70 degrees in November?!

Seriously, can you believe it?! I thought we just lucked out last weekend and it'd be snowing by now, but nope, it's been in the 70's for three days. Amazing.

On Friday morning, I managed to "kuh-KUNK" into a gutter and get a flat tire that I didn't know was flat until I drove another fifty streets down the road. I pulled into a parking lot and a lady let Ayla and I wait in her place of business (which wasn't even open for the day) while we waited for my dad to come save us. It's so refreshing ro run into nice people. It was a chiropractic clinic so there was even a corner full of toys that kept Ayla busy. Downside? We think she got a rash on her fingers that transferred to her face from whatever was crawling on those toys that a million other kids have played with. Gross, I know. I'm trying not to think about it. We called her doctor's office but they were not concerned at all...no fever, no other reactions, no problem.

We had a very busy Saturday...we were running all over the place and Ayla did so well. We even went out for breakfast with no meltdown. Dean and I were both able to eat our entire meals without having to wrestle her. Rare event these days. I don't know if our busy morning riled her up too much or what because she--Would. Not. Nap. She usually goes down between 11:00am and 12:30ish (at the latest)...but at roughly 1:15pm, she was rolling around on the floor bear-hugging Elmo while she giggled her little heart out. All I could do was sit there and shake my head in wonderment. After three tries, she was finally out a little before 2:00pm. Crazy baby. Before having a few friends over for the Husker game in the evening, we strapped Ayla into her wagon and went on a long walk to enjoy every last bit of the beautiful day.

Today, Dean played stay-at-home-daddy for a few hours so I could do some Christmas shopping. I had already purchased a lot of things in the past few weeks...just things I'd find here and there, but I really wanted to go out for a longer period of time and get most of it done. I'm proud to say that I'm 90% done! My goal is to finish before Thanksgiving. Every year, I say I'm going to get all of my shopping done early, but it never fails...the day before Christmas, I'm still trying to find that last gift. By that point, I'm annoyed, stressed, and frustrated...pretty much the complete opposite of what the Christmas spirit should be. Growing up, I remember being so incredibly excited for the holidays...the entire month before Christmas felt so special. There was just a different feeling in the air and I loved it. As I've gotten older, I've let the stresses of everyday life get in the way and somehow, that feeling has started fading away...don't get me wrong, it's still my absolute favorite time of the year...it's just...different. So anyways, I'm rambling. Long story, short--I want to be done with my shopping so I can concentrate on really enjoying the entire month with Ayla. I want her to grow up with that excited I-can't-wait-til-Christmas feeling. :)