New Year's Eve and Sister Party!

We didn't have anything huge planned for New Year's Eve. That day there was a pretty big snowstorm, Wes worked, Adelle went shopping with Grandma Ellen to Build-A-Bear, and I made a New Year Purchase of an exercise bike. I spent a few hours putting the bike together and Lydia was great keeping an eye on Violet. You should have seen me drive the bike home in my little car. On second though, I hope nobody saw it.

Anyway, we ordered Pizza as night closed in and then we decided to watch Despicable Me. Wes fell asleep in front of the heater, but I woke him up before it grew too late. Lydia and Adelle got special permission to stay up late in their room and have their own special party. They got to have popcorn and watched Barbie Swan Lake. They were so excited they could hardly contain themselves.

Just ignore the mess that surrounds them :) At 11:00 I checked on them. Lydia was sitting half dazed on her bed and Adelle was begging Lydia to watch another movie. The rule was if someone got tired both girls would need to go to bed. Lydia just wanted to sleep so their fun was over and Adelle had a small meltdown. I reminded her that if she ever wanted to have a late night again she should listen.

Wes played a video game while I read the Hunger Games. We rang in the new year side by side on the couch enjoying ourselves. We of course began the year with a kiss. Before long we both turned in.

Glorious Christmas Day

Lydia and Adelle were not allowed to wake us up before 7:00. They are always so excited. I myself always have a little bit of a hard time sleeping. This year we had a mini tree on top of a table. We did this to keep our little Vi Vi away from the lights and ornaments. We didn't put out presents until the day before and then they were piled on my computer chair and desk. Santa's presents arrived in the middle of the night of course.

The girls asked me to put out Santa's treat this year. They delegated. I chose some leftover cannolis that Randy had made and that we had stolen off with at the recent friend Christmas party. Santa thanked the girls for the different treat in his annual letter.

We always eat breakfast before opening presents. I usually make something bigger, but Wes said we should keep it low key. Lydia and I still ended up with an omelet though because it sounded good to us :)

Violet got a special bear from Santa. His paws and ears change color in the sun. Honestly, he hasn't been played with much because she has so many stuffed animals. She did get a Little People Barn from Mommy and Daddy that she really has enjoyed. She really likes to show us how she can moo like a cow!

I love her bright penguin pajamas and that big, big smile. She is such a funny baby! Violet helped open many of her presents. It was fun she could participate this year.

Lydia and Adelle got on their new outfits from Grandma Julie and we all had fun taking turns opening presents. We captured it all on film. It has become our Christmas tradition.

The girls got a lot of presents!!! Wes and I got some great presents too. Wes really loves the two blog books. I made both 2008 and 2009 into books. It is wonderful to have our own little family history in beautiful, colorful books. It has been funny too when Wes has forgotten certain things to pull out the books and remind him :) I have even caught the girls reading the books. I got a external hard drive which is priceless since my computer is on the fritz. I copied all of my personal files onto the drive so if my computer dies I will not lose all my important stuff. I also got gift certificates to go clothes shopping. I would like to lose a little more weight before using those though.


We had so much fun and we were sad when Lydia had to leave to spend time with her Dad. We spent the rest of the day hanging out. Wes played a new video game. Adelle had fun making her very own story thanks to a story making kit she received from her Aunt Erica. Before Lydia left for the day the girls enjoyed playing with their Zhu Zhu hamsters. I wasn't sure what to do with myself. By the end of the day though Adelle was sad. She had the end of holiday blues. I tried to be silly and cheer her up. I also reminded her that New Year's Eve was just around the corner.

It was a different holiday. There were some moments of sadness with my father being gone, but I cherished the family time and the time I had off of work! There is nothing like spending time with my family.

Christmas Eve with the Oates Family

The last stop on Christmas Eve was to my wonderful in-laws. I made a turkey at home and brought it over for our Christmas Eve dinner. It was a little more done than I would have liked but still good. The best part of the dinner was probably my mother-in-laws cheesy potatoes and Lexie's delicious broccoli side dish. YUMMY! Violet ate almost everything in sight. There were also lots of sweet treats. Adelle and Lydia especially enjoyed going back for seconds of the cookies! From there we all had fun opening presents. Everyone was super generous! The girls got toys and clothes. Wes and I got comfy socks filled with cash, gift certificates to restaurants, an MP3 player and a snazzy emergency flashlight/radio.

