Christmas Eve

For just about as long as we've been married, Chris and I have made it our own little tradition to celebrate Christmas Eve with each other or with our own little family - at least for the main part of the evening. Chris enjoyed making us all a nice dinner and dessert. We then had the girls open a special present of Christmas pjs that included light-up robes. (could've done without the light-up part - but hey, who cares, right?)

They LOVED their pjs and robes. Ava was so appreciative, saying thank yous, giving hugs, and saying that she wanted an robe her entire life. We then put the kids in the car to go and look at a few lights in our own neighborhood. We ended up dropping by my brother and sister-in-laws (Kevin & Gaia) house to say hello and had a nice visit. It was then off to bed so Santa could come.

Merry Christmas Y'ALL

By now it's probably no secret that I was born and raised in Oklahoma. We moved up to Kansas about 18 years ago but we still make at least one if not two trips a year down there to see my paternal grandmother and other family. This year we decided to go close to Christmas time - just for a change. My grandma doesn't do a lot of holiday decorating anymore, so we put the tree we keep in the girls' room in our van, along with the rest of our gear, and headed down to OKC the weekend before Christmas.

This is kind of a scary morning picture of myself but it's the only record of my being there. It also shows my curly out of the shower hair. We don't worry about filling our time with lots of activities on our visits. Instead, we do just that --- visit.

The girls had a nice time too. They especially love their Great-Grandma's kitty, Delilah, although Delilah is pretty shy.
They also had fun jumping on the bed. This was as we were packing up to go and getting the beds remade and such.

One of the things we had planned to do all along on this visit was to make caramel corn. It was fun to do it together and it turned out perfect. While we waited for the caramel corn to bake, I was able to show my Grandma my sewing machine - so we played around on that for a while and I think now she's convinced that she needs one just like it. ;)

I love visiting with my grandma. We always have great talks where we feel enlightened and even better acquainted. I always tell her that everyone needs a Grandma Patty. She sees the best in you and builds you up. I'm continually feeling the need to remind and tell her that I'm not perfect, have lots of faults and am not nice all of the time or possibly even most of the time. ;) I guess you could just say that Grandma Patty brings out the best in you.

One of the things we decided to do was to go and look at Christmas lights one evening. We drove to a very nice, established neighbored famed to have great lights. We saw LOTS of great light displays, sang carols and ate peanut butter M&Ms.
Ava was sad to go and didn't want to leave Great Grandma Patty's house. She's since recovered - especially since Santa was able to find her here...more on that to come.

Warm December Day

We had a pleasant surprise today with our temperatures reaching into the low 60s. We took advantage and went outside for some play time. It's been very cold in recent weeks and yesterday (Christmas) left us all exhausted --so some outdoor time was needed by all. We went on a short walk, rode big wheels and drove cars, chased bubbles, and played tag.

Here's something you don't really want to see. Chris was watching the situation - otherwise I wouldn't have been snapping pictures. I can't tell you how many pictures I have of her walking or running away.

I spy a little toe sticking out. I guess Ava will need her 4th pair of Crocs soon.
The lighting was fairly good so I was trying out my new portrait lens.

Daddy got into the fun. Daddy asked Ava what she'd like to do and she said, "Well, we could play tag?...we are outside...(hesitant giggle)."
And here's Elise happily popping out of the car again. She wanted a piece of the tagging action.
Here she is daring Daddy to "get her".
Yay for unexpected mild weather!

Poor Elise

Here's happy Elise.

I can't remember what is was, but something made her sad. I'm pretty sure big sister was playing with something she wanted. I caught a few of her sad faces. I was happy to see how she was able to calm herself and eventually was back to her old happy self.

