christmas Eve morning.  It was the movie Bambi, and we watched it twice back to back.  It made me so happy to see how happy she was about her little gift.

1. Christmas Eve Service

2. Christmas pajamas

3. Christmas movies & home videos

4. Setting up for Christmas morning.

Day 25:

No words. Just pictures. I have 12 photos in the little book, but for the sake of time and photo storage space, I could only post one page.

I have not decided what to do with the More Celebrations page since we are not having a Christmas Celebration with our extended family this year (earth shattering since we have always had one since the history of our family! All right so maybe not that long, but as long as I can remember.)

I am also undecided about whether or not I will do this project again next year.  I have done it for three years now, but this year I felt a bit stressed getting the album together.  We'll see.  I have a whole year to decide on that.