Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your day as much as we did. I would love to write about our day and I will eventually, but I have been asked for some pictures....and these are to get you through till I can sit down and give this some more thought! I miss you all and wish we all could have spent the day together!

Here is the Christmas tree before all of the chaos!

Here are the stockings...they were too heavy to hang from the mantel so Santa got inventive and put them all in a box in front of the fireplace! That Santa is a genius ;)

Abby got her own special tree from Santa!

The first look at all of the presents. I think she may have been a bit overwhelmed!

Stockings!!!

Grammy Susan opening some of her gifts!

I know its hard to see in the photo. But, we actually had a white Christmas here in Crestview. It didn't snow, but it hailed for a while!!

A girl must pause to reapply lip gloss!

A picture of me opening my new camera. I can't wait to start taking more pictures with it!!

Andrew's 'A Christmas Story' T-shirt

Abby checking her doctor beeper.

Abby playing with her drawing table

She will be the Hungry, Hungry Hippo Champion with the way she has been practicing today.

And...she is spent! After opening all the Christmas presents and playing with loads of new toys, Abby had to take a little break in her new rocking chair!

Christmas Eve

We had a really nice Christmas Eve. Andrew's brother Josh and his wife Laura are in town for the holiday along with Andrew's mom Susan. Peter was here before Christmas because, unfortunately, he had to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Anyhow, on Christmas Eve day we headed down to Destin Commoms to do a little last minute shopping and see if Abby would sit with Santa or not. To my surprise Abby actually sat down next to Santa on my lap, but she didn't cry and she mentioned that she wanted a hula hoop for Christmas.

After a little bit of shopping we were all hungry so we headed out toward the water to find someplace to eat. We ended up eating at the Crabtrap which was overpriced for the food, but the company and the view were perfect!

Laura and Josh

Susan, Andrew, Abby and Josh

After a wonderful dinner cooked by Andrew and Josh it was time to settle down and getting ready for bed. Abby drew Santa a picture and got all of the goodies ready for him and his reindeer. It was a wonderful night and it was really fun to see Abby so excited with all of the preparations.

Our wonderful chefs

Abby and Andrew getting Santa's goodies ready for the night.

Can't forget about the carrots for the reindeer's!

And, a little milk in case he gets thirsty!

And, it wouldn't be complete if we didn't spill the entire plate of cookies on the way to fireplace.

Ok, we picked up all the cookies and we are back on track!

Mrs. Fields eat your heart out!

That's right, there's a new cookie lady on the block...Abby!!! We spent this past Sunday baking our hearts out! We made chocolate dipped pretzels, sugar cookies, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. It may not sound like a lot, but with a toddler this is quite a big undertaking. Abby loves helping me bake. She is fascinated with every step and is actually a big help. Everything gets a bit messier than if I had done it myself, but its so much more fun when I have a helper!

Dipping the pretzels in the chocolate

Adding some sprinkles

Cookie Time!!

The day after all the baking is when the fun really started! We were able to decorate the sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles and little candies! Abby really enjoyed this part. She kept calling the frosting butter and was very good at her job of "official candy taster."

"Mmm, I better try another piece of candy, just to make sure its okay!"

Abby's gingerbread man!

And here is where it got really messy....Abby spilled the economy size of little ball sprinkles all over the floor. All I could do is laugh!!! Cleaning it up was pain, I was using the broom and they just kept rolling all over the place! I have since vaccuumed more times than I care to count and I am still finding little Christmas balls all over the floor!

And, last but not least...here is Abby licking the bowl of green sprinkles. Abby loved baking and I couldn't have done it all without her help and humor!

Christmas Photo Shoot

Its that time of year again. I was on a quest to get a picture for our Christmas card. Anybody who is raising, or who has raised, a toddler knows how impossible that can be! I was happily surprised with my results and with my little models attitude during the "shoot". Normally Abby HATES having her picture taken, but as soon as I told her I was going to take her picture in her "Christmas princess dress" she was more than cooperative!! She absolutely LOVES her Christmas dress and would wear it 24/7 if I let her. When we were getting ready to get all dressed up she kept saying "I really hope it fits" over and over again, even after she had the dress on and it obviously fit. Anyway, I know there are a lot of pictures, but I just had to show them off. Merry Christmas!!!







PS...The picture we decided to use for the Christmas card is not included in this post :)

Its beginning to look alot like Christmas

Here are a few pictures to put you in the Christmas spirit! I know this is a busy and stressful time for many, but its also a magical time of year. Watching a 2 year old around this time of year reminds me of what Christmas is really about. It makes me thankful for all that I have and the opportunities I have been given. Christmas has a whole new meaning now that I have a child of my own and I can't wait to wake up on Christmas morning and experience the day through the eyes of Abby!

Here is Abby helping Andrew and I get all of the Christmas decorations out.

Abby found the mini-Christmas tree and took it upon herself to decorate the it.

The final product!

In front of the big Christmas tree: