Cliffs Notes Version :)

Ok, so I am currently receiving (mock) death threats if I dont get some sort of update up here soon. So here you have the Cliffs Notes version of life in the first 16 days of the new year.

I am not giving up blogging.  Promise.  I think I just had so many pictures on my camera that I was overwhelmed by the idea of writing about all the fun things we have been doing lately.  Now that I look at the pics, I realize they werent wildly exciting or thrilling, but true to form, I forget to get the camera out when we get too busy having too much fun....which is when I should remember to whip that camera out MORE often.  So there are pics missing from a few fun nights with friends, and some fun days with bubbles outside, and a new park we explored and loved....but here are some pics of the stuff I DID remember to capture :)

New Year's Eve was perfect this year :) We invited our friends Julie and Jonah over with Julie's daughter, Emma.  Our other besties, Christine and Matt and their son, Connor, were supposed to join us, too, but Connor came down with strep throat at the last minute :( Julie, Jonah, Eric, and I had fun playing a game and watching the ball drop.  Low key, relaxing, and with friends.  Perfect. :) 

Whitney woke up at 11:50pm for no explained reason.  So we let her watch the ball drop with us on the couch, and then showed her some fun fireworks going off in the sky over our neighborhood.  She was happy to go right back to sleep after the show :)  

Eric has about 10 days off for Christmas and New Year's, but the fun had to come to an end at some point.  We decided to take advantage of a nice weather day and go on a family walk around the block.  We thought this was hilarious: 

Upon arriving home, we saw this in our garage:

We did NOT think it was hilarious.

That gaping hole above our cars used to be our attic.  As Eric packed the Christmas tree away this year, he said "Ya know, I really need to reinforce the flooring up there next year....we cant keep piling stuff on there.  Gonna need to get osme plywood up there soon."  I agreed and we moved on.

Until this happened.  And gravity beat us to it.  

Surprisingly, our cars didnt suffer any permanent damage, and the only things we lost were some cheap Christmas ornaments with no sentimental value, and one snow globe.  Everything else was pretty fixable 

Yeah.  Not fun. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

A few days into the new year, Eric's mom and stepdad came over to spend some time with Whitney before heading back home.  Eric's Memaw and Grandaddy joined us, too, and Whitney was, as usual, the center of attention and, quite possibly the Universe.

After her recent revisit to the "stranger anxiety" phase that is so common in toddlers this age, I was both relieved and excited that Whitney fell right into her Papa Butch's arms :) He loves her so much, and she obviously knows she has him right where she wants him! HUGS were plentiful, and she was belly laughing at his juggling skills in no time :) 

Grandma Debbie got lots of "high fives" and cuddles, too, but there was just something about Papa Butch that drew Whitney in :) 

Whitney got a baseball gloves with a velcro ball for Christmas.  Papa Butch is a baseball enthusiast, so Whitney was thrilled to get some lessons from a pro :)

How cute are they???

Whitney learned the art of turning non-toys into fabulous entertainment.  These two paper towel rolls created endless entertainment for the young and old :) Papa Butch and Grandma Debbie took turns trying to tell Whitney to keep her eye OPEN when she looks through the tube.  She wasnt getting it, but still thought it was quite funny.  

Grandma Debbie and Papa Butch got Whitney this cool puzzle set for Christmas.  Each wooden "card" has a picture and a word to spell using the puzzle-piece letters that are included.  Whitney realllllly likes it, and it was fun to see Grandma Debbie and Whitney working on a puzzle together. Grandma Debbie does CRAZY puzzles with, like, a gazillion pieces or more.  She's teaching Whitney young :) 

Once again, we stink at getting group pictures, so I dont have a picture of Whitney with her Grandma Debbie and Papa Butch OR her Memaw and Grandaddy :( That's on the "to do list" for next time, for SURE!

