at last...christmas day 2011

daddy, baby and i had a wonderful christmas day. we woke early (but not too early), got ourselves ready and went downstairs to see what santa had brought: a pretty pink cozy coupe car! now this is something aleah had asked for back in october while visiting with stephanie and the boys. we knew that santa had really been paying attention and the little one would get hours of fun out of it, but christmas morning was not the time for us to play at our house. we got packed into the car and headed up to papa's house, where we had a very lively morning with lots of extended family.

i always enjoy the beautiful decorations:

stockings for everyone hung along the fireplace:

cousins glad to be reunited:

we enjoyed a traditional breakfast: cheesy egg casserole, parmesan cheese potato casserole, fresh fruit, yummy homemade muffins, sausages and juice.

none of these images is spectacular; i'm getting a little more critical of my work and i'm always trying to improve, but i need to post and the day was truly beautiful as these images will tell.

then again, i did like this one of nova quite a bit :)

and this one :) she is so sweet and always giggles and smiles at my camera!

sweet new pots and pans!

awesome new golf clubs!

a totally chill jacket!

a brand new puppy...

...and new books :)

we had a lot of fun watching atticus and aleah hang out in a large box. so cute! i experimented a bit with the editing here.

i thought this bag was pretty, and i also liked the new camera bag inside!

aleah's beautiful great-grandma!

i just love watching the cousins together. since aleah doesn't have any young siblings, she is fascinated by other children her age and just loves atticus and nova. we sing "happy birthday" to each of them almost every day. here they are again bonding at the piano.

i didn't get everyone (sorry jeff, diana, lindsey and trevor)...pretty much because i didn't want to move everyone around and the backlighting against that window was pretty strong, but i got a few of the non-regular subjects:

with aunt susie...

i loved this one of sarah and her new purse :) i love new purses too!

and dolly with her sweet smile :)

putting the other "dolly" into mommy's new bag...

...this is the way to hold a bag. she was really flirting with the big kids on the other couch here...

bye-bye bella! hope to see you next year when i'm a bit taller :)

thanks dad and leslie for a beautiful christmas morning. thanks for your generosity and hours of entertainment this day. we love you!

now off to grandma's house we go! when we arrived in the early afternoon at grammy's house, we got reaquainted with the rocking horse...

we also noticed all the pretty christmas details:

grammy and aleah headed upstairs for a little nap while i worked on some of the pictures from the morning and daddy watched some football (or maybe it was basketball...)

after naps at their own house, sara, dennis, atticus and nova joined us again.

i had to put this one in. having a great time dancing! i especially love the bandaid "sticker" she has decorated herself with!!

we had a very good time just hanging out, opening presents, and eating one of our favorite dinners: diane salads from green street (and trader joe's pizza)

i love the pretty christmas trees!

more presents to open?!

playing with atticus' new dish set:

grammy said she didn't notice any pictures being taken, but i did, though not as many as the morning. by this time i was getting tired myself.

watching a bit of tv before we called it a good day and headed home.

thanks for the wonderful time grammy! we miss you and can't wait to visit your house again soon :) love, anne, dale, and aleah

christmas memories...

this christmas was wonderful, maybe my favorite year so far. this because i was able to experience the joy of the season through my little one's eyes. how she loved walking through the neighborhood at night and looking at the lights, santa claus', reindeer (which she tried to ride), snowmen (which she loved to hug), plus candy canes, gingerbread men and more. all these became a daily part of her vocabulary. she learned christmas carols, and knew the figures in her own nativity.

i have lots of pictures. i will probably post many more that i need to, but when i see them, i can experience the fun all over again. so here goes:

these few were one beautiful morning and aleah still in her pajamas. she had been playing with a little magnetic doll with changeable clothing. one outfit included a cowboy hat, which was teeny but she kept trying to put it on her own head, so i decided to pull hers out again. she put on a show!

we decorated our house with garlands and lights and a beautiful, fresh cut tree. i love to see the transformation and the increase of christmas spirit as each item is placed around.

last year, as we picked out our tree, we had a brief visit with santa. it was a surprise and didn't go so well with aleah, then 10 months old. this year, santa came to our house. although she wasn't exactly outgoing with him, she recognized a familiarity :)

this next one shows the love aleah has for her doggie. she loves hailey. she loves petting her, kissing her, dressing her, adorning her with stickers, feeding her and walking her.

we are still watching polar express on a daily basis. lion king is in the drawer for awhile, but tangled and tarzan make some rare occasions. mostly, it's polar express. it's great because it has beautiful imagery, beautiful music, and a beautiful message. often aleah can be found watching with her baby. yes, that is a rag wrapped around the dolly and yes, this was the wrap of choice :)

lots of yummy christmas treats around the house, and such fun sitting at the table rather than the high chair :)

i had to laugh here at the sweet innocence. watching a mickey mouse video on my phone, meanwhile, mickey mouse was singing christmas music on our tv and aleah showing the mickeys to one another. so cute!

christmas eve was quiet but sweet. baby had a nap while we finished up some final wrapping and readying. we had leftovers for dinner and opened presents. we turned on christmas music and watched the little one experience the magic.

passing out presents, this one to hailey.

this one to mommy.

the train set for aleah.

and sharing her new nightgown with her friend :)

that's it for tonight. christmas day will be posted soon...