Christmas Hap(pening)s and New Years Resolutions

December is a big month for the Wheeler House. Elsie's birthday is the 5th and Neil and I used this day to celebrate surviving our first year of parents (for real).

Neil's birthday is December 11th and we went out and saw The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, thanks to an amazing friend who watched Elsie (Brianna you made Neil's birthday). He also got a Lego set and Fast Five (RIP Paul Walker).

Our 4 year anniversary was the 23rd and Neil treated us to a romantic showing of the Nutcracker ballet and a super yummy meal at the Himalayan Kitchen which was divine. 

Then of course the 25th is Christmas and then December is pretty much a blur after that, am I right?


We decided to have a small Christmas this year and only got Elsie two things, but we didn't take into account what Grandparents and Great-grandparents would get, so she ended up getting more than expected. But she enjoyed opening her presents and has loved having new toys to play with, and a new toy box (from Grandma) to put her toys in.

I got a lot of candy...which will make my new years resolution difficult, and a new shower head (which doesn't sound that exciting, but trust me it is) and a Tula baby carrier which came like two months ago but we counted it as a Christmas present. Neil got a new video game and I custom made a hat for him which should be here in the next few days.

As for New Years Resolutions I found some cute ideas floating around Pinterest (I know, me on Pinterest--never!) and have decided on this one:

We'll see how this goes :) Happy New Year!

I have a ONE YEAR OLD folks

I honestly cannot believe Elsie is one. Has everyone heard the quote about being a mother makes the hours long and the years short...that's dang true. Some days feel like a week long and some days feel like only a few hours. What freaks me out is the years are just going to go by faster and faster at this point. Which lets be honest, that only freaks me out on the good days and makes me kind of grateful on the tougher days.

Being a mom is hard. I'm constantly second guessing the parenting decisions Neil and I have made which usually go against the norm. Thankfully I have a very supportive husband and friends that make being a mother that much easier. I also have an amazing pediatrician that never bullies me or tries to pressure me into anything.

Fun facts about Elsie at 12 months:

-She is kind of huge--she weighs 27 lbs and is almost 30 inches long.
-She is walking (and falling) all over the place which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.
-She says "mommy", "dada", "dog" and "uh oh" and just today she pointed at a ball and said "ball" (we are acting like it wasn't a fluke, haha).
-She points at everything, especially food (even if she doesn't like it)
-She eats everything we eat (loves veggies in soup, curry, potatoes, sweet potato chips, apples, fruit leather, pizza, grilled cheese with basil, carrot applesauce muffins).

-She hates having anything in her hair and instantly tries to take it out.
-She likes going out and flirting with everyone (definitely not a homebody like mommy).
-She still sleeps with us (by choice and we love it).
-She signs milk when she wants to nurse (which is still very often and will probably continue to be for at least another year, again, by choice).
-She loves playing on the stairs and can crawl up all of them and crawls down some but then realizes she's going down and not up and starts going up again.
-She gives kisses to all baby dolls and stuffed animals.
-She wakes up randomly in the middle of the night to give kisses to Neil and I (adorable, I know).
-She is very dramatic and her feelings get hurt very easily.

-She loves our neighbors across the street and loves to play with their children.
-She loves to turn pages in books and growls whenever she sees a picture of an animal (probably because she hears our dogs growling at each other when they play).
-She will roll/throw a ball back and forth.
-She cries hysterically every time I leave for work (breaks my heart).

Pretty much we're in love. Elsie definitely keeps us (and the dogs) on our toes but I can't imagine life any different.