Big Girl "Princess" Bed

We have been having a hard time getting Paige to sleep all night since we transitioned her to a toddler bed. After 5months or so, we were feeling like we had a newborn again. As we talked about why she kept waking up, we realized that she is a fitful sleeper. The toddler bed is small and the little guard did nothing to prevent her from falling out of bed. It was not a long fall since the toddler bed was low to the ground, but it did wake her up and that would cause her to come to us. We knew that was probably not the only problem, but it was one of them.

So we put out the word that we were looking for a twin size bed frame and mattress set for free or cheap since we can not afford to buy one new. Our neighbor offered us their son's old bed frame. Justin was excited because he loves "Vintage" things. And my friend Katie's mom & dad were moving and had a twin mattress set they were getting rid of. It was in great condition, and was from a home that we trust- which was awesome.

The night before we picked up the mattress, we took some of Paige's Christmas/Birthday money we had put aside and took her to Wal-Mart. She picked out a princess comforter and sheet set. She is pretty obsessed with the princesses right now.

Justin picked up the mattress set and we began to set everything up. We put Paige to work. She helped carry the stuff in and even helped build her bed. She was really excited about her new bed, but was not happy about her toddler bed going away. For now, we still have the toddler bed in her room as she gets used to the new bed. We hope to break down in the next couple of weeks.

The first night, she only woke up once and we thought this was going to be a good thing. But the next couple of nights were bad. She was up several times. We were worried about her spending the weekend with my parents. But she slept great for them. And the last 3 nights, she has stayed in bed from the time we put her down, to around 6AM. Lets just hope this trend continues.

Pickling Day

I took a couple of pictures, but we left the camera at Grandma's house so I will try to post them when I get them. A couple of weeks ago, Justin, Paige & I headed to his Grandma's house to learn how to make her famous pickles, pickled (Spicy) green beans and pickled eggs. We bought 3 bags of small cucumbers from Costco and 2 large bags of green beans.

I have to admit, it was a lot simpler than we thought. And we didn't have to wait 6 weeks to eat them. Justin opened our first jar a few days later. We will probably be making them once every month or so because we just love pickled things in this household. Plus, they make great gifts.

We gave two jars to our friend Mike for his birthday. We should have given his wife some for her birthday too. She admitted that when he was away on a business trip she almost ate an entire jar. She said that she didn't even put them on a plate. She just opened the jar in the sink and shoveled them down. She couldn't stop. Funny thing is that they are pretty spicy and she doesn't eat spicy things. She said it was painful but so good.

We plan on just spoiling our friends and family for a while, but who knows? If we need some extra income maybe we will start selling "Ranch Grandma's Pickles". We are just grateful that she was able to pass on a great tradition to us! We did tell her that we still want pickles and green beans for Christmas. Just because we can make them, doesn't mean we don't still want her to spoil us too!

Conversations with Paige

I want to start this off with a funny thing she said last night during bath time. She said "My little boobies are getting bigger." Justin came out and told me about it and we both started laughing (She could not see us of course). I have some interesting conversations ahead of me.

Our neighbor, Betty, is really sick. She is in the hospital, and her daughter told us that she has stage 4 cancer. I am not sure why she is in the hospital and I don't know what is going to happen. Betty has been so special to us. She brought a gift over shortly after Paige was born and always remembers her on her birthday & Christmas. We had no idea she was so sick.

Yesterday afternoon, Paige had heard that she was sick and of course she told Justin that she wanted to make her a get well card (She has big heart). I am not quite sure of the conversation that followed, but I do know what it contained sparked a deep conversation at bedtime. It went a little like this.

Paige: What's wrong with Betty?
Me: She is sick
Paige: Why?
Me: I don't know- she just is
Paige Why?
Me: Well honey, sometimes people just get sick.
Paige: Why? (You can guess I felt the need to try to end this conversation)
Me: Sometimes when people get older, they get sick and go to the hospital
Paige: And sometimes they die? (This stems from the earlier conversation)
Me: Yes, everyone dies eventually.
Paige: Is Betty going to die?
Me: I hope not, why don't we pray for her.
Paige: OK MOm, but why is she sick?
Me: I am sure she just caught a bug (I didn't realize this was not going to end the conversation- only make it longer.
Paige: A bug? What kind of bug? Does it have wings? Does it fly? Does it crawl?
Me: Oh no, it is not a real bug. It is just something people say when they get sick.
Paige: Oh, Chelsie caught a bug and she got better. Is Betty going to get better?
Me: I think the best thing we can do is pray for her. It is time to go to sleep.

