Family Time

My Mom came up to take care of me for a few days in mid-December. My brother also surprised us and came up for two days! It was nice to spend time together right before Christmas. We watched so MANY Christmas movies!! Mom and Jon baked cookies with Leila, did some Christmas crafting, wrapped some of the presents that needed to get mailed, made dinners and even took Leila to Fantasy Lights! The night they went to see the lights was a dry, crisp night and Uncle Jonny convinced Leila to stand between the front seats and put her head out of the sunroof to see the lights better. She was hesitant at first, but once she tried it she loved it. Mom took this picture through the sunroof.

When she got home, she reported to me that "It was amaaaazing!" Then they made dinner for the family. Uncle Jonny showed Leila how to make pizza at home. What a fun time!

Santa

Leila's visit with Santa this year was full of smiles! Santa couldn't believe how grown up she looks from last year. He kept telling us that. Leila was prepared and had been sharing with us what she was wishing for, namely a RED Barbie car. When it was her turn on Santa's lap, she changed her mind though and asked for Belle, the talking Hallmark dog, and a PINK Barbie car. Luckily, I asked her that night while snuggling what Santa thought about her requests and she said that he thought a PINK Barbie car was perfect for her. Whew...glad we know!!

Our Tree

 Our days for Christmas tree hunting were very limited this year. Our weekends were pretty full, so the one day we had free time was, of course, the one day it POURED. All day. With no breaks. But we wanted a tree, and before the end of December, so we had to pay the price and get soaked to the bone (just look at Leila's clothes in the above picture!). Oh well, we have some great memories!!

 Leila got to be all cozied up in car with the heater while poor Chris had to tie the tree to the car.

 After waiting a few days for it to dry, we got to decorate our tree after dinner one evening.

Dessert Date

A week or so ago, Leila and I braved the buckets of rain to head out for a dessert date. Chris was at school for the evening, so we couldn't take Daddy too. Even the littlest of dates are so much better with my favorite girl.

Lookin' Like Christmas!

 The Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, we spent the afternoon putting up our Christmas lights. Leila helped a small bit in the beginning, then took her nap while worked away and then she joined us after nap to help with the last bit. Really she just ate a snack, chatted with us and watched us finish the job. Of course, I wanted to take her picture on the back steps. I have a picture from every year of Leila on the porch steps on our decorating day. It may be silly, but it is fun to look back over the years!

Christmas Tree Hunting with the Family

 While at Mom and Jim's for Thanksgiving weekend, we headed to the tree farm to help choose several trees for the family. One of Aunt Kathy's patients owns the tree farm and he graciously offers trees each year to the cancer center employees and their families. What a generous man!

Leila and Uncle Jonny

 Who put my brother in charge of the saw!?!?!?? Yikes!

Aunt Kath and Uncle Tom

The blue coat group:

Amanda and Jon

Mom, Leila and Jim

That night, we decorated Mom's tree with her. Leila enjoyed choosing the spots for each of the ornaments...she was a really big help!

Thanksgiving

We traveled south to Mom and Jim's house for Thanksgiving this year. Jonny had to work on Thanksgiving day so we celebrated Friday instead. It was nice to leave our house Thanksgiving morning and not be rushed. We woke up and watched the parade before we packed the car and hit the road. 

The little traveler: McDonald's cheese sandwich and books on the ipod. We don't own a car that has a dvd player in it (thank goodness!!), so we enjoy music, books or good ole talking with one another. 

Once we got to Mom's, Leila wanted to help bake the pies for the next day. She loved mixing, but wouldn't try the pie for the world!

The whole family came over to Mom's on Friday and we had the traditional meal. None of us felt like shopping that morning, so we stayed in our pajamas the whole day, ate Thanksgiving dinner and watched Christmas movies.

Wizard of Oz

 The Holiday family show at Seattle Children's Theatre this year is The Wizard of Oz. When the season was announced, we thought it would be fun to invite some of the grandparents. I think we were all pretty excited to see the show. The three of us knew what amazing shows SCT is capable of and the grandparents had never been to that theatre before so we were looking forward to showing them the magic of SCT. Leila was thrilled to see the show. She just watched the movie this last summer with a friend of hers for the first time, so she couldn't wait to see it come to life on the stage! Since she was Dorothy for Halloween this year, she asked if she could wear her costume. How could we say no?

Gramma, Leila and Papa

 Grammy, Leila and Granddad

Can't wait to see what next year's holiday show is...who knows, inviting the grandparents MIGHT become a tradition?

First Lost Tooth

 

 On November 15th, Leila's smile changed!! She lost her very first tooth. It had been quite wiggly for some time, but there was no way that she was gonna let us help it fall out. It FINALLY fell out, all by itself, at Sandy's house. That afternoon she was reading a story with Sandy when, low and behold, her tooth fell out! She called both Chris and me at work to share. She was sooooo excited! That night she wrote the Tooth Fairy a letter and left it in her tooth pillow. The next morning there was a fairy dust trail from her window, through the living room and out to the coffee table. The Tooth Fairy left Leila one gold dollar coin. She already has another loose tooth!

Too Much!

Leila and I were shopping at Target when she spotted these ear muffs. Holy smokes! They are huge! Of course, she wanted to try them on...and of course, I had to take her picture in them.

No, we did not buy them!