Christmas 2015

Christmas Eve:

The girls fresh out the bath and into their matching Christmas pjs.

Christmas morning:

 Boy, do Austin and I look tired! As you can tell by the window the sun was just barely coming up.

This girl and her vast love of baby dolls.

Thanks to Austin, this stuffed Animal is named "Trippy Rainbows". Thank you secret Santa!

Maisie in shock- a book that reads to you!?

Traditional Christmas day bowling:

p.s I won the Christmas bowling game- 123 to 121. Maisie got a 106 and Ellie a 99- they did have the bumpers on and the ball guide, while Austin and I were left on our own. This was our best bowling yet!

Christmas @ Hemming Village

Early in the month we took the girls to the Christmas event at Hemming Village. It's our yearly tradition to go to both the Halloween and Christmas events there. This year was especially cold and the Santa line was especially long, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless- hot chocolate helped our bellies and hands stay warm and  thus vastly improved our attitude to the cold weather. 

It's fun to see how much the girls have changed since last time. Here they were last year. It's hard to believe that this was only Ellie's second Christmas! Look how small she was last year!

On Santa's Lap

Maisie has never cried on the lap of Santa (or around any mascot for that matter) and knowing that's not usually the norm when it comes to children, I was curious how Ellie would fare this year. Ellie is not a people person. It takes a while for her to warm up, but once you have won her over, she stays loyal- it's a rare occurrence even getting to that point though. I can only name a handful of adults who Ellie truly enjoys (Austin and I included). So sitting on any man's lap would be quite a challenge for little Ellie, but how about a jolly, bearded man who gives you gifts? I thought Maisie (or by holding my hand) would provide some level of comfort to uneasy Ellie, but alas she was left comfortless and dare I say tortured?

I finally feel a part of a club of parents who's children cries/cried on the lap of Santa. As much as I love the pretty smiles and cheesy grins, this is great too. 

An email from Santa

About a month ago I took the girls to the university to have lunch with Austin. As we walked though the bookstore we noticed a little letter station with a mailbox that directly goes to Santa. Maisie couldn't stop thinking about it the entire lunch so we had to swing by before we left. Maisie penned her letter stating in messy kindergartener handwriting that she wanted Star Wars toys. At the bottom of the letter it asked for the parents email so I wrote ours down and then Maisie slipped the letter into the mailbox. Honestly I wasn't thinking much about it until a couple weeks later there was an email from Santa Claus. I started to tear up as I read the letter because it was so personalized and sweet. Maisie's eyes as I read it to her were full of magic and wonder. 

Here's the letter:

Ho ho ho!

Well Maisie, I bet you can't guess who this is! I hear you've been a good girl this year. Thanks for listening to your mommy and trying your best to be good. I'm sorry I can't write you more often, dear. We've been pretty busy here in the north pole! Rudolph has been getting sick, so I've had to take care of him to make sure we're all ready to deliver presents Christmas night! Oh how fun it is to fly through the night sky, visiting all of the homes and dropping off toys. You all are just so great! 

Can I ask you one huuuuuge favor? I need your help with something! Now, you must keep it a secret. I was talking with Yoda (him and I are good friends) and he told me that kids can have the force! Did you know that? I'll tell you how. You smile :) When you smile, and say thank you to your mommy, the force starts working on your mommy and daddy. They start smiling, your friends start smiling, all those around you start smiling!! It's the force! Betcha didn't know I use the force all the time on those grouchy elves ;) It's how I helped Rudolph feel better, though he was pretty sick so I had to use a little laughing to help as well. 

Well Maisie dear, you keep being a good girl. I sure am excited to drop off presents if you keep being a good girl! Remember to smile :) 

With a big ho, ho, ho, and lots of love, 

Santa Claus

Maisie after we read it stood in silence for a minute (very unlike her) and with large eyes she whispered "he IS real". I nodded my head and smiled back assuming she was talking about Santa and then she said "Yoda IS real!" I laughed so hard. I guess Santa was never in question, but Yoda? As Maisie would say "is he myth or fact?" but I guess this letter from Santa was all the confirmation she needed.

Oregon Christmas

All she asked for this year was a penguin. Santa delivered and she couldn't be any happier about her little "Jumpy". Jumpy and Nudey have become quite the best buds-always accompanying Maisie on her many adventures and protecting her from the "nightmare bugs".

