ICE! at the Gaylord Texan

The Wednesday before Christmas, my entire family went to ICE! at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. The theme this year was A Charlie Brown Christmas. Parker has been a huge fan of all things Charlie Brown for quite some time now, so we were very excited to take him to see the exhibit.

We bought tickets for early morning to try to beat some of the crowds. Little did we know that thousands of people come to this exhibit every year so there was no beating the crowds. We started off in a very long line waiting with 4 hungry, impatient toddlers. After the first line, we were taken into another room to watch a video on how they make the ice sculptures. Then we were taken into yet another room where we received our parkas. At this point, the kids were very restless and very hungry. Parker's parka would not fit over his hands and everything went from bad to worse. He started crying and nothing we tried would calm him down. We entered the exhibit and tried to get him excited about seeing Charlie Brown but it was useless. We finally ended up rushing through the exhibit just to get him out of there. After another 30 minutes of crying, we were able to get him to eat a snack, which finally calmed him down.

The other kids did okay but also had moments of melting down. Addison's moment came when she tried to go down the ice slide by herself. She decided at the last minute that she didn't want to slide and started crying. The man that worked at the exhibit had to crawl up the slide to get her down!

If we ever do this again, we will definitely remember to take plenty of snacks with us and we will go on a day that school is in to avoid all of the day cares and other families that were there. The sculptures were incredible to look at... I just wish I would have been able enjoy them a little bit more.

When we asked Parker the next day if he had fun seeing Charlie Brown, he said "No! I just cried and screamed the whole time!"

The meltdown!
Finally getting a snack
After the exhibit, we walked around the Gaylord for a while looking at the wonderful Christmas decorations. We were also able to get a few family pictures while we were there. The best picture was the one we took of our entire family. We have never successfully gotten a good family picture before- there are just too many young kids. My sister put her camera on a ledge and turned on the automatic timer. All of the kids were mesmerized with the flashing light and looked right at the camera the entire time! It was a memorable day with lots of ups and downs, but definitely one we will never forget!

Two Months Old

Sweet Lily-

How can you already be two months old? You continue to be such a blessing to our family! Here are some of this months highlights:

- I am not sure how much you weigh but you are growing like a weed. We go Monday for your checkup and it won't surprise me if you weigh around 12 pounds.

-You are wearing 0-3 month clothes in most things and have even worn a few 3-6 month outfits.
-You are about to move into size 1-2 diapers.

-You are still nursing every 2- 2 1/2 hours during the day but have started sleeping longer stretches at night. The most you have slept at night is 7 hours (which mommy loved!) but most nights you average about 5-6 hours at a time.

-You slept in your crib for the first time this week and did great! It was weird to not have you in the room, but I know you need to get used to being in your own bed.

-You smiled for the first time this week, but it took a lot of effort to get you to do it! I am hoping the smiles will start coming a lot more frequently this next month.

-You are still a very easy going baby, except for your fussy time from 8-10 every night.

- You still take a lot of catnaps during the day, but stay awake most of the morning hours. I am anxious to get you on a napping schedule once I go back to work in two weeks.

-You are a great shopper! You have been Christmas shopping with me several times now and have slept the entire time.

I am looking forward to celebrating your first Christmas with you in a few days! You are the best Christmas present I could have asked for this year! I love you very much and can't wait to see how you grow and change this next month!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Last night we went to a friend's house for a Christmas party. Their daughter is 2 months older than Parker and they always have a great time when they are together. There were 11 kids there- 10 little girls and Parker! Poor kid- hopefully one of these days there will be another boy for him to hang out with! Thank goodness that he doesn't seem to mind it yet. He quickly found a toy gun up in the playroom and was as happy as a clam!

We had a wonderful dinner and then we heard a knock on the door. All of the kids could not believe it when Santa walked in! Parker just happened to be standing at the door when he arrived and was the first one to give Santa a hug.

All of the kids got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Then, after checking his "Naughty and Nice List", Santa reached into his bag and found presents for all of the kids. Eden did not want anything to do with Santa until he started handing out gifts. Then she started pointing to herself saying, "Me! Me! Me!". When he called her name, she cautiously walked up to Santa and took her present from him but we never could get her to sit on his lap.

After all the presents were unwrapped (Parker got a car and Eden got a tea set), Santa had to head back to the North Pole. We had a wonderful evening spending time with friends and making special memories with Santa!

Checking Santa out! (They weren't sure what to think at first, so, without any prompting from us, they held hands to give each other some moral support!) Telling Santa what they want for Christmas Scared Eden

Addison getting her gift from Santa

Precious!

Aubrey also wanted nothing to do with Santa but did go up and get her gift.

Aweese Navidog

It's time for some new Parkerisms.

-Christmas wouldn't be the same without listening to a three year old trying to sing Christmas carols! This is the first year that Parker has really tried to sing some songs and I am quite impressed with how quickly he has learned the words to songs like Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. There are, however, just a few lyrics that he has been a little confused about like Aweese Navidog (Feliz Navidad)! He also thinks that in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, the other reindeer shouted out with glue (glee)! It will be a sad day to me when he learns the real words to these songs that he has been singing around the house every day.

-A few nights ago, Parker was being silly and singing the wrong words to a song when Cory told him, "You are making those words up." Parker's response was "I am making the words down too!"

-Earlier this week, we were playing in the front yard when Eden got too close to the sharp pampas grass, which have cut Parker's fingers in the past. Parker yelled to her, "Eden, get out of the panda grass!"

-Parker went with his Grandma and Papa a few weeks ago to get Papa's hair cut. While they were there, he played with a little girl who had a guinea pig. When they got home, Cory's mom had him tell me about his outing and he told me he got to play with a penny pig!

Santa Pictures

We had our picture with Santa made last week and they went exactly as expected- Lily slept the entire time, Parker cooperated and smiled, and Eden screamed bloody murder (for the second year in a row)! I know I will look back on these pictures and love the way they look, but for now I am hoping that one of these days I will have a Santa picture without any tears!

Lily's first picture with Santa- what a doll!!

Santa Baby

One of my good friends gave Lily this adorable Santa Baby outfit complete with a pink tutu. The holiday season will be over before we know it, so I have been letting her wear it every chance she gets. It kind of makes me sad thinking that this is that last time I will have a Santa Baby to snuggle with during the holiday season. Next year, I will have another Santa toddler running around and trying to take all of the ornaments off my tree!

My Santa Baby was not so happy that I was trying to take her picture!

Craft Day at Parker's Preschool

Today was Craft Day at Parker's preschool. Several of the moms came up and made holiday crafts with the students. Because I am still on maternity leave, I was able to go and help the students make a candy cane ornament to put on their Christmas tree. Parker enjoyed creating lots of crafts like a stocking ornament and a Rudolph candy holder. It was a fun day and I enjoyed getting to spend some special time with Parker.