Pigtails!

Charlotte had pigtails for the first time today!  So cute!  We headed to dinner tonight with a few of Jim's friends.  His friend Ethan was in town from California so some of us all got together for a bite to eat.  It was a nice time to visit with everyone and enjoy ourselves.

36 Weeks

I hate this picture...mostly of myself.  It was our last day hanging out before heading back to reality, day care back open, and back to work.  We were just bumming around all together and getting a few things accomplished around the house. 

My hair is a gross disaster.  Jim sister got me a gift certificate to get my hair done for Christmas, something I had desperately been wanting.  I even tried to call today to make an appointment but they are closed Sundays and Mondays, so Tuesday we will be calling!

Charlotte is waving at the camera.  She waves and claps all the time.  Simply say "Yay" and she will start clapping.  Taken 12/27/2009...the last Sunday of '09!

Christmas Morning

Charlotte had so much fun Christmas morning.  We came downstairs to find all of her Santa presents and she was surprisingly very excited.  She was checking out her gear, still in her sleep sack and everything.

Charlotte rolled around and played in her new blankie.

and hugged her new friends.

and body surfed...her version of "crawling" frustration

She rode her new toy

and spent some time admiring the tree.  I love the stand.  Jim made it a few years ago and carved in the J *heart* M and this year he carved in Charlotte's name. 

Santa's Display

Santa was quite generous to Charlotte this year.  She must have been on the good list!

Here is everything the big guy left.  Stockings and new shirts for Jim and I...Stockings for the pets under the tree...and Charlotte's gifts and stocking.  She got a really cool Wizard of Oz tie blanket made with Glinda and Wicked Witch fleece, a couple of toys, a few stuffed animals, and some pants and snacks.

Christmas Eve~Second Half

Although the day to this point had been quite wonderful, I think both Jim and I would agree that the evening ended with perfection.  We came home from church and celebrated our very first family Christmas together with the 3 of us. 

We gave Charlotte her presents and Jim and I exchanged as well.  It was SO much fun.  Charlotte was a hoot and truly got into unwrapping her presents.  The one she fell in love with earlier in the day she literally ripped every piece off of that package! 

    

    

    

    

Jim got me a new potraiture lens for my camera and I am SUPER excited about it.  It is a prime lens so that will take some getting used to, but it will be a definite go to lens in my bag from now on!

I got Jim a hammock.  It was something he had mentioned wanting so I kept it in my mind so that I knew I would get him a great gift (he can be really hard to buy for).  He was pretty pumped about it and I think he is already planning out his and Charlotte's summer naps together!

After opening and hanging out together Charlotte played for awhile, rolling around in all the paper while we got things picked up.

Eventually we all got ready for bed.  We read Charlotte Twas The Night Before Christmas and put her to bed, after all, Santa needed to come but he had a few things to finish up first!

Christmas Eve~First Half

We had a great time at Christmas Eve this year for a number of reasons.  It was wonderful to be home and spend the holiday in our own house.  We have spent the last so many years driving from one side of the state to the other it was amazing to have some time to actually enjoy the day.  It was also great to spend Christmas Eve with Charlotte.  She is so awesome and truly made our day great. 

We began the day with some last minute preparations.  Unfortunately we have had water leaking into our house in the kitchen and dining area which added a little disaster to our preparations but everything got cleaned up...although the leaking has not stopped.  Never the less it pushed the cooking back a little as I needed to be able to prepare food in a sanitary kitchen! 

While getting Charlotte ready for her bath she took quite an interest in the presents under the tree.  Especially the ones addressed to her!  She was definitely prepped and ready to open when the time came.

Charlotte had been putting her nap off all morning and got super mad while we tried to get her dressed resulting in one full fledged fit.  Jim finally got her to sleep right when Joy and Barb got here so unfortunately it didn't last long.  She still was happy camper though.

I was in the kitchen getting together everything that needed to be made.  We had ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls.  We also had a few appetizers while everything was cooking.  Not much got eaten so we had far too much left over.  In the future I think we will keep it smaller so we don't waste so much. 

After we ate we took some pictures by the tree.

Then it was time to open presents!

Charlotte had quite a blast opening and got some great gifts.  We all were quite lucky in that category.  Before long, our little beauty was tuckered out and sleeping in her Daddy's arms.

Before long it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve service at church.  We got Charlotte all prettied up in her Christmas dress and she was gorgeous.

When we left for church the night was perfect.  It had begun snowing and was beautiful outside.  We arrived and attended a wonderful service as usual.  The Christmas Story was touching and the candlelight Silent Night was breathtaking.  It was a great ending to our extended family portion of the evening.

Christmas Decorations

Before our Christmas Eve activities got started I got some pictures of our house all beautified for Christmas.  Oh how I love all the decorations.

Jim and I got this in Puerto Rico on our honeymoon.  It is a manger scene in a coconut shell.  Seriously one of my favorite decorations.

The pets need stockings too!