Christmas with Gramps and Nana

We spent Saturday evening at my parents celebrating Christmas. We had a lot of fun.

Opening her stocking. M&M's...Lauren's favorite

Addison slept through the whole thing. She missed out on all the fun. Next year she won't miss a thing. She will be up and toddling around...

Santa brought Lauren more dress up clothes which she loves. She also got a Dr's kit. She has been checking us to see if we are sick since she got it...She has even been checking Zoe!

Christmas was blast this year. It was so fun to watch Lauren open the presents on her own. She did not even care what was in them. She just wanted to open and open presents. Then she took the time to go back and see what she got. Next year Addison will have fun playing with all the paper and bows rather then sleeping through it all.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve and today. I will post more later when I have time. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. We sure are! Everyone is napping right now getting ready for more fun this afternoon and evening!

Christmas with the Hardings

We spent the weekend in Omaha with Mark's family celebrating Christmas. Lauren had so much fun playing with her cousins and trying to dodge Uncle Jeff. Lauren claims not to like Uncle Jeff...but last night she said "I don't like Uncle Jeff...I like Uncle Jeff just a little bit" and then put her fingers together to show just a little bit...it was really cute. Addison had a pretty rough trip which made it rough for me and Mark. She did not want to nurse on Saturday and hardly ate at all. She did not want to take naps...she just cried and cried...so we headed out early Sunday morning to get her home. She is back to her old self now...eating and sleeping fine! Lauren loves her Emma. They played together all weekend.

All the girls watching The Little Mermaid. Kate is in the red dress and Lauren and Kate are good friends too. We are convinced that those two are going to cause some trouble as they get older.

Hanging out while we open presents...a rare moment of being content on Saturday...

Lauren got dress up clothes and Tinkerbell from her Grandma. They were perfect gifts. She loves both. She also got a pony from Aunt Betsy and Uncle Pat which she has played with non stop over the last few days.

Do I really need to say anything?

except that she will probably hate this picture when she gets older...

Christmas Parties

Today we went to the Children's Mercy Holiday Party at the Hyatt. This is the first year we have gone and it was a lot of fun. There were many arts and crafts for the kids, a magic show, snacks, Santa, and books from Borders. Lauren did not want to sit on Santa's lap however she did wave to him a lot and was really excited to see him walking by her when he went to take a break!

Lauren got a snow man painted on her cheek. She sat there very patiently while they painted it on. I was very proud of her.

There is a huge selection of books from Borders that the kids can pick from. We got three great books for Lauren and Addison. Of course, Lauren picked out the Disney Princess book. It is really cute. It is a book and it also included several figurines of the princesses for Lauren to play with.

Friday was the Christmas Party at Lauren's school. All the parents were invited to attend and it was a lot of fun watching all the kids play. There was lots of food and they exchanged gifts with one of their friends in the class.

Landen, Lauren and Killian. They have been together since the infant room and they are her best friends at school. They are so cute!

Lauren's gift from Elaina. A dress up outfit. Lauren loved it!

Lauren and Elaina. I think they really are friends, even though Lauren says "Elaina hit me at school today" almost every day. Who knows if it is true or not. I do know Elaina is in time out a lot, but I doubt that she hits Lauren every day...

All dressed up. When she got up this morning she put in back on over her PJ's. It was a great gift from Elaina.

Cause Why?

The question of Why has begun in our house. The way that Lauren asks is "Cause Why?" It is actually kind of fun to see how far you can get off the initial question and actually teach her a little something. She saw the neighbor going out for a jog and asked "Cause Why?" After several "Cause Why?" questions I turned it into a lesson on exercise and how that is healthy and good for your heart, etc...and then Lauren thought about it for a few minutes and said "I exercise with Coach Patty." (That is the person who comes to daycare on Wednesday mornings for exercise class.) I said that is right Lauren, she was pretty proud of herself.

I say it is cute now...we will see in a few weeks or months from now when she is still asking "Cause Why?"

Christmas Pictures

We got the girls pictures taken today so I thought I would share some of my favorites. They both did so great! I was not holding out much hope for getting one of them together, but they both did so well and we got one Mark and I both really liked. Addison did really well, hardly cried. Lauren cooperated the whole time. We used good old fashioned bribery to get Lauren to cooperate!

It is so exhausting getting pictures taken. Of course the place is running late, so we waited 45 minutes before we even got started. Then took pictures for 40 minutes, then had to pick them out. We were there for 2 hours! So needless to say it will probably be late spring or early summer before I return. Lauren is only a few months away from turning 3 so these can be her 3 year pictures! We will wait and get more when Addison can sit up on her own and give us a big smile!

The first snowfall, Gingerbread house, and Decorating the tree

We had a very busy weekend around the house getting it all decorated for the Christmas season. It was so fun to see the snow falling on Saturday when we were decorating the tree. Of course we did not have any snow boots for the season yet, so I rushed out and got some for Lauren because I knew she would love to be out in the snow, and she did. I actually needed several things from Target, but I dreaded going out shopping. I highly suggest shopping the Saturday after Black Friday...there were not crowds anywhere..no lines...I went to Target, Old Navy, and Borders and was gone less then a 1 1/2 hours. I was shocked!

The snow was great for making snow balls. We even made a small snow man, but then Lauren decided to destroy it before I could get a picture.

