We flew home from Kansas in the first few days of December to end our wonderful two weeks with family. While walking around the airport, I found this sign. Somehow it rubs me wrong. I showed the picture to James and he didn't get it because I guess he's seen their marketing many times before but this was my first impression of it and it wasn't good. When your business depends on customer service, don't tell me I have to earn your friendliness. Haha! Again, I guess it makes sense if you're seen their other posters...
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| I had to earn that? |
This is one of our favorite airplane activities: eating snacks out of the medicine organizer. The problem is that she is getting so much more capable and this activity that used to last 20 or 30 minutes now only lasts 10 or 15, but I'll take it! Sometimes those 15 minutes are the critical ones spent waiting for the passengers to be loaded and the plane to take off. That's the hardest time because the stewardesses always want her buckled in until however-many-thousand-feet in the air and Abi of course could care less.
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| Drugging my baby |
But, as soon as the plane gets going, if the planets align, we get sleep. :)
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| It worked! |
Vacation is always so wonderful but coming home is not always easy. Since we have to travel between time zones to visit family and because grandparents notoriously spoil their grandkids, it usually takes us a week or so to get back into a good routine. This is us struggling to brush teeth. But, hey, it worked!
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| Brushing teeth creatively |
Here's her adorable face that can't decide whether hunger or exhaustion is the stronger influence of the moment.
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| Tired and hungry |
I helped put on a stake-wide Relief Society training for 11 local church units just a few days after we got back, and I was excited to look nice! I have lately been wearing only clothes that are easily washed, no jewelry, and hair up and out of the way. So this is a nice change of pace.
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| Cute outfit |
That night, our ward had its Christmas party with caroling. And wouldn't you know that the first house we were assigned to carol at had a big blow up Olaf. Abi could hardly believe her eyes! She touched his nose, put her hand in his mouth, threw her arms around him, squealed and jumped up and down. She took all the attention from the carolers and became the star of the show. The family was so delighted to see a kid love their Olaf like she did. Funny girl!
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| OLAF!! |
Sometimes, Abi snuggles with me on the couch. That's when I think to myself, "See? TV is a good thing!" Haha!
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| Selfie |
Daddy did Abi's hair in a big beautiful bun!
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| Beautiful hair |
Her hair has been so long that it was really nice to have it up and out of the way while she ate.
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| Yum! |
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| Beautiful hair |
It didn't last long though... these pictures are from later that day. Her twisted up bun had come untwisted which wasn't a big deal. But while we were eating, we looked over to notice that Abi had apparently finished using her utensil and stuck it in her hair for safe keeping.
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| Dinglehopper |
What a funny girl! So much for being up and out of the way.
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| Dinglehopper |
December was so uncharacteristically warm and sunny that we got to go to the park and play. She absolutely loves movement - swinging, going down slides, rocking. Someday, she's going to be a blast to take on roller coasters.
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| Swinging |
Speaking of needing movement, this is Abi's favorite way lately to watch TV - on her rocking horse. She acts out the scenes from her favorite movies and speeds up and slows down depending on the tempo of the songs. It's a fantastic active way to watch TV.
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| Favorite way to watch TV |
When she's not on her horse to watch TV, she's usually jumping on the couch or in this seat in the window. She loves being up so high here but it is really freaking James and me out to have her in such a precarious position. It wouldn't take much for the window glass to give and have her rolling out of the second story window. Aughhh... what children put their parents through.
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| Second favorite way to watch TV |
December turned out to be a tiring month for all of us but especially Abi. She seemed to be sick every other week with some sort of cold or cough. So she spent a lot of time recuperating. I appreciate that when she's sick, she wants to snuggle. Rare moments.
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| Exhausting weekend |
This happened at church... Haha!
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| Still exhausted |
But that face...
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| Always exhausted |
So James and I want to have a tradition of making Christmas cookies and delivering them to friends and neighbors. We haven't been able to do that much because we are usually at family's homes for the holidays. This year, we stayed home in NJ for Christmas so we took full advantage and made LOTS of cookies! It took four days to cook all the cookies and two days to finish delivering them all, but they all turned out great and miracle of miracles - I only burned one batch! Woo-hoo!
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| Cookie Bonanza! |
Here are the finished plates. We made 18 big plates and several smaller plates to deliver with 11 different recipes of cookies. So fun!! I had such a great time making cookies with my family that I wanted for about two months to do it again. We didn't. And it's probably good, so we don't get burnt out. But I cannot WAIT for next year!
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| Finished! |
We went to NYC just before Christmas to see the holiday spirit there. It was very neat but cold and wet. We ended up having to cross a street that had water running a foot deep across it. It was like crossing a freezing cold river of dirty city water. UGH, it was awful! We only lasted about an hour or so because we bailed and went home. We need tour guides to really understand the beauty of NYC in winter.
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| Watching the light show in NYC |
We did find this though in the heart of NYC and I couldn't help taking a picture. It was too perfect. So sad for this poor lost sole/soul. :)
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| A poor lost soul |
I love roasted vegetables and finally have found a way to make them that I love! So delicious!
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| Christmas Eve vegetables |
We have a delicious breakfast of pancakes with chocolate syrup! Christmas is great for providing a family-focused, lazy morning.
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| Christmas morning hair |
Abi had such a great time opening her presents. She wasn't satisfied with just tearing off the paper. She wanted to open the box and play with the toy as soon as she opened it. It was frustrating at first because we couldn't wait to see her face with each gift but it actually made it really fun because it spread Christmas out and made it last all day. She opened a new gift every couple hours all day. :) Thanks to all the family that made her Christmas so full with gifts!
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| Playing with new toys |
Daddy is so patient with Abi and loves teaching her to help with chores. Abi loves splashing in water. So this makes for a great dish-doing-duo!
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| Dishes with Dad |
I actually felt some extra patience over Christmas break and there came a moment where Abi finally seemed old enough to handle some big-girl activities so we painted our nails. She was very intrigued by this but didn't seem overly excited. It was fun to see her notice her nails and rediscover the color over the next few days.
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| Painting nails with Mom |
Sometimes you can't even hold your own head up to watch TV, you're so exhausted.
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| Christmas is exhausting |
Granddad sent Abi some foam letters and numbers for the bath. She learned her letters and numbers from Youtube after Thanksgiving so it was perfect timing for her to have these great new bath toys!
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| Fun new bath toys |
James and I used our Christmas present money to see the Nutcracker ballet done by the New York Ballet Company on Julliard campus. I have always wanted to see the Nutcracker and we decided that we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it done by the company that helped make it so famous in America. It was amazing! I loved it! If I lived here the rest of my life (and made lots of money), I would totally make this a Christmas tradition.
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| Nutcracker ballet |
The building was amazing and beautiful! Such a fun date!
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| Nutcracker ballet |
We got all dressed up and went to NYC! :) That doesn't happen very often. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to wear my contacts much because they are irritating my eyes. In fact, my eyes are developing an allergic reaction to them. So, I have gone back to mostly wearing glasses. I did take my contacts with me though and put them in just before the performance started so I could have unhindered vision for this awesome dream-come-true! (My glasses are not in the updated prescription...)
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| Christmas Date |
Here's a picture of my adorable outfit, some of which is new for Christmas. Thanks, mom!
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| New date outfit |
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