christmas for 4

Banana slices with whipped cream!
(Appetizer while dad makes French toast)



Excuse me, I have an important phone call to make!



Fun with Elmo!




Giving Walker some Christmas love...



Silly, silly girl!




Little Chef



Biker Babe




It was a very laid-back Christmas for Paul, Emma Jane, Walker, and me. Although we missed our family and friends back home, we thoroughly enjoyed spending a quiet day together. Watching the pure joy in Emma Jane's sweet face was all we needed to remember the reason for the season and how this precious child came into our lives. We are so blessed!

Since Emma Jane has been such a good girl this year, Santa brought her a kitchen set complete with a bubbling pot and sizzling pan. She's been cooking up a storm! She has been in playtime overdrive with all of the cool presents she has received. One of her favorites is the "bike" from her Aunt Stacy and Uncle Paul. Although her feet can't quite reach the pedals just yet, she can rest them on a stand under the bike and we can push her. Another big hit was the basket of pretend food from Grandma Jane and Grandpa Bill. She tried really hard to feed Walker the plastic eggs! Since Emma Jane has recently become interested in Elmo, Mommy and Daddy gave her a stuffed "Mo" that blows kisses and an Elmo shirt too! Our little girl had a day filled with smiles and giggles and hugs and kisses...and our Christmas couldn't have been merrier!

lions, and tigers, and lights, oh my!

We took Emma Jane to see the Christmas lights at the zoo. She was especially thrilled to see "noooo" coming from the snow machines they had set up throughout the zoo. It was a little chilly out, but Emma Jane didn't seem to mind. With just two days left before Christmas, this was a wonderful way to get all of us in the holiday spirit!

where's emma jane?

Hiding is Emma Jane's new favorite past time. She hides behind doors and curtains, in corners, under tables, and beside our couches. We pretend we can't find her and frantically call out her name as she giggles uncontrollably from her hiding spot. Here she is in one of her favorite hiding places. Surprise!

party girl

Paul and I had a nice time at the Watsons' Christmas party, but Emma Jane REALLY made herself at home. We spent the evening chasing her around their beautifully decorated house. She had a great time following around 4-year-old Maggie and, as a good little hostess should, Maggie was kind enough to share her toys with Emma Jane. Katie and Jason even have a dancing Santa! Emma Jane was a little unsure of the hipshaking Santa at first, but then she decided he was pretty cool and tried to hold his hands and dance with him.

glamor girl

Emma Jane now likes to put on her mama's shoes. They are so big on her that she can't actually walk in them, but she will stand in them and giggle until someone notices her big girl kicks. She has also designed her very own blankie sleeping mask to block out the sunlight that streams in through her windows during nap time. What a diva!

girl with a blue balloon

Emma Jane has decided that she LOVES going grocery shopping at Publix! Sometimes she gets a sugar cookie from the nice people in the bakery and if she's really lucky she gets a balloon while we check-out. Yesterday she became especially attached to the blue balloon that she got on our outing to Publix. She played with it for hours in the playroom holding onto the string for dear life. She finally let it go while she ate dinner, but she still insisted on having it floating close by. After dinner, she gleefully grabbed it again like a long-lost friend. She even took it into the bath and into her room for our bedtime routine. It was so cute that I just had to capture her balloon love with a few pics. Enjoy!

dressed for the holidays

I took Emma Jane for a Christmas card photo shoot in the adorable Christmas dress her Grandma Jane gave her. We went to our favorite park on the only warm day we had last week and I chased her around with the camera like a madwoman. This little girl will NOT stay still for two seconds! Although I was able to take a few cute shots that you see here, none of them were quite what we wanted for our Christmas cards. An impromptu photo shoot in our front yard finally got us the shot we wanted, but you'll have to wait until the mailman brings that one to you!

sugar and spice and everything nice....

Emma Jane helped us make Christmas sugar cookies today. Grandma Jane made matching aprons for the girls, but Paul decided he would wear mine for awhile so as not to feel left out (afterall, he IS the cook most of the time). Emma Jane had fun "rolling" some dough, pushing the cookie cutters in the dough, and making a giant mess with the sprinkles! She really thought it was cool to watch the cookies baking in the oven. Walker made sure he was behind us every step of the way just in case we decided to give him a cookie too. Thanks for the recipe, Grandma Jane. The cookies turned out yummy!

discovering all things christmas

Emma Jane is crazy about our Christmas tree! She likes to take the bell ornaments off the bottom branches and, with our constant reminders, "gently" touch all of the other ornaments that are off limits. She also discovered her stocking and was POSITIVE that there must be something exciting inside! Grandma Jane gave her a cute pair of Christmas pajamas complete with a red tutu. She was thrilled to wear them while I chased her around the house to take pictures. This included chasing her up the stairs. She knows she's not supposed to go up alone, but she tries it every chance she gets! In the last picture you can see her newest attempt at avoiding the trouble she's about to get into. She covers her face with her hands when she knows she's busted. Afterall, if she can't see me, then I must not be able to see her!

oh christmas tree...oh christmas tree

This year we decided to be more adventurous in our quest to find the perfect Christmas tree. Instead of our usual trip to Lowe's or Home Depot for a tree, we went to Taylor's Christmas Tree Farm in Gilbert, SC. There were lots of different trees growing on the lot and Emma Jane had a blast running around them. She ran and giggled and hid behind the trees. Although she really had no interest in helping us pick one out, she was overjoyed when she got to take a ride on the John Deere that the owners use to tote the trees back to the front of the lot. Now, to describe the tree we picked out...."cute" might be the right word for it. We decided to think small this year since most of our ornaments are still in storage back in Panama City. So, the tree is not magnificent or grand, but it is OUR tree and we had a great time making memories in our search today!