A Christmas to Remember...

And, unfortunately for all of us, that's what I'm going to have to rely on .... remembering! As a scrapbooker, you'd think by now I'd be proficient in getting all the "action shots" to accurately capture the day and have my camera at-the-ready at all times. Well, this year, NOT.SO.MUCH! I am not quite sure what happened. Perhaps it was managing the Christmas chaos for 2 kids this year (McKenna was only 10 weeks old last Christmas, and really didn't enter the fray) or perhaps it was the level of sheer joy and elation that an almost 4 year old brings to the day, but for whatever reason, there are several shots of this Christmas that I just did not get. And, I am very sad about that. One of the main shots that is missing is the annual "on the stairs" shot. That's the picture that my Mom took each year of us in our jammies just before we went out to see the tree. I've done this each year with our kids too, and missed it this year :-( I am also soooo annoyed that I never got a picture of the girls together in their matching Christmas dresses! I have lots of PJ pictures from the morning at our house and then our gift opening at Mimi and Pop Pop's house, but no pics in their cute little dresses at my Uncle's house. And, finally, I also got no picture of the 4 of us together that day :-( Well, all I can do is hope that I re-read this post before next Christmas and try harder to get the shots I want next time!

But, I did manage to get a few fun shots of the day. Take a look!

McKenna LOVED her toy keys and car remote!

Checking out Elmo with Uncle Mark.

Santa granted Maddie's single wish... A Doll House. She loves it so much and barely wanted to see her other toys on Christmas morning. Good work, Santa. (Although it wasn't green, was it?)

Uncle Mark and Maddie take a brief time out from playing with the doll house to say "Cheese!"

Hugging her Tinker Bell movie!

Trying to show everyone her new Barbie head from Mimi and Pop Pop.

Reading her Elmo book like a big girl!

Whether we have the pictures or not, it was an amazing Christmas filled with lots of love, laughter, and family. What could be better?

Christmas Eve Excitement!

After coming home from our Christmas Eve dinner at Bonefish Grill (which has quite accidentally become a yearly tradition for the last 4 years!), we worked on our Christmas Eve preparations to welcome Santa and his reindeer so that we could get to bed and assure his arrival!

Here are the girls with our plate of homemade cookies and milk for Santa and a plate of carrots for the reindeer (8 carrots were carefully counted out for each reindeer by Madison!).

When we were young, my Mom parents always gave us one gift to open on Christmas Eve. Although we caught on quickly and knew that Christmas pajamas were in the packages, we still always got excited about it! So, here is Madison getting her Christmas Eve jammies. McKenna got matching pjs too, but getting pictures of her is very difficult these days :-)

Their pj's say "Dear Santa, It wasn't me!"

Trying (unsuccessfully) to get them to pose together in their matching jammies in Madison's bed.

This was the best we got :-)

Mommy snuck downstairs later that night and look what she found.... Santa and the reindeer had enjoyed our snack!

Sporting a new 'do!

Right before Christmas, we decided that Madison's hair had gotten so long that it just wasn't looking nice anymore. So, we decided to cut her hair back into the "bob" that we had done earlier this year. She loved that hair style and was more than happy to go get her hair cut. I didn't have my camera at the salon with us, but they cut off a good 3 to 4 inches.

I LOVE her new hair cut, but it really does make her look older. And, her looking older is NOT what I wanted when she is about to turn 4 in just a few short days. I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big! Here is a picture of her waiting to see Santa Claus and showing off her new hair cut!

A New Tradition is Born....

Some of my fondest memories of my childhood Christmases are the times my Mom would take us to see the Nutcracker Ballet. It was always such a special occasion and I was always so excited to get dressed up and be "fancy" for an afternoon. Well, now that Madison is a little ballerina herself, I thought it would be great fun to take her to see the Nutcracker this year.

In December, we went to a production of the Nutcracker by the Brandywine Ballet Company performed at West Chester University. One of the moms in our playgroup coordinated getting tickets for several of us, and it was a fun night! Thanks, Heidi!

