Christmas 2010

We had so much fun this Christmas... I have so many pics, I don't know where to start! Matt was off work from Dec. 23rd until Jan 3rd, so we had a ton of fun and got a lot done around the house.

Here's some pics of the girls trying on Daddy's clothes a few days before Christmas... they love to walk around in his shoes, socks and shirts!

Izzy

Daddy helping Ally put his socks on....

 Abby in daddy's socks

 I took this pic from the dining room one day... I looked over and all 3 girls were lined up watching their "show" (as they call it).

Abigail eating a peanut butter sandwich, she loved it!

Ally liked hers too... pay no attention to the mark under her eye. As I was climbing over the fence in the living room, my toe hit her in the face... poor little Ally.

On Dec. 23rd, we went with our friends, Andrew, Courtney and their daughter, Andi Mae, to Muskogee to see the Christmas blow-ups at the Castle of Muskogee. It's a drive-thru exhibit and we wanted to all ride together, so we took the church van! How funny is that?! Two years ago, we'd load up in the car and go wherever we wanted on a whim. Now, it takes careful planning and a 15-passenger church van to go anywhere together! We ate at Red Lobster in Muskogee before driving thru the exhibit.
Ally was in the back left (you can just see her hat), Izzy in Back right, I'm riding next to Abby, and Andi Mae and Courtney were in the front row of seats.

You can see Ally in this pic...

Matt and Andrew in the front.

The windows were really big, so the girls could see the lights really well. Here's a pic of Ally looking at the blow-ups.

There were a TON of blow ups there!

On Christmas Eve, I invited my grandparents and mom over for dinner. I was really looking forward to it, but my grandparents both got really sick with the flu and couldn't come over. We had a ton of food for just the 3 of us (my mom, Matt and I), so we invited Matt's parents and grandma over for dinner. It was really nice to be all together on Christmas Eve. After dinner, we put the girls in their Christmas jammies. Here's a cute pic with their daddy, though Izzy wouldn't sit still long enough to take the pic.

After Meemaw, Papaw and Great Grandma left, Izzy watched them out the door...

We let the girls open a few presents on Christmas Eve... they opened one of the gifts from my mom (a dog that barks and moves - all were very afraid of it at first, but now only Abby is still afraid). They also got pillow pets from mommy and daddy... here they are opening them.

On Christmas morning, the girls woke up to find a new play kitchen!

They got busy making breakfast right away!

Izzy and Abby playing kitchen.

They also got a new Dance Star Mickey!

They tried to feed him food from their kitchen! 

Around 1:00 on Christmas Day, we went to Matt's parents' house. The girls took a nap while the family opened gifts, which was really nice. When they woke up, we ate dinner, then they got to open A TON of gifts! These girls will not have to go without in this family! They got lots of toys and new clothes and I think this may have just been the best day of their lives!

Here's a pic of Ally opening a little doll house....

Abigial with a new puzzle... they got lots of neat new puzzles!

Abby opening a new Noah's Ark toy

Ally with a new shape toy (a cookie jar). I'm pretty sure this was her favorite gift so far... she's very good at shape toys and puzzles!

And... now for the big gifts! All 3 of the girls got new riding toys for outside! Here's a pic of Izzy trying it out inside first. It goes when you push the button and stops when you let off the button.

Although it was FREEZING outside, we decided to bundle the girls up and take the new cars out for a spin on Meemaw and Papaw's lawn... it was quite a sight, but a very fun memory! I'm surprised the girls could make the cars go so well, but they figured it out pretty quick!

Believe it or not, Abby was the one that rode the longest and seemed to enjoy it the most. It shocked us all! Here's the 3 lil bears riding around the lawn. So cute!

It was a very good Christmas. On the 26th, some of my dad's family came to visit us too. My dad and his wife live in Wisconsin, so they couldn't make it, but it was very nice to see that side of the family during the Holidays. We ordered pizza and had fun watching the babies play with their new toys.

A few days later, we took the girls to visit a lady from our church (Nell Faricloth) who is in the Claremore Veteran's Center. She is almost 90 years old and has asked a lot about the babies, so we decided to come visit her.

Nell showed us around the Center, and I as I was pushing Izzy next to her, Izzy kept turning and looking at Nell and speaking her cute jibberish. It was so cute... as if she were commenting on the place. Nell just kept agreeing with Izzy and appeared to be really enjoying her company.

Nell's daughter, Mary, was there too and she took a pic of all of us together.

Later that week, we took the girls up to the gym at the church to ride their new cars! The slippery floor made it hard to get traction, but the girls still had a great time!

Izzy riding...

Abby's a pro at it!

Ally riding. They haven't quite mastered the stearing or stopping, but can really go go go!

A HUGE Project Matt and I worked on while he was off... the girls now have a playroom! My mom bought them this GREAT toy box for Christmas. It matches their sweet little table and we painted the room a great green color to tie it all in. The room was a very dark color before, so it took 2 coats of primer, then 2 coats of paint to cover it... a lot of work! (My elliptical machine and Matt's bookshelf are on the other side of the room, behind a gate. The room is mostly a play room, and still a little of a catch-all room. With the new playroom, I can gate off the kitchen and close the other doors, so they can run all over the living room and up the hall to their play room. They seem very happy with the new space. As I type, they're all playing the "bu-bye" game, where they say "bu-bye" to me and leave the room. They love to play this game!

For New Year's Eve, Andrew, Courtney and Andi Mae came over. I made a pot of chili and we just had a low-key evening. They put Andi to bed in a pack and play when our girls went down, so we had from about 9pm to midnight to play games and watch the ball drop. It was a very nice evening with great friends!

I felt sorry for Matt to have to go back to work today, but am feeling so blessed to be able to stay home with my girls. I remember how hard it was to go back to work after a long break.

I started this blog in January 2009, so I've officially been blogging for two years now... thru the early stages of pregnancy to now, when the girls are almost 20 months old! I plan to continue blogging, but am going to go ahead and have these first two years made into a book for the girls to keep.

These babies have blessed our lives more than we could've ever imagined, and I thank God for them every day!

I'll post a few videos from the Holidays very soon.