Christmas 2011

What a Christmas! The kids woke up about 5 and we yelled for them to "Go Back To Bed" and they did. They woke up again about 7, when we read the story of Christ's birth and discussed the true meaning of Christmas. Then, the festivities began.
McKinna was so excited that she got her hamster. Bodin got legos along with many other toys, but he was most excited with the family gift, a new PS3.
McKade got some cars, and a huge Lightning McQueen racetrack. Journey got some play-do toys, clothes, and some other fun toys.

How did she turn 2 ALREADY?!?

She really enjoyed throwing the tissue paper out and watching it float to the floor.

She love her new puppy and her stroller to push him in. She also got a gorgeous new dress from Grandma and new jammies from me.

It seems like just yesterday we had this tiny baby in the NICU. Here she is already sassy and two! Her Dr. appt. went well. She is 30.5 inches and she is 19.4 lbs. While those stats do not make the charts, her head is at the 50% mark. That is great, except it makes it difficult to put her shirts on. The 12 month clothes fit great everywhere except on that noggin.

Everyone is instantly Journey's best friend. She loves all, however she is a little instigator. She loves to put her fingers over on McKades car seat to get his screaming reaction. It does not stop there, she also does it to McKinna and Bodin as well as her little buddies. She GETS what she WANTS.

She loves to stay up late and sleep in (my kind of girl). She also is a singer. She sings her ABC's, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star very well. She goes to Nursery and loves every minute of it. She hates loud noises, and always has. She cringes when gum is popped, is terrified if Ben pulls out a gun, and will cry and run away screaming, "I am scared" if there is a gun on TV. She potty trained early at 23 months as does very well with it. We love having her in our family.

Breakfast with Santa 2011

The kids had a great visit with Santa this year. McKade let him know that he wanted a car, Bodin wanted legos, McKinna wanted a hamster, and Journey refused to make eye contact of any kind. She sat and pretended that Santa did not exist.

Grandpa Teen

I sure will miss Grandpa. I will always remember him for the great, hardworking man that he was. He loved fixing up his old cars, he loved his dogs, he loved his horse, and he loved his family. His Donald Duck noises were the absolute best. He will be missed greatly!

Leading Up to Christmas...

We have been trying to do some fun family activities leading up to Christmas.

We made our Gingerbread house.

We played in the "fake" snow and they loved it!

We also went to the Christmas parade. The kids had sooo much candy they decided that this was better than Halloween. It was a slight overload, and we even made them leave early. We now know where to sit to get the goods!

Choir Concert

McKinna had a Christmas choir concert with the Middle and High school. The auditorium was packed and I should have known better than to take McKade and Journey. McKade was actually very well behaved and loved it, so I guess I should say I should not have taken Bodin and Journey. Journey was horrific, and so was Bodin. The concert was very well done and McKinna looked beautiful. Towards the end of it, I ran my fingers through my hair and they got STUCK! LOVELY, my sweet innocent daughter decided to spit her gum out IN MY HAIR! I ducked out of the concert as inconspicuously as possible. HUMILIATING!

WTH

I guess this is what happens when your sister and her friends dress you up. Poor Guy!