Christmas 2013

We had a nice Christmas season. We visited Santa, mailed letters to Santa, decorated the Christmas tree, made a gingerbread house, delivered neighbor gifts, ate candy from the advent calendar and did all sorts of other fun holiday activities.

Celebrating Christmas with a 3 year old was so much fun. Lilly was very excited and asked me daily if it was Christmas Eve. I had to show her where it was on the calendar each time. She kept telling people Santa was going to land on her roof, sang ‘Jungle Bells’ and ‘Santa is Coming to Town’ nonstop, and watched The Polar Express more times than I can count.

Because of Lilly’s obsession with The Polar Express the only thing she wanted from Santa was a bell from Santa’s sleigh. She also told me at one point she wanted ‘something that glows in the dark that goes in the sky’. What that meant – who knows. She only asked for it once.

On Christmas Eve Tyson and Lilly started the day sledding.  It was a really cold day so they didn't last long. 

We made Santa cookies and had a delicious dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Our family does like the Texas Roadhouse; however, it would not normally be our Christmas Eve choice. The only restaurants in the Quad Cities open on Christmas Eve are the chained restaurants. Our choices were The Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden, Chili’s, Applebee’s, and Texas Roadhouse – we chose the Roadhouse.

After dinner we took a drive to look at Christmas lights. Not very many people hang lights on their houses here. You have to do a lot of looking to see a handful of houses. Lilly got excited each time though so it was worth it.

When we got home the kids opened Christmas Eve presents. I got Lilly a nightgown and slippers. She continuously talked about her friends slippers so I thought she would like a pair. I am happy to say I was right. I think it was one of her favorite presents and she wears them all night and day. I tried to explain to her that they should be placed on the ground next to the bed at night but she likes to sleep with them either on her feet or on her pillow. Bennett got a stuffed alligator. His favorite part of the gifts was the pretty ribbons.

Before bed we hung our stockings, built a fire, put the cookies out and then Tyson read The Night Before Christmas to the kids. Lilly went to bed easy and didn’t wake up until around 8:00 when Tyson woke her up because he was excited.   

Before we got to the tree we stopped to take pictures on the stairs. Lilly was too excited and did not cooperate. When she went into the room she just kind of stopped and stared wide-eyed at everything. Santa left his bag and it was full of presents, he ate all of the cookies and left a note and the stocking were full. We decided to read the note first and then she dug into her stocking.

I am adding all of the stair pictures because I think it is funny watching Lilly hanging on to Bennett

We had a fun time opening presents; however, Lilly did get distracted playing with some makeup she got and she couldn’t seem to focus on opening more presents. I finally had to take it away from her so we could move on.

Lilly - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Candy Land, highchair, books, flash cards, play makeup, Little Mermaid from Grandma and Grandpa, play food she shares with Bennett, and of course her bell from Santa's sleigh.

Lilly wanted to pose in front - haha

Bennett - stuffed alligator, PJ's, photo album, piggy bank, books, and some boy toys

Karen - toaster, clothes, a hat, movie, puzzle and journal

Tyson - clippers, socks, and family calendar 

I thought Lilly’s presents to me and Tyson were very cute. She got Tyson a box of movie theater candy, popcorn, and a gift card to the movies since she likes going to movies with daddy. For me Tyson had her pick one out a small figurine animal since I like them. She got two hummingbirds – one for me and one for her. I thought it was special she picked out the hummingbirds all by herself because my Grandma Whitney loved hummingbirds and had them all over her house. It was also funny she wanted one for herself.

After presents we did video chats with Grandma and Grandpa (aka: papa) Ballard and Grandma Kathy. Lilly then played with her toys while we prepared our Christmas lunch of funeral potatoes and ham. It was super yummy but we should have invited someone else over because we had WAY too much ham.

The rest of the night we spent relaxing, playing with all of our new toys, playing Candy Land with Lilly, napping, an enjoying being together.   

