Holiday Magic at the Zoo

We had wanted to go to Holiday Magic at the Brookfield Zoo before Christmas, but we were just a little too busy. So, instead we bundled up and went last night. It was an experience to say the least. Grace really wanted nothing to do with the real animals, but insisted on taking pictures and going back to see the dressed up ones at the main entrance. They did have a musical laser light show and Grace showed off her dance skills for that and we ended our trip with a visit to see the monkeys, which always makes her happy. It was fun to see the Zoo all lite up at night! What made our night though was the drive home...Grace LOVES music and singing. We have been seen that more recently than ever! I listen to the Taylor Swift CD often and she soaks all the songs up like a sponge. One of her newer songs came on the radio last night and Grace sang right along. I tend to skip this song on the CD, so the fact that she knew it surprised me. She was singing with expression and getting the words right. Bryan and I were laughing so hard! What a smart little cookie we have on our hands :)

All bundled and ready to go!

Watching the dolphins with Daddy

Daddy and Gracie

Mommy and Gracie

Dancing and very excited about it!

All she wanted all night

Snow!

Finally our first snow...not much of it, but enough for Grace to be excited. Bryan took her out in the snow for a little bit yesterday to do some playing. Later she told me, "Mama I eat it. It tastes like ice cream!"

Christmas 2012

Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house celebrating with my Dad's side of the family. Gracie was very excited to wear her Christmas dress and fancy shoes.

We got to my parent's house a little early in order to get in some family pictures. I forgot to charge my camera when we celebrated the other night (I'm blaming pregnancy brain) so we had to make up for it tonight. Grace has now graduated from the stage of not smiling for any pictures to being a complete cheese ball when smiling! It's okay...I will take the cheese ball pictures anytime!

Soon enough the house was filled with family and it was time to visit and eat and soon enough...open more presents! Grace was thrilled with all her gifts. She is quite a lucky little girl.

The best gift of all is that we were all able to be together this holiday season.

It was then time to head home to make our preparations for Santa! Grace picked out the cookies she wanted for Santa and also left some carrots for the reindeer. And then it was off to bed!

Christmas morning we had to actually wake Grace up in order to get gifts opened, eat breakfast, and be on the road by 10 for Danville. Santa brought Gracie a play kitchen and it was the first thing she saw when she walked into the family room. Her reaction..."Look it! A kitchen!" and then she immediately spotted her Doc McStuffins peeping out of her stocking. I believe there was some jumping and clapping and just pure joy, which is all we could have asked for. Grace was very into opening all her gifts...way too busy to look at the camera!

After a yummy breakfast and some playtime with her new toys, we were on the road and off to Danville for 3 days. Grace was very excited to see her Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncles when we got there! After nap time we opened more presents! Where once again, Gracie was a very lucky girl! Grace received a lot of dress up and pretend things and that is how she spent most of our time in Danville...dressed up in her princess outfit or baking outfit. After presents we enjoyed a wonderful family dinner together.

The next day a special visitor came...baby Ryan! Grace had been asking about baby Ryan on our drive down to Danville, but we didn't know if we would be able to see her because Sarah and Nick were traveling also. Grace lucked out! Ryan is now 6 months old and sitting up, which makes it a lot easier for Grace to play with her. And Ryan is such a happy and smiley baby that it didn't take much at all for Grace to make her smile, which thrilled Grace!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It seems to just get more and more magical as Grace gets older. It is nice though to be home and have the hustle and bustle of the holiday season behind us. It is now time to switch over from holiday mode to baby mode!

Annual Christmas Cookie Baking

This morning Grace and I headed over to Grandma Nancy's for our annual Christmas cookie baking. This is now Grace's 3rd year of being a part of the tradition and with each year she gets a little bit more involved. My mom had bought her a Christmas apron for the occasion and Grace wanted to wear it with her outfit today. She loved that it had pockets for storing things! Gracie helped with the cookies by taking the wrappers off of the Hershey kisses and of course sampling some.

Gracie also helped by smashing some Oreos for the Oreo Truffles. She took some breaks from cookie baking to have some play time with cousin Ella. Grace was so happy to have Ella as a playmate today.

After lunch it was back to the cookies! Gracie helped frost some cookies and then she got a little silly with the other girls by putting frosting on her nose. Monkey see, Monkey do!

Thanks for hosting Grandma! We now have all our cookies for Santa ready for tomorrow night.

Christmas #1

Last night we celebrated Christmas with my parents, brothers, and their girlfriends. We started this tradition last year because the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve didn't leave us much of an intimate visit with one another. Grace was very excited for the 'party,' as we have been calling it. She was upset to find out yesterday morning that we wouldn't be going to the 'party' until after nap. A phone call from Nonnie helped Grace to calm down and face the facts :) She was excited to put on her fancy outfit and shoes...such a girly girl!  Grace is very blessed to have been given so many nice gifts. Her favorites right now are the Bitty Baby bed from Nonnie and Papa and a Bitty Baby stroller from Great Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time together as a family exchanging gifts, having dinner, and most importantly spending time together.