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!

The Oates Extended Family Party

On December 18 we attended the annual Oates Family Christmas Party. Some of the family we only see once a year at this party like some of Wes' aunts, uncles and cousins. We always have a great time and enjoy visiting, eating, and having fun! Lydia was with her Dad and we sure missed her.

The evening started out with each of us sitting down at a table and guessing how much was in jars. One jar was filled with quarters, another with peanut M&M's, another with Reese's Peanut Butter cups, and there was one last jar for the kids to guess that was filled with Swedish Fish.

From there we sat down and enjoyed wonderful food! Violet especially loved the cheesy potatoes and she even tried some crab. We always go back for seconds and love chatting around the table.

After dinner Violet enjoyed crawling around the very large house. Wes trailed behind Violet keeping her safe. I loved watching him crawl right behind her playing and keeping her company. He is such a great daddy! Wes quickly pulled her away from the power cords and the giant Christmas tree.

Then we all sat down and played a game with Forrest (Wes' uncle) involving envelopes of money. None of us every go away with empty pockets.

Violet hung out with Grandpa Bill for a little bit. He has just retired and so she gets to see more of him when Violet goes over to Grandma's house.

After the money game they announced the winners of the guessing games. I was the LUCKY one. I guessed there were 680 quarters and was the closest. The grand total was 700, which equals $175. The jar is super heavy. I'm still not sure what to do with that many quarters. I haven't decided whether to buy paper rolls and take them to the bank or just use them as a very expensive and heavy paper weight. If I was a gambling girl I could go to Vegas. Funny enough Sharon (who is married to Forrest), was trying to get rid of the quarters. I know, surprising! Forrest had a slot machine and got tired of running the quarters through when he got a big payoff, so instead all the quarters became a treasure chest for the grand kids. The jar I have is less than 1/4 of how much they had though. Sharon said that she couldn't give them all away in one jar because it would have been too heavy to pick up. Yikes! Anyway, I was pleased I won!

The kids all got bags of goodies with stickers and small toys. Adelle couldn't wait to get started making her sticker gingerbread house.

Violet enjoyed hanging out with her Aunt Erica and Aunt Lexie.

Devin and Kyle hanging out.

The party always ends with Wes' grandparents bearing their testimonies. I really love his grandparents. They are amazing people. They have been married over 50 years. Wes' grandmother is absolutely amazing. I've never known a more happy and positive person. She is the kind of old person I want to be. Honestly, I should be like her as a young person too!

After the party we headed home and tucked the girls into bed. The next day was Violet's party and we wanted everyone to be well rested.