I really hope Betty gets better, but even if she does this time- being older with stage 4 cancer means she may not have much time left. And on top of that, Clo-e is really looking bad these days. Paige tried to climb on her (Like she always does) last night and she practically collapsed. Justin thinks we really could be near the end (She is almost 17 years old which is old for a large pit-bull). So, I have the suspicion that we are in for a few more serious conversations about death in the near future. Keep me in your prayers that I choose the words carefully an appropriately for a 3 year old.

Day two-

Last night was a tough one right about the time I was settling in to get some sleep myself. Paige has a cold, so that is not helping. During my 3rd trip into her bedroom (If you know me, you know this is unusual for us. Typically Justin tends to her because we have found that she just wants more of me in the middle of the night- where as she will almost always go back to sleep quickly if he goes in), I found her on the floor (Again). I looked at her little toddler bed and thought she has too many stuffed animals in her bed. No wonder she if falling off. So I moved her mattress to the floor, took all of them off and tucked her in. This worked for all of 15 minutes before she started screaming about how she wanted her mattress back on her bed.

I am also concerned that some of her night waking may be caused by some nightmares/night terrors. She typically is screaming out and seems to be asleep but upset about something. Or maybe falling out of bed scares her. I just hope we figure it out so we can all start sleeping better again.

Today, at dinner we tried a new "game". I had two bowls with 4 m&ms each. One was put in front of my plate and the other was put in front of hers. Every time she displayed good table manners (Waiting until we pray to grab her food, thanking daddy for making dinner, putting her plate in the sink when she was done, saying please, etc) I would put one of my m&ms in her bowl. Every time she displayed bad table manners (Touching me with her dirty hands, saying something that was mean, etc) she had to pay me an m&m. When dinner is over she gets to eat what is left for dessert. I have to say, today was the first day she only touched me one time during dinner! I hope we are making progress.

The living room wasn't as much of a disaster today so we didn't really have to help her during her clean-up "Game". I did have to hold the bag open so she could put the blocks in it. And I did walk her through the toys she needed to pick-up. But she is only 3, so she will get better with time. And her reward tonight was playing HiHo Cherryo with Justin & me. Then we had a little game of freeze dance to burn off any extra energy.

We also started discussing her doing chores in the near future. We talked about what chores she thought she could do. She suggested washing the dishes (Standing on her stool she insisted) but I suggested that putting her plate in the sink when she was done. I plan on making a chart (with pictures). I will put brushing her teeth and hair on the chart, but the only rewards for these will be the stickers. Her chores will be : Helping to make her bed, putting all her dishes in the sink when she is done with them, picking up her toys (All daily), and dusting once a week. She will earn a sticker for every chore she completes without complaining. At the end of a one or two week time period, she will get paid a nickel for every sticker she earned for her chores.

To help teach her about money, we are going to get three jars and decorate them. When she gets her money we will divide it as follows : 10% into the giving/tithing jar, 10% into the savings jar, and the rem 80% into her spending jar. When the saving jar is full, we will open her first savings account with it. The spending jar will come in handy when she wants a toy. She can spend her own money now, and I don't have to be the bad guy that always says no. She will earn a maximum of $.95-$1.10 a week (depending on whether we make Sunday a day of rest) for a maximum of around $50 a year. Not bad for a 3 year old I think.

We may adjust/add more chores as we go along, but I am really excited about this learning opportunity we have. Better to start teaching them now, then wait until they too old to really teach.

My strong willed child

I think I knew from the day she was born that my daughter was going to be a strong willed and challenging child. She was born the morning of my 10 year High School reunion that I was really looking forward to going to. It was almost as if she came out screaming "I am going to change your priorities". And when she was an infant, she would not sleep on her own for more than 20 minutes at a time. Looking back, I would have been better off if I had invested in a good sling so I could carry her while she slept and still accomplished things. And when we had to "train" her to sleep in her crib instead of with us (Neither of us was getting much sleep at this point) it took 2 1/2 months until she finally slept through the night. We were consistent and the books all said it would work in a couple of weeks max, but she was a fighter.

