Christmas 2009

Wehad a fantastic Christmas this year. It is always wonderful to have some time off to spend with family. Of course, it is a busy time as well. Despite Matt being out of town 2 weeks in December, everything finally came together. We did things a little different this year so that we could spend Christmas day at home. So Christmas Eve night we went to my parents and enjoyed a fabulous dinner and opened all their gifts. The girls got their first tricycle (which Mommy and Daddy had to put together).


We waited for Santa to come by on his Firetruck, but it was relatively stormy out and somehow he skipped us. We could hear him all around us, but never saw him. We won't miss him next year!
my mom has a thing for black labs - apparently so does Hannah...

Coloring with Nina

Playing with the pig Nina got her


Christmas Eve when we got back home the elves had a lot of work to do, from what we heard. But finally Santa delivered their new princess toddler beds, an art easel, and a huge train table. Santa and his elves were very busy that night and very tired... I can only imagine.
After Santa Came...



Christmas morning we got things started around 10, which is when the girls finally woke up. Leah was determined that Santa was not coming, but the reindeer could bring her presents. Hannah was just fine with Santa bringing her gifts. But this year was wonderful because the look of awe and excitement when they came out was just priceless. They ran first to the train table. Then they discovered their new beds and actually gave us a good 30 minutes of post Christmas morning clean up time as they laid in them. Matt and I have decided though that IF we get each other anything for Christmas next year we will open those gifts Christmas night because through the chaos of the kids I didnt even know when he was opening anything!
Christmas morning video clip

Santas so good to bring Leah a new phone

Dandy, I thought those were the girls' sheeps!

Hannah, laying in her bed in the middle of the dining room

Girls enjoying their beds in the living room

Hannah loves getting clothes for gifts! She will wear them immediately!

Hannah and Baby Colin

After Leah saw everything Santa brought, she was very happy to give him the credit which was a step in the right direction!

After naps we went to Matts parents and had dinner with Jason and Katy and the boys. Again, everyone did too much and it was a completely crazy present opening experience but great also. I really enjoyed seeing the girls this year since they actually understood the whole present thing.

Christmas night was the first night in the toddler beds, which is a whole other story. But we had a great Christmas, made all the better by the innocence and excitement from my precious little girls.

Portrait Innovations

I have wanted professional pictures done of the girls for a long time. We know a photographer who is AMAZING (plug) www.neiconiphotography.com but we have not been able to get together with him. So for Christmas I decided I really wanted JUST ONE picture of the girls... together... smiling.

So I convinced Matt to accompany me and the girls to Portrait Innovations, where they sell the whole "no sitting fee - one pose package for 10 dollars" bit. And that is awesome. But I havent had any pictures done of the girls, so I couldnt choose just one. Still walked away with only 4 poses so thats not bad. I could have done some damage.

I must say they did a great job. The girls behaved well and the photographer helper people were great with kids! Leah was belly laughing, she thought they were hysterical. Hannah on the other hand, as usual, was a little more reserved. She would look at them like "Ok, I know my sister thinks you are funny, but you havent won me over just yet." They finally got some good smiles out of her.

We did some cute Christmas poses and we also went ahead and did some 2 year pictures, with the so cliche little blocks. Yes, I know they are 2 months more than the 2 year mark but oh well. I now wish I had taken them when they were one. Oh well.

This is a preview of what we got. Of course these are just the proofs, so I cannot do a thing with these since the quality is not any good, unless I take them back to the store. And please visit our flickr site if you want to see more at www.flickr.com/photos/matthewmccay



















Its amazing to me how different they are in personality and looks.

Snuggling

The girls are really into "snuggling" now. Its adorable because they will run up to me and say "I love you, Mommy. I LOVE to snuggle". So now that is our evening routine. One day this is going to fade and they wont want to snuggle with Mommy anymore but right now I will treasure this. Only problem is when it is time to go to bed they (mainly Leah) adamently screams that she still wants to SNUGGLE WITH MOMMY.

Last night I made the mistake of letting Leah snuggle with me in our bed. She has been waking up crying, saying "Im sceeeerred (scared)". Normally we do not go in there, even though that seems cruel, but sure enough the minute one of us goes to the rescue with either girl, said child is now perfectly happy, awake, and wants to play. Then upon returning to their beds the crying starts all over and we may as well have not had gone in there.

