Christmas Eve and Day!

We went to Jamie's aunt and uncle's house for Christmas Eve. Belle got to spend some time playing with Graham. She couldn't have possibly had a better week! It was filled with fun playing with her cousins and friends and receiving a boat load of gifts!!
Nothing is better than some chocolate on Christmas....
Who would know that throwing tissue paper in the air was about the greatest thing on earth?


Christmas morning was one of the greatest days for Jamie and me. Watching the excitement in Belle's eyes when she went down to see what Santa brought her almost made me cry! She could hardly believe her eyes and said the biggest "WOW" ever! It is so special to watch your child discover the excitement of Santa and Christmas!

She first ran to her easel. Do you love her hair or what? This is how she looks every morning when we get her up. It always makes us laugh (her too when we show her in the mirror). Don't worry, she got a new brush and some hair detangler from Santa.
The dollhouse she plays in all day long now.

Sierra was pretty excited too! She had fun opening her present!
Getting ready to go to Grammy and Pepe's. Unfortunately, this dress lasted for about 5 minutes before she wanted to put something else on.
Again, overly excited about MORE presents at Grammy and Pepe's house!


The kids table.....Running the hallway with Cameryn and Rowynn and cracking up!We had a great week! It definitely went too fast! We still have something to look forward to: Belle's 2nd birthday and the arrival of Belle's new sibling in a few months which, if you can't tell, is growing at an uberous rate!

Pre Christmas!

Belle was extra lucky because she got to start celebrating Christmas early! We went to my parents house a couple days before Christmas and were with Jamie's parents for Christmas Eve and Day.

Here are some shots of our time with my parents. Noah and Belle had so much fun playing together and opening all their great gifts!

The family having Christmas dinner.
Noah and Belle anxiously awaiting the best part, the ice cream parfaits!
Both couldn't get enough of the parfaits in their special glasses! How cute is this?









Present time! Belle loved every minute of tearing off the wrapping paper and finding out what was inside.
Baby Will's first Christmas!Checking out the scene.
Taking extra good care of baby Will!
We had a great time and Belle asks about Noah everyday. Hopefully we'll see you again soon!

Santa's Lap!

My mom and I did some shopping at the mall. After riding the merry-go-round and walking by Santa a couple times, Belle decided she was ready to sit on his lap. We weren't sure how this was going to go, but to my astonishment she sat right down. You could tell she was a little frightened and stared with huge eyes at me. She didn't cry at all until the camera lady asked me to come behind the camera in hopes she'd look at the camera instead of me. The second I stepped back, Belle lost it. It about broke my heart because she thought I was leaving, but I was so proud of her for being brave for about 30 seconds!

I couldn't take a picture with my camera, blah. We had to purchase some from them, but here is how they turned out. The quality is bad because to post this, I had to take a picture of the picture with my camera. The real picture is much cuter!
Here we are making Christmas cookies to surprise dad when he got home from work. She had a good time smooshing the dough and pressing down on the cookie cutters.

I'm not sure who had more fun, Belle making the cookies or Sierra eating everything that dropped on the floor. It's nice having a Sierra around because we never need to use the vacuum or broom.So, I'm no Martha Stewart. I can't bake, cook, or do anything crafty. Our cookies turned into big blobs of nothing. So much for the cute Christmas cookie cutters! Oh well. We had fun decorating them in our own special way and Belle loved them no matter what they looked like.
Plus, they tasted delicious and we all enjoyed eating them!

Here is our best early Christmas present...Belle in a box!

Tree's Up!

We finally got our tree up last week! We got so lucky and found a great tree to cut down at my parents house which, at the same time, was helping them clear away some of the trees they need to get rid of for fire danger. We love turning the lights on and smelling the pine fresh smell!
Belle had a great time helping us hang the lights and the ornaments. She is wearing her fairy wings to decorate. She insisted they be worn while decorating and, of course, we thought it was extra cute. I think she thought she was angel like one of the ornaments?? She then got to watch Frosty the Snowman afterward!

Since this picture, Jamie hung up a few more lights around our fireplace, so it looks extra special now! I'll need to get another picture. Today we are going to make Christmas cookies as soon as she wakes from her nap. We'll see how messy this activity gets. She is loving all the build up to Christmas!

Zoo Lights

Grammy and Pepe got free tickets to a private Zoo Lights event. It was so great to go without all the crowds and Isabelle loved running around, touching all the lights. Now, every time she sees lights on houses or trees she says "WOW!" She's also fallen in love with Christmas music and saying "Santa," even though the closest she's actually come to interacting with Santa was with a high five!

I'm sure Belle is wondering what the heck is wrong with us because we haven't even got our Christmas tree up yet. We have been so busy, but Friday is the big day and I know Belle will be so excited!

We started out the evening with some hot chocolate and a GINORMOUS gingerbread cookie. Don't worry, dad ate most of it and I, of course, ate my own entire cookie(s). This is going to be one fat baby inside me.
If you can't tell, it was pretty stinkin' cold.We warmed up in the Tropical Discovery house, which is one of Belle's favorite places at the zoo.

Thanks for a great evening. We really enjoyed it, even if it was cold, and Belle especially enjoyed spending time with you and seeing the lights!

December Festivities Begin!

We kicked off our Christmas festivities this weekend! Isabelle's first festivity was a trip to Evergreen where we met Nana and Papa and went to a Christmas parade to see Santa come in on a fire truck!

Here we are packing up for our trip up to Evergreen.
Santa arrived on a huge, lit up fire truck with Mrs. Claus. It was really special for Belle and she was so excited! Unfortunately, the picture of them didn't turn out, but here is Belle pointing to Santa with Nana.
Waiting to see Santa up close.
We couldn't believe how crazy it was. It felt like Santa was President Obama the way people were swarming to him. We decided to just sit back and wait. Belle was getting eager, so I made my way up where we finally were able to see him up close. She even got a glow stick from Mrs. Claus!
She thought it was especially fun to fling the glow stick all around mom's face!Showing off her pink glow stick as we warmed up in the Evergreen Lakehouse.
We then walked to Main Street where she saw bell ringers, carolers, and horse-drawn carriages. She got some cider and helped herself to some cookies (literally after each bell ringer performance, she would quickly make her way to the cookie table and then return to watch!)

There was such a long line to sit on Santa's lap that we decided we'd just find another time to do it. I don't think Belle cared either way. You can tell she was just as happy seeing him from a distance. We'll probably still try to get her to sit on Santa's lap at some point.