Oma is coming back soon too… but until then this is how we play with her.

Megan will lay down right in front of Oma and just stare at her. Alyssa on the other hand wants to show Oma every single toy ever invented by man, even though Oma bought her most of them. We are able to video conference with her on the laptop, so we can move Oma around the house to show her different things. Tonight Alyssa played Twinkle, Twinkle on the piano that Nana taught her and then we moved into Alyssa’s room to watch Megan fall off the chair a few times. Have I mentioned Megan climbs on everything now. I am starting to think the baby gate is not safe enough. We enjoy these visits with Oma and know that she loves to see the girls faces too.

My parents came to visit us last weekend. It was my 32nd birthday and a holiday for them. We had a great time together and really enjoyed the weekend. The girls loved playing with them, and I loved the extra hands. Alyssa’s favorite was that when she woke up in the morning, she could take books down to Nana’s bed and they would read together. They also had a slumber party with Strawberry Shortcake – popcorn and all. Thanks mom and dad for sharing our life with us here.

I started this day at 6:30am trying to be one of the first to check-in online for our Southwest flight on the 26th. And if you know that you can check in up to 24 hours in advance, then you have figured out we depart at 6:25 am. Crazy, I know. Thinking about it now, I am trying to remember why I picked that flight…I know there was a good reason. Alyssa woke about 7:15 and had to be patient for a good hour before Meg woke and we were ready for her to go downstairs. She was so anxious to see what Santa had left her in her stocking that she missed the giant doll house on the ground. She and Meg played with that for a bit, then we had breakfast and opened some more gifts.

Then I began what will hence forth be known as “Our First Christmas.” Our first Christmas in TN and my first Christmas lunch. I am pleased to say that it was all fabulous and even the girls enjoyed it. It was great to have my husband helping, adding his input [he reminded me the turkey needing seasoning] and most of all doing the clean-up. I am so lucky to have a wonderful husband to share these experiences with. Choosing to be away from family for Christmas Day was hard, but we made it special because we were together.

So now the kitchen is clean, bellies are full, one is napping… and I will begin another daunting task. Remove the tree before we leave and pack up the family for a 4:45 am departure tomorrow. Merry Christmas to all.

From the time I can remember, we have decorated Christmas cookies. My mom started it when we were young, and we are still keeping the tradition alive even 900 miles away. This was my first year to bake the cookies with Alyssa. She is surprisingly interested in baking with me and did a great job of stirring. She complained that it got hard when we added the flour and I just had to chuckle. My mom says I always complained that my hands got tired while stirring too. We stirred and chilled the dough, then rolled and cut out our shapes. It was a lot of fun to have someone to help me this year.

The fun of decorating came today. Ethan and I tend to take our time decorating, creating mini-masterpieces, while others like my brother are known for quantity not quality. I could not help but think of Brad lining his cookies up and icing them like an assembly line. Megan helped me decorate one for her and I thought it would keep her occupied for a bit. However, she must be getting sick because she did not want to eat her cookie or even try to lick all the icing off the table. Hmmm… So she resorted to goldfish while the rest of us decorated. It was a tradition that I have no desire of ignoring. Even the mess is part of the fun.

Nana’s special cookie – Alyssa decorated it first for her.

As for a new tradition for us, Alyssa and I decorated a ginger bread house. I could immediately see that I need to perfect my house building and icing placement. I got ahead of myself and most of it was dry before we could add candy. However, it was fun as well. Next year, I promise to improve my ginger bread building skills.

We will spend our first Christmas in Nashville together as a family this year. We will have our own special breakfast, open some presents, then even attempt our own turkey dinner. [Gasp] We fly out to Texas on the 26th and will celebrate and visit with family. I feel that we get the best of both this year – our own Christmas and getting to see family. Merry Christmas, friends.

More pics

Brrrrr, was it cold yesterday. But not too cold for friends to come and play. We had coats and jackets, but now we all own winter hats, gloves and a scarf or two. I don’t know that I am ready for this.