Christmas Morning 2010

Gretchen woke up around 7 am on Christmas morning- we did placed the baby gate in her doorway, so she couldn't escape to her presents without waking us up first. We also managed to keep her in the bedrooms until DJ could get the video camera ready. When we finally let her loose, she was so excited for her kitchen set and ran straight to it! Then, she discovered her princess car from Gee and Pa and decided she wanted to sit in it to open her presents!

Thankfully, she didn't stay in there too long and began to open her other gifts- the one below is a cupcake set for her kitchen.

Her daddy bought her a princess doll collection!

I honestly can't tell you what's in this box that I'm unwrapping, but I'm sure I loved it!

Below: Gretchen opening her present from Uncle Matthew and Aunt Tiffany- a Cinderella dress up dress and slippers! Of which, she wore the rest of the day!

Pa got these wonderful boot warmers! Don't ask me why I picked these out, because later, I decided they were probably the worst gift ever!

DJ's brother-in-law and sister gave us this painted window.

And the after.... can you believe the mess we had! And this was only with one child! I can't imagine what it'll be like in the years to come!

Christmas Eve 2010

I have to say that I love Christmas more and more each year! This was our second Christmas in a row, that we were able to stay home, and even though I miss our extended family, it's very relaxing! We spent Christmas Eve doing what we wanted to do, according to our own agenda, and it was so nice!
We baked homemade chocolate chip cookies for Santa!

And, we made reindeer food using oatmeal, corn flakes, and brown sugar! My mom had actually bought a tube from the store, but when it was time to put the food out, we could not find the tube- so we decided to make our own, which was more fun anyway!

Gretchen sprinkled the reindeer food throughout our snowy front yard.

We also went to Christmas Eve service at church, and snapped a few pictures before....

Here's Gretchen with Gee and Pa.

When we walked out of Christmas Eve service, it was snowing- absolutely perfect! Then, we went driving to see Christmas lights. As soon as we got home, Gretchen changed into her Christmas nightgown- this little girl was blessed to have 3 pj's for Christmas, but she chose the nightgown! We sat cookies and milk out for Santa and told our Elf goodbye and thanked him for letting his "find" him every morning! And, tucked Gretchen into bed! I teased that it should be Christmas all of the time, because she went to bed so well!

Santa came and ate almost all of our milk and cookies, and he left us a note!

DJ got busy putting together Gretchen's kitchen set- do you see all of those screws and hardware it came with! I think he was terrified!

After an hour or so, he looked much happier and relieved as he was almost finished!

We sat everything out, and finally made it to bed around midnight to sleep until Gretchen woke up bright and early at 7 am!

I told my parents that I couldn't decide which was more fun- Christmas as a child, or Christmas as a parent. Either way, they're both fabulous, but seeing it through a child's eyes is amazing!

Visiting Santa

Gretchen went on Tuesday to see Santa at our mall! We're very lucky to have a realistic and a patient Santa in our area! Her very first Santa experience was horrible, and last year, it wasn't that great either- she ran away from him and would not even stand beside him without me there. So, I decided that I would need to really prepare her this year.

We started talking about Santa around Thanksgiving. It just so happened that he was already at the mall on Black Friday, and we ended up shopping that afternoon. We let Gretchen look at him from behind the fence a few times, and since there were no kids in line, the workers let us go up and talk to him without getting a picture made. Gretchen wouldn't sit in his lap though, and she was very shy around him. But, she didn't cry!

Over the next few weeks, we continued to talk about Santa and that she could sit in his lap to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She was very excited to tell him the gifts she's hoping on getting, but she continued to tell me that she would not sit on his lap.

So, the day came and we got ready to go.... this is Gretchen before we left the house. She's wearing her Santa hat applique' shirt, a m2m hair bow, and a petti' tutu. We made it to the mall, and again, there were hardly any kids in line, so we were able to take our time. Gretchen cautiously approached him, and Santa asked if she wanted to sit on his lap, to which she said no, but she did stand beside him and name off the gifts she wants. Unfortunately, she was still shy so he had no idea what she said, but he just nodded and said, 'uh huh' as she named off a few. She was still very fidgety and played with her tutu and her shirt. Finally, she stood between his feet, and took a wonderful picture with him!

We also have a train at our mall, and Gretchen had so much fun riding in it! I don't remember it being a long ride last year, so I wasn't thrilled with the amount of money it cost for a short ride, but thankfully, it seemed a bit longer this year! Gretchen chose the green car and happily rode around and around the track!

We're looking forward to Santa coming on Saturday, and hoping that he heard everything that Gretchen wants!

A few Christmas photos

We were finally able to get out and enjoy the snow that has been blanketing the ground for the last week! I didn't take my camera out in the snow, but I did manage to get a picture of Gretchen (and Bailey) before we headed out! She had a blast sledding with daddy, and even mommy on a few of the smaller hills, and making snow angels! We headed to church this morning, with Gretchen wearing one of her dresses that her Gee bought her! She's finally to the age where she will pose for a picture, although, her poses aren't exactly the "norm".... I think this is her ballerina pose:

And, while she was cooperating, we snapped a picture of Gretchen with daddy.

And, of her with me! Thankfully, she's at an angle where you can't really see my 16 (almost 17) week pregnant belly!

Tree Decorating

We finally decorated our tree this past week! Gretchen had so much fun hanging up the ornaments! Most of the ornaments are hung at her level! We have several that are in groups this time! In one area there are five ornaments together. Gretchen and daddy, also hung all of our 1st Christmas ornaments in a group. The gingerbread girl is one of Gretchens. The pink ball is mine, and the orange ball is DJ's. Gretchen even hung a snowbaby to represent this baby's 1st Christmas.

After we decorated the tree, Gretchen decided that she wanted to be a supermodel! For this particular pose, she was trying to stand on one foot.

I kept our mantle simple this year, placing greenery with berries on top, along with our snowflake ornament holders, and sparkling red ball ornaments mixed in.

Here's an upclose of the mantle:

"Mommy, take my picture!" Gretchen was being a camera hog this evening!