Team Smith

These are just for fun! We were playing around with the lights and in our lobby there is a huge Christmas tree with fake presents. Thought it would be fun to take some pics around that tree :-) Plus I know how much the grandparents LOVE seeing pictures...

I am beyond excited about our new tradition! We made an Advent calendar this year and I hope we continue to do it every year. So simple! I covered posterboard in wrapping paper. I don't know about y'all, but I tend to keep gift bags, wrapping paper, ribbons and bows and re-use them. I haven't had to buy any in years. After raiding my stash for a big enough piece, I wrapped the poster board. I purchased small change envelopes and numbered them 1-25. Then I filled each envelope with goodies. Cass is not a candy person, so each day she is surprised by stickers, hair clips, girly items like chapstick, small ornaments and do something cards. It was nice using the small envelopes because it limited me to small budget-friendly items. Really, you could use any size envelopes you want, depending on how large you want your calendar.  I spent a lot of time growing up in the Sawyer/Cashman household and I vividly remember being at Nana's house and bugging Terri because Che and ...

 This is a really cool market in the same location as the city tree! We like to walk around at night and sample fresh glazed almonds and crepes. It smells sooo good here. We really like  to take silly pictures along the way and look at all of the booths selling homemade, handcrafted items. There's even a booth from a shop in Lake Tahoe!  For the actual history of the market, I snagged a brief description from their website and posted it below. "Inspired by the Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, Germany, which began in 1545, the Christkindlmarket Chicago brings a cherished German and European tradition with international flair and local charm to Chicago. Chicago's largest open-air Christmas festival was first held on Pioneer Court in 1996. By special invitation of Mayor Richard M. Daley, Christkindlmarket Chicago moved to Daley Plaza in 1997 and has become a staple event on the plaza ever since. Together with the support of the Department ...

We met Santa at Macys! The first day we tried to go, the line was close to 3 hours long. So we skipped it.  We waited till Thursday morning, and waited outside Macy's at 9:51am. The doors opened one minute early, allowing us to race to the elevators and be the first people on the 5th floor. Standing outside the door to Santa's house, we sang along to the music on the intercom and talked with the other family brave enough to get up super early and make their way down town to see Santa. They traveled almost an hour! Macy's is one block away from us, how fun it was to not have to worry about parking and traffic! The doors opened and we were led by the elves through corridors filled with displays and Christmas magic. Winter scenes of ice skating and frosty, huge trees and decorations and finally the man himself. And a really good Santa too- he had a real beard. I asked him if he was comfortable holding babies. He said yes. I asked one more time to be sure and Cassidy...

We live two blocks away from the city tree and market! So we bundled up and walked down to watch the tree lighting. It was beautiful! There were carolers and music and the mayor actually lit the tree on time! Looking at Cass' face, I would say she was a wee bit excited ;-)

Cassidy is an incredible big sister. When she walks into the room, Savvy lights up! She smiles and coos at her, following her with her whole body. Her head and eyes turn towards Cass' voice and her arms and legs wiggle with excitement. Cassidy likes to help with everything. This morning we gave Savvy a bath (thank you Auntie Ellie- we love the bath tub!) and Cass was so good with handling the soap and making her smile. Cassidy loves to help with dirty diapers! Amazing! I don't have to move. Cass brings all the diaper stuff in a basket, then throws everything away and puts the basket away. Cassidy has had her diva moments. It's not all petunias and hydrangeas over here :-) She will say my name over and over again only to look at me blankly when I acknowledge her. And if Savvy has a tummy ache, suddenly so does Cassidy.  She has only wet her bed three nights though these past 10 weeks, so no real regression with the potty. Our big girl is doing great! These are pics we to...