Mother/Daughter brunch 2012.

We enjoyed another holiday mother daughter brunch this year!  Kathy graciously hosted all of us crazy women and children, and we had a ball!  We had delicious food, coffee, and conversation!  It is always so much fun to get together!  And with all the babes, it just makes sense to go to some one's house instead of a restaurant.  So thanks again Kathy for letting us invade your home!

Here are a few pics of the day!

Here are all the small babes, Clara, Rowan, Amelia, Elliott, and Jayden.

 Mom and Em!

 Jess and baby Ellie!

 Donna and Kathy!

 Katie!

 The Waldon girls!

 Teri and Amelia!

 Kathy and Amelia!

 All us friends with our babes (sans Rowan, Ezra, and Knox!).

 There's Rowan!

 My child takes great pics!

 Rowan wasn't really in the mood for pics either!

 Cute one of Em, but once again. Clara didn't pull it together!

 Love this one of cheeks McGee smiling!

 The Claiborne girls (and Jayden!)!

 Clara loves a good piano!

 Mom at her finest!

 The Grandmas!

 Sarah and Jayden!

 The Tyler boys showed up at the end to pick up Jess and Elliott, and Ezra got to show off his recently lost tooth!  He looks way too grown up!

 The wonder baby Ellie!

 At the end of the date, Clara and Jayden had a ball pushing and pulling Amelia's car seat.  They were cracking up!

Thanks again girls for a fun holiday tradition!  Each year gets better and bigger than the last!

PS - Kathy, Clara and I left your basement a mess!  I'm so sorry!  Next time I'll try not to be such a heel!

Clara sings Christmas.

Here is Clara singing many of her favorite Christmas songs.  My dad took this video on Christmas Day, 2012.  Hilarious!

playing in the snow.

We have had snow since Christmas.  It hasn't been much, and it melts each day, but for the last two mornings we've woken up to white snow covering the ground.  Yesterday, Clara begged to go out in the snow.  But we never made it outside to play.  So today, we made sure to get out there.  I wanted to see how she'd react to it.

So we walked in the yard in our boots first.  Then I picked up a snowball and showed her.  She had to hold it next, and then she dropped it.  Then I ate a little bit of snow and offered her some to eat too.  She couldn't believe what it was like when i touched it to her lips.  She spit and made sounds like she was completely disgusted!  It was hilarious.  Then, Clara and I got Gwen on the leash and wandered up and down our street a few times.  She loved it!  And I loved how she talked to Gwen.

"Gook Gwennie!  No!"  (Look Gwennie, snow!).  And if we walked and Gwen walked in the street for a moment, Clara had to remind Gwen that we don't walk in the street!  And if Gwen tangled her leash around us, Clara would giggle and say, "Gwennie!".  And Clara loved when Gwen got a little crazy and tugged a little on the leash and pulled her along.  It was a pretty fun time!  Not to mention the amazing dose of vitamin D we all got!  It felt great!

Saying, "Cheethe!"

 The tail end of saying, "Cheethe" for the camera.

We're going on a bear hunt...

One of Clara's favorite things lately has been feeling scared.  Don't ask me why!  I think it may be her Auntie Emmy's influence.  But one of Clara's favorite books is We're Going on a Bear Hunt.  It must give her that rush that people get from watching scary movies.  I DON'T GET IT!  But, my Dad took a few videos of Clara listening to the book.  Her reaction is priceless.  I love when she says, "Oh, no!".  Enjoy!  And don't mind my crazy teacher read aloud voice.  It's embarrassing!

Christmas happenings 2012.

For Christmas Eve this year, we went to Jeff and Janet's house.  Everyone went to a movie in the late afternoon.  We decided to opt out of that, since we have a toddler.  But we joined up with everyone around 7 and had a jolly time!  We missed Angie because she was sick, but everyone else from the fam was there.  And Matt and Marla and Alex and Hannah were there too, just like every Christmas Eve.  Here are a few shots from that night.

 The party really started when Uncle Brad gave Clara M & M's.  

sugar + toddler = crazy!

 Then we decided to put on Clara's Christmas coat (thanks Mike and Molly) and head outside to look at the lights next door, which are insane!  She loved them, of course!

 Then we came back in and got a couple family shots.

 Christmas morning, we let Clara sleep in.  After all, she went to be at 11 pm on Christmas Eve.  So we all were up a little before 9.  She came downstairs to see what Santa brought.

She really just wanted candy canes from Mr. Claus.  And he came through!

 Then we headed back over to Jeff and Janet's to open gifts on Christmas morning.

Clara's favorite was a little tent from Grandma and Pop.  She loves having things that are just her size...like her own chair, her own rocking horse, and now her own tent.

 Auntie Angie came for Christmas morning, even though she wasn't feeling great.  So we got a cute pic of Uncle and Auntie with the gifts they gave Clara.

Our day didn't end there, even though the pictures do...oops!

We headed over to GG and G-Pop's house for a minute to drop off their gift and so Clara could open a few sweet things from them.  It was nice to visit.  But of course, we couldn't stay long.

We made it back home to our house at a little before 2.  Oma and Opa and Emmy were there waiting for us.  So the party continued.  We spent the afternoon playing games and eating a lovely dinner.  Auntie Em had to go to work at the hospital that night, so we ate at around 4:30 so she could leave by 6.  The snow started falling that afternoon, and continued through the night.  So we had a white Christmas after all!  Oma and Opa stayed into the evening, and then braved the snowy roads and headed home.  We relaxed and let Clara play with some of her new toys.  I played with my new toy too...Kurtis got a me a new computer, which we desperately needed.  So I can finally get back to blogging on the computer instead of just with my phone!

We hope you and your families had a very Merry Christmas.  We loved being able to see almost all our family for the holiday, and look forward to the Waldon Christmas, which will happen mid January.  Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas 2012.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas!