Christmas Day 2009

Christmas Day.... it started like any other day around our house. Everyone slept in a little bit which was great. Debbie, Keith, Sara, Robbie, and Katie were coming over around 10:30 am for a Christmas brunch so we had Melanie open presents right before that.

This collection of pictures is Melanie opening presents from the Jones side of the family and from us. She received a collection of clothes, Go Diego Go action figures, and Little People figures and toys. Melanie loves all of it; Mommy (that's me) loves the clothes because she doesn't have that many. Thank you to everyone for their generosity this Christmas season.

Little People school house from us.
Dora Pajamas from the Jones family. Melanie wore these last night... and is still wearing them now. She is sitting next to me watching Go Diego Go and watching Mommy put pictures on the internet. In fact, she has said "Melanie presents open" quite a few times as I bring up the pictures from Christmas day.
Go Diego Go 4-Wheeler from the Jones Family. This has fast become her favorite thing to play with.
Pretty girl clothes! Thank you!

Go Diego Go movie collection from us. She loves these already... and we love having more variety on our television set. Tee-hee-tee-hee.
Melanie playing with all her Little People toys later in the day.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Daycare Christmas Program 2009

Melanie's daycare held a Christmas program of the Christmas story. It was great having a program with the true meaning of Christmas still being told... Thank you Building Blocks Childcare Ministry!

Melanie was Mary and her classmate, Sebastian, was Joseph. Here Karen, their teacher, was leading them out at the beginning of the program. If you look closely you can see that Melanie is carrying a motorcycle.... Matt was so proud.

The children all spread out to their families after the program. I stood out in the aisle so Melanie could see me from the manger setup. She came running down the aisle towards me when Matt captured this picture. As Melanie was running she was saying "Mommy, Mommy!". That entire moment pulled at my heart strings and made me so proud.
Most of the program Melanie was sitting next to the manger with Karen, Sebastian, and her other classmates from the 1-2 year old class. Now, when I say she was sitting that only summarizes probably the first 10 to 15 minutes. For the next 20 to 30 minutes she did the following activities (in no specific order): wrapped and unwrapped the baby Jesus doll, did gymnastic moves on the manger (I fought laughter hard during those times), played with the fake candle flames, and zoomed the motorcycle around the manger. Ah.... the innocence of youth.

Matt and Melanie sharing a moment together after the program.
We found out after the program that the motorcycle was actually Sebastian's... he was a trooper letting her have it.
Melanie is 2 years and 3 months now. Matt and I marvel at the new things she does from day to day. This Christmas she was very aware of what presents were and loved to unwrap them. Melanie was even super helpful in unwrapping our presents; that really means she thought they were hers at first. Ha ha ha.

Merry Christmas!

Around the house the week before Christmas

The entire week of Christmas I had off from work. Matt was off most of the week, also. It was a wonderful time for me to rest (Monday and Tuesday) and then enjoy the rest of the week with my little family.

Melanie's daycare class made candy Christmas trees to bring home. What an unbelievable cute idea! Sugar cones rolled in green frosting with the kids applying candies on them. Adorable! The Wednesday before Christmas I let Melanie dive into her candy tree. She had a great time!


Melanie is looking through her binoculars in this picture... just like Diego does on her favorite cartoon.
Melanie, Smokey, and Jessie hanging out in our family room.
Melanie loves breakfast. Here she is enjoying toast with peanut butter and banana slices. Yummo!
Melanie still loves to play with her large Legos (MegaBlocks). Smokey loves to hover and manage her every move.
Yummo again... cheese pizza and applesauce.
Here is a picture of a Thanksgiving coloring project Melanie brought home from daycare. I always love to see what she has done.
In our house sitting in front of a computer is pretty darn normal. One morning when Matt was not up yet, Melanie climbed up into his desk chair in front of his computer. She has learned that typing on the keyboard and moving the mouse around will result in something... but is not quite sure what it is yet. It was a true, computer-cuteness moment.

Having a whole week to spend at home was a true blessing for me. I have been feeling a bit exhausted and needed time to gather my rest. I am thankful for having the opportunity to do that.

It snowed a couple times over the past week. I truly love the snow! I am grateful for a safe, warm home during the cold weather. So many people do not have this available to them, I feel blessed and truly thankful for what we have. Merry Christmas!