Life With Our Little Ladies

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Christmas 2011

This year, we celebrated Christmas for the first year in our own home and loved every minute of it. It was also the first year Abby could really appreciate all of the fun holiday excitement and festivities.

We started the night at church with a wonderful Christmas Eve service that helped us focus our hearts and minds on Jesus. Then, we came back to the house and spent the evening celebrating with Chrissy, Terry, Papa and Uncle Cory. My Dad and Cory stayed the night. There's just something about Jesus, delicious food, candles, music, Christmas lights, people we love and Home Alone that make Christmas perfectly cozy.

There is nothing like Christmas morning through the eyes of a child. Abby ran down the hallway and wasn't sure how to respond to all of the fun under the tree. We took our time enjoying the morning together giving and receiving gifts, opening stockings first, breaking for Christmas breakfast cooked by Papa, then opening gifts. Grandma and Casey came in the afternoon and we all had Christmas dinner together.


Aunt Chrissy knew exactly what a little girl would love to get for Christmas

butterfly wings, wands, tutus and bows: perfect for her dress up box

The ring around her mouth were from the cookies she kept sneaking off the table when no one was looking.

When Abby saw her new cow umbrella, she started mooing and then calling it Nina (see picture of Nina below and you'll understand why).

The guys enjoying our annual Christmas Eve tradition and watching Home Alone

Nina a.k.a. Abby's favorite cow :)


Nina was worn out after a night of socializing and celebrating, so she curled right up and went to sleep.

One of Abby's favorite finds in her stocking: her very own jewelery!

Rivaling the jewelry at a close second was her very own set of fruity chapsticks.

When I was a little girl, my Grandpa (my Mom's Dad) made me this bench. It was always one of my favorite things as a kid. When my dad came for Christmas, he brought it up for Abby. It was really sweet to pass the bench down to the next generation.

You can see Abby's excitement over the bench in this picture!

Joe and his new tool set

Uncle Cory and Abby taking a reading break in Abby's closet

Enjoying her OJ with Papa

new puzzle

Abby helped Nina unwrap the her doggie gifts.

My Dad was VERY surprised by the gift Cory got him.

Abby on her new bike from Nagymama

She now rides her bike up and down the hall everyday in her sunglasses and with her purse filled. When asked where she is going she sweetly replies, "Nagymama's! Airplane. Pool. Pleasssssse!"

With the help of Abby and I, Nina got girlie on Christmas morning.

Uncle Cory's favorite gift.

Abby "checking her email" on her new V-Tech laptop from Papa.

my baby girl

For those who see no mommy resemblance.... here you go! :)

Playing with Joe's new toy.

buddies

opening gifts with Grandma and Casey and Abby got another fun girlie dress-up treat to add to her box: high heels

"Thanks Grandma! These will look great with the next pedicure you give me."

Abby gave Papa this picture of them blowing bubbles together for Christmas. We found her sitting and admiring the picture later that afternoon.

coloring with the new crayons and coloring books from Grandma and Casey

modeling Casey's hat....


...deciding she might need a cool hat of her own.

We are thankful for a great Christmas together, but more than anything and most importantly we are thankful for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Precious Moments

I never want to forget these precious little memories that make us smile daily!

Words Words Words- Abby is talking up a storm and she's had a serious word explosion in her vocabulary. She surprises us multiple times a day with her new words. We're having so much fun with her clear requests and storytelling. I think her favorite new letter sound right now is K, which has opened up lots of new words: neck, milk, stuck, truck. She kind of sounds German when she says it because she over emphasizes the hard K sound at the end of every word. It cracks us up! Words ending in "se" or "th" come out as an "f" (mouth = mouf, purse = purf, nose = nofe). Our favorite phrase of the moment (often said like Buckwheat in the Little Rascals): "OTAY"!

Prayer Warrior- Abby and I went to meet Joe for lunch the other day at Panera. Halfway through our meal, Abby asked to pray again. Loving the fact that our 2 year old daughter loves talking to Jesus (multiple times a meal), we took her outstretched hands and let her lead us in prayer. Realizing that our eyes were closed when we prayed, she asked to pray again. Then, she proceeded to reach across the table quietly to strategically confiscate Joe's Pepsi and drink it. This sneaky (and smart) little girl keeps us on our toes!

Keeping Things in Line - Last week, our friends Kim and Emma were staying with us. Emma is 16 months old. Abby and Emma were playing nicely in the living room when Emma playfully started banging her toy on the coffee table glass. When Joe walked into the room to check things out, he found Abby bent down looking at Emma saying, "Emma, no no!". When Emma didn't listen to Abby and continued banging on the glass, Abby said, "Emma, no no! Spank butt!" and gave her a tap her little behind. Of course, we told Abby it wasn't ok for her to give her friends spanks, but couldn't help laughing about it in private. It was funny to see Abby explain the rules and consequences to her friend. No question of how much she understands. Hello first born tendencies!

Masseuse- My little nurturer loves to give back rubs and sing her favorite lullaby to her babies and her Mommy! It's so precious to see her caring for me and others the way I care for her!

One Big Happy Family Tree: One day, Abby started walking around the house singing, "Abby Ray, Abby Ray, Mommy Ray, Daddy Ray, Ra Ra Ray". We had no idea what she was saying, but it was cute and she was passionate. It might be her new favorite phrase. It wasn't until recently that we realized, Abby was name us after Rachael Ray. It reminds me of the time when Cory was eight and he brought home a family tree art project with Derek Jeter on a branch! Nobody really overemphasized Rachael Ray to Abby which makes it extra hilarious! Combine that with Abby's love for the microphone (or all things that slightly resemble a microphone) and her love for cooking, she might just be the next Rachael Ray. We'll see!

Names- When you ask Abby what her Daddy's name is she says, "Joe". When you ask Abby what her Mommy's name is she says, "Mom". When she is really intent on getting our attention, she will call, "Joe! Daddy Joe! DADDY!" or "MOM!". Where does she learn these things? :)

Abby will sit for 45 minutes playing with her play-doh and "cooking" for us.

"Hamburger, hotdog or fish for you?"

reading books in her new hideout behind her dresser

making a fort under the table with Daddy

Abby loves having picnics with her babies on the stairs. Thank you Ayash!

Last run

Joe ran his last 5k of the year a few weeks before Christmas with our friend Brian. It was a really fun race through downtown and through the Christmas lights display in the park. They enjoyed every minute of it! Ashley and I stood at the finish line showing our full support in below freezing weather. It was totally fun (especially since the Star Wars and Rocky theme songs blared as our soundtrack) and festive (considering it was the first day in December where we felt like our legs were going to be amputated from the cold)! Let the holiday season begin!