Perspective.

Sometimes, I get a little stressed. My Type-A self is slowly mellowing with age - and the fact that I live with a {grown} boy, 4 animals, and a tiny person who somehow has more stuff than all the rest of us combined. But I still have some ideals of perfection. Like trying to be a perfect mom. Wife. Housekeeper. Friend. Daughter.

{Although, to be fair, I am consistently a pretty awesome daughter - are you reading this, mom?}

And the list goes on and on. Sometimes I am pretty successful and feel great about it. But other times, I feel like I am slacking at everything. The house gets messy, I don't have enough time/energy/patience, and I get overwhelmed.

Am I the only one? I think not, but that could be wishful thinking.

But then, there are nights like tonight. Where my daughter and I dance around to Nsync Christmas, and I get her laughing and smiling so big it makes my heart swell. Then my hubs comes in and we all play on the floor together, her sort of rolling around between us. Now Delaney is fast asleep, and I'm drinking hot chocolate plus a splash of peppermint schnapps, blogging, and watching my Thursday night TV shows.

Productivity is important, but these are the things that matter most. Family, fun, and time to make memories.

Christmas, Christmas Time is Here.

Thought: Maybe I could name all the rest of this year's posts from Christmas songs? Hmm...

I found something really cool today that I wanted to share. You may have already heard it, but if not listen to it. If you have, listen to it again! Don't be a Scrooge.

While you are listening to it, look at this cutie:

It's beginning to look a lot like Shutterfly.

No, this isn't my family. But the kiddos are pretty cute, right?

One of the staples of my personal Christmas traditions is sending holiday cards. I remember my mom always sitting down to do them, and now that I have a family of my own, I love choosing and sending my cards each year.

Enter Shutterfly. This will be our fourth Christmas as a family, and I have sent a Shutterfly Christmas photo card each time. Its kind of like a little chronicle of our life together so far.

First year - Andrew, Bri, & Callaway

Second year - Individual photos of Santo, Callaway, & Gracie

Third year - The whole family - minus Gracie, of course. Some felines just won't cooperate.

I haven't sent this year's card, so I don't want to give anything away - but there may be several pictures of my adorable child coming to a mailbox near you. You're welcome.

So imagine my excitement when my best mama pal mentioned on her bloggy that Shutterfly was giving away 50 FREE Christmas cards. What?!?!?!? How do I get in on this?

Turns out Shutterfly wants to offer a lil somethin' to their blogging friends. Hello, that's me!

Now the hard part - which one to choose? There are literally hundreds of options. Guess I know what I'm doing the rest of the week - er, night.

Merry Christmas!

Telly Time.

If your family is like ours, you love watching TV. Keeping up with our shows has always been one of our favorite ways to wind down, but our new family schedule has really made us enjoy our TV time. After Delaney goes to bed, the hubs & I snuggle up on the couch and catch up on our shows.

So what are we watching at our house? Here are a few of our favorite things:

1. Mad Men
If you haven't tried it, you should. The attention to detail itself is worth the watch. Jon Hamm isn't exactly a negative, either.

2. The Office
Hilarious. Who will take over? Jim? Dwight? Darryl? Pam? One of the best parts of this show is its quotable lines - that's what she said, anyone?

3. Iron Chef America
Our favorites - Michael Symon and Cat Cora. Warning: This show will make you want to EAT.

4. Entourage
The show-of-the-moment I mentioned here. We just finished Season 4 tonight - and were both pretty bummed that Best Buy was already closed so Season 5 could not be attained tonight. Kind of a boy's show, but I must admit, I'm hooked. Watching Adrien Grenier and Kevin Connolly, laughing at Jeremey Piven, and making the mister a happy camper all at the same time? Pretty hard to beat.

5. The League
A show about a group of guys that play in a Fantasy Football league. Some of you wifeys might not be able to appreciate this one as much as I do, but if you live with a diehard sports addict that is in THREE (and that's one less than last year) fantasy leagues, this show is hilarious.

6. Grey's Anatomy
Hey, I've watched it from the beginning, and I refuse to give it up. Meredith and McDreamy? Even if they are only post-it married, I'm ready for the little McMereDreamys to start running around Seattle Grace (yes, I also refuse to call is Mercy West).

All that, plus my own personal guilty pleasures of E! reality TV (Ending my weekends with Guliana & Bill, Kendra, and the Kardashians? Yes, please! Don't judge me.) and our DVR stays pretty full.

What shows do you like to watch?

adding a little color to my life.

Today I went to visit my lovely friend and stylist extraordinaire at Aqua Bella. Seriously, if you need someone to make you look great, she's your girl. We did a little something different, and I went dark for fall. I have done this once before, but I was still at Belmont, which seems like about three lifetimes ago.

I love it! I needed something new and different, and this did the trick. The Klahns are all brunettes now - for this season at least!

Yabba Dabba Doo!

From our house to yours, hope you had a happy & safe Halloween!

whoooooosh!

Yes, whooooooosh. That is the sound of time flying by faster than I can keep up. How is it that I've let another month go by without a post? What could possibly be keeping me so busy? Maybe going back to work, my attempt at a new, healthier lifestyle, a fabulous social life, or trying desperately to keep up with my DVR and the new show-of-the-moment in the Klahn household (no, I can't tell you what it is, I might want to post about it someday), all whilst striving to be Supermom to this fabulous little ball of energy and fun:

because no post is complete without a picture of this doll.

But you can be sure I have LOTS of events, stories, and of course photos of my adorable little tyke. Coming soon. Pinky swear!