Christmas Morning

On Colorado Christmas morning, our plan was to come downstairs and eat breakfast before diving into gifts, but when the Santa gifts were spotted leaning against the couch, Addie and Emily forgot all about their hungry tummies.

They even went for the right present, each opening the one with her name on it without even being told!

That's right, Santa brought doll strollers. What fun!

After opening the strollers, we did break for breakfast, but right after getting cleaned up, it was time for stockings! The girls had a great time pulling out and opening all their little presents from Santa.

 

Snow Globes

Emily was very excited about her gloves

And Addie was super excited about her new toothbrush!

Ornaments!

 After opening our stockings, it was back to the Christmas tree to open presents from Mom and Dad. A grocery cart and a piano were the girls' main presents. These little elves were so excited top play with their new toys.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We celebrated our Colorado Christmas Eve on December 16th. We went over to DeeDee's for brunch and presents with Great Grandma Nicoll, Dylan, Britney, Callie, and Annalea. It was so fun to watch all the girls opening and playing with their new toys.

Addie and Emily got to wear some very cute Christmas dresses, which they posed in for me before leaving for DeeDee's.

My sweet little elves

When you ask Emily to smile for the camera these days, lots of times she'll do this dramatic head tilt

Holding hands and looking sweet

Addie says "I'm ready to go!"

 Stockings at DeeDee's

 

 

 

Pistachios are a common treat in our stockings from DeeDee, and the girls discovered that Great Grandma was really good at opening the shells

 Presents!

Callie has recently begun wearing princess dresses, and had this beautiful Cinderella dress on for Christmas

Emily and Addie got new dolls with hair to brush and closing eyes to go with their new doll cradle and high chair

Callie got an amazing dress up box

The girls ask Uncle Dylan to get their doll out of her box

Ta Da!

Playing with Great Grandma

New tub toys!

Cal checks out Annalea's new puzzle

 We had a great morning with the family! After a nice long nap back home, we spent the evening playing with new toys. 

Before bed, the girls hung their stockings and ate Santa's cookies.

After a Christmas Eve bedtime story, it was off to bed.

Winter Wagon Ride, Christmas Lights, and a Special Visit with Santa

Our neighborhood puts on a winter wagon ride every year, and it's a great way to see the lights in the neighborhood. This year, it was especially fun to do with the girls because they had such a great time seeing the horses and lights, and Santa came so the girls got to tell him what they wanted for Christmas and they got candy canes!

We walked up the block to the pool, where the neighbors gather to wait for a wagon ride

The horses are beautiful, and Addison cried every time they trotted off. At first Chris was sure it was because of their loud hoofbeats, but DeeDee was right, Addie just didn't want to see them go.

Hello Santa!

A little scared, but pretty much in awe

Candy cane!

Checking this guy out

Candy canes in hand, the girls sit on Santa's lap

On the ride

After going on two wagon rides, we hadn't had our fill of lights, so we walked around the neighborhood to ooooo and ahhh over all the decorations

Special time with DeeDee

Special time with Dad

Baby

Today the girls were being so cute with Baby Sister, I just had to upload these pictures out of order.
Wendy, I hope these can satisfy your need for a belly shot! ;)
Addie often lifts my shirt to get a peek at Baby. This most often happens around a mealtime, when she is in her highchair right at belly level. Today we were cleaning up after lunch and Addison requested some baby time.

Kissing Baby

Hugging Baby

Meanwhile, Emily was entertaining herself playing peekaboo with a dishcloth Addison had given her to clean up her tray.

 

Then Addison asked for the washcloth back from Emily so that she could clean up Baby.

Addie gave Emily a new washcloth, which made both girls quite happy and excited. Emily then requested some Baby time for herself.

Soon after checking in with her baby sister, Emily's washcloth became a baby. Here she is holding on protectively to her new little bundle.

 

"Baby"

 

And when Emily got down from her highchair, she needed to get baby a passi.

You know, I think this was definitely a string of Kairos moments for  me. Moments I desperately needed. I've been feeling pretty anxious about our upcoming arrival. I know she's going to be a great joy, but it's also hard to imagine doing the work of twins plus a newborn. But the girls seem to be showing me that they are ready to be big helpers when Little Sister arrives.  Thank You Lord!