Happy New Year's Eve

We celebrated the New Year many times today. First, Keri invited us to the La Habra Children's Museum to celebrate the New Year the kid friendly way. Charlie made a sparkly pompom stick, a noise maker and a 2011 hat. She got to dance all around to a great kid band and gather balloons that fell from the ceiling. She had a blast. The museum counted down to the New Year at 12PM. What a cute idea! Hopefully we will be back next year! Since Jimmy didn't work this New Year's Eve we decided to have a little party for all the left over people with kids who had nothing else to do. We celebrated every hour just in case we didn't make it 12pm. The kids ran around our house, played with every toy Charlie owns, jumped in the jumper, played with Play-Doh in the freezing cold and banged on pots and pans at midnight to ring in the new year. Yes, most of made it to the celebrate at 12pm. The adults had a fun time eating yummy Mexican food (I ordered enough for a small army!), playing LCR (Everybody's new favorite game.) and hanging around Jimmy's new fire pit. The highlight of the night was when I gave the kids all glow in the dark bracelets and necklaces and they had a dance party in Charlie's room. It was too cute! I have a video on my new Bloggie but haven't figured out how to get the videos off it yet.


Olivia

Isa

Adelyn

Jill

Logan

Charlie ringing in the new year! Honk! Honk!

Penny, Charlie, Jill, Olivia, Adelyn and Isa (Logan wanted nothing to do with that!)

The kids were getting tired and at one point we found them all in our bed watching Tinker Bell. What a priceless moment!

Thanks everyone for celebrating with us. It was so much fun!

Off To More Christmas

After present opening at our house we were off to Jimmy's dad's house for some BLTs and more present opening. We had a great time eating yummy food, opening amazing presents and scratching Lottery tickets. Charlotte finally received the beloved box of princess dressup clothes and shoes. She has seen it at Costco for months now. We couldn't even take her down that aisle anymore because we basically had to leave Costco with her kicking and screaming while crying "I want this!" Thanks Jim for the wonderful presents.

There is so much fun and running around going on at Jim's I am never successful in getting pictures of all the girls playing together. And everyone knows how Charlie just LOVES taking pictures. I have resorted to capturing her in a journalistic kind of way instead.

They were all happy and giggling until I took out the camera....I give up!

We ended the night at Jimmy's mom's and Drew's house for dessert and more family fun. All the kids got to hammer the cinnamon pig apart for good luck in the new year. We all said what we were thankful for and ate a piece. I'm not quite sure what that tradition is exactly called but we do it every year! What a great Christmas we all had. I think we had 6 celebrations this year. I'm already sad it's over. 365 more days until the next one...I can't wait!

Merry Christmas To All

Charlie was very excited to see what Santa brought her on Christmas morning. When she heardd Jimmy's truck pull into the driveway she looked at me and said, "Santa!" I think she thought Santa was actually going to show up at her house to give her presents. Poor Kid!

She was so excited to run out to see what Santa left for her. She squealed when she saw her new princess tricycle and her castle. She hopped right onto her tricycle and Smokey hopped right into her castle. I'm pretty sure she wanted Sleeping Beauty's castle (like at Disneyland) from Santa. A tent castle will have to do for now. Maybe one day Jimmy can build a real castle for her in the backyard.

Oh Smokey!

Since Jimmy got off work Christmas morning my family came over to our house for early present opening and cinnamon rolls. Adelyn and Charlie had a great time opening all their presents from each other and my mom and dad. She wanted to open everything as soon as she tore off the wrapping. She loved her market from the Cook family and her camera, Little People Farm and Yo Gabba Gabba blocks the most from Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for all the wonderful presents.

Hungry Santa?

When we got home from celebrating Christmas Eve Charlie and I put out cookies and milk for Santa. We used the plate she made in art class. We also put out carrots for the reindeer. Charlie totally did not understand what we were doing. She sat right down at the table and was going to eat the cookies all by herself. I tried explaining to her that Santa is going to come leave her presents and he will be hungry but she just saw those cookies and had a one track mind! Even in the morning when I showed her that Santa bit her cookies and drank the milk she just looked at me and went for a piece of leftover cookie.

