Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a great time, although very busy. We attended Christmas Eve service at my parents' church in Hadley. Then we headed back home where Jason and I exchanged our gifts to each other that night. Then in the morning we had the chaos and joy of watching Isabel open all her presents and then we headed back to my parents' house to open more gifts and have brunch. My sister and her husband and Rowan joined us there and the kids had a blast checking out their new toys and clothes. I've posted a bunch of pics of Isabel with her favorite new stuff. We got her the huge Pooh chair which she loves to snuggle and pounce on. My parents gave Rowan the Tonka truck that Isabel is perched in, but she couldn't keep her hands off it, I guess we'll have to get her one of her own sometime. My mom made sticky buns that morning and I got very few pictures of Isabel that didn't include her stuffing her face with a bun. They were very very yummy. After spending time at my parents' house we all headed out to my Grandma's to join the whole extended family where the little ones proceeded to get even more loot. It was a very nice and very exhausting day. It was so much fun buying things for Isabel and Rowan this year, knowing that they'd have fun opening their gifts and playing with their new toys. They were definitely a bit overwhelmed, but they had a good time. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day also and has a Happy New Years also.

Finally allowed to pull everything out of her stocking.

She loves her Pooh Bear chair.

This is her special Christmas outfit picked out by Daddy. She just couldn't leave the Tonka truck alone. See how perfectly she fits in it!

Evidence of yummy sticky buns all over her face as she checks out her new farm toy.

This is Rowan's funny new grin with his eyes all scrunched up. Isabel is busy pulling all the ornaments of the tree.

This is Rowan and my cousin's son, Austin, playing the organ at Great-Gramma's house. Austin is 8 months older, but Rowan actually weighs more and is the same height, what a tall boy he is!

Christmas is coming...

This past weekend we went and got our Christmas tree. We went to a wonderful place that let us pick out our own then they cut it down for us. Isabel wanted every tree in the lot, especially the ones that were her own size. But we settled on a big gorgeous tree and we're all very happy with it. Isabel had such a blast running through the trees and falling in the mud. She had a fit when we put her back in the car. She kept taking off and trying to hug all the trees. She's pretty fast for such a tiny tyke, I'd turn around and she'd be three rows over in no time at all. This place also had a device that they put the tree in to shake it out and get rid of all the junk before you take it home. I'd never seen that before and thought it was pretty cool. But Isabel hated it; she thought they were hurting her tree and was very mad to see it being shaken so roughly. She also had a rough time with the decorating of the tree. All the non-breakable ornaments were put at the bottom of the tree, but she kept taking them off and hugging them and crying when i tried to put them back on the tree. One snowman she kept putting on and taking off again. At least she got to feel like she was participating and had fun, that was all i cared about. She's been really great with the tree, just saying hi to it in the morning and cooing whenever she sees it all lit up, but not messing with it too much. I don't have any pics of it all decorated yet, but I'll take some soon and post them. The other pics I've posted here are just of one day that we were hanging out with Rowan and Sarah. Isabel climbed in Rowan's wagon and he pulled her all around the house. She giggled the whole time. For the most part they play so well together. They give each other lots of hugs and kisses which makes up for all the fighting over toys that occurs. I'm so glad Isabel gets to spend so much time with her cousin. Christmas is going to be so much fun this year with these two little ones. And getting to spend the first Christmas with my family in 6 years is going to wonderful also. I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season and all the preparations. Merry Christmas to all!

Ooh, trees!

"I want to hug them all!"

This pic is a little blurry, but I though I'd post it anyway cause it shows how happy she was picking out her tree.