Merry Christmas!!

Headed to a Christmas party

A little apple, a little tape dispenser. Sampling the gift-wrapping supplies...what a helper she is!

Ahh...this is a whole blog post in an of itself! As much as this pains me to admit it, I caved and bought a leash...I just couldn't bear the thought of navigating with her through the airport by myself without a tether.

And this, my friends, is why we need a leash. This is the cat door she's crawling through...with a set of downward steps on the other side!

Natalie and Kate (her cousin)

Yeah for Christmas Eve celebrations at my in-laws house!

It's a rare thing that she sits still long enough to sit in your lap. Did I mention I am nervous about flying with her by myself??? Heaven help the people sitting around us!

Kevin's still a big kid at heart.



She's into things that she can push around the house right now. Hey... do they make kid-sized vacuum cleaners that actually work?????

Crazy, but true.

Ever since I had true Chicago-style pizza on a trip through Chicago when I was 14 I've loved the taste of it. The deep dish pie has a tall crust and loads and loads of cheese with sauce on top. Now, that much cheese isn't for everyone, but this is coming from a girl who once ordered triple cheese on a pizza when she was 8 years old at a Pizza Hut. I just remember chewing gobs and gobs of cheese... and loving every minute of it.

Last week when I was heading home from Arizona, I was flying through Chicago and decided that I absolutely HAD TO HAVE a Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. I had it all set up. Since Midway airport didn't have a deep-dish pizza place on the premises, Kevin would call in the order to the nearest pizza place outside of the airport while I was in flight and have a pizza delivered there during my layover. I know he spent a long time on the phone going back and forth with the pizza place about what time to deliver, where I'd be waiting, etc, etc. And I was a little concerned I wouldnt be able to pull it off. But to my exitement, as I ran through security to the ticketing counter and out the door, there was the pizza delivery man, waiting for me with a fresh, hot deep dish Chicago pie. Folks... this is a happy moment in a foodie's life. Yes, yes it is.

And I'm Back!

I'm SO glad to be done traveling for work. I just got back from an 8 day trip to AZ for work and I'm so done with being away from home. Nothing like a cute little dirty face to kiss on you and a bleary-eyed husband to wrap his arms around you and tell you that he missed you...REALLY missed you. *sigh* I love family.
This past week has been a whirlwind. It's been work, eat, sleep...REPEAT for 8 full days. I did score a fun car to drive. I didnt know the 2009 Taurus' were so nice: leather heated seats, a sunroof, SIRIUS radio. I really enjoyed it over the 98 no-power-anything Saturn I drove to the airport.

So if you're like me, you're way behind on the shopping aspect of Christmas. I'm not sure why I wait until the last minute, but this year I COULD say it was because I was busy frolicking throught the desert and working 7 days a week right around the start of the season. But really, it seems like it creeps up on me every year. I've started THINKING about sending out my Christmas cards but as you all know, the past two years those have turned into New Years cards because I've just been too lazy to get them in the mail in time for Christmas. We'll see this year...we'll see.

I've started to worry a bit about my trip to KC right after Christmas. It's not being KC that I'm worried about. It's the actual getting there and getting home part. Kevin's not going with me so that will mean I'll have a very ACTIVE (that's the nice word everyone's been using to describe Natalie's endless stream of energy lately) one-year-old and a large carseat to contend with both in the airport and on the plane. I just bought this after seeing a woman with 4 kids in the airport and I thought, if SHE and her husband can do it with four kids, I can surely do it with one.

But then I thought about Natalie wanting to get down and run around everywhere and how she was NOT going to want to sit still on my lap for 2 hours. So then I bought this so she'd be strapped to me. All of this may be well and good, but I don't think it's going to keep her from having a meltdown because she's not allowed to get down and do what she wants to do (independence is her thing these days).

So then I've considered Benadryl. Is this a bad idea? Can you give it to a 15 month old? I've got to do something or else I'm going to be THAT woman on the plane who everyone tries to sit VERY FAR AWAY from.
Ideas...anyone?