Maybe next year...

Christmas Eve

Charlie had a really great time on Christmas Eve. We spent the evening at Ginny and Don's house again. Charlie loved opening her presents and playing with her cousins again. She loved her Toy Story potato heads, her Princess and the Frog DVD and doll and her Little People castle. I couldn't wait for her to open the castle up because it has been all she has been talking about for a month now. Anytime anyone ever talking about Christmas she brought up that she wanted a castle. She wanted to open it right away after she tore off all the wrapping paper. She played with it all night. Thank you Ginny and Don for making her so happy.
She really loves this dress too. She has actually been wearing it around the house for a month now. She doesn't understand it is a special Christmas dress. She wants to wear it all the time. It's the polka dots I guess!

Happy 2nd Birthday Charlie!

Today our little girl turned 2. I can't believe how fast time goes when you have a little one. I feel like we just brought her home from the hospital. It's just crazy! To celebrate we took her to Disney On Ice with my mom, Nicole and Adelyn. She loved it! There were many princesses that ice skated/danced and she couldn't get enough of it. Nicole found us a good deal (that happened to be on her birthday) and we were really close to the ice as well. We let her wear her Snow White dress to the show just because it was her birthday. She sat on our laps the entire time just watching all the princesses and their princes together singing and dancing. She even wanted to dance with them at one point. I can't wait for next year. Maybe it will be a birthday tradition!

After a nap we went to dinner at BJs to celebrate with a free pazookie (Is that how you spell it?). My mom made her princess cupcakes too (but Adelyn accidently sat on them and they got all smashed)! Thanks anyway Mom! Charlie enjoyed her birthday dinner, loved to be sang to and opened a few presents even though no one was supposed to get her anything. We will be celebrating her half birthday in June for that. We tried to go see the Christmas lights in Brea like we did last year but it was so crowded. I think all the rain had kept a lot of the people in for the last couple of days.

I hope you had a good birthday Charlie! We love you!

Two Year Favorites:

Food - ice cream, yogurt, chicken, rice, strawberries, fruit snacks
Drink - milk and lemonade

Animal - dogs, cats, hippos

Color - Pink (She can identify most colors and shapes)

Place - the park, Disneyland and the candy store at the mall

Character - all the princesses, Snoopy and Pluto

Toy - Playdoh and push toys with baskets to fill

Movie - The Jungle Book and Toy Story

Book - Tinker Bell and her Fairy Friends (It has a wand!)

Person - all her cousins

Activity - jump, go on a bike ride, read books, play with her kitchen and play in her ball tent

TV Show - Little Bear

Clothes - anything with polka dots or princesses, shiny gold shoes and rain boots (She does not like to wear pants, jackets or socks.)

Doesn't Like - vegetables, brushing her hair and going to bed

Wishes - to find her prince!

An Early Christmas

We actually had an even earlier Christmas at Jimmy's mom's and Drew's house on Monday night. Charlie had a fun time marching with her cousins and opening her gifts. Charlie got a monkey backpack, a wooden dessert set and a table and chairs set to have tea parties on from Bubbie and Drew. She loved all her presents and is really starting to love the whole idea of present opening. Thank you for the wonderful presents.

We went to Ginny and Don's for the second Christmas dinner of the season. Since the Davis family from Las Vegas was here we decided to gift give to them a little early. Charlie had a fun time decorating cookies with Cassie and playing with Moon Dough. That stuff is messy! Charlie had it everywhere! Sorry Ginny! Charlie loved all her presents she opened tonight as well. Thank you!

Melody gets the kids all their very own Christmas book every year. As Melody began to read it to Adelyn and Charlotte all the other kids sat around to listen as well. It was a really sweet moment. Charlie was fascinated by the book because one of the characters was named Charlotte. Every time Melody would read her name she would look at her and giggle. Why is it that every time the character's name is Charlotte it is the bully or spoiled rotten kid in the story? Weird!