Church Christmas Outfits 

Lilly used the same dress as last year. 

He has a little tie under his sweater -SO cute

Thanksgiving 2013

We had another fun and yummy Thanksgiving. This is the first year our small family Thanksgiving has felt normal.  Tyson made the turkey, rolls, potatoes, stuffing and pies and I made everything else. He obviously made the more difficult dishes. Great job Tyson!

After dinner, naps and clean up we did a Thanksgiving craft.

Naps

 

We made these turkey doughnuts the day before Thanksgiving for Family Home Evening

 

 

We also got a newspaper to see all the sales and Tyson risks standing in line at Target to get an IPad. He was rewarded with a brand new IPad he doesn’t have to share with Karen or Lilly.

Another fun activity we did on our holiday weekend was going to the movie Frozen. I had to spend about 15 minutes walking in the entryway of the theater with Bennett but it was still a lot of fun. I thought the movie was cute. Lilly is always cute and excited to go watch movies on the big TV.

We also raked our leaves and made the largest leaf pile ever. Lilly was sad we had to pick them up at the end.

Lilly's 3rd Birthday

Lilly had a very exciting birthday this year. Turning 3 is a big deal. On her actually birthday we had a dinner of white noodles (alfredo), opened presents, and had birthday cake. It was the first year we used our special birthday plate for a birthday dinner. The special plate was a tradition I had growing up so that was exciting for me. Lilly’s gifts included a camera, umbrella, large Minnie Mouse, stuffed cat, and Daniel the Tiger figurines. Lilly was excited about her cake and blew out the candles before we finished singing happy birthday or could take a picture.

The day after her birthday we had Lilly’s first birthday party. I decided to do a birthday party because I had felt bad about doing Lilly’s first two birthdays with just the three of us. That is something you usually do with extended family and since we were far away we couldn’t. So, I invited all of her nursery friends and we played carnival games and had cupcakes. Of course it was a Mickey Mouse theme – not Minnie Mouse. Our games included a fishing pond, clothes pin drop, ring toss, beanbag toss, and sucker pull. I got the cupcakes from the store and they were yummy. I also bought some fruit but I forgot to put it out. All the kids had fun. I am glad I decided to do it.

 

Dear Lilly,

And now you are three! You have had a big year. You went from saying one word at a time to talking all the time (non- stop), from a crib to a big girl’s bed, diapers to panties, and a single child to a big sister. You have taken all of these changes in stride and with ease (mostly).

You have turned into quite a little talker and you crack us up. The things you think of and say are hilarious. You like to tell me to stop so we can ‘talk about it’. Your favorite questions are ‘why’ and ‘what are you doing’. I don’t think you really want the answers you just want to chat about anything. You are extremely friendly and want to talk to everyone – almost too friendly. You are not shy at all and welcome everyone into our home. It is a good thing you can’t open the front door without me.

Some of the things we have been busy with this year is music class, art class, swimming lessons, play dates, trips to Chicago, and visits from Grandma Harris, your aunt Angie and cousin Logan.

The biggest change has been the arrival of your little brother, Bennett. You loved to talk to mommy about the baby the whole time I was pregnant. When Bennett came you were so cute and sweet with him. You like to sit and look at him. You call him baby Bennett and always make sure he has something to play with. You can’t wait until he gets big enough to play with.

Lilly you have been a joy to have in our lives. You are very loving and up for anything. We enjoy doing activities with you and taking you places. You get so excited and happy about whatever we are doing. I am so glad you are in our family.

We love you!

Mommy 

*Favorite Song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row your Boat, etc. You love to sing and will sing anything. You often make up your own songs.
*Favorite Books: Clifford the Big Red Dog and Pete the Cat. You like to read anything. *Does not like: Being told what to do and eating your food by yourself*Favorite Cartoon: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Cinderella, and Bubble Guppies*Things you are good at: Counting, shapes, colors, and sharing your toys with your friends