stories and sprinkles

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas at the Sprinkles

We enjoyed spending Christmas afternoon and evening at Dave's parents home. Natalie had a great time and loved her new cradle and stroller!

opening the stroller!

she loved her new snowman that lights up!

daddy helping nat open her present!

rocking baby gingerbread man in the cradle

What a day to celebrate! Jesus is born!
Natalie woke up bright and early at 7:00 on Jesus' birthday (or maybe Gam and Pappy snuck into her room...still not sure!) and she was ready to see what Santa delivered...at the bottom of my parents' stairs, my dad had created a path of letters and numbers in carpet squares leading to the den...

she loved her new cozy coupe car

first time on the tricycle

natalie and molly

sadie has a stocking too!

nat especially loves her bitty baby that my parents gave her. she named her "brook" after her best friend ty-ty's mommy :).

sipping on "jooch"

coloring with pappy and her new markers

reading her barney cards with gam in the tent

dancing around outside in her boots!

After a fun lunch at my precious Grandparent's house, we were off to Dave's parents home in Norcross!

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve is always such a special day! Full of love, excitement and family...
We were so excited to head to LaGrange for the day on Christmas Eve. Here is the day in pictures...

Natalie cuddling with Pappy when we first arrived (Nat stayed in her p.j.'s all day!)

Natalie all dressed and ready to go to church. She sat through the whole service and did SO GOOD!

One of my family's traditions is to open a few gifts on Christmas Eve. Above, Natalie helps Bigma open a present!

Natalie loved her new ice cream cone set that her cousin Molly gave to her!

She got two pairs of really cute boots and a new outfit on Christmas Eve. She immediately wanted to try on her new outfit and show off her boots!

very special tradition = listening to grandpa read a story!

it was so fun to see what santa dropped off after natalie went to bed!

my two favorite santas putting together nat's tricycle

And visions of sugarplums danced in her head!...

an annual tradition

The last weekend before Christmas each year holds a very special yearly tradition...going to Mary Jane's party! We all anxiously await this evening of friendship, fun and singing of Christmas carols! Dave's high school friends remain very close, which I think is great. The mother of one of his best friends (who is like a second mom to dave) hosts a Christmas party every year in her beautiful home. There are more and more young ones running around, and Natalie LOVED singing the Christmas carols and dancing with the bells this year. Here are a few pics of the evening. The kids are getting too fast to capture!

Nat and Grandpa Bobby (Dave's dad)

Natalie and Cosette "toe tapping" at the stairs

Giving Flannery a kiss!

our attempt at a picture of the four girls

Natalie and Harper being mischievous in the kitchen!

Monday, December 14, 2009

a date with priscilla, the pink pig!

natalie and i went to see the pink pig this morning! we got there just in time...before the crowds arrived, and we had a blast! it was so fun to do together, and we just giggled and smiled and loved every minute of it. natalie is so funny and is always making me laugh...i love these memories of our days together...

new dress...

natalie wore her new dress to church on sunday...
the funny part of the story is that when she got home from church and i was taking it off...i realized that the tag was still on it. it was big and bulky, so i don't know how i missed it and i don't know how natalie didn't fuss about it! i love the smocking of the manger scene...the perfect reminder of why we celebrate this time of year...

difficult to get the girl to stand still! when i say, turn around and say cheese, she starts turning around in circles and laughing!

natalie's second birthday party

so she's not two quite yet...but she thinks she is!
we decided to celebrate her birthday a couple of weeks early to have a little separation from Christmas! we hosted a cookie decorating party at our house and it was a lot of fun...a lot of chaos...but a lot of fun. Natalie couldn't have been more proud when we sang the happy birthday song, and she blew her candles out all by herself. thank you to our precious family and friends for coming to celebrate with us. your support over the past two years has been incredible. i simply cannot believe my baby is a big girl. will post more thoughts on that on her real birthday!! for now, here are some pics in random order...