Well I went against better judgement and last night I went and got Leah when she woke up after giving her 30 minutes to try to cry herself back to sleep. Of course when I got her, all was well with the world, but she didnt want to go back to bed. I was tired so I thought maybe she could lay with us for a while and she would go to sleep and I would return her to her bed. HA. She talked nonstop while in the bed in between us. I couldnt rest and neither could Matt. I really thought she would settle down at some point but at 2am, I gave up. I do not know how many times she stated "I snuggling, I snuggling with Mommy!" as her little body would inch closer and closer to me to where I was almost off the bed. Adorable, but not so much at 2am when she was for some reason wired. So, much to her dismay she returned to her crib, screaming the whole time "I WANT TO SNUGGLE". Tug at the heart strings much? I had to talk to her through the monitor but we all did eventually fall asleep. So much for that.

NO SANTA!

Poor Leah has an irrational fear of Santa this year. We went to a birthday party last week and there was a gift bag with Santas picture on it. Leah saw it and lost her mind, and woke up with nightmares that night. Then a few days later my sister was babysitting and Santa came on TV in a commercial and my sis had a "siamese twin" as she put it. Again, nightmares that night. In fact, Leah has not been herself since then. Very clingy, wont go to sleep easily, wont stay asleep. Not sure what to make of it. Anyway I am thinking of skipping the Santa picture this year - not because I just dont think I will get a good one but because of actually traumatizing my child. She seems ok with tiny Santas, and when she is in a good mood he doesnt bother her as much. Either way, I think I should play it safe.

And then I found this picture from last year on one of our attempts at a good Santa picture and I am thinking this may not be a new fear. Maybe I started this last year!!!



Hmmm.....

Football night with the cousins

I just think this is adorable. Jason, Katy, and the boys came over for a football game one night. The kids always stay up late these nights, so when it was time to wind down I put in a movie and they actually all stayed still for a few minutes!!! Amazing...

Mischief

The girls are really tag teaming things now. Especially if there is trouble to be gotten into. I let them have 5 minutes of relative no supervision as i finished getting ready one day. I left them on the couch watching mickey. This is what I found ...







Apparently they had been eyeing this drawer - where I keep wipes and such - just for such an occassion where Mommy wasnt looking.
And it seems I need to change out this drawer liner... ah, another day.

Halloween

I have been trying to wait to post this blog without pictures, but I am not allowed to upload pics while Matt is working because it bogs down the internet, and that seems to be all the time now a days. I tried last night and Ill have to do more tonight.

Anyway, Halloween this year was hilarious. First things first, the girls got to ride the train again to the pumpkin patch, thanks to Mimi and Dandy who have now made it a tradition. The girls talked about this for weeks. "Ride the train on Saturday! See pumpkins! With Dandy! Saturday". Everything is going to happen on Saturday.

The day was pretty cold and Leah was not in the best mood until she got a gummy snack (you do what you gotta do) but we ended up getting some pretty cute pictures. And both girls did help me clean out the pumpkins which i was surprised about. Even more surprising, Hannah - my OCD child with cleanliness, was the one who actually put her hands in the guts to pull it out. Leah had to use a spoon which proves to be quite ineffective. Never the less, they had a great time at the pumpkin patch and I think they are looking forward to riding the train again when it becomes the Polar Express.

Trick or treating was a riot. The girls REALLY got into the whole concept of ringing the doorbell and asking for candy. Or rather, reaching their little hands into the buckets themselves and pulling out handfuls. The walked the entire circle of our street. Which is no small task. We had a great group with us, since we have wonderful neighbors. The funny thing is, everyone wants to walk around together with their kids, so very few people are actually at HOME. There were many bowls on the front porch and the girls liked that equally well.

I had two little Minnies again, keeping with the birthday costume from a few weeks before and this mommy ended up wearing Minnie ears for a good 2 hours. Oh well.

We had more candy than I knew what to do with but the we had a blast!

Family pic - these are so rare


Pumpkin Patch


Painting Halloween cookies


Our group for trick or treating




Ready to go - Leah wouldnt wear her ears