So, I have learned over the years that I can get some great ideas from a book- but I am going to have to be creative when disciplining her. And if the "experts" tell you it will take a day or a week, I know it will take my daughter 20X that. I know that someday I am going to be glad she is strong willed. When she grows up and makes good choices. When she grows up and becomes the independent woman I know she is going to be. But right now, there are some days that it is just so difficult.

I have started reading two books in an effort to get some new ideas on how we can discipline her in a way that will actually shape her into a toddler who listens & obeys the adults in her life. My parents have always used love & logic and we have watched a video and it did give us some good tools, but I am always looking for some new tools.

The first book is "Creative Correction" by Lisa Whelchel (Blair from the facts of life). She spoke at a lady's brunch at my church and I am willing to get creative at this point. I have read most of the book so far and I think I will have to go back through it and pull out my favorite ideas so I can begin making them part of our parenting arsenal (Which also includes getting my husband on board). The second book is "The New Strong Willed Child" by James Dobson. I am only a couple of chapters in but I know this book is going to change the way I view my daughter (in a good way).

The funniest part of reading these books so far is hearing the stories and realizing the parts of me that were like that. I have always been a strong willed child, but I think it really came out when I was a teenager. I realize how much I put my parents through and have already started praying over my daughter, hoping that she will not be like me. I want to encourage the positive parts of her personality and hope that we can curve some of the negative behaviors.

So today, I started with a new routine in the evening. We have had a hard time getting her to pick-up her toys. Justin typically tries to force her to clean up a huge mess by herself, which is often a little much for a 3 year old to tackle alone. And I tend to try to do it with her, but find myself doing way more than I anticipated. So now, when we are done with dinner (About an hour before bedtime) we play a "game". I turn off the TV (If it is on), set a timer for 15 minutes and we all start picking up toys. Justin & I are picking up some of the mess to begin with, but will do less and less as she gets better. We encourage her by helping her remember where certain items belong and also remind her of the time that is counting down. Once the timer goes off- the game is over. If all of the toys have been picked up- She gets the privilege of watching a show before bed, and also gets to stay up 5 minutes later. If there are any toys left, she does not get to watch a TV show and will have to go to bed early to be calculated at 1 minute for each toy up to 10 minutes.

She responded well tonight. We are also working on keeping her in her bed at night. She will get a small toy out of our special toy box if she sleeps all night and does not get out of bed/come into our room. So far it has kept her in bed when we are putting her down (which was also a problem), but not the middle of the night. But we will keep offering it until I come up with a better idea.

We are also trying to put a stop to her nose picking problem. So the new rule is, if we catch her picking her nose- we take a toy away and put it up. Every day she starts new and gets her toys back- giving her a fresh start to the day. I think this approach is worth a shot, but we will see how it works. She doesn't seem to really care about anything when it comes to picking her nose- it is almost like it is an addiction.

So, hopefully I will be able to report that these new ideas have been a success. I know we are taking on a lot at one time, but we definitely need to teach her these things. Keep us in prayer, we are going to need it. And when she becomes a teenager, I think I will need all of you to come over and pray extra hard for her. We are in for a fun ride- but I guess a strong willed mother is a good match for a strong willed daughter. Either that or we will have a mighty big fireworks show.

Paigisms

Every once in a while I just need to recap some of the funny things she says:

- Today I looked at her and she had that smile that says she is up to something. She told me to look the other way. I knew it was because she was picking her nose. I said, "Are you ever going to stop picking your nose? It is so gross." She said. "Yes on Monday, or Thursday". If only I could hold her to it.

- The other day after visiting my mom's friends horse, they were on their way home. My mom was asking if she remembered the horse's names. She said, "Was it bug?". Paige replied, "No, silly, that's what Zane's (A friend of hers) mommy calls him.". My mom said, "What does Nana call you?"(expecting the response love,love). Paige told her "Sometimes you call me Mikaila (My sister)". What can you say? It is so true.

-She asked for a piece of broccoli (which she doesn't like). I gave her one and asked if she wanted butter. She replied "Everybody knows you need butter with broccoli."

-I slept in until 8am the other day. When I got up she says "Mom, why do you like to sleep when its daytime? Are you a teenager? Because Chelsie and KK are teenagers and they sleep late in the daytime."

-She had a balloon that had lost its ability to float. She was playing with it and she says "Mom, I'm trying to make it work, but it won't listen to me."