Christmas day bowling with the cutest cousins

We were blessed to make it back to Oregon in time for Christmas. Austin's parents helped get us there and it was good to have some family time. We really miss our families being in Idaho, so we were thrilled that everything aligned perfectly (even the weather) so we could have a nice trip. We didn't see as many people as we were hoping to, but it was nice to just focus on family. Maisie and Emerson were quite the duo and Ellie and Jane (the chunky thighed cosuins) seeing how they are so close in age (3 1/2 months) were a lot of fun to get together too.

Christmas Event @ Hemming Village

Home for Christmas

Driving through Pendelton Oregon.

I think this was one of my favorite moments of this Christmas. Maisie so proudly wrapped and made a tag for the gift to her little sister. It was such a sweet reminder about what the Christmas season is really about.

Maisie and the "nice Santa" at Broulims

Christmas Eve pajamas in front of Grandma & Grandpa's Christmas tree.

Christmas Morning

This Christmas was actually really fun and low key. We were trying to make it to Oregon, but due to a combination of things we decided to brave it alone this year. We woke up bright and early to a very excited little girl and headed downstairs to start the Christmas extravaganza. We made cinnamon pull aparts, (lazy version of cinnamon rolls, but same great taste) opened presents, played with new toys and then after lunch we went bowling. Since I was a little girl until I was probably 16 or so my family tradition was to go bowling on Christmas day and it was so fun. I can only remember specifically a few christmas gifts (even though we were always spoiled with tons of them), but boy do I remember bowling. So now that Maisie is old enough we picked up the tradition and I am so glad we did. It was a blast and there's something magical about dancing to upbeat christmas songs, in bowling shoes with a 3 1/2 year old.

Also, Maisie randomly wanted a stuffed owl for Christmas. That is seriously the only thing that she had asked for. So of course Santa obliged her with the cutest and softest little owl. When she opened it she was the happiest thing in the world. She was kissing it and bouncing up and down and kept saying "I got what I wanted!" in the cutest and most thankful voice. Shortly after opening it Austin asked her what his name was and she quickly replied "his name is Nudey. That's a really pretty name." So now her and Nudey are inseparable- he goes every where she does. The last picture is of Nudey and Maisie dancing in between frames at the bowling alley. 

In case you were wondering the game stats:

Austin finished with a 101

I finished with a 96

and Maisie with an 86

A New Camera Christmas

Austin really pulled out all the stops this Christmas and got me the DSLR camera I have wanted for, well forever. As readers of this blog you probably see that I take a ton of pictures. I would say that it's my biggest hobby and I thoroughly enjoy time behind the camera. So when I opened my gift from him I was thrilled! I immediately started to take pictures until I started to realize that I have a lot of learning to do. I hate wasted potential, so I plan on getting all I can out of this camera. 

Here are some pictures from Christmas day using my new Nikon D3100 with an 18-55mm lens.

As for Maisie's Christmas, she was spoiled! Austin and I kept it simple with just a couple semi-bigger gifts (a wooden doll house and a tea set) and the rest of the family got her so many fun and thoughtful gifts. Maisie is loving all of the wooden food sets (and mixer) and her favorite gift of the year... a real Woody doll from Toy Story. She loves him. She wants to take him every where and talks to him all day long. It's really sweet. 

This Christmas was by far the best in a long time. Maisie gets the whole concept now and is so excited by every light, every cookie and every story. It's so heartwarming to have a 2 1/2 year old on Christmas. I'm already excited for next year! 3 1/2 will be just as great!

Zoo Lights

Very last minute on Saturday night we decided to take Maisie to the Zoo Lights in Portland. It was beyond cold and crowded, but so much fun. The hour wait for the 10 minute train ride was completely worth it. Maisie had so much fun talking about all the different lit up animals and scenes. She even recognized a Wizard of Oz section of lights (that's my girl alright). I would do it again in a heart beat, but next time Austin and I will dress a little more warmly.

Meeting Santa Claus

My child is extraordinary. She LOVES Santa (and any other dressed up character/animal/mascot for that matter). I see all of my FB friends posting pictures of their kids/nieces/nephews/grandkids having a full on melt down on Santa's lap and I was kind of excited to have that picture of Maisie (even Katie and I have a picture like that except with the lovable Mickey Mouse instead of Santa) but nope. She's fearless. She just talks Santa's ear off, giving hugs and blowing kisses.

She was telling Santa that she wanted a Santa for Christmas. Haha then she finally asked for a pink dollhouse.