Adelle got this cute snowman shirt from Grandma. Her FAVORITE gift from Grandma though was a gift certificate to Build-A-Bear. They set a date right away to go New Year's Eve day to pick out a special friend.

Violet also got some candy including these dots. She had fun with some M&M candy canes. She enjoyed whacking them around and even busted a few. Silly girl!

Lydia was a little freaked out by this robot kitty at first. Both her and Adelle each got one from Grandma Christensen. As they came out of their boxes though the cats became quick hits. Violet found them particularly funny and laughed a lot when she saw them meowing and walking around.

Here I am with my handy, dandy flash light. You can crank it and it will light up and there is also a radio and a siren. I learned about the siren when I accidentally hit it later in the evening right as Violet was sleeping. Whoops! This was a very thoughtful gift from Wes' Dad. He is so great to always give us gifts that will help us be prepared in the case of an emergency. I think probably almost all our emergency kits and supplies have come from Wes' parents! I am so grateful for their thoughtfulness. We have emergency food, buckets of rice, lanterns, hand warmers, flashlights, little stoves, and other supplies.

Adelle and Lydia also got some really neat jewelry. If you look closely at Adelle's you can see that it is filled with real, little starfish. Lydia's has a little crab in hers. They are pretty amazing to look at.

We really had a wonderful time. Before too long we had to head home to get the girls to bed and to make sure everything was ready for Santa to come.

One Present

Adelle had been begging me for a couple of weeks to open one present. I made a promise to her that on Christmas Eve that she and her sisters would get to open one present. I don't know if they were disappointed but each of their little packages were pajamas. Lydia and Adelle both got super soft pajama bottoms. Adelle also got a Care Bear pajama shirt.

Violet and Lydia opened Violet's present. She got cozy, pengun pajamas. Lydia really liked the meditating pig on her pair. They all looked really cute in the new garb.

Christmas Eve with Grandma Julie

In the early afternoon of Christmas Eve we headed over to Grandma Julie's house. Lydia wasn't going to be will us very long on Christmas Day so we ended up doing all of our family visiting on Christmas Eve. It was wonderful to see Grandma Julie. We love her SO much. Violet got to practice her present opening skills again. Everyone was just spoiled as usual :) Adelle got Kit an American Girl Doll.

Lydia got a beautiful, little figure to hang from her ceiling in her room.

We gave uncle Phil a new Shaun the Sheep DVD. It was wonderful to see him.

Adelle also got a wonderful, little figure to hand from her bedroom ceiling. Each of the figurines remind me of my girls.

Violet got a shopping cart full of play food. Her favorite items have been the pretend eggs. I often find them in odd places, including her ball maze.

Uncle Phil gave us Yahtzee!

Lydia was quite pleased to get make-up! She loved all of the different colors.

Aunt Allie gave Violet "Many Kisses Elmo". Poor Elmo's leg was injured when I tried to get him out of the box with Wes' brand new pocket knife from Julie. I quickly fixed up Elmo when we got home though and he has been a big hit.

We got many other wonderful presents as well! Adelle even sang her songs from her school program to Grandma Julie and she seemed quite touched. I wish we would have been able to come over the next day and spent time with all of the family, but I am grateful for the time we did spend with Grandma Julie.

Partying with Friends and Santa's Visit

On Wednesday, December 23 we went to a wonderful get together and Nick and Brooke's home. They are wonderful hosts and we enjoyed visiting, eating wonderful food and the kids loved playing together. Lydia was with her dad so unfortunately she missed the fun. Santa even stopped by and gave the girls singing toys:) Adelle was excited to see Santa!

This picture of Violet and Santa turned out a little blurry. Violet wasn't nervous to see Santa at all and she didn't cry. It was great!

