Rewind to Thanksgiving...

My cousin just sent me these pictures today! The girls had such a fun time at Thanksgiving playing with the puppies. Jennifer and Cary's dog Chester played tug-of-war with Addison, which she loved. They also couldn't get enough of holding and loving on Mike and Amy's new dog, Rosco. He was just a few weeks old, so gentle and just their size. He was so sweet to let them carry him around all day!

Merry Christmas

Reagan can't be convinced that the Little People are for her.

Thankfully Big Sister is happy to share her Barbie's and their house.

Santa ate everything, he worked up an appetite building Barbie's Dream House!

Ready for the girls!

Sharing a marshmallow sucker for breakfast!

Reagan got a My Little Pony with a Doctor's kit.

Mike got them the remote control puppies they love!!!

What a fun Christmas morning! The girls loved it all. Enjoy the pictures, but pardon our bed-head. Addison had major tangles/rat-nest in the back and Reagan had serious static! You will also see several wardrobe changes as they each got bathrobes and gymnastics outfits for their classes starting in January. Each had to be tried on right away. They loved the Barbie House and Little People doll house from Santa and remote control dogs from Uncle Mike were a big hit! We took our time opening new toys and then had a relaxing day just hanging out and playing.

Christmas Eve

My pictures came up in reverse order, so think backwards. We had a great, relaxing Christmas Eve. We went to the 4:00 service at church and then drove around drinking hot chocolate and looking at Christmas lights. Uncle Mike was here when we got home, and the girls were beyond thrilled to see him. He is as popular as Santa Claus around here. We ate dinner and let the girls open one present....their snugly pillows. They loved them! Especially Reagan. Later, Addison picked out cookies for Santa and got carrots for the reindeer. Finally, we snuggled on the couch and read the Christmas story from the bible and from several books that we have. Reagan was tired and ready for bed, and Addison was determined to get to sleep quick so Santa could come. They were asleep in record time!

Chatter-Box

So I remember all of Reagan's 20 month chatterings! This girl has verbal skills!!! I think I have gotten spoiled having such a young toddler who can tell me what she wants/needs!!!

~She starts the answer to every question you ask her with "Ummm, because"! It makes me laugh now, but may not be so cute when she is older.

~She was in the Chick Fil A playground yesterday with Addison while I finished cleaning up. She opened the door, walked out by herself and said, "Big boy push me!". Big boys mom was right there and didn't know whether to laugh or be embarrassed. My 20 month old is already tattling!

~After another incident at Chick Fil A the week before she talks often about "Mean boy scare me. Bad guy in there, Chick-Fil-A."

~She can do the entire "Tick-Tock" prayer by herself before meals.

~Today she put on Addison's dance recital costume and her ballet shoes. She called out "Watch me, Mama, sit on couch", and then put on a show for me.

~She can sing long verses of Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells, Jesus Loves Me, Happy Birthday Jesus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and many, many more.

~She says "I love you"!

~ She says, "Mommy's baby Gracyn in there," while she points to my tummy.

There are tons more things that she says. I just want to make sure that I remember them all. She blows me away more and more each day.

Complete...

This is my new favorite ornament. I love seeing our names all together. Thanks Dad and Deb for such a thoughtful gift.

Christmas Dance Recital

Addison had her second dance recital today. We tried to get some cute pictures of the costume before we left, but she wasn't much in the mood to pose for pictures.

Her dance was precious. She danced to "Jingle Bell Rock" and she was quite enthusiastic about her "hip shaking". I don't think there is a shy girl in her current dance class, so they had a great time up there and really hammed it up for us. We loved watching her. Especially when we noticed her checking all over the audience for us. Being the veteran recital dancer this time around, she fully expected flowers, and requested that this time, Mommy give them to her, not Daddy!

What a difference 4 months makes. During Addison's last recital, we had to take turns taking Reagan out of the room. She didn't watch a second of the show and she squirmed around the entire time. Today, she was content to sit in her chair and watch the "ballet class" as she calls it. It won't be long before she is up there. I think there are alot of dance recitals in our future.

