Christmas Tradition - 8 years in a row!

Carl took the week off and it has been so wonderful having him home. We have not been that productive but we are having FUN with Evie. She gets more entertaining every day! Bye-Bye is her favorite word and she waves her sweet little hand when she says it. Evie is not responding so well to "NO" but we have plenty of time to work on that.

Carl made us breakfast this morning and we noticed that Evie has a fondness for Canadian bacon. YUMMY! Banana's are still her favorite! She goes crazy when she sees her yellow fruit!

Evie was so excited to go to Gymboree today with her Daddy! I think Carl had fun too watching Evie interact with her friends. He saw how she is all over the place and does not always stick with the group. I like to think of her as a leader! She certainly keeps me busy.

Evie was hungry after all of this activity so she had a big lunch and took a nap! Carl went jogging and took Evie with him. She loves the jogging stroller and I love having a few minutes peace at the house. Although, I am always happy to see them come back.

I made a $100 selling stuff on Craig's List today! Free money is the best. Maybe I could turn this into a real job but it's kinda weird having people come to your house. Craig's List is a great way to get rid of excess stuff around the house and make some cash! Before Evie, I was a teacher and had thousands of books. One summer while pregnant, I got busy and sorted the books out and was able to make close to $1,000 just by having flocks of teachers come to my house searching for books to fill their classroom libraries. My favorites are stored away for Evie and I know she will enjoy picking out some books on her own too.

Carl and I have always gone to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner the week of Christmas since we met. Eight years is a pretty strong tradition and has included multiple cities including Raleigh, Columbia, Charlotte and now Nashville. We were a little worried about taking Evie but she did great! We went at 5 and were the first people to walk in the door. Things have changed but Evie does better earlier. Carl was talking to his brother who commented that we eat dinner 3 hours before they do even with a 1 hour time difference between Nashville and Atlanta! HA! Evie was quite impressed with her first Japanese meal. She sampled everything: mushrooms, rice, veggies, filet mignon, chicken and ice-cream! Can you guess what was her favorite part? Of course, she LOVED the ice-cream! She takes after me with the sweet tooth!

We celebrated Christmas! Evie got her first gift in the mail from her friend James. It was the cutest little pink seersucker backpack with her name on it. Carl and I both opened our gifts from each other and I gave him a birthday gift! Carl's birthday is Christmas day so I always try to make his birthday special for him and not run it together with Christmas. Everyone should get their special day and Carl gets to share his day with Baby Jesus. Evie will think that is really special but right now pulling paper off the boxes is pretty high on her list of things to do!