December 2009

So, here's my plan to get back on the blogging wagon. If I do the months since Thanksgiving (my last post) one at a time, and not by individual event, then maybe I can get caught up w/out depriving myself of too much sleep.

As I've said many times before, this is really just for the Grandparents. Especially, since I've only blogged like 3 times in the past year, no one is checking this anymore. Heck- I'm the photographer, author, and publisher-and even I'd given up on it!

(And, for the sake of time & my sanity, these pictures loaded in reverse chronological order, and I don't have it in me to rearrange them one by one)

We ended December back in KC. We celebrated our 2nd Christmas just as a 4-some, since Santa came to our house while we were gone and the gifts from the rest of the family didn't fit into the car for the round trip.

It was a quick & dirty job, Santa only put bows on most of the gifts since he knew we'd be tired from our trip when we arrived (what a thoughtful guy!).

Brody likes to stare right into the camera & take advantage of a Sydney free moment.

Sydney has been just ticked to have her own personalized luggage.

Now that we have The Hunchback of Notre Dame Syd likes to dance around like Esmeralda.

The DVD player keeps Sydney quite in the car while Brody naps. Seriously, what did people do on road trips before DVD players? Oh, that's right, the kids weren't in car seats & they bounced all over the car. At least, that's what we did!

Happy travelers!

Jeff, gettin' some Brody lovin'This train set was the coolest gift Brody had ever wished for. Too bad it was for Trevor! We had to break it to him easy. There were tears.His "CAR-CAR" (said with a loud, gruff voice) was a good distraction and he hardly missed the train.Isn't Christmas Grand!

Brody couldn't wait till after we opened gifts to eat breakfast. He was getting crabby, so I fed him donuts. Who isn't happier when they've got 2 of the glazed rounds from heaven in their belly?Sydney's big gift from us this year was to go to gymnastics. I've signed her up for the full year (which is probably a lifetime, or at least until she's old enough to decide if she doesn't' want to do it anymore). She begged to go to gymnastics since last April when she started preschool and saw the "flipping" girls do cool tricks on the swing set.We bought her a few leotards to get her started, and she immediately stripped down & put one on. Then she showed us some of her moves, as if by wearing the leotard she transformed into a trained gymnast with all the moves.

Brody got a CARS dish set from Santa & he immediately needed to drink from the cup, just to see how cool it was.More super-cool gymnast moves from Sydney

We did Christmas Eve at Sharon's house. At UPS everyone, and I mean everyone, works Christmas Eve. Luckily, I volunteered to take a mis-routed package to Columbia, MO around 10:30 am, and we were able to leave in time to stay ahead of the weather and get to Sharon's in time to put on our best duds and join the celebration.

Better than toys, is trash! Well, when you're one and people gently throw balls of wrapping paper your way so you can dunk them in the trash bag.Sydney had to use her new Princess blanket right away. Drew got the matching one. Wish I would have snapped a picture of the two of them together with their blankies. These snap around you like a snuggie.

Santa came to the Christmas dinner at church. Sydney wasn't shy at all. Brody wasn't into to Santa that much. He was content to watch Sydney from the safety of his eating chair.We celebrated the season at Micah & Beth's house with the Hunt & Wilson clans. Between Sydney & Addie Sue, you couldn't possibly get 2 little girls with more personality & spunk-it just isn't possible.If Sydney was a penguin...

The girls decorate a ginger bread house every year. This year was the messiest by far!Such princesses!

Brody's the only little boy around most of the time. I'm sure he would have played princess dress up with the girls had he been invited, but luckily Aaron was willing to hammer the balls with him.

Let me begin this next segment by stating that I know every parent things their child is a star, especially the first born. I do often remember to check myself & not get carried away when she gets praise from teachers or other adults. I know that I'm bias. So, when her teachers told me before the preschool Christmas program that Sydney was their "little star-because she knows all the words and isn't shy and sings the loudest" I didn't think much of it. I was totally unprepared for how she stole the show. I only wish I had a longer clip of video as proof. I don't think anyone would contest. She was so dominating that I laughed until I had tears rolling down my face.They sang the "12 letters of the school year" instead of the 12 days of Christmas.This is when they said "Baaa-Ba-Ba-Beeeee" (where "5 golden rings" would have been sung). Are you starting to see what I was talking about? I'm pretty sure she's singing as loud as she possibly can. I'm laughing now just looking at this & remembering!

This is Brody's Kindermusik class, that ended in December. Miss Laura, whom my children (and I) LOVE, is taking time off to stay with her new twin boys. Check out my guy making a break for it. This is why I always have more pictures of Syd than of Brody. The child never holds still!

For the 2nd year in a row Syd has had her own tree in her room. She took extra pride in decorating it this year and didn't let me help a bit.

For the Christmas program at our church, Sydney wasn't the only shiningg star. Actually, they were all shiny advent candles. Aren't they just adorable!

Despite the appearance of this picture, Brody did actually enjoy the evening.