HO HO HO

Kate is really into Santa this year, which means tons of fun! Santa came early to our house so we could have time to celebrate with all our other family members. Christmas Eve we made cookies for Santa. Kate wanted to make shapes for Santa, so he got a tree, Santa face, angel, star…. Abby mainly enjoyed decorating, aka eating, the cookies while Kate pilled on the icing and sprinkles. The girls got to open their Christmas Eve gift; matching pajamas and a Christmas book.

I assumed Kate was still too young for the whole waking early thing. I was wrong, it was only 30 minutes earlier than normal but she was ready to go and we weren’t quite up yet. Luckily “Santa” had eaten his cookies and the sign was already made. We followed tradition of bypassing tree presents and opening our stockings first followed by some cinnamon rolls. Santa left their two big presents by their tree in the playroom. My plan was for them to see those last. However, Santa had set up all the train tracks and the big bag hiding Kate’s bike was too much of a giveaway and they went straight there. (That morning Kate wanted to go downstairs to see the princess bike she personally asked Santa for. I’m glad he was able to deliver this year because she loved it)! Abby was obsessed with the trains and we couldn’t get her away to open the other presents :) Kate very kindly “helped” Abby open all her presents. We had a fun morning and the girls were beyond excited and loved playing with their toys.

~On a side note Christmas is A LOT of work! I don’t think I ever realized all the effort that went into making Christmas such a magical time for me as a child. It’s worth it though, because I want our kids to have the same wonderful experiences I had. All it took was seeing them the night before and that morning to remember why Mom’s do everything they do!

Definitely worth it!

Gingerbread House Version 2012

My amazing friend Melissa grew up making gingerbread houses with her Aunt. Since she no longer lives near her family she shares her talent with us for our Christmas present. They are so fun to make! Last year I helped her put them together (she makes everything from scratch!) but this year she had already made the houses so I just showed up and started decorating :) We also made the smart decision to do them at night when we could leave the kids at home. We were able to chat while making them instead of chasing kids, changing diapers… Even without kids it still takes some time and I don’t think I got home until 12:30AM, poor Melissa!

Ta-Dah!

I did a gingerbread man for each family member. Kate decided Daddy is on the roof putting lights up while she and Abby are playing with snowballs and I’m in the back cleaning up :)



We went back over the next week so the kids could make their own gingerbread house. We originally were going another day but Melissa was sick. I made the mistake of telling Kate about it before, I so know better! For the rest of the week whenever Kate said the prayer she would pray Audrey’s Mommy would feel better so she could make a gingerbread house :) The kids had a blast and Kate was incredibly proud of hers and wanted to show it off to everyone. She has slowly been eating at it a little each day. Abby had fun then lost interest and wanted to eat everything instead of sticking it to the house.

I did the icing but the girls actually decorated their own house.

I caught Abby the other day sneaking bites off of Kate’s. She had pushed her stool, which she carries around everywhere, up to the counter to be able to reach. Such a funny and smart little girl!

Fall

Kate and Abby’s favorite activity is to play in the back yard. Luckily, we had a few nice days the past month because I am not going out when it’s freezing. One afternoon, after work, Jason was racking leaves and the girls would run and jump in the piles. They were laughing so hard.

Thanksgiving

I love holidays, especially all the family time! My sister was in town so the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I got a babysitter. Jason worked while my parents, sister, and I went to the outlets for the ENTIRE day! It was fun, but there were still stores I missed so I ended up not buying much. Then we left that night for Columbus. We didn’t even pull out the camera down there. I guess we were too busy having fun and making memories :) I try not to ALWAYS be taking pictures and just be in the moment sometimes. Which is good since we definitely take a lot of pictures as is! The kids have so much fun playing together and we have fun just hanging out. I am so blessed to have an awesome family and Jason’s wonderful family. The kids get along great, I love my in-laws and sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws… We always have a nice time visiting, which probably explains why we were just there for 5 days, try to stay as long as possible.
Here are some pics Jason took on his phone.

The kids could spend all weekend jumping! Abby learned how to have fun and be safe while jumping with other kids.

We did a bonfire at night and made s’mores. Abby cheesing it up for the camera.

We went to Fantasy of Lights at Callaway Gardens while we were down in Columbus. It was such a great night! We first walked around and bought our ornament of course. Abby loved the characters while Kate was clinging to our legs and terrified I was taking her up to Santa. We pretty much haven’t done Santa since Kate was one. She doesn’t like it and I’m not going to make her. Then we got a huge bag of fresh kettle corn popcorn and watched the live nativity show. We lucked out because it wasn’t too cold for the kids. Kate knew all the figures in the nativity and likes to tell us the story about baby Jesus. We then drove through the light show. Even Abby loved looking at the lights. Kate kept saying, “Wow, it’s magical!”

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We bought our Christmas tree last week and decorated it on Sunday. Kate is out of control with her love for Christmas decorations. She was begging us to do our tree even though I let her and Abby decorate the kid’s tree awhile ago. Kate was very careful helping us hang the ornaments and if one was glass she would ask us to put it on the tree. Abby is obsessed by all the ornaments because they all look like balls, her love. I’m really impressed with how the kids have left the tree alone. They love to look at it and minus a few exceptions, don’t mess with the ornaments.

Kate was protecting Abby while I vacuumed up all the pine needles!

Kate and Abby’s tree in the playroom

The Girls

Here are some pictures of the girls playing together. They’ve become little buddies and it’s really quite adorable.

Love them!

Conversations with the Girls

*Conversation with Kate today while driving home from church:

Kate: “Mommy, why does (so and so)’s Mommy have to work?”

Me: “Some Mommys work.”

Kate: “Not mine, just my Daddy works at his job.”

Me: “Yep, but Mommy has the best job ever. Do you know what my job is?”

Kate: “Yes, you clean the kitchen.”

After getting my laughing under control I told her that I did do that, but the best part was getting to be home with her and Abby. She reminded me that I did Primary at church too… I’m just glad someone appreciates my effort because I feel like I’m ALWAYS cleaning the kitchen!

*Abby’s favorite sayings are “Oh no,” and “Ahh man.” She also talks in semi complete sentences. For example, “Oh no, the ball fall down.” or (my favorite) “It’s the Mommy.” or “I want down, all done.” Her vocabulary is insane. She can repeat pretty much any word and catches on so fast. My other favorite is to hear her counting or having conversations by herself when she’s playing. She also loves to sing.

*With Christmas coming up Kate likes to ask a lot of questions. Like, “where is Jesus and Mary and Joseph (and sometimes) Moses (not sure why she likes to throw him in ) Why can’t they come over? Why can’t I see them?” (in heaven). “I want to go to Heaven. Where is Heaven? How did they get there?” It continues on like this. She’s kinda stumping me here!

Halloween

I had to dress the girls like clowns. I mean they do have the hair! Kate wanted to be a princess so she was officially a “clown princess.” Kate hadn’t been feeling too well but still managed to have a lot of fun Halloween night. We went by my parents for their first trick-or-treat house then went to some of their neighbors. After, we came back to our house and met up with the neighbors, Eli and Brady. I took Kate around while Jason stayed home with Abby. Abby loved running to the door and handing the kids their candy.