Christmas Morning

 Santa came! The gifts from Santa are above, and the gifts from us are below. Both girls majorly scored! 

 Santa brought them a castle. Score! 

 Juliet got a new "MoMo". This girl loves her Elmo! 

 Leah got a ton of new books. Even though we had *just* seen Frozen, Santa knew she liked it and brought her quite a few Frozen books. Leah loves to read, and LOVES new books. I think she got at least 15 new books. 

 Grandma helped Juliet open some of her presents. A Bubble Guppy car! Juliet loves Bubble Guppies. Leah used to love it, but not so much anymore. 

 Santa forgot about Brain this year. First year ever. Poor cat. 

Happily playing with Daddy!  

 Juliet loves her new baby buggy! 

Christmas Eve Traditions

 Last year we started the tradition that the girls can open their presents from each other on Christmas Eve. It's a sweet tradition that I hope we continue for years on end. Leah had a lot of fun picking out a present for Juliet, hiding it from her, and wrapping it up. I'm sure Juliet will have fun doing the same in years to come. For now, I picked out the present and wrapped it up. I told Leah it was broccoli many times. 

 We also make fajitas and drink Mexican beer. I started this tradition last year even though Chris claims to not remember it. His fajitas are my absolute favorite. 

Leah got a Rapunzel Play-Doh set and Juliet got markers and a coloring book. Both girls were quite happy and spent a great amount of time playing happily. 

Christmas Eve Balloons

On Christmas Eve, Grandma surprised the girls with balloons. Best $6 spent. The girls loved playing with them for days on end. Also, they made great props for my Christmas Eve photos. :)

Pajama Party

 Leah does this trick where she rolls one eye way back into her head EVERY.TIME.SHE.GETS.IN.TROUBLE. 

How can you talk firmly to a girlie who is doing the above? You can't. So she usually doesn't get her firm talking to. 

 Juliet being silly. Now that we have a "good" TV, we watch much more TV downstairs. I love the family movie nights more than anything. 

Leah has got into posing. Can't hurt that it's usually followed by an M & M. 

Leah's Christmas Sing

 This girl was so ready for her Christmas performance. She did it last year, so there was much less worry for both her and I. She was so excited, and I knew to send Chris 3 hours early to reserve seats. :) 

 Grandma snapped some adorable family pictures before we left. Love how Brain is relaxing. 

 They all came on stage. Leah was front and center! Somehow, that always seems to be where she ends up in large groups. 

 Juliet was a much better listener this year. She didn't scream or sqwack during the performance like she did last year. 

 Afterward, we enjoyed some snacks in her classroom, and then went off to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. Per Leah's request. 

 One day it will be Juliet up there singing! :)

Making Cookies with Daddy

 Daddy made Christmas cookies with the girls. Leah, as always, was a great helper, and Juliet was a good eater. 

 We all decorate the cookies together. Well, Leah, Chris, and I decorated. Juliet just licked frosting off her cookie. She would whine when the frosting ran out, and we would just reapply some more on the cookie. It wasn't until the end of baking that she realized that she could actually eat the cookie. 

 Happy frosting face! 

Snow Storm Christmas Party

 We tried to go to a Christmas party at Chris' friends house, but were snowed out. Unfortuntatly, we didn't realize that until after we had got dressed, loaded the girls in the car, and spent about an hour driving, only to get 7 miles from home. Juliet was screaming, Leah was whining, and Chris and I were beyond annoyed. Oh well. It was our own fault. At least we looked cute! 

 We got Wendy's on the way home, came home, opened some wine, and called it a night. 

 The girls recovered from their ordeal after eating chicken nuggets and playing with the toy included in their meals. 

Pajama Party

We love our pajama movie parties. Now that we have a good TV, we've been watching movies downstairs. Daddy and Mommy drink wine and chat and the girls watch TV and play. Everyone is happy.  

Hair Cut Day

 Juliet was due for her first haircut. I had put it off as long as I could. I had Chris schedule it 4 weeks in advance so I could prepare. I feel like once you cut a babies hair for the first time, it sort of ends baby hood. They just look so much older! 

 Juliet did a great job! She sat on my lap and was quiet the entire time. She looked around, and was very interested in trying to find her sissy and Dadddy in the salon, who were also getting their hair cut. 

They look so sweet! These girls are ready for Christmas! 

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

 Both girls were super excited to decorate the tree. However, Leah was the only one who would pose. Juliet kept getting mad and running away.

Leah was very anxious to put on the ornaments, she kept trying to get me and Chris to put each ornament she found in a specific place. It was a slower process to get the ornaments up this year. Then she discovered she could put some on herself (she really didn't like the ones with hooks, she refused to try to put those on). Chris and I were laughing at the Leah clusters of ornaments that were all around the tree.

 Juliet was very good about taking off the ornaments. She kept taking them all off and going, "huh?!" All in all, both girls had a ton of fun! 

Buddy, our elf, even reappeared with the tree. He brought each girl a Christmas book. The LOVE looking for Buddy each day. He is one of my favorite traditions, too. 

Getting a Christmas Tree/Burying Ruggie

 Leah was very excited to get a Christmas tree. We also used this opportunity to bury a little of Ruggie on the Christmas Tree Farm we go to each year. Ruggie loved going to the farm, and Chris and I have really good memories of taking him when it was just the 2 of us, and even when Leah was little (though we weren't always able to take him consistently--I think he missed the trip when Leah was only a few months old). 

 Leah carried Ruggie in the backpack. He would have loved it. 

 I've been going to this farm since I was little, but I never knew that if you walked far enough, you would come to a little lake. There is only 1 house on the lake, it seemed incredibly peaceful. The spot we picked for Ruggie was by a tree, only about 20 feet from the last row of trees in the farm. Leah and Daddy dug a little hole, and we put a little bit of Ruggie's ashes in. 

 We marked the spot with a rock. 

 Juliet and Ruggie. 

 Leah and Juliet with Ruggie's tree in the background.  

 Leah was most excited for the horse pulled wagon ride. We do that every year. 

After the farm we went to our favorite little (local) Mexican restaurant for lunch. Another tradition.

Such a fun time of year!