Post-Christmas blues

Daddy always has all of our Christmas decorations put away by January 2nd. Today he decided to do it early and took all of it down (once he has his mind set on something he does not stop until it is done- Mommy calls it OCD). I woke up from my nap and all of a sudden the trees and santas were gone! I am so sad that Christmas is over, but luckily some places still have the holiday spirit. Today we went to the Gaylord Texan resort to get one last look at Christmas. It was so neat there, I loved it! I sure hope that they don't catch that OCD stuff.

Christmas celebrations

Sorry to have neglected my family friends on my holiday activity updates, but since getting back from our trip we've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to "play" on the computer. First of all, Santa showed up at our pajama playgroup! He even brought me a gift, but I didn't want to get near him (as evidenced by previous post) so I had to be coaxed. He gave me this cool book that looks just like the one I saw Mommy buy a few days earlier.

Next, Mommy and Daddy came to my Christmas party at school, but I was so distracted by Mommy being there that they decided to leave during circle time.

After mass on Christmas Eve, the neighbors came over for dinner and I played with the kids for a bit (sorry no pics, I went to bed early that night). I woke up at my usual 7:30 on Christmas morning to open up my gifts from Santa and the folks. Santa got me a little four-wheeler, and I like playing with it, but apparently I have a fear of driving so we'll have to wait a couple of months to fully utilize all the features. I overheard Mommy make some comment thanking God that it wasn't expensive (how would she know what it cost and what would it matter to her how much Santa paid?).

All of us (even Chopper) went to Nona and Papa's for dinner, and Papa got out some of Daddy's old toys to play with. It was a bit lonely though without the rest of the family; the Kidds (including Kyleigh and Mikinley) spent the day with Uncle Tom's family and the Nechamkins were in Russia . . . meeting my future cousins (currently named Polina and Anton)! But, at least I got a lot of undivided attention from my grandparents . . . what else would be expected?

Of course, we had a little party for this year's Holiday Bowl with the Horns beating Arizona State. Although Daddy is happy about the win, he is still disappointed that we didn't make it to the BCS National Championship this year (and he will never recover from the loss to those awful Aggies).

Overall, I had a great second Christmas and I hope that everyone else did as well!

Visiting Santa

2006 (6 months old)

2007 (19 months old)

Poor Santa.

No tan lines . . .

That's because I didn't spend too much time in the sun. The fog in Galveston on Sunday delayed the arrival of our ship by several hours and then we weren't even able to leave until Monday afternoon . . . which made us miss our first port time at Montego Bay. So we headed straight to our second destination at Grand Cayman island . . . along with tropical storm Olga. We instead arrived in Cozumel a day early and then went to Progreso (Yucatan, Mexico) the following day. Since there weren't any fun toddler-friendly excursions, Mommy and Daddy took turns entertaining me in port while the other had a good time without us. Unfortunately I didn't get to splash in the ocean since our plans kept changing, but the pool was fun and I did do some shopping in Mexico. The ship was huge and even had play areas for kids (and "camps" for kids over two). I must admit that I had a hard time adjusting to being away from home and my bed (unlike Reese and JP) and gave the family a really hard time, but we had a lot of quality time together on the ship- thanks to the fog and Olga. What matters most is that Lola and Papo had a great anniversary!

* Papo- I'm sorry that your head was cut off in one of these pictures by the border (I was cut out completely in our group picture!).

Off to the Carribean

I will be "out of pocket" for a whole week to celebrate Lola and Papo's anniversary. The whole family is going on a 7-day cruise to the Carribean. I've never been on a boat before, but I'm sure that I'll like it since I love the water. Plus I get to play with Reese and JP everyday. And just in time for the trip, I got a brand new cold that I can share with everyone on the ship!

Happy 40th Anniversary!

Next Sunday (December 16th) is Lola and Papo's anniversary. They were married 40 years ago in Michigan. After all these years they are proud to have two children, three grandchildren, and one granddog. Happy Anniversary! I love you!

Christmas Decorations

Daddy always has the house decorated and the lights up by Thanksgiving Day. Last year I wasn't able to appreciate the sights and sounds of Christmas, but now I really enjoy looking at it all. I drag my parents around the house to show them the decorations (as if they did not know they were there). I drag them outside to show them the lights. And if you were to come and visit, I will drag you all around, too. Thanks to Mommy I even get to see mall decorations a lot!

We have two Christmas trees and my folks weren't sure how I would do with them this year, but I've been very good about leaving the ornaments where they belong. I only like to look at them . . . especially since they taste so bad.

Animal Noises

Daddy went deer hunting this weekend (poor Bambi) so it was just Chopper, Mommy, and me (Mommy always calls herself "single" whenever Daddy leaves overnight). We did a lot of Christmas shopping, cleaning, and laundry. Actually, she did all of those things and I was just there making those tasks more difficult.

During dinner Mommy videotaped one of my "tricks." You see, within the last few months I developed a new love for animals and vehicles. I point them out wherever we go. I may not be able to verbally name any of them, but I can make many of the animal noises and Mommy caught some of them on camera. I'll have to learn what a deer "says" to make feel Daddy guilty for shooting two of them!