Christmas Pictures

I did a really bad job taking pictures this year so there aren't too many to share.  I just kept forgetting to get my camera out until it was too late.  Until I saw this moment I had to capture... Madeline and Emma on Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house.  These two really hit it off and they ended up cuddling on the couch watching Sponge Bob at the end of the night.  Emma's Daddy is a family friend from years ago and they were in town visiting from Seattle.  This may be the last time we see them because they are moving to Switzerland next month.

Fia is sure going to miss them!  Her and Slaten were having a ball of a time together.  Fia hardly ever belly laughs and he had her going.

Now, of course I remembered my camera on Christmas morning.  The big gifts Santa brought were a Dora house and a Dora couch.  Do you sense a theme here?

Fia also got a baby crib and baby bottles.

And a Dora t-shirt and matching jacket.  Madeline received a Snow White ensemble.  

Madeline's been talking about an umbrella forever, so she was super excited to get one for Christmas.  She wants to use it constantly.

Later that night, we went to Nana and Papaw's house.  Most of these pictures were taken by Andy's Aunt Lisa.  I'm glad someone else was on the ball since again I was slacking with my picture-taking.  How cute is she in that dress?!

We had a wonderful Christmas spent with family and friends.  It was so nice to not feel rushed and be able to spend quality time with everyone.  This year was extra nice for us since we didn't have to pack everything up and travel.  With our young family, I feel new traditions starting and I can't wait to see what each new year brings.  I feel so very blessed.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my family and friends!!

Merry Christmas!

What has Jingle been up to?

Some days he just shows up in a new spot to hang out and watch the kids.

One day he brought them a note from Santa with a treat for each one of them.

Apparently he likes to drive too.

One day we found him inside the van with my car keys!  He isn't a very good driver though because he didn't park my van very straight.  Since he was in the car, he went with us on all our errands that day.  And Madeline made sure to remind me to drive very slow.  

MAMAS Holiday Party

My Mom's Group had a Christmas Party for all the kids this week complete with a visit from Santa.  I've lost count how many times Madeline has seen Santa now.  Even she didn't care to see him right away when he arrived.  She was more interested in eating lunch first.

While the kids were taking turns visiting Santa, the rest were running around like crazy.  It was nice they rented a park lodge for this.  It would have been hard to have all these kids in one house.

Especially this crazy one.

We got them settled down a little bit for a game of Duck, Duck, Goose.  Fia just ran around in circles having fun though.

Lastly, they listened to some stories from Santa before he had to leave.  

I feel so lucky to be a part of this group.  All the women are great to hang out with and the girls have made many friends.  I really look forward to many more playdates with them all and getting to know them even better in the new year.

Preschool Christmas Pageant

Here are pictures from Madeline's Christmas Pageant at preschool.  She did a great job singing all the songs with her classmates.

After the show, Santa was there for all the kids to meet and Madeline was the very first one to sit on his lap.  

I love you

When Andy gets home from work, the kids are on him like glue.  Literally.  He won't even have his coat off yet and they are both attached to him.  Then they want to play and run and he's tired and just wants to sit.  So we invented the running game.  He sits at one end of the room and I sit at the other and they run back and forth between us.  It's perfect because we are all playing together, they are running and we are sitting.  It's even become the "The Running Hour" because right after dinner, Fia will just start running without us.  That girl is a hoot.

Speaking of Fia, she is getting into the helping stage now and wants to "help" with anything she can....like throwing random items into the trash, making sure all doors are closed regardless if they need to be, feeding the dogs at all hours and helping me with the dishes.  She literally comes running to help when she hears me open the dishwasher.  However, the problem is she really does help and she is grabbing knives (granted they are butter knives) and glass cups.  So I've had to start doing my dishes on the sly or when she is locked up in her booster at the table.

She also comes running when she hears me cutting on the cutting board.  Most of the time, this means I am cutting an apple and she gets to eat some.  But other times I'm cutting a potato or something and she gets mad when I won't give her a piece.  She is a demanding little thing.

She also said "I love you" for the first time the other night.  It was a sound only a mother could pick up because it was very garbled.  But I definitely think that is what she said because it was followed up with a kiss. It was so sweet.  And it happened two days after the Santa picture incident, so I'm hoping this means she still loves us despite that torture.

Lunchtime Fun

With the weather getting colder, it's harder to find fun things for the kids to do.  We stay busy with stuff, but it's just felt well...boring....around here.  During the summer, it was so easy to just go to the park and run around and be silly or just do whatever.  So anyway, I thought it would be fun to spice up our lunch and make shapes for our grilled cheese sandwiches.

Madeline loved it and immediately ate Frosty's head.  

Fia was unimpressed and went for the apple slices instead.

This was my lunch.  

Jingle

One afternoon about 2 weeks ago, our doorbell rang.  When we ran to see what it was, an Elf on the Shelf was sitting on our front porch.  Santa must have had it delivered!  The Elf is tasked with watching over Madeline and Fia everyday and then reporting back to Santa every night.  When he returns the next day, he is always sitting in a different spot to watch from.  

But before he got his magic, we needed to name him.  Madeline needed some help, so we all came up with the name "Jingle."  Sure enough, the next morning we found him on the mantle.  

Then he found him hanging with Madeline's art projects.

Sometimes he is a silly guy and gets into Madeline's candy.

Every morning Madeline is excited to see where Jingle is and what he is up to.  You never know where he'll end up next....

Another visit to Santa

Fia wasn't a fan.

Smoothie

Over the summer I made smoothies for the girls all the time. It was a perfect snack on a hot day.  But then I got out of the habit for one reason or another.

Madeline and Fia haven't been the greatest about eating their vegetables (what kid is?) and I've been racking my brain with how to get more in their little bodies.  Then I remembered my smoothies!  If you notice in the picture, I sneak in some spinach and they never notice the difference.  It tastes exactly the same and they suck them down.  Fia LOVES them and will finish her whole cup in a minute flat.  I share this because I actually got this idea from another Mom and wanted to pass it along to my readers.  Here is my recipe for a wholesome snack the kids will love.

1 cup vanilla-flavored yogurt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup bananas or blueberries or whatever you want
handful of spinach

Blend together and enjoy!  This makes enough for one large cup for each of my kids.

Poor Fia

Me:  "Am I a bad Mom for taking this before saving her?"

Andy:  "Poor thing!  But no, part of being a good parent is documenting your kids mistakes so you can embarrass them in the future."

In my defense, the camera was sitting on the counter right above her.  So she only had to suffer an additional few seconds or so.  She is always doing stuff like this so this time I had to take her picture.

It's looking like Christmas

Madeline was super, duper, uber excited to decorate the tree.  She started without us.....

She really loved going through all the ornaments and putting them up.  She wasn't too good at it though.  She would put them on the very end of the branches and then they would fall off.  And she would put them up in clumps.  This picture (taken horribly) you can see one such clump of ornaments.  But then Andy "fixed" it!  Why do men always have to fix things?!?!  I was so upset with him because it was my favorite part of the tree.  Thankfully Madeline didn't notice.

As usual with these type of activities, Fia was not involved.  The next day I took some pictures of them by the tree.  Notice our barricade.  One of these days we'll get to use our ottoman as a foot rest....

Gingerbread House

Madeline and I made a gingerbread house together one day when Fia was sleeping. I love doing things like this with her because she enjoys it so much.  It will be great to let Fia in on the fun next year.

She was very serious about putting everything in it's right spot.

Mommy did one side of the roof and she did the other.  Can you tell which is which?  :)

Perfect!

So proud of her house!  She named her gingerbread woman, Madeline, and man, Nathan.