Christmas 2010

I love this picture because it is such an accurate reflection of the girls. 

Brooklyn - SO EXCITED she can't stand it

and Chandler - just chillin'

Brooklyn had no fear and was just fine with Santa just like she is year,

after year,

after year. 
Never once has she cried or shown the slightest hint of hesitation.

(Should I be a little alarmed/disturbed by this???)

We also got to see Santa at a friend's Christmas party where he made an appearance.

The moment he made his entrance...

I think maybe B has a little crush???

Eddie was on call this year for Christmas so we were not able to travel to see everyone so...

EVERYONE CAME TO US!!!  YEA!!

On Christmas Eve, my parents, and youngest brother Brady came up to stay with us.

Eddie got called into the hospital and had to work really late so he was not able to join us for the candlelight service at our church.

Brooklyn actually attended the service with us, really enjoyed it and was super-sweet for the first 15-20 minutes or so...and then her 2-ness set in and she enjoyed the rest of the service in the nursery.  Chandler made it through the entire service and was perfect!  To me, there is just something really special about celebrating the birth of Jesus while you actually have a sweet little baby??

B helped unload the presents that Mom, Dad and Brady brought up.

And Brady spent some more time getting to know his newest neice.

Chandler is only 4 months old this Christmas

But here is a sweet look back at Baby B wearing the same dress at Christmas in 2008 when she was 6 months.

Christmas Day

Santa brought stuff for Chandler (above)

and Brooklyn (below)

The "Big Item" that Santa brought for the girls was a playset with a slide and swings, but due to rain, he was not able to have it together by Christmas morning.  =(  It has finally gotten all put together, but has been so cold and rainy we haven't been able to play on it much...will post pics of it this weekend when the weather is a little nicer.

The girls spent the morning playing with their new toys.

Then B went down for her nap while the adults got re-energized with some Red Bull to gear up for "Christmas Day- round 2."

Round 2 included Mom, Dad, and all of siblings and their immediate families.

Here is a closer look at just the grandkids

With 4 two-year-olds and an infant...that's as good as it's going to get!

It's really important to all of us that our children grow up to know the real meaning of Christmas.  We want them  to realize that it is not about Santa, or the lights, or Christmas trees, but about the birth of the man that would literally die to save their lives!!  So...Mom makes a birthday cake and we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus each year!!

And then we read alittle bit of the Christmas story from the Bible.

Landry read this year and I passed out animal crackers to help keep the little ones still...of course, that worked for everyone, but Brooklyn!  And then, of course, we spent time celebrating by playing and opening gifts.

Lawson got a new camera for Christmas so Reese put that crazy headband on Chandler and posed her for the picture.  Chandler was such a trooper...don't think she cried once the whole day!

After all the crazy 2-year-olds had gone to bed.  The adults (and Lawson and Hudson) were able to relax and watch the Cowboys game.

And then, to make our Christmas even MORE perfect...Eddie's parents came up to celebrate with us the very next day!!

And brought the girls a few more gifts!

What sweet and fun grandparents they are!!

Big Lou (or Big Bird as Brooklyn likes to call him) even endured an episode of Barney with B!!  Now that's real love!

Thank you, family, for coming to see us and making it really feel like Christmas!

And Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Love at First Bite?

Chandler had her first bite EVER of food on Christmas Day!

(I haven't figured out how to crop the video yet so sorry that this is a little long!!)

Her reaction was complete indifference...as if this was just something that she did every day.

I hadn't planned on her having her first bite Christmas Day, but that is just kind-of how it worked out which ended up perfect because I had plenty of people to video tape and get pictures.  Thanks Mom, Dad and Brady!!

How would you like to take your first bite with all of that (scary-excited-phsycho mom, and 2 video cameras) in your face???  Sorry, Chandler!

 And, as a bonus, here are just a few cute pics I've gotten of her recently:

4 Months Old!

4-Month Stats

Ht:  25 3/4, 95%

Wt:  14 lbs 5 oz, 75%

HC:  15 3/4 inches, 30%

Still holding steady as a big girl with a small head.  =)

The 3 Words that I would use to best describe Chandler at 4 months:

Chunky, Chatty and Charming!

We've finally quit swaddling her and I think she is enjoying the freedom!

She Giggles

And she rolls over from back to front!

Well...almost!

Happy 4-Month Birthday, Chandler!!

Yooooo Gabba Gabba!!

Brooklyn's best friends, Ava and Macy (twins), recently turned 3. To celebrate, they had a really cool birthday party at the Little Gym!  Here is the party crew!  (Notice Chandler being thrown in at the last minute on the side!  Brooklyn has the red bows in her hair.  Ava and Macy are the 2 in the middle with the blue and pink bows...you can see Macy's super-cute "3" shirt in the picture, too!!)

Oh how we miss the Little Gym!  It is one of the few places where B can run, jump, scream and climb with very few "no-no's."

Coach Eddie was teaching her how to hold her hands out to the sides for balance.  Walking down the beam and jumping off the end all by herself was probably her favorite part of the party...did this about 1,000 times.

For their birthday, Ava and Macy received Yo Gabba Gabba tickets from their parents and invited Brooklyn to tag along!  If you are not familiar with Yo Gabba Gabba, then you really probably can't appreciate this picture.

This little boy was dressed up like DJ Lance, one of the Yo Gabba Gabba characters, and it totally cracked me up so I HAD to get a picture!

 Here the girls are with Muno, one of the other characters on the show.

They gave each kid their own pair of DJ Lance glasses.  Here is Macy sporting hers. 

Eddie was initially a little reluctant to go to this "kid show," but agreed to do it for B and because his friend, Ben, would be there.  Little did he know that this would be where some of the coolest Dad's in Dallas would be hanging out!

Pictured above is Tyson Chandler!!

For those of you who don't know, he is an NBA player who is in the starting line-up for the Dallas Mavericks and is currently my favorite player because:

1.  HELLO!!  He has a cool name!

2.  He was really nice about me taking his picture with B not only once, but TWICE!

(After I took the first picture, I went back to my seat to admire it only to find that my memory was FULL and it didn't save...and, of course, B was happy and smiling in that one.)

3.  His talent is making a huge contribution to the Maverick line-up and I LOVE watching him play!

4.  I recently found out that he is personally sponsoring 3 families for Christmas and getting them whatever they want.  What a great guy!

Cool Dad #2:

OK, I didn't get permission on this one and obviously just took it without him knowing, but if you look behind Brooklyn just to the right you will see Jason Terry "The JET" looking at his cell phone!!

Non-NBA fans, Jason Terry is another star player for the Mavericks.

Oh yeah...and then there was the show!

For the first half, Brooklyn LOVED it!

Then they had an intermission and she started to get restless.  Because she had missed her nap to go to the show, she was too tired regroup, so shortly into the second half we had to leave.  =(

Even though we missed Biz's beat and Party in My Tummy, we still had a great time!  Thanks for inviting us, Ava and Macy, and Happy 3rd Birthdays!!

p.s. My neighbor and I bought our girls "Barney" tickets for the girls for Christmas and Eddie wanted NO PART of that.  After we got back from this and seeing how much Brooklyn enjoyed it, he said, "Now when do we get to go see Barney?"  Who would have ever thought that EDDIE NALLEY would be wanting to go see Barney?!!  So sweet!  But sorry, Eddie, we already bought the tickets!

(He probably was just hoping for more celebrity sightings anyway!)