Christmas 2012

An incredible holiday season was capped off with some special time with family on Christmas. Here are some of my favorite moments from our time spent together.

Hickory has built perhaps the greatest playground of all time in memory of Zahara Baker. We checked it out and were way impressed!

Christmas Eve at Baba's and Mom's house...

Collins could not have had more fun chasing Taylor and Mia (the cat) around...

Christmas morning at Dad and Heather's...the new easel was a big hit!

Dinner at the Forks...

She immediately went shopping...

and then donned her new Peyton Manning jersey- a special gift from Denver.

Then the next morning- Santa did not disappoint! She has been having lots of fun with her new kitchen.

I will always remember Christmas 2012 as the year that this almost-two-tot made everything so exciting!

Birthday Fun

Collins was excited to go to Staley's second bithday party a few weeks back. I was excited to catch up with my old friends from Duke! Here are two cute pictures Courtney (friend and photographer) caught of Collins. To see the whole adorable party (Curious George-themed), click on this link.

http://courtneyfcawleyphotography.wordpress.com/category/events/

Meatballs, Quesadillas, and More

The word explosion that the pediatrician predicted happened about a week ago. Collins now repeats almost every word we say and has added some of her own new words in there. Meatball is yesterday's example of this. We had read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" earlier in the day and later she randomly said, "meat-bawl" for the first time. We laughed and she said it over and over and over again...

Other cute new words:
Quesadilla (quesa...long pause...dilla)
Barbecue
Football
Wolfpack (are you noticing a theme here? and yes she can say Tar Heel too!)

Also a new thing is putting phrases together..."I see you" was her first. "Daddy jump" is a popular one these days (involves Brian jumping on the bed and Collins laughing hysterically) as is "Gigi's house".

I love hearing all the new things coming out of her mouth! I tried to get some video of her talking, but all I got was "quesadilla" and then silence so I'll just skip the video footage and show you her cute new Ho Ho pajamas. :)

Shopping Madness

Thank goodness the Christmas shopping is almost complete because shopping with a toddler is stressful. Unless she is snacking, chances are good that she is grabbing an item off the shelf, darting between racks, talking very loudly, or asking me to carry her. Despite all this, I must say she has been a trooper with all the trips to Target and always manages to make me laugh at some point during the madness.

Christmas Comes Early

As someone who already enjoys seasonal activities I'm realizing that having an impressionable and excitable toddler to experience all the wonders of the holiday season with is about more than I can handle. I can't get enough Christmas activities, and the real question is how much more fun can we pack in the next 14 days?!?

Watching Collins see the tree lit up for the first time was such a special moment. Hearing her try to say "Jesus" as she points to the manger scene was so neat. Reading one of my favorite Christmas books "The Sweet Smells of Christmas" with her and watching her attempts to scratch-and-sniff was hysterical. Seeing her inhale a sugar cookie was quite impressive. Watching her slowly "get" Christmas has been a true joy for me this season.

Kids really do make Christmas so much fun, and it hit home for me the morning we presented Collins with her first Christmas gift. Christmas came early for her because we needed her present (an activity table and set of chairs from Mimi) for a party we were having this past weekend. So after spending two hours assembling it the night before, I literally could not wait for her to wake up the next morning and see it for the first time. She did not disappoint!

Helping us keep track of everything festive is this beautiful Advent calendar from Dad and Heather. We have loved opening a door every morning and finding a surprise inside (either an activity we'll do that day or a tiny manger scene ornament).

This past week we had a good time baking cookies (she insisted on sporting a Davidson cheerleading uniform),

having the Kasper and Flynn families over for a very fun night of chili and grilled cheese sandwiches,

 

(and sugar cookies)

riding the "choo choo" at night,

 

and making a "special" Gingerbread house with Aunt Alli.

 

 

Christmas is just two weeks away- wonder if Collins will secretly be relieved when all the merriment all over? :)

 

 

 

 

Christmas "Uh-oh"

In the last 24 hours, a donkey from the beloved Nativity scene has lost an ear and tail, an ornament brand new to us was destroyed in a matter of seconds, and the beautiful (just-decorated) Christmas tree has crashed to the ground shattering all kinds of precious ornaments. It is Christmas carnage over here, and I can't blame it all on the toddler because she is only responsible for only two out of the three offenses.

New game plan...all the heavy, super-special ornaments are going back into storage until next year and Collins will have to learn about Baby Jesus from something other than the Nativity scene.

The only success with decorating so far is receiving a spotlight from Donna and Marty that makes the outside of the house look so pretty. Thank goodness we have a bright spot!

A New Introduction

Collins met Santa (Ho Ho) for the first time yesterday. She wasn't overly scared, but preferred to keep a safe distance between her and the man in the red suit. No sitting on the lap this time!

A Jumping Bean

Collins has a new favorite activity- jumping. After her nap, she used to want to snuggle/read. Now, she wants to stay in her bed and turn it into a trampoline. Jump, plop! Jump, plop! This can go on for awhile. This jumping also happens on our bed, on the dance floor, and randomly throughout the day on all surfaces- cushy and not.

Of course, there's also lots of jumping in gymnastic class on Thursdays. They have four large trampolines that the kids can go wild on. Well, we've been taking this class since August, and she hadn't been able to jump on the trampoline with both feet landing at the same time until yesterday. It was an exciting moment to see her finally figure it out! Guess all that practice paid off! Here's the moment...

Memory Making

A couple of days in the town I grew up in, a couple of visits to my favorite childhood spots, and a couple of conversations over the Thanksgiving table made me realize how precious our memories are. So much changes over the course of our lives- people and traditions come and go- but these remarkable moments are always with us.

This Thanksgiving, I was most thankful for the time and opportunity to make new memories with the ones that I love. A few fun moments from Hickory...

A piano lesson from Poppy (and lots of banging from Collins)...

The Catawba Science Center wasn't nearly as cool as we remembered it, but the Green Screen technology was entertaining. C was just very confused.

 

Baba and Mimi are always a big hit, but on this particular visit so were their pets. It was really cute hearing Collins's version of "Zoe", "Lilly" and "Mia".

 

Christmas card posing...

 

A classic toy comes down from the attic...

 

Jumping is a new obsession so Heather's new trampoline was a well-timed hit...

Fascinating dinner conversation with cousin Noah...

 

Many thanks to all of our family in Hickory and Raleigh for such a special holiday!



Weekends are...

Hanging out with your family...

 

Fun get-togethers (tailgating, birthday and other kinds)...

 

Trying new things...

Catching up on chores around the house...

Getting outside to play...

And this particular weekend was getting excited about the holiday season that is officially here!