Well, here we are now in early January. It's back to the grind, and I always have a really difficult time getting back into the swing of things after a long break with family. But, we're not independently wealthy, so back to work I go & back to school for Paisley and Mike.
So, in 2010, I would like to be more intentional about breaking up the monotony of "the grind" and create more memories with Paisley. This weekend, while staying at home most of the time to give potty training a shot (which didn't go well), we made some valentine cupcakes. Paisley, as usual, had a blast.
Mike starts back to school next week taking 6 classes. After this semester is over, he'll have a little bit left in the summer & fall, and then it's off to start his student teaching. What an accomplishment. All that, and he managed to have a 4.0 last semester taking a full load. We certainly could not be moving along this fast without the help of ree ree & the grandmas. They are always so wonderful and giving of their time to take care of Paisley. We love them dearly.
Happy January! We are excited to see what God has for us this year. 
Paisley and her uncles are always being goofy & having fun. She loves those boys more than I could explain. When they are around, she is in awe at every action. On Christmas morning, she sat at Ian's side for more than 30 minutes helping him "organize" a new set of tools he got from mom and dad. I am sure she was hindering his progress, but he let her help anyways. 
Sweet girl, being tickled by daddy I think...
Devon & Heather, thinking of them as the adults they are makes me feel really old. They are so much fun!
Paisley got a new hat & scarf from ree ree & papa too!
Paisley's new drum set from ree ree & papa was probably her favorite gift this year. I can't describe the excitement in Paisley's face when she saw this & realized it was for her. She's always loved playing in papa's office with his music, but this was just her size.
Here's a small sample of her excitement. She had this crazy smile for a good while :)
Me and my crazy siblings. I love that we all spend Christmas together. I miss them when they are all away.
And the whole gang. The matching PJ's are courtesy of ree ree and aunt Heather. The guys have matching ones too, you just can't tell because of the brightness of the girls. I am sure they would be OK with noone knowing :)
Ahh, and finally, Paisley with really crazy hair thanks to Uncle Devon. He thought it would be so funny to get her hair like this & take a bunch of pictures. And because Paisley is infatuated with her uncles, she'll let them do pretty much whatever... thus, this result... 
Here's what Santa brought Paisley this year: A new dollhouse, art easel and art table.
She's already played with or gotten use out of all items - they keep her pretty busy when she's at home!
Christmas Eve was spent with Aunt Jessica, her new puppy Murphy and Papa Mike. When I was looking through my pictures, I realized I had no pictures of any of them. How did that happen?? Well, we had a little crisis with Jessica's puppy that involved some Mucinex & an allergic reaction to the Mucinex, we had lunch somewhere in there, and opened gifts. It was also snowing like crazy outside & we ended up having to forego church because of the weather & take lots of extra time to drive out to Mesquite to Mike's Grandma Edith's house.
Even though she refused to look at the camera, I did manage to get this picture of her in her cute Christmas outfit. Her hair just gets more and more curly :)
Upstairs, playing with her Christmas tree while watching it snow outside. She's growing fast, and I know in the near future I am going to look back at this picture and miss that little body - so cute!
I think this may actually by mommy or daddy's gift, Paisley's helping us open.
Paisley got a great outdoor playhouse from Papa Mike for Christmas. This picture above is the documentation of her seeing it in the box in the garage. It was way too cold to get it put together and ready for her that day. I know she is going to really enjoy it though, once the weather warms up just a little teeny bit. 
The many faces of Paisley... above is the "I don't really like taking pictures mom, but I'll humor you and give you a weird face."
"What's that? You didn't like that face? Well, how 'bout if I strain every muscle in my face and smile real pretty like this?"
We had a great evening with the Grandmas and Aunt Jessica on the 23rd. Paisley had so much fun with all of her gifts - she got a new Clifford stuffed animal - Clifford the big red dog is currently her favorite book/cartoon. She got some new dress up shoes from Aunt Jessica, a great new winter hat from Grandma Fay (pictured below) and lots of other really fun stuff! Mike and I had a great time & got lots of great stuff as well.
Paisley's new hat from Grandma Fay
Here she is trying to walk in her new dress up shoes - in socks. Not a good idea :)
Here's daddy, the princess. Modeling some of the new digs Paisley got for Christmas.What in the world have I been doing since late November? I am really bummed that I didn't keep up Paisley's blog better during the month of December. Christmas was great. Paisley didn't see Santa, so no pictures of that. We waited in line for about 15 minutes & it became clear to Mike and I that the actual meeting with Santa was not going to go well. And since the line was about an hour long, the decision was made not to push the issue this year. We'll ask Paisley again next year & see what she wants to do.
We had lots of Christmases:
