Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning 2008

What a fun year we've had. So many wonderful memories! I knew Christmas was going to be such a fun time this year with Kelson being a little older. We tried not to go overboard with buying her TOO much stuff and for the most part i think we did rather well. I was off work from Dec 24th-Jan 1st- it was wonderful! Got lots of time with the family and friends. I would love to try and go somewhere really cool one year during our Boeing christmas break, but we have yet to make that happen. Maybe New York in 2009. Well see. My parents are moving to "The Villages" in the fall of 09. Still can't believe it, but its gonna be such a GREAT thing for them. They deserve to do what they want. I'll surely miss not having them here, but FL isn't too far away and they are really close to Disney/Orlando. Knowing our family, we will be there at least once or twice a year. I'm really happy for them!
With having so much time off we got to attend so many different parties. It was a lot of fun- but wears you out. Kelson and I went to Aunt Natasha's for Christmas at her house one day and GOODNESS- she spoiled her as if she was Mrs. Claus. She got Kelson so many wonderful things. Tinkerbell luggage, Precious moments tinkerbell figurine, Dr. Suess books, a cute outfit from her sweet mother, and the big thing was a DISNEY bradford exchange tree that had all the characters around it. It was unbelieveable. I'd seen it in the magazine, but it was really expensive, so I can't believe she got it. It was actually a gift for Kelson AND Jason :) I wish i had a picture of it, but I think Aunt Natasha does. I'll post it when she send them to me. We were pretty wrapped up in opening presents to capture too many pictures. She got me some great stuff too. What a girl!!!
Well, Christmas Eve morning we were pretty lazy- getting all the presents down to Lucy's house- and Theana guessed the number under the tree (although she kinda had an estimate in her head since she helped count them) ;) but it was 184 presents. That was with some of the additional family members being there too. Brady got a chance to come down for a visit from Minnesota. We've REALLY enjoyed him being here. Kelson really has warmed up to her Uncle Brad. He's great with her. We had a WONDERFUL Christmas Eve meal- thank you to Lucy and her sisters- then it was present opening time. Kelson enjoyed stacking all the presents up on top of eachother- as much as opening them all :) Like most kids do. She got some great things for Christmas from the Alberts' and their families- clothes, pillow for her crib- with adorable pillow cases, toys, ming ming doll, Flying tinkerbell (huge hit), books, puzzles, ($5 hooker dolls- haha- some dolls I grabbed for Kelson from the $ store at the last minute- they were just cute offbrand disney dolls- but Bob called em hooker dolls cause they were cheap looking) haha, beautiful disney globe, I'm a little teapot doll, tea set, furry vest, pj's, and so much more. Nanny, Grand Memere, Aline and George, Louise, Chris, and Elliot all got to join in for the Christmas Eve dinner and present fun.
Jason and I must have been very good to cause we got lots of presents too from the Albert family :) I got my Chi hair straightener :) That's been on my list for a few years, a Wii system with games, Vera bradley pj's, clothes, wv outfit, partini game, floor/carpet vaccum, dvd's,
Jason too was a very good boy- he got LOTS of Blue Ray movies, a blue ray player, WV attire, Wii games,Xbox game, good set of knives, kick butt pillows, lounge pants, Capt Morgan sign for the cave, and much more. We stayed up till 1:30AM- Kelson did too- and wasn't fussy at all- we still had some presents to open, so we home and put Kelson to bed. Jason and I got the Santa presents ready- well some of them cause he had to bring the rest- and we put out the cookies and milk for him, then went off to bed.

Christmas morning around 8:30ish we had to go wake up Kelson. She opened up her presents from Santa- Santa got her quite a few things too- Elmo live doll- which she loves, Disney throw- loves it, books, Snow White doll (for later), bicycle (for later on this year), outfits, pj's, bath toys, christmas tigger toy, and a few other things. Let's just say she was a VERY good girl this year!!! Next it was time to go to Papa and Grammy's house. The Donald family got there Christmas Eve night, so they were already there. I was very excited about having all of us together. The kids got along so good and had lots of fun opening presents together. Belle just enjoyed OPENING the presents- she didn't care what was inside- lol. Kelson got some more great stuff from my family- V-tech learning system, a kitchen, dvd's, books, clothes, toys, bath toys, little people amusement park toy from Uncle Kyle, and so much more. Again- Jason and I got some GREAT stuff. I got some pj's, dvd's, money towards my 30th bday Europe trip with my sister, and Jason got Dvd's, games, clothes, redneck windchime for the cave, Wolfgang puck knives, and more. I can't even remember everything we got, but I know we were VERY happy and felt very blessed. We stayed there until 1:30pm or so and went back to Lucy's to finish opening those presents and our Christmas socks from Nanny- she always has the BEST things in there! We all took a short nap then headed back to Grammy and Papa's for a delicious Christmas meal. Kyle got to join us - he had to travel from Mobile, so it was great to have the whole family together. Keri got lots of pics from Christmas day so I hope to see those soon.
Overall is was a WONDERFUL and MEMORABLE Christmas. I can't wait to experience all the fun/joy that we will have for the years to come. Thank you so much to everyone for being apart of our lives. We love you all! Happy New Year!!! Christmas Eve Pics
Christmas Morning

