20 days left...

Wow! Only 20 days left in the year? Really? I just can't believe it. I have been quite busy - making holiday cards, getting a tree, addressing the cards, trimming the tree, attending holiday parties, etc. This time of year always seems stressful. I am trying to not focus on that piece of it though. I have all my gifts bought, unfortunately the motivation to wrap them and get them shipped is not as easy as the swipe of a credit card! I decided to take tomorrow off from work so I could have a day to myself. I really need that right now. I am considering it a gift to myself:) Perhaps I will find motivation tomorrow...

December 4th was my holiday party at work. Maggie was my partner in crime for planning it. It was great and we got several compliments. We are pretty sure this is the best one yet! Our co-worker, Dan, has a band named Flashback. They performed at the party and did a fabulous job. They are a classic rock band, but did play "Material Girl"...which got me on the dance floor. We held the party at Rembrandt Yard in downtown Boulder (http://www.rembrandtyard.com/) - it is a fabulous venue. Savory Cuisines catered (http://www.savorycuisinescatering.com/) the party and as usual, the food was delish. If you ever need catering in the Boulder area - I highly recommend them!

Ian is doing great. He is getting 2 more top teeth. We noticed it last Saturday - which explained his general fussiness. The return of his cough and runny nose didn't help either. He was a trooper for the most part, except when it was time to nap. Ha! He is moving all about these days. I am amazed by his speed! I am thankful he can crawl - Apesen, not so much. I am finally able to get more things accomplished around the house because he can just follow me. Apesen has been freaking out, however. She does her fair share of taunting him, especially at dinner time. We used to be able to run upstairs to brush our teeth or change an outfit quickly, but he has since mastered the stairs and in a matter of seconds can be at the bathroom door checking out the upstairs scene. We can't believe that we will soon be celebrating his first birthday. The photo session with Moses went well last weekend. Mostly because Moses & Amanda did a great job getting him to smile. We can't wait to see what great shots Moses was able to get. Casey takes most of the pictures in our house, but I was able to capture a cute picture of Ian with Daddy last weekend!

Last Saturday, we got our tree. I think we are finally getting over the sticker shock of Christmas trees in Colorado. It helps that we found a local place that is affordable. If you can consider $50 for a tree affordable. I will always long for the days of cutting down your own. We will have to take Ian to Wisconsin for at least one Christmas in his life so he can have that same experience. We bought our tree at The Flower Bin - one of my favorite places in Longmont (http://www.theflowerbin.net/). I am pretty sure I have mentioned them in a previous post. They are wonderful year-round! We got our tree there last year and were pleased, so knew we had to check them out again. We got another great tree this year! What do you think?

This weekend we have a cookie party at Le Casa de Awesome and learned this morning that Grandpa Conkright will be here for a brief visit. He is on his way to Wyoming now and will stop by to say "hi" on his way back. Rumor has it he has some Christmas gifts to drop off. Maybe that will motivate me to wrap my gifts? Probably not.