My friend Shari and her daughter Daria accompanied Madison and I to dinner before the show and the girls were SO excited! They thought they were such big girls doing dinner and a show! Madison sat mesmerized for much of the show and kept declaring how BEAUTIFUL the Sugar Plum Fairy was! This will certainly now be an annual event for Mom and Maddie, and soon we will be able to include McKenna as well.

Madison and Daria so excited at dinner!

Shari and Daria

Mommy and Madison

A wonderful time was had by all and it really put all of us into the holiday spirit!!!

Can you tell me how to get.....

to Sesame Street? ....... Or, more specifically, to Sesame Place?

We made our annual trip to Sesame Place this December with Mimi and our cousins for the Holiday Breakfast with the Characters. We had a wonderful time and it was so much fun having Declan join us for his first Sesame Place experience. All of the kids had a blast, but this year was Brynn's year (Sean and Heather's 2.5 year old)! She RAN from character to character to give them hugs. It was sooo adorable!

We did manage one picture with all 5 of them where McKenna wasn't crying. She was definitely NOT feeling Elmo up close and personal. It's Dylan, McKenna, Declan, Brynn, and Madison.

Declan's first Sesame Place trip visiting with Elmo and Aunt Ronnie.

Mimi and Aunt Ronnie with Declan.

Me and my girlies with our fave, Zoe the Ballerina.

Dylan and Madison gettin' silly with Telly.

Um, do you really think I care about these characters when Tater Tots are being served?? I mean, seriously!?!?

Maddie getting hugs from her bud, Ernie.

After our exciting morning at Sesame Place, we all went back to Mimi and Pop-Pop's house for to do some holiday cookie baking. Mimi had LOTS of recipes to choose from, but our favorite were making the chocolate covered pretzel sticks. So much fun!

Here's Brynn looking so C-U-T-E in her apron (pulled up to her armpits!)

Here are Mimi's helpful baking elves. Aren't they adorable?!

Thanks for a really fun day, Mimi. We love you.

Christmas Par-tay!!!

As we do every year, we made it to Mimi's work holiday party last Friday. We always have such a fantastic time celebrating at that party. Madison and McKenna had a great time singing songs with Miss Jody, seeing the magician/balloon artist, and of course, visiting Santa and Mrs. Claus. We also had fun spending the morning with our cousins Brynn and Declan. Dylan couldn't be with us because she is in first grade now, and needed to go to school!

Me and my girls at the party

Mimi with her grandchildren Brynn, Declan, McKenna, and Madison (Dylan wasn't with us today)

Yes, the magician/balloon artist is INSIDE that balloon. The kids thought that was amazing!

Madison got picked to help John with a card trick.

This isn't a good picture, but in return for helping with the card trick, John made Madison a HUGE balloon poodle. It was adorable and Madison loved it.

The kids seeing Santa and Mrs. Claus. McKenna was not feeling it!

Madison and Brynn telling Santa very carefully what is on their wish lists.

Hugs for Mrs. Claus!

It's Declan's first visit with Santa!

Um, Dad??? Is Santa trying to move in on your woman????

Wordless Wednesday: I can help decorate the tree, too!

It's a Good Day here at You Ott 2 Know!

This lovely woman in the photo is my mother. She has been a wonderful mom, role model, and friend to me and I love her so, so much. Mom, hope you had a wonderful day today, and we can't wait to celebrate with you this weekend. Madison is sending you a birthday scream "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIMI!!!"

And, in other exciting news, this is my 100th post! I'm so glad I've reached this great milestone with a topic as special as my Mom's Birthday!

Back in Business....

I know there's been a looooooooong silence around here. The blog is starting to look a little dusty. Between the mind-numbing migraines I've been getting, a girls trip to Vegas and then a Thanksgiving trip to Pittsburgh, there's just been no time to blog. But, not any more! I'm back and ready to blog.

Let me go organize my blog posts and I'll get something a little more interesting to read posted up here really soon!

Back Seat Driver!

I'm wondering if you can drive a car better than I can if you still play with Barbies, take naps, and use a sippy cup occasionally? I didn't think you could, but Maddie obviously feels differently. She was all up in my business today about my driving .... here are some of the best lines:
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Madison is drawing in the backseat as we drive to dance class.

Maddie: "Mom, look at this picture I drew."
Me: "Madison, I can't look right now because I am driving. I'll look at it when we get to class."
Maddie: "Mom, you can look. I'll watch the road for you!"
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We were pulling out of a busy parking lot. I had started to pull out because I saw that the oncoming car had it's turn signal on and was going to turn before the street we were on. Maddie apparently didn't feel the coast was as clear as I did. As we passed the car that was turning, she waved to the car and shouted "We're sorry, ma'am!"
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Even though we were at dance class early, Maddie somehow had it in her mind that we were running late. I tried to tell her that we would get there in plenty of time today, and we would probably wind up sitting in the parking lot waiting for her teacher to arrive (which did happen). As we were driving to class, she decided that chanting "Go, Mommy, Go" over and over again would get us to dance class quicker!
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I didn't think the back seat driving would happen quite this early! I feel like I need a drink after being in the car with her today!

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Cousin

We went to my Mom's house this weekend and Madison got to hold her new baby cousin, Declan, for the first time. She was so excited to get to hold him like a big girl! Isn't he a cutie? Even if I do say so myself.

Now THAT'S the spirit!

This morning while Madison was at preschool and McKenna was napping, I was sitting here minding my own business and getting caught up on the backlog of blog posts that were unread in my Google Reader.

Today, there were 2 unread messages from one of my favorite blogs, Musings of a Housewife. Jo-Lynne put up a post yesterday titled "Why I'm Voting for McCain on Tuesday". I think this may be one of the best politically-themed posts I've read in a while.

People who know me well are probably scratching their heads right about now, thinking Shannon, that title says McCain! Don't worry, people, I am still voting for my beloved Obama. Even though Jo-Lynne and I may not agree on which candidate to vote for, we do agree fully that we each have the right to our own opinions. And, having opposing opinions does not make either of us a bad person.

This is my biggest issue with politics... the extreme divisiveness. It seems to me that sometimes people believe so passionately in their own cause that they are willing to disregard, threaten, or belittle people who may have other views. I am so thankful for Jo-Lynne confidently describing that which she believes in, while at the same time respecting that not everyone feels the same way.

Go check out her post. It's a great one.

Halloween Fun, Fun, Fun!

Halloween was lots of fun this year with two little girls to dress up! Last year, McKenna was only 12 days old on Halloween, and we didn't put a costume on her. She was a "new baby" for Halloween.

Earlier in the day, our playgroup put on a Halloween Parade and the kids had a blast! Our friends V and J had us over to their house and we paraded around their cul-de-sac, played great Halloween-themed games, sang Halloween songs, and of course, trick or treated in the big witches cauldron!

Later that afternoon, we waited for Daddy to come home with our pizza. We quickly ate our dinner in anticipation of the big night! We were ready to go trick or treating so quickly that we were actually a little too early to go out, so we had to wait patiently for 6pm to finally roll around! Then, it was time to go and Maddie was beside herself. She was constantly planning out our route and deciding which houses she would go to next. She was so polite and always wished everyone a Happy Halloween before she took any goodies and always said Thank You. She makes me so proud! All in all, it was a wonderful family night with my little Lady Bug and my Princess Belle.

Help Graco Help Others in Need

I wanted to share this information about an AWESOME charitable campaign that Graco is doing right now. Check out this information that I received from Graco and GO SIGN UP TODAY! You receive great Graco and partner offers and information, and more importantly, you can help someone in need receive a FREE CAR SEAT! Go sign up right now! What are you waiting for?

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With Halloween here at the end of this week, the holiday season will soon be in full swing (the kids certainly know it’s coming!) which means travel for many, and unfortunately tough times for a few. As part of Graco’s new “Ready for the Road Ahead” campaign, we have created the Ready. Safe. Go! Car Seat Club.

The Car Seat Club gives its members access to car seat resources, special partner offers and e-mail updates and the best part about the club, (we think) is that for every 10 people that join the club 1 car seat will be donated to organizations helping families in need. The holiday season has always been a time to help others and just by joining, you’re able to help organizations distribute donated car seats to families who aren’t able to buy one for themselves.

So help Graco help others -- all while helping yourself!