Decembers Random Ramblings

• Abby was being stubborn one night when I was trying to get her to clean up her blocks. I was sitting on the couch feeding Olivia and getting frustrated that Abby wasn't listening to me. Abby decided to try a different approach and leaned on the couch giving me her sweetest smile. I held her stare and tried ti project my most serious "I mean it face", to which she just smiled bigger and brighter. The showdown went on for about a minute until she said "C'mon, just show me a smile!". Of course, I busted out laughing and was again outsmarted by a 3 year old!
• On the way home from school Abby asked me how do babies get in bellies. I told her that when a Mommy and Daddy love each other very much then God sends them a baby. She then said, "Well, I don't have a baby in my belly". I told her you have to be an adult first and you have to love some one VERY much before you can have a baby in your belly. Then she replied, "Ok then, I will only love Nolan a little bit because I don't want a baby in my belly!!"
• Abby loves to play "Remembery" aka Memory.

Try the pink ones, they are really yummy!

Abby was a baking queen in the days leading up to Christmas. She was very excited to make Santa a very wide variety of treats and I had good intentions of handing some of the goodies out as Christmas treats to some friends and neighbors but time got away from us and now I have 100's of cookies in my house tempting me! We have butter cookies, candy cane cookies, cream cheese cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, truffles, and caramel chocolate pretzels.

Mmmm....yummy!!!

Just can't get enough!

Abby and Grammy Susan were baking fools!

Would you like some cookie with your sprinkles??

Christmas Program

The week before Christmas, Abby's preschool class put on a little Christmas show. Her class "sang" 2 Christmas songs. I put that in quotation marks because none of the kids really sang, they just kind of stood there...but they looked darn cute doing it! The other classes sang a few songs as well and it was all followed by yet another visit by Santa. It was a cute program, hopefully next year the kids will be a bit more inclined to actually participate. :)

Abby and her teacher Miss Marlo.

Gingerbread House

The week before Christmas Abby and I decorated a gingerbread house while Olivia took a nap. It was a very messy project but we had a good time doing it. The frosting was a bit runny due to the humidity and warm temperatures, but we didn't let that bug us! Pre-made kits are definitely the way to go!

Bad Bucky

This is what I came home to one night while Andrew was TDY. Somehow Bucky got locked in Olivia's room while we were out and about for the day and had a hay day with the diapers. I nearly broke down crying when I opened Olivia's door and found this mess waiting for me (and this isn't the first time he has done this). Bucky is lucky he is cute, that is all I have to say!

Dan and Staci's Christmas Party

Our friends Dan and Staci had their annual Christmas party a couple of Saturday's ago and it was a blast. They were wonderful hosts, there was lots of yummy food, the company was great, and everyone had a fantastic time! There were lots of kids there and Abby had so much fun playing with all of them. Abby stayed up very late and slept in till nearly 10AM the next morning....she was a party animal!

Our gracious hosts, Dan and Staci

Andrew, Staci, and Dan

This is how I spend most of my time these days!

Abby and Daddy making candy necklaces

The boys

The girls

Olivia and Dylan (one of Dan and Staci's boys)

All of the kids

Reindeer Cookies

Last week Abby and I made Reindeer cookies to bring to Dan and Staci's Christmas party this past weekend (more on the party to come). They are wonderful cookies to make with little ones because they are so easy! Abby and I had a good time making the cookies while Olivia was napping.

Santa visits Whataburger

Every year Santa and Mrs. Clause visit the Whatabuger near our house. Two years ago Abby wanted nothing to do with Santa and we missed his visit for some reason last year. This year Abby was VERY excited to see Santa and told him she wanted a dolly for Christmas. Its nice to have this opportunity to see Santa because both times we have gone we had him all to ourselves....no lines to wait in and you can take as many pictures with your own camera as you want!

Olivia Update

Last night I put Olivia down on her belly for some tummy time, much to my surprise she instantly rolled over onto her back! I thought that maybe it was just a fluke, that maybe I had set her down at an angle and given her an advantage so I flipped her back over and she rolled over again. She rolled over 6 times last night and 2 or 3 times again this morning. I am just so surprised that she was able to do this at 7 weeks old....Abby didn't roll over till almost 4 months old!

Anyway, Olivia has been cooing and smiling for a couple of weeks now too. I have tried to get a picture of a smile but no luck yet. She always seems to smile when the camera is out of reach. She is just like her sister when it comes to cooperating for a picture!

Here is a video of her rolling over:

Movie Night Outside

Last Saturday night, after the wing Christmas party, we headed down to Destin for the outside viewing of the Polar Express. They had a huge screen set up near the playground and benches to sit on and even some people walking around selling popcorn and cotton candy. I really thought the kids would enjoy it more than they did but they seemed more interested in running around than actually watching the movie. Nevertheless, they had a good time and it was a neat experience.

This is one of the few times both kids were actually sitting down at the same time watching the movie.

All bundled up!

Eating popcorn with mittens on is kind of hard!

Olivia slept most of the night. I got a couple of nasty looks from people, but really Olivia was probably warmer than anyone else there. She looked like the kid from 'A Christmas Story' all bundled up in her snow suit.

Wing Christmas Party

This past Saturday afternoon Andrew's wing held their children's Christmas party. This is the first year we have been able to attend and it was a lot of fun! They had lots of fun things for the kids to do; like decorating Christmas hats, frosting and decorating cookies, pin the nose on the Santa, there were snacks, and the Jolly old man in red even made an appearance and gave all the kids a gift! Abby of course had a blast with the highlight being that Santa came and she was even brave enough to sit on his lap this year!!

Decorating the Santa hat

Wearing the finished product

Pin the nose on the Santa

Decorating cookies

Daddy and Olivia

I don't know what exactly was going on here, but apparently something was too loud for the kiddos!

This was when Santa was arriving...I just love the look of joy on Abby's face. This is just such a magical time of year :)

She told Santa she wanted a dolly for Christmas

Abby and Santa sitting on a JASSM which is the missile that Andrew works on!

Greta's visit

My sister Greta came to visit for a week and it was wonderful having her here. Abby loved hanging out with her and showing off all her new skills, and I loved being able to chat and catch up and appreciated all her help. I am sure it wasn't the most exciting vacation for an almost 20 year old, but that is what you get when you combine the fact that I have 2 kids and we live in Crestucky!! We did hit up a few sights, like Destin Commons, the outlets, Fuddpuckers, and open gym to name a few. We did have fun though and we all really enjoyed spending time with Greta!! We miss you already....come back soon!

Abby was very excited to take Greta to the "alligator" place aka Fuddpuckers for lunch. Its a total tourist trap, but Abby was excited to see the alligators and it gave us something to do.

Abby and Greta by the Christmas tree at Destin Commons