Kelson- December- 17 months old

I captured a couple of adorable pics of Kelson over the last month. She has grown up so much already. She is waaay beyond the average 1 1/2 yr old. At least I think so ;) She is already repeating ANY word that you say to her. She knows her princess characters, animals, family members, pets, and more on her own when pointing them out. We will read through books and it amazes me how much she remembers and can say. I'm still not even sure how many words she knows now- has to be at least 75. We still do the signing with words. I'm trying to teach her how to say potty/diaper when she feels like she is about to go pee/poop. I figured this would be MUCH easier when it comes time for potty training. If she knows when she is going to go or what it means then she can sign to me, so I can put her on the toliet so she will get the concept. I'm anxious to see if it will work. I'm gonna see if I can list all of the things that Kelson knows now. She is saying "abre" (spanish word for open) thank you Dora ;) and she understands the meaning. When she wants something open she says this and ROLLS her R- can you believe that!? I was amazed at that. Lucy is working on her numbers in french and I'm teaching her the english ones. She is starting to color and really enjoys that. She is starting to recognize the colors- she knows green, but we are working on the others. My sister made mention that Kelson is already paying attention to detail when it comes to coloring. Most kids scribble -which she does some- but mostly she likes to try to color in the eyes or the smaller areas on the page. Keri said that is pretty advanced. If she does have any artistic ability- that's all her daddy :) I noticed the other night she was coloring again on her own and again she was coloring the detail part of Tinkerbell instead of coloring all over the page. PROUD MOM!!! She understands and responds very well when we speak French to her. She still only has 8 teeth, but I'm sure more will sprout out soon. She eats like she has a full set ;) She is still picky with her food texture, but overall she will eat whatever she is given. But when she is full, she is full! No more- she repeatedly says "done" "done". We still give her a bottle of Vit D milk in a bottle before she goes down for a nap and bed. She sleeps 12+ hours a night. She communicates VERY well to us, so if she gets fussy or needs help she signs/speaks it to us. She has been a BIG mommy's girl lately- and I love it! Being back at work- after having two weeks off- has been hard, but I'm managing. Jason is at home with her, so that makes things easier on both of us. Kelson can watch a whole episode of wonder pets and not move. She is starting to sing a little too- jason and I have been doing some words and carrying a tune with it and she repeats us. One is part of a wonder pet song that they sing- a lullaby song. It's so sweet to hear her sing. I can't wait for that day she sings a whole song to us :) She hasn't been sick much at all- thank the lord- one ear infection, a mean diaper rash, and a the occasional cold- that's it! THANK YOU LORD! She loves to be around other kids and give them hugs. She shares VERY well and is always feeding people- she gets that from her Papa ;)

Some funny things Kelson has been doing:
-Kelson would give kisses or hugs to her dolls we would always say "AW" cause it was sweet, so now when she gives kisses/hugs on her own she says "AW". Its adorable.
-She says CHEESE when taking pics
-Spins round and round when she sees Belle and the Beast characters (I let her watch the movie and she saw them dancing in the ballroom, so now she does it)
-Jason and I will kiss and hug then look at her and she smiles so big and wants a hug and kiss too- its sweet
-Calls her grammy- Gigi
-Still does the sheep face for people

She weighs around 23lbs and is 34 inches tall.
Kelson definitely has my patience. She will not wait for a second for ANYTHING. Goodness- I'm sure I was that bad though :) Gotta take the good with the bad. She is our entertainment- no matter where we are. She is no stranger to anyone. She loves the outdoors and enjoys playing with all of her princess characters. Pretty soon well be playing "dress up" :) YEA!!!

Kelson- Dec 08 Pics

Dirty Santa Party- Dec 13th

We had a dirty santa party over at Louise and Chris's house. The only downfall about doing a "dirty santa" with family is they are afraid to steal from the other family members, so it doesn't make it as fun. ALTHOUGH, I was NOT ;) afraid to steal a present. Nanny had a really cool candle burning light that I really wanted, so I took it from her. No one could believe that I would steal it from her, but I did :) hehe. That's part of the game. Mom was next and guess what- she stole it from me :) lol. So its cool I ended up with a gorgeous candle holder (that looks great in our bedroom), so everyone was happy with what they got. We had a great time hanging with family, eating yummy food, and getting to open presents.
Kelson and Elliot got to open some presents of their own too. Kelson got Elliot some race cars, a CARS backpack for school, and a CARS toddler look and find book- he loved it. Elliot got Kelson an adorable rocking chair (that she uses quite frequently). Lucy got them a pair of matching PJ's too- they are sooo cute together. She can say his name rather clearly now. I can't even keep up with her and her vocabulary now. We had a great time and hope to do it again next year!!!!

Dirty Santa Pics