We also decorated a gingerbread house this weekend. Which I learned can be a little challenging with a toddler. Lauren seems to have so much energy these days that we are running out of things to keep her busy while at home, so I thought the gingerbread house would be a fun activity. We did have a lot of fun decorating it, even though it is very hard to get it to look all nice and pretty like the box. It was a great thing for Lauren and I to do to have some "mommy and Lauren time."

Watching the snow fall for the first time this season.

Most of the ornaments are in the same spot, right in front where Lauren put them!

Playing in the storage box kept Lauren entertained for at least an hour while I put up all the decorations in the house. I have so many Christmas decorations that I put some aside for her to play with while I decorated. No, the top of the box is not locked on, Lauren can easily get out of the box and breath and play!

You can see there are no pictures of Addison from the weekend. That is because she slept through everything! She woke up to eat a few times and then just want back to snoozing...

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent the day in Lawrence with my mom's side of the family. The Merritt Family Thanksgiving has always drawn a big crowd. This year we had 31 people at our feast with Addison being the newest member of the family. We enjoyed a wonderful meal thanks to my Aunt Renee and Aunt Jeanie, and Uncle Lee and Uncle Marcus. They slaved away in the kitchen cooking the turkey, ham, potatoes, and stuffing. Everyone else brought wonderful side dishes to complete the meal. It was a great Thanksgiving. I snapped this picture before we headed out for the day.

Look at those eyes! So cute! Addison slept through most of Thanksgiving. She was awake to eat and stayed awake for a short time. Mark and I were able to sit down and eat and enjoy a great meal!

Addison's Nana and Great Grandma. This was the first time Addison met her Great Grandma.

Luke and Lauren. They just adore each other so much. They are second cousins. Lora is my cousin and is Luke's mom. Luke and Lauren met last year at Thanksgiving for the first time and they just love each other. Lauren tried to keep up with the big kids at Thanksgiving, running and playing. Luke took great care of Lauren and watched out for her. He spent a lot of time running and playing with her.

The family quilt. It was made by several of the girls in the family, including myself. This past year my sister had the quilt, which was cool since Claire was born when Jen had it. Jen passed the quilt onto Lora and she will keep it for the year. When you have the family quilt you take pictures with it and keep a journal about the quilt for the year. It is a great family tradition. I am so excited that I have two daughters that will one day have the family quilt for a year as well.

Of course I am thankful for the obvious this year, Addison. We feel so blessed to have a healthy thriving daughter to complete our family. I am thankful for my wonderful husband and the amazing father that he is with Lauren and Addison. I am thankful for Lauren and the many smiles she brings to my face each day with the funny things that come out of her mouth. I often wonder where she picks up some of the things she says. She is too funny!

Addison's take home outfit is finally starting to fit!

At 7 weeks old now the outfit we bought for Addison to wear home from the hospital is starting to fit her! It is so cute and I could not wait to put her in it and get her all dressed up! Addison is doing great. Still a night owl, not really wanting to go to bed for the night until 10 or 11. She is sleeping well, but still waking up about every 3-4 hours. Sometimes 2 hours which is really hard for me to wake up again in the middle of the night when I just got back to sleep. I had my 6 week follow up with my Dr. yesterday and all is well. I hope to just see her once a year now since Mark and I are probably done having babies.

Addison is really starting to stick her tongue out these days and I was able to catch it on camera. I still can't get any really big smiles for the camera, but I am sure I will soon.

Lauren brought Addison some toys to "hold on to with her hands." It was so sweet. Lauren went into Addison's room and brought her these toys to play with. She is such a great big sister and just adores Addison. The other day when Addison was in the bouncy seat Lauren was in her face talking to her and Addison watched her very closely for several minutes. Addison is really starting to notice the world around her and what is happening. She is growing so fast!

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving with my mom's family in Lawrence on Thursday. Can't wait to eat turkey and stuffing and all the pies. Should be a fun day. Of course we are thankful for the obvious, a beautiful healthy baby girl and a wonderful big sister.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Trying so hard to smile for the camera..

Addison is 6 weeks old and is smiling at Mark and I several times a day. Last night I tried to get a picture of her smiling but she just stared at the big black thing in her face (the camera.) There is a little smirk of a smile here so I thought I would share it. You can also see her eyes light up and show more awareness of the world around her. Well I can see that at least! It is so great after all the sleepless nights to finally see your baby smiling at you. You know that you are in for another marathon of a night, but when you wake up to a smile it makes it all worth it!

A busy weekend

This past weekend Mark's family was in town for Addison's baptism. She looked so pretty in her dress and she did so well in church. She slept the whole time! My sister Jennifer and Mark's brother Pat are Addison's Godparents. We enjoyed having Mark's brother and mom in town for the baptism and Lauren had fun playing with Uncle Pat and Grandma. The Godparents, Mark's brother Pat and my sister Jennifer. Lauren loves Aunt Jen. She is really a great Aunt to Lauren and I know she will be a wonderful Aunt and Godmother to Addison. Thanks Jen!

Lauren was too busy running around the church and playing with her cousin Claire to join our family picture.

Friday at daycare was the Thanksgiving Feast. All the kids made this turkey hat to wear during their feast. Lauren had a turkey sandwich, corn casserole, a muffin, a "really big cookie, but no pumpkin pie. I don't like pumpkin pie." She has continued to wear her hat around the house, which we think is pretty cute!

We can't wait for Thanksgiving next week. I am looking forward to a great meal and lots of time with family. Our Thanksgiving celebrations with my mom's family are always a ton of fun. Can't wait to see everybody!