First Haircut

"Before" pics

For some reason this was a big one for Matt and I. I almost cancelled the appointment for her first haircut several times. I was debating with myself for a week about whether or not she needed it, but decided to go ahead with it. Margo at Hair's Lair in 26 Doors (where Personally Yours used to be years ago) was awesome. Sadie loved the toys and cookies. We loved that she was quick and good with Sadie, plus she gave us the hair from the first cut for her baby book with a little certificate. All in all, it was a good experience, just hard to believe that Sadie is big enough to need a haircut.

Sadie looks at her book while Margo goes to work on the fuzzy newborn hair that won't seem to cooperate. Below are the "after" shots.

Cousins

Stacy, Greg, Katelyn, Mason and Gracie drove in from Missouri yesterday and were able to come over with Nana before Sadie went to bed last night. She was in her usual tired, happy, run around mode right before bed. She warmed up so quickly to her cousins, it was amazing. She went right over and gave Gracie a hug while she was sitting on the ground. Then, she gave Mason, Katelyn and Stacy a hug with a little coaxing...but not Greg. 4 out of 5 ain't bad.

She has also started saying "What's this?" and "What's that?" Super cute.

Finally, Gramps is delayed in London because someone broke in and stole his passport. Hopefully the embassy will be helpful and he'll be able to make it after all. We'll see.

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas week full of fun and family. Dana came down from NYC and Granny came from Fort Worth on the train (make that bus.) Sadie was showered with gifts and attention, being the only grandbaby at the Tingley house. She never fails to entertain. Check out the Christmas slideshow to the left. Here are some highlights from the last few days:
- staying in at the Tingley house and getting warm by the fire
- warm yummy soups that Bebe made
- keeping Sadie up a little later at night to enjoy the festivities
- Sadie sleeping in a little later than usual
- decorating our Gingerbread house at home in our PJs
- Sadie having candy for breakfast while decorating above mentioned house
- Sadie in her gorgeous silk dress for Christmas Eve service while we all wore jeans
- getting to church for a 5 o'clock service that really started at 5:30, which allowed us a few minutes to play in the sunshine on the Capitol grounds with Bebe, Papa, Granny, and Dana
- Sadie in her sheep ears for the service playing the part by saying, "Baa" as she walked up front to join the manger scene
- Sadie dancing to the carols during the service and calling for "Bebe" while up at the alter
- seeing all of our friends from church with their little ones
- our Christmas Eve tamale dinner with all the fixin's
- continuing the tradition we started last year of reading "The Night Before Christmas" right before we put Sadie to bed
- leaving cookies for Santa on the mantle
- asking Sadie when she woke up if she thought Santa had come and she signed, "Eat cookies!"
- the look on her face when she saw the bounty waiting for her under the tree
- Sadie's PJs on Christmas morning made her look like a candy cane
- seeing Sadie so excited about new toys that she wanted to play with them right then instead of opening the next gift
- having our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of "pigs" (i.e. pigs in the blanket) at our house with the help of Bebe, since we still don't have a kitchen sink/countertops
- sharing this special time with 3 of Sadie's grandparents (Bebe, Papa, and Nana), her great-grandmother (Granny) and her Aunt Dana.
- heading over to Bebe and Papa's house for round 2 of gifts and a big holiday meal with more family, who we don't see often enough
- Matt doing the "Daddy thing" for the assembly-required gifts
- Spooner recipe Pecan pie
- anticipating the arrival of Gramps, Aunt Stacy, Uncle Greg, Katelyn, Mason and and Gracie

We wish all of our family and friends a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 2008 has been one to remember. Love, Kara, Matt and Sadie

The Santa Circuit

So, we tried our best to get a Santa picture today and visited 3, yes, 3 Santas today. We went to Kerby Lane for breakfast this morning and the Doll Shop next door had a Santa, so we decided to stop by on our way to the mall. Not the most authentic Santa, but we thought we would start slowly with me standing next to Santa holding Sadie.

Next, we went to Barton Creek Mall and Santa went on a lunch break as soon as we arrived. We watched the train go around the track a couple of times and then headed to Lakeline Mall (or South Dallas, as Matt likes to call it.) We waited in line for close to an hour watching other kids sit on Santa's lap and talking about "our friend, Santa" and she still screamed her head off when the time came for the pic.

She settled down as soon as I picked her up (when the photographer said, "ok mom you can go get her.") But, I think we salvaged the day by heading to the Trail of Lights with Bebe and "Papa" (her name for Grandpa tonight). We walked a long way, but it was a beautiful, cool and breezy night. Sadie loved looking up at the tunnel of lights above as Daddy tilted the stroller back for her to see.

Choo-choo

Last weekend while we were staying with Bebe and Grandpa in order to attend all of our holiday parties (which just happened to all fall on the same weekend this year) we took advantage of a beautiful day to ride the Zilker train. Here is a little snippet of our ride. It was especially cool because the Trail of Lights was set up (though not on) and Sadie could pick out some of her favorite animals and characters. She danced to the music, of course, even though you could barely hear it over the train noise. We have plans to try to walk through the Trail at night this weekend while it is still warm.

Christmas Tree

Sadie showing the sap from the tree stumps on her hands. As she would say, "sticky."Inspecting the tree with Nana

Fine lookin' tree and family

We went to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm again this year to cut down our tree. This little trip is becoming a family tradition, as much as two years counts as tradition. It makes it so much more fun to ride the tractor out to the grove of trees, hunt for the perfect tree and cut it down ourselves (well, ask Matt if it is more fun to cut it down.) This year Nana went with us and we stopped at Southside Market for some yummy BBQ. If you remember last year, this was Sadie's favorite meal of the season. She can't get enough of those beans. She liked it again this year, but expanded her repertoir to include a little brisket, sausage and potato salad.

We followed the tree hunt with a nap and a walk down Congress for the Sing-a-long at the Capitol. We didn't quite make it to the lighting of the tree downtown, but sang a few sleepy carols before heading down the street to dinner. We could have used a little more upbeat songs, like "Jingle Bells" but no luck. Sadie's favorite music of the night was the Invincible Czars playing on the sidewalk as we left the restaurant. They played jazzed up versions of the Nutcracker music and other holiday instrumental standards while wearing their marching band uniforms. Hilarious.

Arc of the Art

Tonight we went to the Arc of the Arts Gallery opening. Rare sponsored the event and it is for a great cause. The Arc benefits children and adults with disabilities and the gallery is one of the ways that it does. It provides a studio for young adults to come and learn a technique with a local artist and sell their art in the gallery. Sadie loved the art, especially the sparkly, intricate masks. She pointed out all the animals in the pieces, signing bird, elephant and cat. And she clapped and shouted "yay" as the audience applauded the organizers. Always the life of the party!

Coloring

Sadie is starting to experiment with crayons. I had to break them out to keep her from losing it while I attending to the fun business of being on the phone for many hours trying to get our cable/internet/phone stuff figured out. We have spent a lot of time at home this week because we have had people coming in and out to work on the house (sheet-rock, carpet cleaning, etc.) I think she is feeling a little neglected. Hopefully next week will be a little better and we can get out of the house more (although, we may have our new countertops installed at the end of next week.) One day at a time.

Chuy's Parade

We had a great time at the Chuy's Children Giving to Children Parade. After a group of Santas rode by on motorcycles and the Blue Santa (which is the Charity benefitting from the toy drive at the parade), Sadie has a pretty good idea of what to be on the lookout for on Christmas Eve.