Child torture...read more to find out about it!

Good Morning and a very happy Friday to ya'll! Yesterday Rylie woke up early, I took a shower and we decided to get some Christmas shopping done. We went out about 10:o0 am, or maybe a bit earlier. We hit Kohls, to return a few things and pick up some others. Then we went to Gander Mountain, where I didn't find what I was looking for, blah. Dick's Sporting Good's was next, I found 1 of things I was looking for, but it was twice the price I was willing to pay. Then it was Target, where I didn't find what I was looking for, but did pick up a couple bed pillows and Rylie tried on some Christmas dresses. At Wal-Mart I finally found a few things I was looking for and at a decent price. (Sorry to the American workers, but we are on a budget here and those cheap prices really help us out.)

After paying at Wal-Mart we wandered over to the little Subway there and had lunch. I was pleased to see Rylie actually eat most of her sandwich. She is such a picky eater and even when she does eat it doesn't seem like enough to fill a mouse. (See lunch time photo's below. LOL)

Then we went to our last store, the new Burlington Coat Factory. I found several gifts there. Rylie tried on about 6 dresses there. She is such a girly girl, lol. She loves clothes and she loves to wear dresses. I need to get as many pictures of her at this stage as possible. I am sure there will come a day when she refuses to wear dresses. Right, Samantha? LOL

The dress she loved the best, and me too actually, is so pretty. It's a scary thing for me though as it is all cream colored. I keep picturing the first glass of red fruit punch going down the front of it. YIKES! What did I do? Well, I couldn't help it. She looked so pretty. Every time she went out of the dressing room, to look in the 3 way mirror, she would do a full spin to see how the dress looked when she twirled. LOL She is way to funny and predictable. You will never guess what the name on the tag of the dress is...too ironic considering who this dress is for. It's made by "Cinderella". How perfect is that?

Okay, here are some pictures of Rylie from our day.



Let me explain a bit about the last picture. A few days ago I wrapped a few presents to put under the tree. I just love the way a tree looks with gifts under it. Well, I was smart enough to only wrap 2 for Rylie and only told her about the 1 wee box (the one you see in the picture). It's just a little $1 puzzle.

Well, that little box has been driving her nuts! She will sit next to the tree and look at it. Then she'll finally pick it up and shake it. Then the nagging begins, "Can I open this? Please, please! Just one. Pleeeeeeease Mom!" Ohmahgosh! LOL I just wanted to encourage that little thing called anticipation...I didn't even consider that even that one tiny box was way too much for a 4 year old to endure for 24 days. LOL We finally told her that if she was very, very good this week that she could open that 1 gift on Friday night. (Yeah, we caved. But hey, it's just a $1 puzzle.)

Well, after finally got home yesterday, around 3:30 pm...ohmahgoodness...did we really spend 5 and 1/2 hours shopping? Whew! Anyway, I was on the phone talking to Daddy and lil' Miss Rylie wandered over to the tree. Yep...adoring her wee gift again. Finally she picked it up and started shaking. LOL I really can't believe she hasn't figured out it was simply a puzzle. It's too funny to watch her face as she contemplates this little wrapped wonder.

I've got to buy more things that make noise when shaken. LOL Ohmahgosh! Did I just kind of admit to wanting to "torture" my child even more? There's no "kind of" about it! Yep...I do want to. LOL

Anyway...so there I am talking to her Daddy and watching her with the wee wrapped wonder whilst she ...did I just say whilst? LOL WHILE she shakes it trying to figure out what it is. Let me just say, that at this point the little box has been under the tree for 3 days and it looks like it's been there a few months. LOL So she's shaking the box, I'm smiling and shaking my head when suddenly she starts "petting" the box. It was too funny! She's just sitting there staring at this precious little box (remember, it's a dollar store puzzle) and petting it as lovingly as if it were her beloved little puppy.

I'm still talking to Daddy while I'm watching this lovable little joy of my life when suddenly I see her raise the box to her face. I think she even sniffed it (did I just mention something about a puppy?) and then suddenly I see her lick it several times! O-H-M-A-H-G-O-S-H!!! Did I just claim this strange little creature as the joy of my life? LOL Yeah...uh...that strange little bit of her personality comes from her fathers side.

Yep...I got me a gift shaker. A gift petter. Even a gift sniffer. But a gift...licker?! She continued to beg me to let her open the gift. I continued to nicely deny her. She finally feel asleep (on my grandma's rocker) holding her wee wrapped wonder. I think she was petting it until she finally feel asleep. LOL Oh, the embarrassing stories that will go with that picture as she grows up.

After dinner Rylie tried on her dress for Daddy and I decided it was time to take some pictures by the tree. I remembered a Photo Challenge and went online to read about it only to find out I had just about an hour to get it entered. I worked on a picture a bit and finally made an entry in my photo journal. It's here if anyone wants to take a peek: My Photo

I wasn't very pleased with the picture I chose or how it looked, so I ended up playing on the computer last night (till about 1:30 am) and got this picture done too.



I just like the way it looks much more. I like the profile of her face and the fact that she is looking directly at the tree and the way the glow of the lights reflect on her face and dress.

Well, later in our evening about 9 pm, or so, I felt bad about dragging that poor child around to all the stores. She came to me and crawled up in my lap and said her head hurt. I felt her forehead and sure enough, my baby is running a low grade fever. I gave her a couple acetaminophen for the pain and fever. Poor baby. I hope she isn't getting the flu.

She was still awake when I went to check on her at mid-night. Just laying there, looking all sad and pitiful, and just breaking my heart. It hadn't yet been quite 4 hours, but she was still in pain, so I gave her a half dose and prayed she could finally get a bit of sleep. I'm gonna go check on my wee one as soon as I get done with this entry. I don't want to wake her though because I'm sure she needs all the sleep she can get. I just pray she feels better today.

Have a good day and I hope you got a wee giggle today from my "gift licker".
Hugs!
Jill Marie

P.S.
I'm thinking about having postcards made with the picture of Rylie and the tree and sending them out as our Christmas cards. I'll have to go to Walgreens and see if they can do that.