Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! (A little late.) Christmas was really fun this year. Sienna doesn't really get it yet, but it was still fun buying her gifts. I actually had suggested that we should "all" (a.k.a Grandma and Grandpa) go easy on gifts for Sienna since her birthday is next month, but I am not sure anyone honored that request. Here is the tree with all of the gifts for the whole family.

This is the same tree with JUST Sienna's gifts. Excluding the Play Kitchen from Grandma and Grandpa that did not fit under the tree...

The adults did the gift exchange on Christmas Eve after dinner. Sienna was not in a super-happy mood on Christmas Eve, so we put her down to bed and we let her open up gifts on Christmas morning. Here she is surveying the situation.

Let the unwrapping begin...

The KITCHEN!

She always yells "YELLOW BUS!" when we are driving around town, so she had to have her one of her own, of course...

Her beautiful dress from the North Carolina De May's...She hasn't let me put it on her yet but for some reason she likes snuggling with it, lol.

Uh oh. Uncle Dave is "sick" - thank goodness she has her new Doctor Kit.

Just an aside...Is it normal for a mother to be jealous of her daughter's hair? 'Cause I am.

Jessie and Lee stopped by during one of their 400 family gatherings that they were attending that day.

Fun with Daddy...

Fun with Pop-Pop...

Sienna's school bus sings a song when you push on the little driver's hat. She loves dancing to the song. She likes everyone to wave their hands in the air (like Pop-Pop is demonstrating) and she dances making the same (serious) facial expression each time.

Fun with Uncle Dave!

Jumping - one of her favorites...

More fun with Daddy. She always yells "Wook, Mommy, Wook!"

Daniel assembled her play kitchen when we got home. It was the perfect size since we don't have a lot of extra space.

Cookin'.

Having coffee with Daddy.

Merry (belated) Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!

Snowstorm '09

We got a "for-real-cancel-school-for-a-good-reason" kind of snow storm the weekend before Christmas. Daniel was leaving to go out of town on a hiking trip (yes, in a blizzard) with a couple of friends. So I decided to bring Sienna over to my parents house over the weekend. I told Sienna that when she woke up in the morning that there will be snow! And there definitely was...

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I wanted Sienna to go outside and play in the snow, but she wasn't into it. (I think she might have remembered last year's experience.) When Daniel was done with his riduculous camping-in-a-blizzard trip was over, he came to my parents to get snowed-in with us.

In the morning, the snow had stopped and I really wanted to go out and play. Apparently Sienna trusts Daddy in the snow, and she finally agreed to give it a try. So Daddy, Grandma, Sienna and I all bundled up on Sunday morning to get outside. (Yes, my little shorty still fits in last year's 12mo snow suit.)

It was actually a beautiful day and my parents found our old sled that Dave and I used when we were little. So the princess was pulled all around the driveway.

She was a little nervous about the sled and snow at first...

...but it got better.

Daddy made a snow angel!

Back to the house for hot tea for us and a good nap for the little one!

So fun. Stay tuned for a Christmas Update :)

Trader Joe's Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin

I think she liked it.

Jammies

Daniel's family has a tradition where everyone gets new PJ's from "Santa" (Aunt Janis/Uncle Bob & Ranny/Pop) each year and we are supposed to wear them on Christmas Eve. All of us will be with our parents or in-laws this Christmas, so Santa brought the PJ's early.

Group shot!

Thanksgiving!

We had such a great time in North Carolina for Thanksgiving! We spend the first part with my Uncle Steve, Aunt Linda and my cousins in Charlotte, and the second part with Daniel's family on Lake Norman. It was so nice to have a whole week together to visit family.

On Thanksgiving Day, Daniel's grandmother had the all the food ready to go around 1:30pm. That meant that we would be eating while Sienna was napping, but since Sienna doesn't consider eating is a good reason to have to sit still (does she have ANY De May in her?!) we thought thought we would go ahead and have a relaxing meal while she was asleep. Approximately 3 minutes before we sat down to eat, we heard some yelling from upstairs. She heard the party that was going on downstairs, and she wasn't missin' out. So we set her a place at the table with her high chair.

Having Sienna sitting with us was going to be fine since she loves sweet potatoes and butternut squash, both of which were on the menu. I was hoping to sneak some turkey on her plate and maybe some green beans, but as it turned out, she didn't want ANYTHING on her plate. In hopes that the family would be able to enjoy a quiet and relaxing meal, I did what any smart, loving, health-promoting parent would do. I gave her a big bag of cookies. She was happy, we were happy...Something else for us to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

After we all STUFFED ourselves, we gathered in the living room watching football. We were all so sleepy. But Sienna was WIRED. Here she is playing with Daniel's cousin Jarod. Sienna would run in circles and Jarod would throw a pillow at her. She thought this was hilarious....

Before...

After...

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too :)

By the way...

Sienna loves to read and she loves her book of nursery rhymes. I thought I was a good Mom by reading them to her. Instead, perhaps I need to call CPS on myself for doing so.

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.
She gave them some broth,
Without any bread,
Whipped them all soundly, and sent them to bed.

Goosey, Goosey, Gander

Goosey, goosey, gander,
Whither shall I wander?
Upstairs, and downstairs,
And in my lady's chamber.

There I met an old man
Who wouldn't say his prayers!
I took him by the left leg
And threw him down the stairs.

WHAT?! Mother Goose, you are quite insane.