Christmas Day 2009

Ok, well the video is too long to show her coming around the corner & seeing what Santa brought, but lets just say she liked everything! She walked directly to her new toys with a big smile on her face & sat down to play.
Pajama Brunch was again fun, with everyone showcasing their new Christmas PJ's. We all tried several new recipes in an Allergy free cookbook I received from St. Nick, & was surprisingly good! I always enjoy Meres' kids gift giving, as they get to go to the dollar store & pick gifts to give everyone. I can't wait for Brooklyn to be able to do this too! My fave this year was a 'stay out of politics' book for Uncle Sean from Quinton. (My all time favorites are still the Sponge Bob house slippers for Granny & cherry body butter for their uncle Tony)
She seemed to enjoy climbing on her presents just as much as receiving the actual gift. For example-her wagon was a long thin box that was out in the entry hallway. They propped her on top of it & let her ride it into the living room. When we got her down to open the box, she just wanted to climb & ride again. In one of these photos, she's jumping on her new bean bag prior to opening!
Poor Sean got a 'sick bug' & spent most of the day out of sight. The rest of us fullfilled Quintons' request to play Monopoly with the slight Christmas twist: Grinchopoly. I'm hoping for a return of Mimi's specialty drinks of Banana Foster & Tiramisu shots next year!

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve & Day had numerous last minutes changes, but best of all, was the improvement in Uncle Tommys' health. We look forward to an Eve celebration at their home next year! This year, Brooklyn & I met mom & went to St. Joes for Christmas Eve mass. Haven't been there since 8th grade graduation, & it was nice to see several people I grew up with & their new families. This was the childrens' mass & a lot of singing occured, which Brooklyn enjoyed bopping her head to. Of course the books of Clifford meets Santa & Pat the Bunny helped as well. The children playing Nintendo DS, burping, telling jokes & eating beef jerky (which B about leaped out of my arms to try & get ahold of) in the pew directly behind us did not help! After mass, we headed back to moms for a nice dinner. One advantage to having a pack rat mom is that your child has ALL KINDS of things to play with! Mom has washed all of our old baby doll clothes & repacked them in our barbie suitcase along with my old cabbage patch dolls & a few others. She piled all of them in the center of the room as well as several stuffed animals & just enjoyed collecting her 'babies.'
Putting on her Christmas PJ's, we bundled her up & headed home- in plenty of time for Santas' big arrival.
Pics forthcoming- and as a side note, Sean isn't pictured b/c he had to work today...but next year his loving wife has suggested (strongly, strongly requested) that next year he take the day off & join us at church. :)

Visiting SANTA

WOW! No screaming! She sat right on santas' lap, stared him down for a quick minute, attempted to pull his beard (a quick diversion from Santa of a coloring book) & did answer his question of "Have you been a good girl?" with "goo girl" & a head nod.

All I want for Christmas IS 2 more teeth!

All bottom four are in now, as well as another one on the bottom left. Think I'm about to move from the rubber end toothbrush on my finger to the real thing; I keep getting bit!

Hmmmmm....what is all this white stuff?

Our first snowfall of the year gave us a mere 2 inches- just enough to cover the grass & leave the roads clear for a drive in to work this morning. She wasn't quite sure what to do with the snow, except when I made a snowball, she put her arms out to catch it.

Cookin' with my Mimi

Mimi brought over a great lunch & we whipped up some Brooklyn safe blueberry pancakes....tasters were ready & even made some extras for the freezer. YUMMY!

Ear surgery

Everything went great. We arrived at 6:30 & was on our way home within 2 hours. She was less than enthused about the ankle bracelet she had to wear, but in between her Frosty the Snowman (wearing the scrubs), the new book they gave her, & the super nice doctors & nurses, she was easily distracted. We went back with her for anesthesia, & then headed to the waiting room....for just under 15 minutes & the surgery was complete.
A little off with balance, but in a great mood most of the day!

Another tooth in! Top right.

I love this video! I just said his name for the first time today.

It took me a week to finish the tree this year! I brought the box up & for 2 days, a little girl was very curious as to what was inside. We opened the box together & she pulled out the first branch. The tree & lights went up the first night. And she didn't bother it for 2 days. So I added garland. And didn't touch it. So I added ornaments. And she wouldn't leave it alone! 5 ornaments met little hands that day, but since then it's safe. :) Hope she gets insane curiousity again once Santa comes!

My kitchen helper

I certainly don't need as much help as what's offered when it comes to opening cabinet doors! Spatulas and wooden spoons are the "must have" item, before heading in front of the pantry to sit on the griddle box & bang away. It doesn't matter if its breakfast either, if the fridge door opens, we're likely going to get something out that SHOULD have ketchup on it. This part started the night Sean tried ( & succeeded) to make her special chicken tenders. She also saves me time when it comes time for apples. No longer do we want it cut up, she wants the entire thing. (and for those concerned, yes, I do sit by her to make sure she doesn't get too big of a bite.) She's growing up so quickly.