Christmas, Take 2

On the day after Christmas, we took off for San Angelo to celebrate with my family.  There were 10 of us staying in my parents house.  No big deal conceptually...there should be plenty of room.  But, I am a chronic over-packer.  Our car looked like we could possibly be heading out for a month long expedition.  And, now that there are 4 girlies among my brother and I, the big girls got to enjoy alternate accommodations to leave space for the pack 'n plays in the bedrooms.  In other words, they got to sleep by the Christmas tree.  Cora didn't quite get the magnitude of this task since she can only read her name.  But, her older cousin Hannah, did a little bit of present rearranging trying to seek out the ones with her name on it.  Coincidentally, she happened to have the largest gift under the tree - a giant stuffed dolphin.

 I'm pretty sure she likes it!

Miriam knew what to do with her stack of presents.  She may have been the most enthusiastic of all the girls when it came to unwrapping!

 Cora and Carys both got some really fun things.  Some of the highlights include musical instruments for Carys and a kid-tough digital camera for Cora.

 Cora took about 200 pictures over the course of the next few days.  (Wonder where she gets her pathological picture taking from?!?)  She is not an expert at capturing her subjects in the pictures, but bless her pea-picking heart, she tries!  After she attempted to capture someone with her camera, she would exclaim "Good cheesing!"

One of the sweetest moments was when Cora opened up her Mema outfit.  (My mom makes each of her grandkids an outfit for Christmas.)  She saw the blue satiny princess dress and hugged it tight.  It was so cute.

After the toy bonanza had been unwrapped, the girls spent the rest of the weekend trying their very best to be kind and share the bounty.  All in all, they did pretty well!  Thanks, Mema and P-pa, for a fun Christmas celebration!

Christmas at Home

This was the first time in a few years that we have spent Christmas day at home.  Last year was an incredibly special Christmas with our brand new family of four, and this year was also very exciting since Cora really got into the Santa Claus magic.  We set out cookies on Christmas Eve, and wouldn't you  know it, Santa came to our house shortly after the girls went to bed!

It's a good thing Santa had those cookies to fuel him because putting together the wagon turned out to be a bit of a chore.  Thankfully, Santa and his helper persevered, and this was what waited for a couple of little girls come Christmas morning.

 Our little scientist had been pretending to use 'maculars' (binoculars) for almost a year now.  We thought it was a good time to get her some of her very own.  These are especially handy for spying birds on the bird feeder that Dado made for the girls.

Carys' favorite past-time (other than banging objects on tables, chairs, the floor, etc.) is putting things in and taking things out of bags.  So, I Santa found this cute shopping bag with plush groceries for Carys to put in and out to her heart's content.

After opening gifts, John made his super special cinnamon toast for breakfast, and we all got ready to go to church.  I was a little apprehensive about the service because there was no childcare for the girls.  But, to my surprise, both girls did pretty well.  I ended up taking Carys out of the service about 10 minutes before it ended, but all things considered, that's pretty good endurance for a 1 year old!  

We had a beautiful and special Christmas at home and at church, but above all we are thankful that 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

First Birthday Party

Some people around here (think a certain three year old) could barely contain their excitement for the party.  It may have had something to do with the promise of cupcakes.  Yes, folks, it's with great sadness that I must reveal that I've discovered I will never be a famous cake baker.  My cakes tend to have a bit of a lean to them.  Well, that and a giant fault line running down the middle...  Coupled with the fact that I don't have the patience for doing fancy stuff with the icing... So cupcakes it will be.  But, I digress...

Cora was the mastermind behind the flavor combination.  She told me she was certain Carys would want strawberry cupcakes with white frosting.  Or maybe she just picked the pink cake.  Either way, strawberry it was!

Carys didn't really dive into her cake as we were hoping.  In fact, Yiayia had to force Carys' hand into her mouth so she would even take a taste.  Even after that, she wasn't as enthusiastic as you would expect.  Carys had a bit of an air of boredom and indignation at the sticky fingers.  (Truly, I don't know where these kids came from...one doesn't like ice cream and the other doesn't like cake...I didn't even know that was possible!)

Cora, on the other hand, knew exactly what to do with the cupcake!

We opened presents next.  On a whim, I decided to let Cora pick out a present for Sissy.  We found this neat little ball with a monkey that rolls around and makes funny noises.  It was a bit of a mistake for me to let Cora pick it out in early December.  I spent the rest of the month fielding the question, "When does Carysita get to play with her monkey ball?!"  Apparently, Cora has great taste in baby toys, though, because the ball was a big hit.

Yiayia and Dado came up to celebrate with us.  And, they bought Carys her very own cell phone.  (If only this phone would make her lose interest in my phone!)  She also got some cute outfits and shoes.

She got a few other presents of course: a camera, a plastic hammer (she has an affinity for banging and beating things), a little piano, and a stuffed elephant.  All in all, it was a great celebration with our family.  We are so very thankful for Carys.  She is my favorite Christmas gift!

As a little sidenote:  I am curious to know your thoughts about Christmas birthdays.  I definitely enjoyed this celebration.  The first year is a momentous year.  But, I am toying with the idea of celebrating her on her half-birthday.  It was difficult for me to shop for her and to also give relatives ideas for both birthday and Christmas gifts.  I feel like she ends up getting short-changed (by me).  But, I also don't want to take away any of the special-ness (is that a word?!) of her actual birthday. Any Christmas time babies out there care to share thoughts?

Merry Christmas, One and All!