Pretty soon she was back to her old self again. Here's Elise popping out of the car. She gets sooo excited and is quite expressive.

just because

I'm avoiding responsibility now and figured I'd waste some time. I'm REALLY good at wasting time. And since I've been pretty into photography (I know it might be time for some new topics) I thought I'd post some pics I took this week -- just because. I like the above picture because it shows two things: Elise's crazy hair always ending up in her face and her gorgeous blue eyes. The other funny part to this picture is that Elise is sitting in my bottom dresser drawer. I noticed her actually lying in it - so cute - so I grabbed my camera - but of course she had moved by then. That brings up a thought - Is it better to just sit and enjoy the moment??? rather than run to try and capture it and then miss it all entirely??? I don't feel regret this time but will have to consider the risks next time. ;)

Here's Daddy and his girls snuggled up after an evening of viewing gingerbread houses and visiting with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kelly. Then there's our poor tree in the background waiting to be decorated. We put it up Sunday but then decided we wanted to get new lights this year. We told Ava we were going to wait until the next night to put lights on but she was not having that. So, we quickly just tossed a strand of lights on the tree, turned off all of the overhead lights and snuggled by our fading fire.

Speaking of snuggling, Ava's new phrase lately is "I've had none snuggles today." or something like that. (However, she typically gets LOTS of snuggles). Saying that she's had none snuggles will usually pay off in some snuggles for her though. Elise is also starting to say, "Hug, Hug!" or she'll just come up from out of nowhere and will hug my leg or even hug my leg and foot, sitting on my foot, waiting for me to walk with her hanging on. I'm really loving all of the affection around here!

I got a new portrait lens and I have no idea how to use it. Here are some of the first pics I've taken with it. The cool thing is that these are all indoor without any flash and very very little to no natural light. I just have to figure out how to make them more naturally colored.

Elise was so cute in her hooded towel after bath time. The coloring is a bit weird. I should probably get Photoshop soon. Anyway, I love these hooded towels made with just one bath towel and a washcloth. A great baby shower gift if you ask me. They fit Ava or Elise, which is a plus.

This is one of Ava's many silly faces. I sent her in when Elise woke up this morning, telling her to tell Elise that Mommy was on her way. I found Ava had climbed into Elise's crib and they were laughing, playing, hugging, tickling, etc. It so wonderful to see your children loving each other and sharing a special bond that you have nothing to do with.

Christmas Parade

We made a trip out to see the Downtown Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade. I love how detailed my camera is -- evening showing the graham cracker crumbs on Elise's lip - nice.

Elise was so excited to see all of the horses. She even clapped and pointed a few times, saying "YAY!" Ava liked parts here and there and was even brave enough to shout out "Merry Christmas" several times and waved to many people as well.

Here, Ava was laughing at the tiny horse in the picture below.

The small horses, ponies and this donkey were the favorites by far.

This horse was so ginormous - I had to take a picture...I mean...look at it!

There was a loooong pause during the parade. We weren't sure if it was over or not but nothing was coming but we hadn't seen the guy in red yet. Just as we were about to leave, Ava started a leaf fight.

Look out, Daddy and Elise!

Here's Ava surprising me with a face full of leaves.

You little stinker!
I love Elise's head peeping out of her coat in this picture.
The parade did go on. At least 10-15 minutes had gone by without any "floats". Then, more horses started coming. I read in the local paper this morning that there was a delay because one of the wagons/carts tipped over and someone had to be taken to the hospital - they were later released and everyone is okay thank goodness. Anyway, we got to see the Santa Claus after all.

Adelle

My sister Heidi and my newest niece came over yesterday to try taking a few photos. Taking newborn pictures is a sure challenge. Lots of variables! But hey, we had fun and even have a few keepers - not too bad for a first try I hope.

I know the baby in the basket trick might be a bit trendy - but it's oh so cute - we had to give it a try.

There she is -alert and saying hello! This was my sister's first outing (besides dr. visits) with her 2 week old so it was nice to visit with her and hold her tiny little girl.

In camera news, I have a new lens arriving (hopefully) on Monday which will really help with some of the low light situations. I can't wait to give it a go! It's been so much fun just beginning to learn about photography - I have a long way to go before I know what I'm doing, but I'm enjoying the ride and having fun trying different things.