Santa's Visit

Saturday afternoon, Dustin's parents had Santa and Mrs. Claus over to their house for an hour long in-house visit.  This is a couple that Andrea knows personally that rents themselves out over the holidays for a more intimate setting than public places for kids to acclimate themselves and get more one-on-one time with the big man, himself!

There were over 10 kiddos there from Carter and Carleigh's age to 6-7 years old.  The kids even had cookies for Mr. and Mrs. Claus!

Tatum was all about Santa!  She sat on his lap, giving him a play-by-play of what she wanted for Christmas and informed him that she had been a good girl.  Allie, on the other hand, wasn't comfortable sitting on his lap alone, so she wanted Tatum to be in a picture with her.  Capturing a smile then, was no problem!

Christmas music was playing when Santa walked in and Carleigh was dancing.  She stopped cold in her tracks when she noticed him and the dancing immediately ceased.  The smile vanished from her face and she began trembling.  It was somewhat comical but we had to comfort her!  Poor baby girl was SCARED!  We attempted a family picture with Santa thinking that all of us in it may make her more comfortable ... but ... no, that didn't work.

Then, when Carter showed no fear in the face of the enemy, we tried to tell her that her friend Carter did it, but peer pressure didn't work either.  Way to go, Carter, by the way!  We are so proud of you!!!  You looked fear in the face and said, "I've got this."

So then, the mean mommy that I am was thinking, crying or not, I want one of Carleigh alone on Santa's lap and well, she got even more red-faced and hysterical and then I just felt horrible!

"How could you do this to me?"

My cousin Seth's family had none of the drama we did.  Aubrey was an old pro with Santa and Stella and Aubrey weren't bothered by him at all.  They took wonderful pictures!

The Parrott's and Santa.  Very cute!  And Paisley made friends in a flash.

I think the kids had the most fun with Ronnie's Christmas village collection!  Sunday, he said all the little scenes were out of order on the bottom two shelves of his built-ins.  Too funny!

Take 1, Take 2, Take 3 ...

Getting a good family photo is easy for some family's (I have one friend in mind who's son can't STOP smiling).

Well with Carleigh, it seems like when we need her to smile, we've paid for the photos, or it is a group shot, Murphy's Law takes effect. We tried really hard to get a good picture today and she just wasn't having it. A foreshadowing of Santa's visit that same day, perhaps?

 Catch me if you can! Carleigh continued to run out of every shot.

 We even pulled out the slide - a surefire way to get a smile ...but the sunlight wasn't right.

Finally - a good one with everyone in it! Too late for the Christmas cards, but definitely a keeper!

Helping Daddy Decorate

Carleigh's directorial debut was yesterday while hanging out with Daddy during his outdoor decorating!  (Really all she could say was "mo," for "more," but it sounded like a good intro).

 Just a little to the left, Daddy ...

When he had finished with the blow-up snowman (something we never thought we'd do, but one kid in, and oh-yes, we have one), he brought her up-close and personal with it.

Not a fan ...

Thirty minutes later, our good friend and next-door neighbor, Victor played a funny prank following the sad Longhorn loss to the Aggies.  He thought our decorations looked amazing!

Thanksgiving Day

Last Thanksgiving, Carleigh was only a few months old, so this one was unique in that it was fun to see her interact with family.  While she still has no clue what all of these holiday gatherings are about, we love seeing her delight in the festivities!  This Thanksgiving we missed my parents being with us (they were in Hawaii with my sister's family) but are so thankful to have all that we have! 

And what better way to start Turkey Day besides a trip to the playground with the dogs and a little run in anticipation of that big Thanksgiving meal?

Her and her best bud got a lot of slide time in before we had to get ready for the day.  On our jogs, Carleigh got pretty excited to go with us!  During Daddy's run, she and the dogs ran their little hearts out but couldn't catch up with him.

Then we went to Dustin's Aunt Merl's for food, family and fun!  Carleigh really enjoyed playing with her second cousins, Bryce, Brook and KayLynn.

And she spent plenty of time collecting acorns ... our little squirrel!

She wasn't too big a fan of the typical Thanksgiving fare, but did enjoy being the center of attention!

Happy Thanksgiving!

If only ...

The girls' in the neighborhood (aka Carleigh's best friends) were off this week for the holiday break.  They spent Tuesday making up a dance to a Kesha song and putting on a show for the neighborhood.  That particular night, Carleigh had already gone to bed, but they came over Wednesday and put on a private performance just for Carleigh in our backyard!

Carleigh was soooo into their dancing, she tried to join them!  Their smoothly choreographed moves did not deter her excitement!   She thought "If only ... they needed an extra!!!"

Thanks girls, for making her night!

Carleigh's Top 5

As Christmas is approaching, many family and friends have been asking what she wants.  Since she can't really tell me what she wants, I've been noting what is holding her interest these days.  In no particular order:

1. Pup-pups (dogs):  always sure to stop her in her tracks!  Whether real, stuffed or on TV, she's a sucker for anything and everything K9!

2.  Drawing/coloring:  I should say "attempting to draw."  Our fireplace, her table/chairs set, her Anywhere chair cover and the dogs have all had personal Carleigh artwork on them.  Luckily, we have washable crayons.  But her favorite place of all for the crayons ... in her mouth.  Of course.  Wax is so yummy!

This was her first successful coloring done in a coloring book a few weeks ago.

3.  Anything girly-girlish:  just recently, Carleigh's shown an affinity to purses (she loves an almost Goodwill giveaway Dooney and Burke clutch - turned hers), sunglasses, babies and jewelry.  Her babies are numerous, but one in particular that has no bells and whistles holds her attention most and together we diaper her, put her down for naps (which consists of turning her on her tummy face down) with a burp cloth over her (that's her blankie) and putting her in Mommy and Daddy's room in our chair (her crib) for "nigh-nigh."  In her purse, she keeps a lego, a hairbrush to keep her Beiber look under control, an adult toothbrush (a long-standing favorite for months), and a rubber ducky.  You never know when a bath opportunity may arrise!

4.  Slides and Playgrounds and anything active:  if it involves running and climbing, it's a hit with Carleigh!   Bouncehouses, tunnel slides, ladders, you name it, she loves it!  The gyms' indoor playground and Chik-Fil-A at the Rim are her favorite playplaces to date, though we hit up the neighborhood playground about every other day.

5.  Balls:  this gets it's own number because the obsession is over-the-top.  Luckily, balls are pretty inexpensive, but really we have way to many already.  We can't go to the grocery store anymore without a ball purchase.  At $1 a pop, at least we aren't breaking the bank.  I'd prefer to buy her a book, but nooooo... has to be a ball.  That's my child you hear, screaming "baw, baw, baw" over and over again ... and yes, I am the parent that, just to appease her, and to quiet her down, gives in.  Judge all you want.  If you've heard her ear-piercing screams (and family and my closest friends have), you'd buy the balls, too!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit!

Over the weekend, we put together our 2010 Christmas decorating plan.  We went to Lowes and purchased our outdoor decorations, which we plan to do the day after Thanksgiving  AND ...

we put up our Christmas tree!

As soon as Carleigh woke from her nap and she saw the commotion in the entryway, she wanted to help out!  Of course we couldn't keep her off of the step ladder!

I thought she was going to be the most facisnated with the novelty ornaments from Dustin's and my childhood, in addition to the few we collected from her first year.  But no ... the "ball" ornaments won her attention right away!  She did a decent job of hanging a couple, though I had to reinforce her positioning.

Carleigh was very proud of herself!  High-five Mommy!

The finished product!  Now we just have to keep Carleigh's hands off.