Elegant Scroll Frame Christmas

Design photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Since I can't send a Christmas card to each and every one of you, here is your virtual card!  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas Cheer

John and I don't do much to the outside of our house for Christmas.  We both like outdoor lights to look a certain way, and our way is a bit, ummm, cost prohibitive.  So, we settle for lights around our door as well as red and green lights in our outside sconces.  It's not the most festive house in the neighborhood, but it's something.  Our stroller, however, takes it to another level.   The contraption in the light:

 The contraption in the dark:

We've been taking a long walk each night to look at the Christmas lights, and one night, John wondered aloud, "Wouldn't it be cool if we had reindeer on the front of our stroller?"  And, from there the idea took off.  You may remember that I mentioned our expensive taste in lights for the house.  Turns out that we have expensive taste in lights for the stroller, too.  We took that bad boy out for the first time on Wednesday,and even with 9 D cell batteries, the lights lasted only a little over an hour.  But, it was so worth it!  We got a ton of compliments.  We had cars slowing down to look as they drove past us.  We even had a car circle back while the passenger leaned out the window to take a picture for facebook!  (Okay, so that part was a little creepy!)  Tonight we head out in Santa hats!  Spreading Christmas cheer to a neighborhood near you!

One Year

I blinked, and a year passed me by!  Sweet Carysita, you're one, and I really don't know how that can be possible.

Well, sweet baby girl, you have taken your first steps.  You're not completely confident in this new skill, so you won't do it without much encouragement.  But, when you hold our hand to walk, we can tell that you really aren't using us for support.  

You will, however, dance with abandon.  You need no encouragement to shake your moneymaker.  You really love Mannheim Steamroller.  When you hear their most famous Christmas song, your whole body quakes with the rhythm.  

Sadly, you have discovered M & M's. Your father and I have no one to blame, but ourselves.  We are, after all, the ones who brought the Christmas candy into the house.  Now when you hear the sound of the candy dish, you crawl furiously to me in order to get some.  You have also discovered goldfish crackers.  I suppose those are slightly more harmless than the M & M's!

Your eyes are as blue as ever.  Sometimes in the light, they have a bit of a green tinge.  They are so very pretty!  

You still only have the four teeth.  As much as you chew on your fingers (and Perdita), you would think that those little molars will have broken through.  But, not quite yet.

You understand so much of what we are saying.  You will look around if we ask you, "Where's (Perdita, Cora, banana, Penny, Daddy, etc.)?"  You also definitely know the word "no."  Most of the time, you are quite an obedient little girl.  Every once in a while, though, you like to test the limits!

You have said your first word, too.  Your first word was 'pup-pup.'  You whispered it when you saw Penny run into the room.  (You may have said Mama and Dada before as well, but we are positive that you said 'pup-pup' in relation to Penny.)

We are so proud of you sweet, baby girl!  Happy 1st Birthday!

The Fort

The girls and I went to Houston a few weeks ago when John had to be away for work.  Cora's cousin Hannah was really desperate for us to come stay with them.  The last time they were here, she told Cora, "I can't wait for you to come to my house and sleep on my floor!"  They definitely did have a blast sleeping in the princess tent on the floor.  I'm impressed that they actually did sleep.  I guess it is not until you are older that you try to stay up all night!

While we were there, my sweet sister-in-law gave my girls a little molded plastic toddler playscape (for lack of a better word).  For some reason, I have taken to calling it 'the fort.' That may have to do with the fact that the little buggar is relatively easy to take apart, but pretty difficult to put back together...when you don't have instructions, and well, you are me!  But, what I lack in spatial awareness and plain common sense, I make up for in stubborn-ness determination.  Yessiree, I put that puppy together all by myself - in the dark, I might add! It's a little small for Cora, but that has not squashed her enthusiasm one bit.  Today was one of the first days that we've been able to play on it.  Both girls were pretty enthusiastic to say the least!

Thank you, Aunt Celeste, for our fun, new toy!

Wordless Wednesday

On the Naughty List

Some people in our family may have made the naughty list this past week...

And...

That's Carys' diaper bag around her neck.  A certain little someone was very naughty while we were away! I wonder what Santa will say?

Holiday Decorating 3 Year Old Style

Last Christmas season Cora was just awestruck at all the Christmas decorations around town.  It was the first year that she really began to feel some of the magic of the season.  So, John and I decided that this year, in addition to our family Christmas tree, the girls would get their own tree for their room.  Cora and I ventured to the store shortly after Thanksgiving to pick out her very own tree.  Boy was she disappointed when they were out of the sparkly pink tree!  (And, boy was John relieved!)  Fortunately, the sparkly white tree was almost as alluring as the pink one she originally wanted.  We got it set up that very day with some shiny garland (a necklace, according to a certain 3 year old), some shatterproof sparkly ornaments, a couple of glittery C's and some random unbreakable ornaments that didn't make it onto the family tree.  (Clearly, she has the same taste as her mother at age 3!)

 This was very fun, but not quite festive enough.  So, (not so) little missy got to pick out some colored lights to string up in her room as well.  It is a sparkly, glittery winter wonderland in there!  Cora is just in love with it.  Every morning her first task is to turn on her Christmas lights.  She just loves that she is big enough to turn them on and off herself.

And, with her new found enthusiasm, I can't wait to see her face when one of her presents appears under her tree on Christmas morning.  Hee, hee!  I may be a little giddy myself!

(Someone wanted some attention during the photo shoot.)

We also have a little tradition around these here parts about our Christmas ornaments.  Every year, we get new ornaments that commemorate the places we go and the things we do.  I only ended up purchasing one ornament this go around, but I do love the memories that go with it.

It's a T Rex from the Smithsonian.  I made it a bit merrier with the ribbon and jingle bells.  He's the jauntiest little T Rex I've ever seen...don't tell his buddies!

It's also our tradition that our kids get an ornament every year.  Here are the winning selections:

Buddy T Rex

Perdita

I'll wager you can figure out who picked which ornament!  So, we are festive and merry all over our house.  Now, if I can just get those Christmas cards finished!