Thanks for the wonderful dinner Ginny and Don. Thanks for the wonderful book Melody. Thanks for coming to Cali a little early Vegas Davis family so we could have many Christmases! We had lots of fun!

Ho Ho!

Jimmy's mom and Drew invited us to have lunch with Santa in Fullerton. Charlie really loves Santa so we knew she was going to have a great time. Santa actually got out his list and called the names of all the kids on his nice list. It was amazing. I think every kid there was amazed that Santa actually knew their name (or I was anyway). He chatted with each child and then gave them a big stuffed bear and a present. You think I would of gotten the cutest picture of Charlie because she loves Santa and loves to sit on his lap but she only likes to stare at him so that is exactly what she did. After chatting with Santa he gave her a big bear and a present. It was a little dog inside a bag with vet supplies. She named it Coco and said he was sick and kept giving him a shot. She loves it! Thanks so much for inviting us and giving Charlie the best experience yet with Santa.

Bubbie, Santa, Charlie and Drew

Rapunzel Rapunzel

We decided to try out the movie theater with Charlie again tonight. Last time we tried was when we saw Toy Story 3. During that movie she made a lot of animal noises and almost made it through the entire movie. We thought she would really like this movie because it had a princess in it. She sat in the chair eating her popcorn and drinking her lemonade as happy as can be. She did really well until the last 10 minutes. She just doesn't understand you shouldn't yell out whatever you are thinking at any moment. When we got home we gave her a Rapunzel dress she actually fits into and then dressed Kally up as Rapunzel too. She still loves that bear to pieces!

Cookie Making Time

Every year we make, bake and decorate cookies with my mom. Charlie really loves this tradition because you get to make a big mess and eat a bunch of cookies. What could get better than that! She's not too good at using the cookie cutters. She actually enjoyed putting lots of flour on the dough instead and rubbing it all around (making the first big mess).
She also enjoyed rubbing it all over herself, the chair, Molly and me too (the second big mess)
'. I'm surprised my mom lets Charlie participate! Mom, you are the best.
The girls did need a few sticker book breaks.

This was her favorite part. She loved to put sprinkles all over everything (the third big mess).

Finally, she got to eat the cookies. She had no problem eating many cookies (the fourth big mess). I think each time she decorated one she thought she better taste it. I didn't know if Molly or Charlie was going to barf first. I'm surprised we had some cookies left to take home.

I thought it would be fun to let Charlie decorate a Christmas tree made out of an ice cream cone, green frosting and sprinkles. That was definitely the fifth and last big mess of the day.

We had so much fun. Thanks Mom for everything you do. You are an amazing grandma. We love you.

Introducing Kally the Bear

Today we went to Build A Bear for the very first time. Charlie received a gift card for her birthday and we found a coupon in the paper so we thought it was a great time to go build a bear. Even though it was raining outside Nicole, Adelyn, Jimmy, Charlie and I decided to go for it. It was so much fun. Charlie was a little confused at first. She just copied whatever Adelyn was doing since she was the pro today. Charlie first picked out a brown bear to stuff. She stepped on the pedal to activate the stuffing part.She picked a heart for her bear. The lady made them kiss it, rub it and hug it many times before she let them put it inside the bear.

She picked out a birthday song button to put inside it. It is her birthday in a few days...

I think she loved this part the best. She brushed and fluffed it just right.

Since she is SO into princesses right now she headed straight for the princess dresses to find the perfect outfit. She chose sparkly shoes and a Snow White dress (just like the one she has at home). She also wanted pink sparkly sandals and a Rapunzel dress as well. We had a gift card and a coupon so we got both. When it came time to name the bear she named her Kally. I have no idea why. Maybe one day I will figure it out.

When we got home we realized she didn't want the pink sandals and Rapunzel dress for the bear...she wanted them for herself. She tried to put them on and kept saying too small. It was so funny! She is so proud of her bear. She has been carrying her around everywhere we go.

I see a Build A Bear birthday party in our future!