In the days following Eric's fabulous Christmas vacation, Whitney and I struggled to get back into our routine. I think it was partly due to the COLD weather, and partly blamed on Whitney's stranger anxiety phase reemerging.  Someone could just make eye contact with this child, and she would SCREAM.  Cold + screeching, fearful toddler = enough reason for me to stay home.

We played with lots of new toys, like Whitney's doll, Emma.  Whitney really likes brushing her hair, and I couldnt resist snapping pics when she decided to read her baby a story.  Priceless.

Yet another cold day (im talking 40 degree temps, folks. COLD) made it unclear who was more restless: me or the toddler?  I had to get creative after a while, and the cabin fever was starting to settle in.  I seriously do NOT know what people do with toddlers up north.  God bless you. 

Helping with the laundry.  Again.  Hey, if she WANTS to help, who am *I* to deny her the opportunity???

Which reminds me of a funny conversation we had last night:

Whitney: Mommy, come pway!!!

Mommy: Ok, Whitter.  What do you want to play?

Whitney: Wawn-dweee!!

Mommy: Oh, Whitney, Mommy plays laundry every day.  Let's play something else.

Whitney: Ok, Mommy.  Heeya da vap-uum!

Mommy: Oh, well....Mommy vacuums a lot, too, Honey.  (Thinking to myself: How long til I can get her to play "Happy Hour"?!?!)

I used to struggle with the amount of television our toddler watches, but I firmly believe the RIGHT shows can actually help a child learn about emotions and develop vocabulary.  Disney movies have been on queue a lot lately, while we wait for the weather to warm up.  Whitney LOOOVES all the Toy Story movies, and has recently fallen head over heels in love with some of the Disney princesses....which just makes me the happiest mommy on the planet. :) PRINCESS STUFF!!! YEAH!!!!!!

Here she is watching Beauty and the Beast...Jessie, Buzz, and Woody are never far away though.

And as the cabin fever reached new heights, I dragged the slide in from the porch to help her get some energy out.  Of course, it just became a new, cool place to watch Snow White, her second new favorite :)

Getting a closer look :)

And while Whitney was fine sliding and watching Snow White, this Momma was determined to zap the boredom by making a "fort".  Ok, so it sorta sucks.  I know.  But it was fun! And ya gotta start somewhere! I was inspired by the article in Family Fun magazine, where some dad wrote in to suggest using binder clips to create bigger, better tents and forts.  That dad rocks. 

After some time hangin' in the fort (pretend I remembered to take pictures of Bailey and Whitney in the tent together....imagine it in your head.  It was cute.  Sorry I dropped the ball on the picture-taking. Seriously...really cute.), Whitney and I rocked out to some tunes.  Really? She just found my ipod and decided she wanted to press the buttons over and over and over and over.  

Dance party USA at the Bass house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

DJ Jazzy Whitney 

So there ya have it.  Some of the fun from the first two weeks of 2011.  See what I mean? Nothing exciting or  truly outrageous.  Just life getting in the way of me bloggin' again :) 

On a personal note, I am determined to get back in shape....again.  I know I could probably look back to my first few posts of 2010 and hear the same tune, but I MEAN it this time.  We are heading to a tropical island resort in just 8 short weeks, and while Ive lost 5 lbs in the first two weeks, I need to stay focused and get serious.  When Whitney naps, I usually blog or at least upload pics.  Now, when Whitney naps, I workout or run.  It feels good to be active again, and Im hoping to see some real results from my calorie counting and exercise.  Eric has joined me in the battle of the bulge, so its easier for both of us and keeping it fun so far. Wish us luck! :) 

This week should get us back into the swing of things.  The weather is warming up (70s predicted all week), we have gym classes again and a play date schedule for Thursday.  We are bringing our besties to Disney on Friday, so they are sleeping over Thursday night so we can get an early start on Friday morning.  Whitney's best friend, Faith turns two on Friday, and we couldnt imagine a better way to spend her birthday than with her family and best friend at the Magic Kingdom :) So I promise to try my best to capture alllllll that cuteness and blog it out for your viewing pleasure :)