Adelle told us later that she and Randy's daughter had found Santa's bag with his boots in it while they were playing hide and seek. She said she knew he wasn't the real Santa. I just let her know that there are special helpers that aren't Santa, but dress up and talk to children since Santa can't be everywhere at once. That made perfect sense to her :)

Adelle's Class Sing-A-Long

On Violet's Birthday Adelle's school had their Christmas Sing-A-Long. I wasn't able to make it due to work :( Wes did attend though and snapped a couple of photos. Adelle's class sang "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" which is so fitting for Adelle. They also sang "Ichabod" which is a song about one of Santa's elfs that is watching kids and reporting back to Santa. I was lucky enough to get my own special performance later. Adelle sings beautifully and I just adore her!

Violet is 1!

I can hardly believe that my beautiful, baby girl is one year old! Her birthday was on Tuesday, December 21. Her birthday wasn't probably the best day because I had to work over 11 hours with it being the last check run of the year for work. Wes also got some less than good news about a case. I was glad that we had taken time the Sunday before to celebrate. Lydia and Adelle were wonderful with Violet and enertained her while Wes and I were busy.

Violet has changed so much this past year. Now that she is 12 months she is eating pretty much everything she can get her hands on. She still isn't a fan of green beans and will throw them on the floor. She is still breastfeeding a 3 or 4 times a day, but she also has cow's milk at times, especially when we sit down at dinner. Eventually I'm sure I'll wean her, but for now it is so convenient and I know it is still healthy for her.

Violet understands so much now and can say certain words. She tries to say milk, she can say "Daddy". On rare occasions she will say "Mama". She calls Lydia "Dede" and she can say "kitty". She has also learned some sign language from her Baby Signing Time DVD. She knows how to sign "milk" and "more".

Violet isn't walking yet. She can crawl very, very fast. She can pull herself up and stand and she'll even take some steps if we are holding onto her, but she just isn't very interested yet in walking. I'm in no hurry for her to grow up so I'm not worried.

Violet loves it when we count with her and counting books and touch and feel books are her favorite. She likes playing with her little people house and barn and enjoys pushing buttons that make noise. She can be a trouble maker though. Yesterday she managed to pull a glass door of our enertainment stand. The frame under the door was cracked already, but she managed to finish off the stand.

She is growing more and more. At her one year old appointment she was in the 90% for height, but only in the 20% for height. Her head is average size.

She is a pretty happy baby most of the time and loves to laugh and play. She is quite the character. She makes me so happy and I feel so blessed to have such a special baby girl.

Violet's First Birthday Party

On Sunday, December 19 we celebrated Violet's birthday a few days early and had a party! We enjoyed a simple dinner of roll sandwiches, fruit, veggies, and shrimp. After dinner we headed into the kitchen to give Violet her very own special cupcake. We lit her candle and sang Happy Birthday. She looked a little stunned to have everyone staring at her.

She wasn't quite sure what to do with her cupcake at first.

The first thing she ate was her ladybug M&M.

Next, she started picking at the frosting and oreos.

Before long she grew tired of the sweet treat and we got her down. She actually really enjoyed eating cupcakes throughout the next week. Whenever she sees someone with a cupcake now she yells out because she thinks she deserves a bite.

We introduced her to presents. She wasn't to sure about everything but did rip some of the paper.

She got a lot of presents. Adelle gave Violet her own little Nemo fish.

She got a baby Tiana from Grandma Oates and she was so excited.

She got a baby doll from Wes and I.

She got a lot of other gifts including a baby Einstein book has a musical player with classical music. She fell in love with it when Violet and I were shopping at Wal-Mart on black Friday. She loves to play with it often and loves to take it in the car whenever we drive around. She also got clothes, more books, little people, a baby signing time DVD, and more toys!

I'm note sure Violet was excited about the clothes, but she sure looks cute!

Grandma Julie brought a giant box with a big present. Lydia and Adelle loved the box. In the box was a plush, pink rocker with an ottoman! She looks quite grown up when she sits in it.

We had a wonderful time and I hope my little Violet enjoyed her very first birthday!