Guest Author and Giveaway 3

This Contest is Official Closed.

I can't believe it's already week 3. YAY. It's going by faster than I thought, which means there will be winners posted soon. (might be even earlier than anticipated so cross your fingers!) Today we have with us the lovely Kimberly Pauley, author of Sucks To Be Me, The All-True Confessions of Mia Hamilton, Teen Vampire (Maybe). Although most of us know her as the YA Book Goddess over at YABC and a brand new Mommy! But let's get down to business. Today, Kim's going to share with us about the beginning of a new tradition.

Right now, I'm actually looking forward to building new traditions. We had a baby this year (cutest little boy ever) and he is giving the whole holiday season more meaning than ever before. Not that I didn't already love Christmas (it's the only day of the year I willingly get up early)! But I can't wait to see how excited he is going to be on Christmas morning. This year I know that he'll likely be much more excited about the wrapping paper and the boxes than what's actually in the boxes and he'll have no clue who Santa is, but I still know it is going to be very special.

We always put up the tree on Thanksgiving day after the turkey stupor wears off (this year we visited family out of state, something we usually don't do on the holiday, so we put it up on Sunday instead...though I felt like I was still under a bit of turkey influence!). We took little Max to go pick out the tree with us, even though it was snowing outside! We just bundled him up really warm in a little snowbunny kind of outfit. He's lucky we didn't get a picture of him, though I wish we had.

I just ordered matching personalized stockings for us -- one that says Mommy, one for Daddy, and one for Max (okay, I can be cheesy, but it'll be cute!). Stockings are, of course, the first thing opened up on Christmas morning. And in our house, Santa actually wraps the stocking gifts in tissue paper, so you feel like you're getting even more presents (the tissue paper is then wadded up and thrown at the cat to chase).

And we're definitely going to be putting out some milk and cookies for Santa too. I'm thinking chocolate chip, but maybe peanut butter (since they are my favorite). Other holiday treats I can't get through the season without include hot chocolate and egg nog. Hmmm...it's probably a good thing I don't drink that all year long...

We also will take turns opening up the presents and later on, once Max is older, he'll have the job of passing them out. Since we'll be too excited to get dressed first, this will all be done in our jammies. :-)

When I was little, we always used to put all the presents back under the tree after they were unwrapped, so everyone could see what everyone else got. We might do tha t too, I'm not sure yet. It's kind of a nice thing, since it reminds you of what you received and what you should be thankful for. We'll have to see how that goes as Max gets older. He may not be able to wait to play with it all!

It's hard to say what new traditions will arise, now that Max is here, but I'm looking forward to all of them and I know my husband is too.

~~~Kimberly

So now, what's in stock for you? Kimberly is willing to mail to one lucky winner Sucks To Be Me AND a Vampire Themed Goodie Bag (don't you just love those?) All you have to do is leave a comment... oh, and tell your friends.

Don't forget to also enter for a copy of Poison Ivy by Amy.
Don't forget to also enter for a copy of A Season of Eden by JM.

Extra Entries?
post about the contest and include the link in your comment--one extra entry
tell me where/who you heard about this contest from in your comment--one extra entry for you and the person