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

I just signed up for a new service that will allow me to get full size samples, enter contests and other things. I am just now exploring it, but will report back when I understand it more. It is free to sign up, so why not?

Oh- And this is part of my first mission- If you click on this link (You don't have to join) I will get points. Soon I will figure out what the points will get me, but help a girl out won't you?

First Official Day of Preschool

We were able to find a way to enroll Paige in a preschool/daycare this January. She is going to Busy Bees Preschool which is not too far from our house. She has 2 full days (7-6 or whenever we pick her up) a week. This gives my mom an extra day off which is nice for her. I am back to work 5 days a week in order to help cover the cost of school (Which isn't cheap even with only 2 days).

She was supposed to start the first week of January, except she broke out in this crazy rash on her hands/feet/arms/legs 2 days before. We took her to the Dr. and they weren't really sure what it was, most likely a viral rash. Isn't that what they say when they are clueless? Because it was unclear what it was, we had to treat it like it was contagious and delay her start by a week.

She was pretty bummed (She had gone two days in December while my mom was out of town as a trial run and LOVED it) but we took her to pick-out her lunch box and that cheered her up some. She is doing great so far. She doesn't know any of the names of the other kids (But it has only been 2 days and kids at this age tend to just call each other "friend"), but she says that "Miss Jane" (One of her teachers) is great and is her good friend at school.

Driving Maniac

Justin took Paige out right away to try out her new car and the battery died about 2 minutes into it. But after a couple of days, the battery works like a champ. However, Justin is one of those people who only has two speeds "Superfast" or Asleep. So, he didn't think anything of his 3 year old going on the highest speed in her little car before she really got the hang of handling it. She went full speed into a curb. Good thing I made sure she was buckled in and had her helmet on by that point.

She is a much safer/slower driver now. They drive up to the end of our side of the street and back almost every day. She loves having her own little car. I am looking forward to having a little friend over and she can take them for a ride.

Christmas Day

The night before Christmas we were at my parents for the Annual Pidgeon Family Skype call & Gift exchange. It is always complicated doing a gift exchange with over the internet. A large chunk of the Pidgeon Family is gathered together and then there is a laptop connected with us, and a laptop connected with my Uncle Tim & his family in Georgia. Lots of fun being able to see everyone, but confusing just the same.

After the call we headed back to our house. We tracked Santa on the TV (He was over Jamaica). Justin & Paige sprinkled the reindeer food on our front lawn. We put out cookies & milk (With our new Santa plate & glass set from my grandma) and tucked Paige into bed. We told her she needed to climb into bed with us when she woke up and I needed to get up and get things ready before she could get out.

At 7am she came into our bed. We were hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep, but that is a lot to expect from an excited 3 year old. I came out, turned on all the lights and got the video camera ready.

I called for her and started recording. We checked the cookie plate first which was near our fireplace. Santa had only eaten 3 of the 5 cookies so she was a little upset about that. Then we went to the tree (In our dining room) and she saw the big ride on car with the stockings in it. She knew that car was in our garage under a blanket as she had mentioned to me last week so the Glide bike we won was now the "Santa" present. She was looking at the stockings and the car and she whispered that she liked it. When we told her to see what Santa had brought, she just got upset that he did not bring her the Tinkerbell lantern she asked for.

We got her over that and she opened her stocking stuffers and a few gifts we had from friends & family here. Justin took her to ride on her new car but the battery only lasted a couple of minutes (We had not fully charged it the night before). He tried to get her to ride the bike, but she wanted nothing to do with that bike.

She played with some of her new stuff and we headed to my parent's house. We had some yummy breakfast pizza and apple sauce loaf (Christmas traditions). Then we settled into my parents living room and started the process of opening gifts (takes a few hours).

Paige of course wanted to play with everything she opened and got a little overwhelmed. We got so many things we wanted & needed and felt so blessed by our family this year. It was also fun to give my sisters and mom some things Paige & I made for them at color me mine. Chelsie & Mikaila both got nice, hand painted mugs with Paige's handprint on them. By hand painted I mean by a 3 year old too! And mom got a cookie plate that says "Nanas never run out of hugs, kisses or cookies."

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying our gifts in PJ"s. We also had some of our favorite foods (Cheese ball, meatballs, spinach dip and veggies) and my mom made something called Vegetable Pizza which could be my next potluck entree. We played a game of Yahtzee while Paige was napping. It was just how Christmas should be.

