Christmas 2010

Emory woke up early Christmas morning not too sure what was going on. She just stood there for a while looking at the toys Santa had left her. Her hesitation was short lived and soon she was going full speed ahead!

Here she is taking it all in.

Checking out her stocking

Zipping around on her new 4-wheeler.

Taking her new baby doll "dolly" for a stroll.

Her first recital.

Playing her harmonica, which she loves and is quite good at. I think we have a natural harmonica player on our hands!

Opening a present, which was a marshmallow gun from her Daddy and Mommy. She and her Daddy had great fun with this and Emory loved eating the ammunition.

Emory got this shopping cart from her Grandma and Pawpaw Christmas Eve when they arrived. The cart came with some wooden play food. Emory immediately pushed the cart over to the pantry, opened the door and starting putting the food on the shelf, then she shut the door and told me "all done."

The food is still there. She is getting a kitchen for her birthday next month, so hopefully I can convince her that her food can go in her kitchen. She is so funny and smart!

After Christmas dinner, we opened more presents. Emory got two Zue Zue pets from her cousin Noah.

Getting a little help from her Daddy.

Cheering for herself after another piano recital!

Putting on a show!

Christmas Cookies

On Christmas Eve Eve Emory and I baked cookies. Emory really liked the rolling pin and the cookie dough. She used the cookie cutters a few times, but once she figured out the cookie dough tasted good that was the end of that and all she wanted to do was eat the dough. She is just like her Daddy in that area!

She thought it was funny to roll the rolling pin across the counter.

She is flying the reindeer cookie cutter through the sky. She enjoyed playing with the cookie cutters.

Practicing her rolling technique.

Making cookies is hard work!

Here they are. They are not the prettiest things, but she had fun and that is all that matters. Plus they tasted good too!

Emory decorated the ones that are a little heavy on the sprinkles, with Mommy and Daddy's help of course!

Santa Land

Saturday evening we made the 1 hour 15 minute drive to Santa Land, which literally has hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights. I figured it was going to be busy, but I did not anticipate a 2 hour wait and nearly 3 mile line. I would not recommend going the weekend before Christmas. It was worth the wait though, which Emory handled very well. She sang songs, looked at the moon and stars, practiced driving the car, told the cars in front of us to go, and fought really hard not to fall asleep. It was 8:30 pm when we reached Santa Land and thankfully Emory was still awake and she loved it. It took about 30 minutes to drive through Santa Land and Emory cried when we left because she wanted to see more Christmas lights (probably because she was so tired). Her tears did not last long and she fast asleep within 10 minutes. I took some pictures, but my camera does not do it justice at all. It was very pretty and quite impressive. Oh and Emory called the Elf houses in Elf land, doggie houses. She was quite impressed with all the doggie houses too.

These poinsettias were huge and there were probably 20 of them. They were one of my favorites.

Emory taking it all in!

Going through the Christmas lights covered bridge.

A few of the bridge as we approached it.

These Christmas trees lined the entrance and danced to music.

I had to include this picture from Saturday morning. She was all decked out with every bracelet she owns, her necklace, and Halloween glasses.

23 Months Old

Emory Grace you are 23 months old today and I can't believe you will be 2 next month. You are such a big girl now with quite the personality. You learn something new every day and continue to amaze us when you say a new word out of the blue. The other night I made guacamole and you asked "what's that" and I said guacamole. You thought it was the funniest word and laughed and laughed while repeating it over and over, except you called it rocamole at first.

Your new favorite food is raisins or "bugs" as you call them (you also think that is funny). You love them to the point of making yourself sick from eating too many (if that's possible) and Mommy and Daddy have to take them away to give you a break! You are absolutely in awe with Christmas lights this year and think they are so pretty. You love taking bubble baths and reading books. You are also a good little helper and eager to help Mommy or Daddy. I think you are starting to understand that you will be a big sister soon, however you still don't seem to understand there is a baby in Mommy's belly, but you like looking at the baby clothes and showing me the baby's Christmas stocking.

You are still wearing 18 month clothes and a size 4 pull-up, although Grandma bought you a few pairs of big girl panties that you have been trying out. You also had your first accident wearing them a few nights ago and came running to me screaming, "wet mommy wet." We rushed to the potty chair but were too late and into the tub you went!

You have grown up so fast and I can't begin to imagine what you will be like this time next year. I think you are going to be a fantastic big sister and I can't wait for you to meet your baby brother.

Pajama Party

Today was pajama party day at Ms. Betty's. I think the plan was to watch movies and eat snacks in their pj's. Ms. Betty said that some of the older kids had been wanting to have a pajama party because their older siblings had one at school. I am not too sure Emory understood why she was going to Ms. Betty's in her pj's but she did not seem to mind. So here she is just before heading out the door in her slightly too big Santa pajama's with her cereal bar in hand.

It's hard to get a smile at 6:30 in morning. Emory has her Christmas party on Friday at Ms. Betty's so this week is full of fun new things I am sure she will enjoy!

Christmas Tree Pictures

My parents and uncle came down for a quick visit Sunday afternoon and my mother brought Emory this Santa Clause doll that dances and sings Christmas songs, which we listened to for hours yesterday. Every time Bradley or I would turn it off thinking Emory had forgotten about it, she would realize it and insist on us turning it back on. Santa sang and danced until bedtime.

The following pictures are my attempt to take Emory's picture in front of the Christmas tree. Lets just say she was not in a picture taking mood, nor would she stand in front of the tree. I did manage to get a few so-so ones. Hopefully I can catch her in a good mood looking somewhat presentable before the tree comes down.

Side Note- Yes, I realize that Christmas is 13 days away and I have not one present wrapped and under the tree.

This was my first attempt!

One red bow and 20 minutes later!

That is Santa dancing in the background!

This was the look I got when I tried to bribe her with a cookie, which did not work.

Christmas Parade

Last weekend Mckenzie and Rachel came for a visit and we took the girls to the lighted Christmas parade Saturday night.

Little Mckenzie waiting for the parade to start.

Emory waiting for the parade to start.

She was overcome with excitement and started to jump up and down!

Still waiting

and waiting

Finally it started and Emory really enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights!

She also loved the little cars.

This was one of my favorite floats. Mary, Joesph, and baby Jesus were on the float with the wise men following behind. My camera does not do the floats justice.

Emory liked the Snowman float too.

She liked all the baseballs on this one. I guess when you win a state championship, you can but put whatever you want on your Christmas float! Ha!

Emory also liked the horses, especially this one!

Santa Clause

All the fun and excitement wore her out and she fell asleep on the way home.