Christmas with Mimi

Mimi modeling the dress-up crown.
The cousins trying out Austin's Uno Flash!

Reagan couldn't wait for Daddy to get that storller built!

Cute girls.

It all started out so nice and neat.

Addison has worn this everyday since.

Somebody should tell Barbie that horseback riding sans clothes is a bad idea!

What a good little Mommy.

During Mimi's visit last weekend, we celebrated Christmas with her and Austin. Austin was barley off the plane before he was asking to open presents, but we managed to hold him off until Friday night. The girls couldn't be more thrilled with their gifts. Reagan loves her baby doll and Addison loves her horses. They got several new dress-up outfits....Tommy commented yesterday that he hadn't seen Addison without wings in weeks. Finally, Mimi gave them each a box of art supplies. We have been working on crafts since!

Addison's Christmas Party

Addison had her Christmas party at school yesterday. Tommy and I loved going to see her sing songs and perform with her friends. They did a great job singing about Jesus and Christmas. Addison gave quite the performance! They had cupcakes that said "Happy Birthday Jesus" and they decorated gingerbread men. Finally she gave us a present she had been working hard on. Addison was so excited to have us there and she made me laugh within minutes of arriving when she said, "Mom, do you mind if I eat of lot of candy today? Because, we have alot of candy here!"

Somehow in my rush to get out of the house, and leave Reagan with a neighbor, I forgot my camera! Thank goodness for Blackberry's. It may not take great pictures, but at least I have something!

Also, just to note, so I remember. Addison absolutley LOVES her Christmas outfit this year. She would wear this entire outfit....furry sweater, tights, boots and all every single day if I would let her!!!!

Scratch That

Forget about the 21 degrees I had anticipated. The temperature at the top of my MSN headline says 1 degree! Holy cow it is COLD!!! We were out bright and early for my 24 week dr's appointment and then again to take Addison to school. Hopefully after we pick her up we can stay inside! It hurts to breath out there!

Also, you know what is nice to have during cold weather??? Hot water, that is what! Saturday night, in the midst of the cold our hot-water-heater went out! Not even a drop of warm water....just freezing, ice-cold water from all the faucets. Thankfully a plumber was able to make a minor repair on a switch yesterday and we can shower again!!!

Eight....

That is how many degrees B-E-L-O-W zero it is here right now! I don't think I have ever experienced a level of cold anywhere close to that. Actually, I still wouldn't say I have actually experienced it, since I stayed indoors all day! Tomorrow's high is 21degrees....a nice warm day!

Austin Meets the Snow!

And he loved it!!! We picked Mimi and Austin up at the airport in Colorado Springs and he was excited about every little pile of snow he found. He was really thrilled when he got to our house and found what was left of the 8 or so inches of snow we got on Tuesday. They had a great time sledding, throwing snowballs and building snowmen. Hopefully he will get to see a snowstorm before he goes home.

Reagan's Fun

Reagan's personality keeps us constantly entertained. She runs around here doing her own thing, without much concern as to what the rest of us might be doing. She recently learned to sing several verses of "Frosty the Snowman", which is just precious! Tonight she pointed to a nativity scene that Addison had made that was hanging on the fridge and told me, "Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus", pretty impressive, I thought for 20 months old. She had a babysitter on Sunday who was quite impressed with all her words!

A few weeks ago we drug in all the decorations and set about to decorating the Christmas tree. Reagan hung a few ornaments, and then she was done! A few minutes after we started she heard the neighbor's remote control car outside. She absolutley LOVES that thing, so she took off to the back patio to watch it. Tommy got great pictures of her expressions as she watched the car zooming around.

Finally, when we got her back inside, she spent the rest of her time climbing the storage bins that we pulled the decorations out of....anything to keep her feet off the ground. She keeps us laughing and keeps us on our toes. We have so much fun with her!