When we got home, we played with almost everything Paige got for Christmas and put away a few things too. My parents got her some great games like "Don't break the ice", "Don't spill the beans", "Ants in your pants" and "HiHo Cherrios". We are loving this new age and it will be fun to have game nights now.

And Justin got me the 3 bin laundry sorter I really wanted. There were a lot of great presents, but that one will make my life so much easier so it made me really happy.

Huffman Family Christmas Eve

As has become tradition, we headed to Justin's old house (Currently where his brother Dan lives) for Christmas Eve Day. Since Paige, Justin & I were all sick (I still need to write a catch up post on that) the weekend before, we did not make it down for our niece Teagan's 1st b-day party or our planned get together with our Friends Evan/Danielle and their 2 year old Maelee.

So we left a little early and stopped by their house when we got there. Unfortunately (for us only) Evan was working so we did not get to see the whole family. Maelee showed us their backyard where they have their chickens (one was recently attacked by a raccoon or something).
The we opened up presents and gave them ours.



We played for a few minutes and then we headed over to May ave for some fun with family. There were two special things about this years get together. Justin's dad & his wife Caroline were able to join us from Oregon/Alaska which is the first time since I have known Justin. I know it was nice for Paige to see her Grandpa. And Justin's oldest brother, Stan, was also there and was really engaging with the family. He has been battling a lot of demons since his mom died (When I really started becoming part of their family) and hasn't spent a lot of Christmases with us. I know that meant a lot to all of us, but most of all to his two kids Tyler & Joseph.

Michelle & Dan served a nice Prime Rib, and all of the fixings to go along with it. They always do a great job with the food and I know it is a lot of work, so it is appreciated.

Paige enjoyed hanging out with all of her cousins (Especially Alyssa). We opened presents and just had a great day of family time and conversations. And Justin's Grandma made Justin his favorite Pickled Green Beans and me her homemade pickles. We could not ask for better gifts from her and are reminded that we really need to schedule a pickling day so we can learn her techniques and carry on this tradition throughout the generations.

The only thing that could have made the day better is if our oldest nephew Keith had joined us. We are not really sure why, but he did not make it down and we were really sad about it. Hopefully next year we will be back to normal.

Paige * Aylssa hanging out

The boys were all playing around with Dan's Rock Crawler

Justin & His Grandma Rose

Me & Teagan

Getting Ready to open presents

Teagan loved the vanilla yogurt raisins we gave her!

Christmas Video

We woke up on Christmas morning and recorded Paige checking out what Santa brought. This is the funny video we got. The whole post is coming next.

Paige's 3 year old Check-up

Paige had her 3 year old check-up today.

She is 37 5/8 inches Tall (75th %)
33 lbs (50th %)

The Dr is still estimating that she will be around 5'5" if she grows at this rate, but she thinks she may have a late growth spurt. Especially after explaining that Paige is almost an inch taller than Mikaila was at 4 years old and now Mikaila is almost as tall as me. Time will tell.

She is doing everything she is supposed to be doing and answered all of the Dr's questions.

She had her eyes and hearing tested as well and she did great!

Also, the Dr had me take her to get some blood drawn to test for lead. Mostly because Justin works in construction. She was such a champ- Didn't shed a single tear or even cry out.

Paige at 3 Years

Here are some of the things she is doing now.

She has become a very loud backseat driver: I often hear the following:
"Mom- You need to catch up to those cars" (I asked which ones) "All of them, your car is the fastest"
"Mom- Why aren't you going?- The light is Green"

She loves to play "Go Fish" but doesn't fully understand the concept of the game yet.

Quote while decorating the tree "Mom- I love decorating the tree with you- It makes me feel so grown up"

According to Paige "All princesses shouldn't be scared", Why you ask? Because their papa's get rid of the monsters and apparently, so does Aunt Chelsie.

She enjoyed Hawaii so much that she pretty much tells us she is going back there every day. But often she is going on a scooter with her daddy. She doesn't understand that you can only go by plane or boat.

We went to the Dr for her flu shot. She was ready for a shot in her arm, and when the Dr decided that she should get the mist, she was upset. Mostly because she wanted a band aid. The Dr. gave her one and she insisted that we put it on her nose. That's where she got her shot she said.

She is starting to be potty trained- Will hopefully finish that soon.

