Christmas 2016

Christmas 2016 was our best one yet....I know I always say that, but it's true.  Between the traditions & the fun we had as a family, there are many moments which bring my heart joy.  Despite being basically 9 months pregnant, Santa still made sure he got everything wrapped & got all the details finished.  The girls left cookies for Santa & carrots for the reindeer.  On Christmas morning, we were awoken to little voices saying "he came, he came" and many giggles & squeals followed.  Jessica's big gift were her bike & a Kindle I won at a dental meeting & Ella's big gifts were her American girl doll, Samantha & Torch the FurReal friends dragon.  They each were spoiled by family & got so many wonderful things.  Each year as I watch the girls open their gifts, I am reminded of how very blessed we are to be able to give them all their hearts desire for Christmas, within reason of course, because in our house, Santa can only bring 5 gifts each with a few surprises. After we had enjoyed the girls opening gifts, we had brunch & prepared for family to come to share the day with us.  What a wonderful day it was & how happy my heart truly is that we are able to give our girls this type of childhood.  The day after Christmas was wonderful & warm, so they got to play with their new toys outside.

I even caught Santa putting presents under the tree :)

Wedding dress

Both girls have been asking a lot about my wedding dress lately & Jessica is very into the Nutcracker this Christmas season.  For whatever reason, she really wanted to try on my wedding dress & dance in it like Clara from the Nutcracker.   Since it is icy weather today & really no where to go I thought I'd let her.  She looked so cute all dressed up.

Santa 2016

The annual visit with Santa was a magical one this year.  The girls both loved him & they made sure to tell him the presents they wanted.  Jessica's response was quite different than I imagined as she was star struck & forgot her list to the point of needing me to remind her of what she wanted.  She was jumping for joy before she even got to see Santa.  This Santa was very sweet & told the girls he looked forward to the special cookies they would make for him, he said he loved the ones they left for him last year.  Always grateful I can buy the digital files & edit myself, these were particularly not level & over exposed, but a few tweaks & I think we got some keepers.  Love these little ones & so thankful they still enjoy this tradition!

Christmas Tree Search

The annual hunt for the best tree was today.  We went to our usual favorite farm Lake Forest Gardens to take a tractor ride & begin our search.  The competition for trees was fierce as they had many beautiful Fur & Spruce trees, but when Jessie & Daddy saw this lovely Canadia Fir, that was it.  Michael set to work cutting our tree down.  He was wise this year & brought his own saw as the loner saws the farm provides tend to be dull.  We had previously attended church to begin the Advent season & then went to our favorite brunch place prior to our tree search.  Although, a big & somewhat tiring job.  I'm happy to say the tree is up & decorated.  Thanks to Michael for always prioritizing family time & for doing all the heavy lifting today.  This has become one of my favorite family traditions as I love the beauty of the tree farm & doing this together as a family.  I may be 32 weeks preggo & admittedly very tired, but I didn't let it stop me :)

It begins....

And so here I am a few days after Thanksgiving, almost 8 months preggo & actually having time to add to the old blog.  My favorite time of year is upon us, Christmas!!  The girls have many beautiful dresses hanging in their closets, but I always like to get them something matching or coordinating to visit Santa.  We chose red sparkle dresses this year & they girls both look darling in them.  I wish Jessica would have let me style her hair a bit more for these, but it was just a few quick shots anyway, it kind of captures her where she's at right now in terms of trying to do everything herself, but really still needing some guidance.  Can you tell, Jessica is a ham?  She loves to show her 2 missing front teeth :)  Ella, on the other hand, poses so nice & always wants to look her best.  They are so different some times.  This year is a huge year for Christmas at our new house, Michael was busy being Clark yesterday & spent almost all day doing some exterior illumination, while the girls & I decorated the inside.  It's both fun & frustrating to find new locations for our well-loved Christmas decorations.  The season is upon us & I've already put up 4 artificial trees, the baby even has a small one this year, the girls insisted!  We go get our big live tree at the farm tomorrow, so we are keeping it low key today & finishing up some decorating/cleaning.  Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving break & the start of the Christmas season!

School pictures 2016

School pictures 2016 were a success with each girl picking out their dress & accessories.  The girls were very excited & told me they gave "pretty smiles" at school for their pictures.  I think they did great.  Another year for the record books :)

 Kindergarten 2016--5 & 1/2 years old

1st grade 2016--6 & 1/2 years old