Christmas Bucket List update..

Only a week left until Christmas and we only have half of our list checked off. It's going to be a fun week!

[x] Ride the Polar Express
[ ] Go Sledding
[x] Look at Christmas Lights
[x] Visit Santa Claus
[x] Put up Christmas Tree
[x] Make Paper Snowflakes
[x] Decorate a Gingerbread House
[x] Make Ornaments
[x] Go to Christmas village
[ ] Write a Letter to Santa
[x] Christmas Movie Night with Treats
[x] Craft Night to Make Gifts

Checking off our list

We have had such a fun month and it's not even half way through! This is the first Christmas that Bella really understands and we have been making sure we try everything.

We made paper snowflakes and hung them around the house. They are so pretty!

We visited Santa Claus (again) and had some pictures taken.

And this silly elf has been making his way around the house. Bella named him Frag.

Next weekend we have tickets to go ride the Polar Express and we can't wait! We decided instead of exchanging family gifts that we would all go ride the Polar Express together. It's a tradition that we plan on keeping!

BzzAgent

I started a new blog to share all my BzzAgent adventures. If you are interested in following, visit this link. I'll be posting a couple new reviews tomorrow :)

Mr Grinch

Bella has a new BFF. He has actually been around for quite a few months but I'm just getting around to posting about him.

I'd like to introduce you to Mr Grinch! He goes for car rides with us..

And Bella insists on him being seat belted so that "he can be safe!". He goes to sleep when we do and he even has to get dressed. All the way down to his underwear. Some of Bella's clothes that she has grown out of fit him. Barely.

We went to the wood store a couple of weeks ago and we fell in love with these letters..

Bella insisted on taking a picture by it. We bought it and just have to paint it now. I should get on it since it's already December now.

I really hesitated on letting her watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas because I didn't want her to know that he is mean. She loves him too much. But I decided to go for it and we watched the Jim Carrey version. I don't really love that version. I think we will go buy the cartoon one. She said she still loves him.. so I guess it wasn't too bad of an idea. At least it has a good ending and it is one of my favorite Christmas stories of all time.

Such a silly girl! I guess we will call her our little Cindy Lou Hoo!

Willard Bay Christmas 2011

Every year we go see the Christmas lights at Willard Bay. It's cheap to get in and they always have a great display. We LOVE it!

This year we stopped and rode the wagon and visited Santa. I can't believe how much fun it was.

Bella was a tiny bit apprehensive to see Santa but as soon as he held his arms up to her, she climbed right up on his lap. He asked her what she wanted and she didn't really say anything. He asked if she wanted a dolly and she said yes. As we were leaving she remembered that she wanted a swimming pool and insisted on going back. She climbed right up and they had the following conversation..

Bella: I want a swimming pool for Christmas.
Santa: A swimming pool? A little one for your Barbies or a big one?
Bella: Like a big one.
Santa: Oh, a big one. So you can swim in it in the summertime?
Bella: Yeah
Santa: Well, we will see what we can do. Okay?
Bella: K

Funny. Right? Good luck Santa on finding a swimming pool in December. I suggested an IOU. Sounds like a great plan.

Bella loved riding the wagon pulled by mules. I did too. It was pretty cold and snowing but it was so much fun. It drives down where all the lights are and there is music playing too. So magical! The pictures aren't great, I didn't bring my camera but thank goodness for camera phones :)

In case you are wondering, it's $9 a carload to get in and that includes the wagon ride and Santa visit. If you haven't been before, it's totally worth it!

Is it a...

 We visited the doctor earlier this week and...

 My sweet doctor is pretty positive that this little one is a girl! We feel so blessed. Bella's reaction was the best. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it but she does not like the idea of having a little brother. In fact, when I asked her if she would love a little boy baby she firmly said NO. So when we told her that the baby is a girl she squealed and said "I told you!" Silly kid. She already think she knows everything at age two. We are in trouble!

I'm am so happy to have another girl. This will be our last child, we've always only planned on having two. It would have been fun to have one of each but for whatever reason we were meant to have another little princess. I'm so happy for Bella to grow up with a sister. My sister is one of my best friends and I honestly don't think there is a bond in the world like sisters share. Justin is officially outnumbered. But I am so excited for him. He is such a great daddy and he is a wonderful dad for a girl to have. He is definitely Bella's Prince Charming.

I'm so excited for this baby to be born. I can't wait until May. I got some fun ultrasound pictures. I'll share those in another post.

Our Christmas Bucket List!

Burt's Bees Natural Skin Solutions

Okay so this is the first post I've shared on my blog about being a BzzAgent. I figured I'd share with my readers the fun stuff that you receive and also share some great products.

My skin is pretty sensitive as it is but being pregnant, it's like crazy sensitive. I've always been a big fan of Burt's Bees but when I saw that BzzAgent was doing a Burt's Natural Skin line, I was all in!

Here is what I received:

-Full size facial cleanser and full size daily moisturizing cream.

-8 samples of the daily moisturizing cream including a $1 off coupon

 -7 additional $1 off coupons and the official BzzGuide.

This line is really great. Both of these products are fragrance-free (no added fragrance) but they do have a nice fall spice smell to them. The facial cleanser is gentle enough for everyday use. I would still use a heavier cleanser or toner once or twice a week on top of this product. The moisturizer is definitely my favorite out of the two. Really light and creamy but works great.

I will definitely continue to use this line. They also offer an eye cream and a night cream as part of their Natural Skin Solutions line. It's a great option for my skin type but if you are into using natural products, it's a great choice for anyone.

*I received this product for free from BzzAgent but the opinions in this blog post are my own. 

Curious about becoming a BzzAgent? Visit bzzagent.com. It's fun!

Guess whoo has a secret?

It's official! Baby #2 is on the way! He or she is due date is May 10th which puts me into week 13! Yay! It's been hard keeping it secret but I wanted to get out of the scary stage. The 1st trimester of this pregnancy was a million times worse than with Bella. I didn't have much morning sickness with Bella but this time around I'm pretty much sick from the second I wake up to the second I go to sleep. It has definitely taken a toll on my productivity.. and my housekeeping :) I'm staring to feel quite a bit better now that I'm getting into the second trimester. It will all be worth it in the end!

Halloween Fun

So I could have easily made this a couple of posts.. but I'm behind so I decided to throw everything into one.

First up.. a little bit of Halloween decorations. I wish this picture shows just how cute my Wicked wood letters are. This picture really doesn't do them justice at all.

A couple of weeks ago we took Bella to the Punkinaze. She loved the slide and all the activities out front..

But she really didn't love the idea of getting lost in the corn maze. Luckily we found out way out within about 15 minutes.

We took her to the new Noodles and Co in Riverdale to make up for it. She LOVES mac & cheese and theirs is the best ever!

Saturday we went to the Syracuse Pumpkin Walk and Trunk or Treat. We brought Tazy along with us.

Bella was exhausted afterwards and crashed on grandma's couch.

This year we decided to let Bella paint her pumpkin instead of carving it. She doesn't like to get the pumpkin "goo" on her hands so we decided this a good alternative. Justin still carved a pumpkin to keep the tradition going :)

Then Halloween night we headed over to my mom's neighborhood and went trick or treating. People don't trick or treat in our neighborhood. Weird, huh? The first year that we lived here we bought lots of candy but nobody came.. The houses are really far apart out here in the country and there isn't sidewalks either.


Bella was excited to pose with her pumpkins for pictures.

She was a little shy trick or treating at first and made grandma carry her. But soon enough she got the hang of it and loved it! She was proud of her Halloween loot!

That's it for our Halloween adventures! Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!