She loves to make mail and put in envelopes. That is funny because I used to make mail boxes out of paper and then make mail to put in them.

That's all I can think of right now. I will try to remember to add to this as she says funny things.

Santa Without Tears!

This year, she went to Santa, sat on his lap, talked to him and took a picture with NO TEARS!

Christmas Cookies

I decided that I should try this baking with Paige thing again. This time I bought some refrigerated sugar cookie dough to help make less of a mess. We rolled it out and cut out shapes. However, I could not find my Xmas cookie cutters at first. We made some hearts, butterflies and little men. I did find a snowman and tree cutter finally so we made some of those.

While I was baking the cookies, we ate lunch- which helped take her mind off of the cookies for a minute. Then, while the cookies were cooling- I was making the icing. And She was dumping out the jar of sprinkles we just bought on a plate and the table. I finally finished the icing and we decorated them. She must have eaten 5 cookies or more because she kept sneaking them.

We had a good time, but my dining room was a mess when we were done.

Paige's 1st REAL Dentist Visit

We have actually been taking Paige to the Dentist every six months since sometime after she turned 1. But all of those visits have involved her laying in my lap, the dentist looking and counting her teeth. No cleanings.

We knew that this visit was going to be a big one. The dentist had told us to buy one of those electric spin brushes for kids to prepare her for the sound. And She also recommended a Dora goes to the Dentist book. She was ready!

They took her in, and actually did ex-rays. She did pretty good, but couldn't do the ones in the back- her mouth was just a little too small. But she listen well and she stayed still- which was a big deal.

Then they took her to a chair, cleaned her teeth, flossed and had a fluoride treatment. The Dentist came over, looked at her teeth and she was done. I was so proud of how well she did. They think that next time I may not even need to come back with her.

Christmas Tree Lane

Sun-Maid had their 98th Annual Meeting on December 4th. Every year, we are invited to come and work and attend. But this is the first year I have come. We went up on Friday Afternoon, checked into a hotel. I am pretty sure I stayed at that hotel for Summit West back in 1993 or 1994.

After checking in, I met up with my other co-workers and we went to Christmas Tree Lane. It is a street about 3 miles long in Fresno. The city decorates the huge trees that line the street, and the rest of the gorgeous houses go all out. Most nights in December you can "drive" down the street one way with your windows down to listed to the music and enjoy the lights. But two nights a year, they close the street to car traffic. You take a bus to the start and walk back to your car. It was beautiful.

After the walk, we went to a restaurant called Wasabi- Off the hook. It was a modernly decorated Japanese restaurant. The food was good and we had a great time.

The next morning, we had to be up and ready by 7am (On a Saturday!). We had breakfast and headed over to the convention hall. There were some great displays and food from around the world with Raisins in it. I was working in the growers store and became the "Basket lady" but it was fun. We went to the meeting (Which is for our growers. We are a Co-Op of Raisin Growers- Not a corporation), then had lunch. I worked in the store for a couple more hours and headed home.

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we decided we should get our Christmas Tree. The weekends in December were booking up quickly and we weren't sure when we would be able to get one. Plus, we needed a little Christmas around our house.

But it rained all Saturday so we had to move our photo shoot for Paige's birthday to Sunday and we didn't feel like tree shopping in the rain either. On Sunday, Justin was taking our nephews back to Boulder Creek (The mountains). I was taking Paige for her pictures. There is a great Christmas Tree farm there, so I gave Justin a $50 budget, told him I did not want a tree that was too sparse and let him pick-out the tree on his own.

When he got home, I was so excited to see my tree and he brings out 3 trees. I thought that was odd since one usually costs between $30-$50, until I looked at them and realized that they were quite small. They reminded me of the Charlie Brown Tree. Turns out he had cut them down himself from somewhere in the mountains and had not spent any $.

At first I was pretty upset. I had to go to Walgreens to buy Paige a little tree for her room since she wanted one, and calm down a bit. The Christmas Tree is so important to me, and I have a lot of ornaments. I came home, and we decorated the tree the best we could. Only one string of lights, and most of the ornaments have to be hung near the trunk. I picked out my favorite ornaments. Paige helped me some.

Ultimately, the tree is not what I pictured in my head, but it was free. And these days, free is good. I am grateful that he was trying to save us money. Hopefully next year, we can afford to have me pick out the tree again.