Wise Family Christmas Card

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Winter Pics

We did it! We finally snapped a few Christmas card worthy shots of Parker! WOO HOO! I took him to Blakeney (outdoor shopping center) where there is a huge tree and told him to RUN! I chased him and snapped shots when I was able. Of course the Christmas tree isn't really in most of the card worthy shots BUT they still looked winterish enough to use. This year I decided we'd only send pictures of Parker. Getting Daniel to smile in a picture is like pulling teeth and I'm not a huge fan of the "is she pregnant or is she fat" shots. PLUS... lets be honest, we drag the cuteness level way down... Parker is a star all by himself! Next year we'll have the challenge of getting good pictures of Parker AND Avery! (2 1/2 and 6ish month!) WOW! So fun, though!
Here are some of my favorite options for this year's card:

 We attempted a picture of the 2 of us... didn't work out so well!

 And... he's done!

Love him! Speaking of him.. he's pretty much over me blogging right now. I'm being summoned to chase him with the ball popper. Bring on the headache! Whew. I keep saying I'm going to accidentally drop that toy off at a consignment store. I'm pretty close to actually doing it. If you own one, you know what I mean! ;)

Bad Blogger!

I did it again... I was a bad blogger and went MIA for 8 days! Ekk! Quick recap:

Parker and I visited my grandparents for 3 days this week. We had a blast and I really couldn't have asked Parker to be any better than he was. I was so proud of him! He was a DELIGHTFUL car rider and quietly watched "Dabo" (Barney) in the back seat both there and back. Why I didn't purchase a car DVD player quit some time ago is beyond me.... worth every penny!

I came home to a disaster of a house.... I had to make a path to the kitchen through my husband's sea of cardboard boxes! He bought himself a computer for his Christmas/30th birthday present and heaven forbid he buy a Dell. No... he built his own. Which apparently requires 4 UPS deliveries a day for a week. I will say, I'm really impressed at his ability to build his own computer but man does Newegg (website) put tiny parts in gigantic boxes! Parker is in HEAVEN with all these "airplanes," "houses" and "cars." I love his precious imagination. Tonight he is finishing it up and I pray the boxes find their way to the recycling center soon. Daniel and Parker; however, think it's awesome!

Tonight I finally tackled Mt. Saint Laundry. It got a bit out of control. I am wonderful at washing... not so much at the folding and putting it up part unless I do it the second it comes out of the dryer.... which clearly was not the case... for days. BUT now it's done and that feels good!

I think Daniel knew in advance that he was about to take over the kitchen table with computer parts and boxes so to appease me, he found my dream double stroller (Baby Jogger City Select) on end of year sale and bought it for me. :) YAY. I love saving just shy of $200 on an item I was going to buy anyways at full price eventually! I suppose it has helped make me slightly more patient with the clutter. Check out all those combinations!

Daniel knows the way to my heart.... coffee. Well this week I became the proud owner of.... a Mr. Coffee Frappe maker. I'm not normally cool with appliances as gifts to show affection but this one was a winner. I'm in love! I have been brewing tasty treats now for 3 days and can honestly say the Indian Land Starbucks is probably going to have to file bankruptcy. If you still need something to put on your Christmas list, I VERY HIGHLY recommend this! It's easy to use, quick to clean and the drinks turn out great! I also love the recipe book it came with and have started to venture out and try my own concoctions all of which have been yummy! Isn't she lovely?

It's that time of year again.... Christmas cards! Parker's face has finally cleared up from his reaction so I wanted to go ahead and get a card-worthy shot but between being 20 months old, having 0 attention span for pictures and teething those nasty K9's the pictures are far from card-worthy. I'm giving it one more shot tomorrow and if it doesn't work, I have 1 picture that's my backup plan.
Side Note to all you snap happy moms: If you think putting your child in a bathtub full of bubbles and ball ornaments... think again. It sounds cute but who knew ornaments combust when they get waterlogged and warm? hmm... I don't remember that being on the ornament box! Parker thought it was hilarious and thus my 1 almost card-worthy shot but cleaning that up was no fun!

This is not the card worthy shot but it is cute nonetheless! (pre-combustion)

Lastly, and most excitingly, check the baby blog for more details BUT... it's 100%.... we're having a GIRL! YAY! Miss. Avery Madison is due May 12th, 2011! We couldn't be more excited!

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

Recently, I saw a post on a friend's blog about 50 FREE Shutterfly Christmas Cards for blogging about how awesome Shutterfly is! That is right up my alley! I am a lover of ALL things Shutterfly! If you're on my snail mail list, you probably get a Shutterfly Card of Parker for most major holidays... including my all time favorite of Parker's naked hiney with a big lipstick kiss planted on it for Valentine's Day. I started looking at all of my options for Christmas cards and I'm at a loss. There are SOOO many cute ones! Here are my current front runners:

I like the simplicity of this one AND it's perfect if I only get 1 good shot of us as a family which is definitely a possibility with a squirmy wormy toddler! Plus I love the polka dots and initial!

This one is great if I get a few good shots and can't decide which to use. I frequently have this problem as well! What mom doesn't think every picture of their baby is the best picture ever? Once again, I love the initial, the use of brown and Christmas colors and the date stamp.

This one is also a good option. We have had such an amazing year, it's tough to just sign a card, "Love the Wise Family." I've got lots to say so this would be perfect!

Lastly, this is classy and I love it! Something about black, white and red is just pretty. This card is also a great option if Parker's face hives still aren't cleared up. Skin always looks prettier in black and white ... unless you have perfect olive skin (jealous!).... not me and my family! We're more Twilightish.

Decisions, Decisions. I'm excited to get started on them!

My favorite Christmas gift is the photo book I make every year for our parents and grandparents. Of course, they always turn out so cute, I have to have one printed for myself too! Uploading photos is quick and editing the photos is easy... even for me and I'm a self-proclaimed technologically challenged individual!

Last year for Mother's Day I made the cutest small calendar for my mom to carry around with her. She LOVED it! I think all of her friends have probably been forced to look at it more than once! This year, I'm making one for family members for Christmas. Who doesn't need a yearly calender and EVEN more importantly... who doesn't need one filled with pictures of Parker?!

Guess what's RIGHT around the corner? Parker's 2nd Birthday! Yet another opportunity to make more Shutterfly invitations! Why make your own invitations when Shutterfly can do it for you?! I'm all about simplicity when it comes get togethers! PLUS... they're SO cute! I haven't decided on a theme yet but I love the colors and layout of this one!

Oh my little boy is growing up too quickly!!!

Blogging buddies, if you're interested in blogging for Shutterfly, click here. It's really simple! You just fill out a short form, wait for an email response and then start blogging! Then, they send you a promo code for 50 FREE Christmas Cards! :) Who doesn't love that!?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We're hoping to snap some Christmas Card winners tomorrow!