cookies for santa

The girls had a ball making Christmas cookies with their daddy.  Emma Jane loved getting covered in flour and squishing the dough!  Vivian seemed content to just watch at first, but then she let us know she was ready to participate...in eating the dough that is!  Some of you may remember Emma Jane's reluctance to give cookies to Santa last Christmas, so we were worried that this might be a recurring event.  At one point, she told us that Santa could have "just one pwain ole cookie with no spwinkles!"  Of course, we let her know that Santa deserved much more than that for all of his hard work.  After several pep talks, Emma Jane was happy to share a few cookies with Old Saint Nick!  Then, the exciting wait for Santa to arrive was upon us...

 

Merry almost Christmas!

Here's to making more special memories with family and friends this holiday season.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

special deliveries

We've had fun finding Christmas packages in our mailbox this week!  Aunt Susan sent the girls adorable handmade Christmas tutus.  Emma Jane and Vivian have worn them several times since we received the package in the mail a few days ago.  They love to prance around and watch the tulle bounce!  Thank you, Aunt Susan!

Last night we made a special evening trip to the mail kiosk to deliver Emma Jane's letter to Santa.  On the way there, the girls were in awe of all the Christmas lights and decorations on the neighborhood houses.  While dropping off Santa's letter, we were surprised to find a package from Aunt Scott waiting for us in our mailbox.  When we got home the girls excitedly took out the presents inside.  Emma Jane was thrilled to play with the manger scene that had the stamp of approval for early opening.  Thank you, Aunt Scott!

getting in the spirit

We spent last weekend getting into the Christmas spirit.  The girls wore their coziest pajamas to have brunch with Santa at a neighborhood function.  Emma Jane was very reluctant to get close to Santa, but Vivian happily sat in his lap.  The rest of the weekend was spent decorating the house...inside and out!  

Ready to meet Santa!

Daddy's big girl

Vivian was in awe of St. Nick!

Santa tried very hard to coax Emma Jane to sit next to him, but she was not ready to cozy up to someone she'd just met!

 

She got nervous and showed him her new Christmas jibbitz on her Crocs.

Emma Jane inched a little closer while Vivi checked out Santa's fur cuffs!

Finally...success!

Emma Jane "helped" Paul hang the snowflake lights.

Vivian loved looking at all of the colorful ornaments and taking them OFF the tree!

 I guess they tasted pretty good, too!

Emma Jane took her job of decorating the tree very seriously this year.

Is there anything more exciting than transforming your home into a Christmas wonderland?  In the eyes of a child, that is exactly what it becomes and it's well worth the hard work it takes to get there!

perfect tree

Finding the perfect Christmas tree is always an adventure!  We headed back to Taylor's Christmas Tree Farm again this year.  Right away, Emma Jane found a tree that she proclaimed was "just wight" for us!  Of course, it was a tiny tree just her size and we thought it was pretty cute that she liked it so much she gave it a hug!  Unfortunately, it wasn't so cute when she had an absolute fit after we told her it was much too small to be our family Christmas tree.  Following lots of pouting and tears, Emma Jane perked up enough to walk through the rows and rows of trees with Vivian.  We finally found the tree that really was "just wight" for us.  Emma Jane had yet another meltdown when she saw that the tree had been "twapped in a giant net!" to be transported home.  Oh, the joys of toddlerhood!  Yes, every year is an adventure.

one is fun

On Vivian's actual birthday, I tried to take a few cute birthday girl pictures.  I think I succeeded, for the most part, but this little one was DONE after about 20 minutes of mommy's camera in her face.  Can you blame her?

Vivian has changed so much over the past few weeks.  She is WALKING almost everywhere, but she drops down to crawl if it will get her there faster.  She's climbing our stairs, so a baby gate has been set up at the foot of the stairs for now.  Climbing in Emma Jane's little wooden chairs is her newest trick, but I have to be sure to spot her since she inevitably stands up.  She just can't quite figure out how to get her tushy in the seat once she climbs up in the chair!

Viv has been slobbering like crazy over the past few weeks.  Suspecting teething as the culprit, we've been checking for new teeth and today I finally felt two on the top and two on the bottom making their entrance.  This will bring her grand tooth total to 12! 

Other than "mama" she hasn't been using words, but this past week she has said "gaga" for dog and clearly said egg, cat, and duck.  Getting her to repeat these words at the appropriate time is our new goal.  Today she simply called anything and everything "gaga"!  Maybe her daddy has told her how much he desperately wants a new puppy and she's trying to get the message to her mama?!?