We traveled home to Michigan for two weeks to celebrate Christmas. It was nice to see family and friends, but the flu bug ravaged our families. We had to cancel extended family Christmas' on both sides of the family and we weren't able to celebrate our anniversary because I was still recovering from the bug. (Happy 7 years to my hubby!) Emma was able to enjoy the snow and went sledding on multiple occasions and loved it! She also was able to see Santa two different times and loved him. She was always super excited to see him but very wary to get too close to him. She was too scared to get onto his lap alone. It was so much fun this year as she understood who Santa was and to see her reaction to gifts under the tree Christmas morning. She was sure to leave out cookies for Santa and chex mix and brown sugar for the reindeer. Santa left her a note to tell her he had also dropped off some gifts in Texas.
It was kind of sad for the very anticlimatic way that Emma found out that Santa left her a princess bike under the tree. She asked Santa over and over for the bike every time she saw him. When we got home she fell asleep in the car on the way home from the airport. We walked into the house 4 days after Christmas, with an extremely tired toddler to see the bike waiting for her. Lets just say she wasn't extremely thrilled at the time. Since then, however, she has told everyone in the neighborhood how "Beautiful" her bike is. It will be harder and harder to be away from home as the girls grow older and know about Santa. It has been really nice to get back home and settled into our routine.
We also received Anna's test results and found that she has a milk intolerance (not an allergy, YAY!). We have since switched her to soy formula which has made a dramatic difference in her disposition. She no longer cries 24/7. Since returning home I have also forced the nap issue with her and let her cry it out in her crib. She has been taking 2 to 2.5 hr naps on most days, which is dramatically different from the literal 30 min nap/day she took before. Overall, she is a much happier baby. She loves her bumbo seat and exersaucer now too - it is amazing to us that she can actually be happy without us holding her!! She is changing so fast and smiling so much now.
Since being home we celebrated New Years Eve with the neighborhood. It was a great time with a progressive type party. We went from house to house and stayed at each house for 1hour. Each house served snacks and a drink of choice. The kids even got to stay up a bit late and watch some fireworks out in the street. We had an awesome time and didn't even have to drive home!
I have videos to share but am working through the problem of how to post them (with lots of help from my sister in law Jenny - thanks!) My new camera takes the videos in Full HD and the file size is too big for the blog. We are trying to figure out how to get around this. The last video was posted through You Tube. Hope to figure this out soon! Enjoy the pics below (they are actually in reverse chronological order.) Happy New Year!
A girl after her moms heart! Learning how to use the measuring tape already. We all know this is not something she would learn from daddy:)
Sweet baby Anna
Look at those eyelashes
Look at those eyelashes
How sweet - Anna was completely listening to Emma read to her
Lovin' her exersaucer!
Emma with her pal Avery at the Houston Childrens Museum
Anna's first cereal. She was not happy!
The after shot of our cleaned up toy room
The before shot - seriously can you find Emma in the mess?!?
Emma hard at work on her new art easel
New Year's Eve - all the kiddos watching the fireworks
My two babes
She couldn't wait to start using the easel!
Just opened her new art smock and paintbrushes and SUPER excited
Nana and Papa with the girls
Emma checking out the fire trucks at Williams Twp. in Michigan
Going sledding with her cousins Darian and Kennedy
Opening her gifts Christmas morning
The girls Christmas morning
The cookies and pie for Santa and brown sugar for the reindeer. Emma also left a note!
Spreading chex mix with daddy outside for the reindeer
Great Grandma Charney meeting baby Anna
Grandpa pulling Emma on the sled behind the 4 wheeler. She LOVED it!
All bundled up!!
Just sittin on the cooler playing with her toys from Aunt Ann and Uncle Tim: a candy necklace, candy cigarettes and a travel size bottle of vodka. The essentials for every girls purse:)
love the cereal picture just wish it was mycum in her mouth not cereal
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