White Christmas - well close enough!

I just couldn't believe it when all of the comments on Facebook started rolling in that it was snowing on Christmas day in Dallas . . . and we were in Austin.  Aaaaa!  Charlotte has "seen" snow before, but she was less than a year old so she doesn't remember it.  I also thought it was very ironic that the last white Christmas in Dallas was the year I was pregnant with Charlotte, and then it happened again when I was pregnant with Elizabeth.  Sorry folks, you're going to have to wish on another star in the future for more white Christmases because we aren't planning on any more pregnancies!  So, needless to say, we were so happy when we drove in on Dec. 26 and there was still snow in our yard!  I bundled up Charlotte and she had fun traipsing through the snow and making footprints.  What a precious snow angel she is!

Christmas Part 2

On December 26 we headed home and enjoyed a great Christmas with Mark's side of the family.  We were very appreciative of the fact that they waited for us to return to open presents.  It isn't easy to wait when you're a kid!  Charlotte loved playing with her cousins who always dote on her.  She also really loved, and still loved, the wonderful and thoughtful gifts she received.

Santa came!

It was fun to talk about and experience Santa Claus with Charlotte this year.  She understood that he is a nice man that lives in the North Pole.  He watches to see if you were good, and if you were he will bring you a present on Christmas morning.  Because she is still so young, we got to plant the seed in Charlotte's head to help her to know what to ask for from Santa!  She practiced and told many people that she was asking Santa for a "really big dollhouse".  

She was definitely showing her personality in this year's Santa photo at the mall.  She absolutely refused to smile.  But, at least she wasn't crying like last year!  She did tell him that she wanted a really big dollhouse, so I say it was a success.

On Christmas Eve, while we were putting her to bed and walking out of her room, she said, "See you when Santa comes!".  We were at my parents' house and sharing a room with her.  She slept in a sleeping bag on the ground.  When she woke up we let her crawl into bed with us. We told her it was Christmas morning and she said, "Santa not come."  Oops!  I guess we forgot to tell her that he would leave the presents downstairs by the Christmas tree!  So, when we did go downstairs, she was very happy to see that she had actually gotten what she asked for.

 Checking out her stocking with Daddy.

 Mommy likes getting in on the dollhouse action, too.

 She also received a minivan for the dollhouse people.  We recently got a minivan for our family so she thought this one was pretty great and it is one of her favorite things to play with!

 Later that day her cousin got in on the action and they had a great time playing together.

Christmas Part 1

Well, I figured I better get my Christmas post done before the end of January!  I had intended to do it during our winter break, but we got wrapped up on trying to organize the guest room and make it "Elizabeth's" room.  More to come of that later!  

We started our Christmas celebrations with an early Christmas with "our family" meaning Mark, myself, and Charlotte.  This was such a fun Christmas because Charlotte understood what was going on, was looking forward to presents and Santa, and knew what to do!

 The Saturday before Christmas we headed to my parents' house.  Charlotte always has so much fun playing with her cousins.  Here she is with her cousin Skylyn in matching clothes.  They are 17 months apart and love being together.

 This is where Mark spent most of this time.  Him, my mom, and my brother-in-law Aaron put together 4 puzzles.  

 We were very blessed this year to have my Aunt Betty Ann at our house to celebrate Christmas with her.  We don't see her often, so the times that we do are very special.

 My grandma with all of her great-grandkids.

 One of the crafts the kids did was to decorate upside down waffle cones to look like Christmas trees.

 Here is my dad with his mom and sister.

 Then is was present time on Christmas Eve!

 Charlotte liked sitting in her mama's old chair from when I was little to open her presents.