A Christmas Celebration

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We kicked off Christmas Eve morning by giving the girls their Christmas PJs. We hope to make this an annual tradition. Allison and Amelia then wrote their letters to Santa Claus and picked out cookies for him.  After naptime, we headed to my parents' house for a big turkey dinner and a family celebration. The girls had a blast playing with all their cousins.  We then headed back to our house - luckily for the first time in several years the weather was nice and the trip took about an hour and a half.

On Christmas morning we woke up and had breakfast. The girls didn't realize that Santa had brought them presents, as our tree is located in the basement rec room. This gave us some time to relax and enjoy breakfast.

When we headed downstairs, the girls we shocked to find a train table in the rec room. They had fun opening their presents.  After nap, we headed over to Brian's parents house where we celebrated with his family, including his brother and family who had flown in from Arizona to celebrate the holidays with the family. It was nice being able to celebrate Christmas with them after a two-year hiatus.

We were very blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with both of our families. I love that our girls are able to grow up with extended families that care about them so much and are able to experience such wonderful Christmas memories.

A Call to Santa

Hi Santa, it's me Allison.



"So, you are saying that I should be good and share my toys?"

"I can't hear you anymore Santa. I think we have a bad connection."



Here Mia, the phone is for you!



Nite Lights

A few weeks ago, we brought the girls to Nite Lites, a Christmas light display at the local baseball stadium. The driving path is about a mile long and has over a million lights.  When we paid our admission, the gentleman told us that we could go through a second time if we wanted; all we needed to do was tell him our favorite display.  The girls really liked the displays and were excited to see all the lights. After we made our first trip through, we drove back to the admission booth and told the attendant that we liked the dragon and the dinosaur displays the best and he let us through for a second viewing. About 10 seconds in, just past the point of no return, Allison started whining that she didn't want to go through again and that she wanted a snack.  I didn't think to pack anything along since we had stopped for dinner immediately before coming to Nite Lites.  It didn't take 30 seconds of listening to her whine when I began to frantically search through the diaper bag for any kind of snack. Luckily I found two rolls of Smarties.   I turned around and gave the candy to each of the girls and said "HERE! EAT YOUR CANDY, BE QUIET, AND LOOK AT THE PRETTY CHRISTMAS LIGHTS."  And with that, I sat back in my seat, turned on Christmas music, and enjoyed the rest of the show.

A Visit With Santa

A few weeks we visited Santa at the mall.  Luckily there was only a short line since Allison and Amelia were so excited to see him. Once there, they barely could wait their turn to sit on Santa's lap. They both did an excellent job in visiting with him. Even though they liked Santa, they both had a "deer in the headlight" look on their faces when it came time to have their picture taken by the photographer. When the girls finally did smile, the photographer just stood there and patiently waited until after they were done smiling before deciding to take their picture. Luckily we ignored the sign that said "no personal cameras beyond this point" and took the pictures below.



Team Work

A week ago the girls put together a gingerbread house. I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to work out. Last year Amelia was young enough that she didn't realize Allison was working on it, however I knew this year Mia would want to help out. The question was how willing would  "big sis" be in accepting help. When we first started, I gave Amelia part of the tree that came along with the kit. I thought maybe that would distract her. It didn't take long for Amelia to help Allison, and much to our surprise, they made an excellent team.  Amelia was in charge of distribution of supplies and Allison was in charge of construction. As you can see they did a good job.

In this video you will notice that Amelia is calling Allison "dada." This started a few weeks ago - we thought it was cute how Allison would respond to her, even though we are not sure how or why Amelia decided to call Allison "dada."

Thanksgiving Weekend

I thought we would get the Thanksgiving weekend blog entry in before Christmas came around.

We kicked off the Thanksgiving weekend by watching the Macy's Day Parade. I had the girls all excited to watch the parade - we stayed in our PJs, put blankets and pillows down on the floor, and loaded up our bowls with good snacks only to watch cheesy dance numbers, commentators who talked too much, and commercials - lots of commercials.  I really think that Nick Jr. should air an edited version of the parade with the cool floats, featuring many appearances of the Dora float. However, the morning wasn't a complete waste since we did get to see the Dora float and the Sponge Bob balloon.

The weekend included a dance party.

And Tree Decorating

And last but not least -- movie night, complete with popcorn.

Fill'er Up

Watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street - best Christmas movie ever.
Notice it didn't take long for Amelia to spill her popcorn. 



Family Photos Part Two