Getting Close to Christmas!

 

Naney came to visit for a few days before Christmas. We all bundled up and went to see the lights at the Zoo ... fun, but not as fun as would be if it weren't really, really cold!

 

This hat might be the cutest thing Lily has. She doesn't love wearing it, but boy do we love her in it!

 

Imogene is asking to be held, and poor Nane is having to hold Lily's doll that she insisted on bringing.

 

Look at how messy that face is! combination of her cold (yuck) and a blue-sprinkled sugar cookie.

 

Imogene and Lily got to open their presents from Maggie early. Maggie gave Lily a Rapunzel doll, which as you can see, was a huge, huge hit. 

 

This girls Loves Elmo.

Nutcracker Tea

 

Lily's ballet studio puts on a traditional Nutcracker performance. They also do a Nutcracker Tea, that includes a shortened version of the Nutcracker, a 'tea party' and a chance to meet the stars! Bill and I took Lily the Sunday before Christmas. She loved it! Thanks Naney for keeping Imogene (who apparently sat by the front door when she woke up from her nap crying for us. Poor Naney having to deal with that!)

 

She brought her Clara doll with her, and got to chose a Nutcracker to take home!

 

The children were invited to sit right in front to watch the dances. Lily said that sometimes their skirts made it windy in her face :) 

 

This is Amara - she is an assistant in Lily's class. (Lily's smocked ballerina dress was a huge hit. Who knew how perfect it would be when I bought it over the summer on sale!  She felt very proud that all the dancers were complimenting her on it!)

 

Clara - Lily wanted to meet her more than anyone else.

 

This girl was very sweet and saw Lily just standing waiting to get up the nerve to talk to more of the stars! 

Bubbles!

We had a blast with DeeDee at our last therapy session before Christmas. Imogene was so, so tickled by the bubbles. She loves them, but that day for some reason she loved them even more! There are a lot of pictures to look at - I just couldn't pick from them - they were all so precious of her.

Christmas Fun

Lily made poor, sweet Erin pretend to be Santa, and the girls were reindeer. By the way, that is the Virginia Tech Hokies on the tv winning yet another ACC Championship.

Imogene investigating baby Jackson Basford trying to take a nap.

Our first Christmas presents of the season. Cute little purses from Jackson! 

The bag was very exciting.

Modeling, of course.

Had to post this for Uncle Ryan. It wasn't the same without you, but we survived.

At home haircut! I found a fabulous woman who cuts hair in the comfort of your own home!

Someone really likes to wear mommy's scarves.

This is how hard she laughs when she quotes Miss Pam saying, "It's so cold outside it's like ice cubes in your underwear!"

The Little Green thing on the shelf is "Walter" our "elf on the shelf" ... I resisted this whole thing very hard, but I think Lily was starting to worry that we were the only people without an elf from Santa. 

It has changed her behavior not one bit at all. 

Someone got into a Rolo. 

Our first real snow of the season - in Mid-December. What are we in for this year? Imogene did not like it at all. Probably because she can't walk around comfortably. They don't really make size 4 snow boots. Since most kids who are size 4 aren't big enough to walk yet! 

Pretty with the Christmas decoration covered in snow isn't it? Lily is convinced that you can only have Christmas if it snows. They are calling for snow here on Christmas day. If it doesn't snow hopefully we'll have enough left on the ground to make it okay for her! 

Un.Happy.Imogene.

The street in the snow. How many pictures do I have like this? And how many more are on the way?

Pause It!

We took Lily to a Nutcracker Tea on Sunday. I have pictures to post but had to share this story. I told her she needed to go to the potty before we left. She would not of course. (Why would she do anything I asked her to do?) I asked her what she was going to do if she had to go in the middle of the show. Her deadpan response: "Can't they just pause it?"

Dear Santa, By Lily, Age 4 1/2