Christmas Night at Gramps and Nana's House

The first place Addison heads to at Gramps and Nana's house is the toy shelf with all my old toys (and my sister's too.)  My parents kept several old Fisher Price toys and Addison loves playing with everything. 

We headed to Gramps and Nana's house after the girls took naps.  Nana had a wonderful Christmas meal for us that included chicken, potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole, salad and bread.  It was yummy.  Mark and I brought some smoked sausage and cheese for an appetizer, and my Mom had also made several sweet treats. 

Lauren is at an awesome age for taking pictures these days.  She smiles, cooperates, and looks beautiful. 

Addison will cooperate when her little 2 year old mind feels like it (which is not often!) and we usually get her huge (eyes closed) smile that I LOVE. 

This is Claire, my niece and the girls cousin.  Her and Addison have a great time together.  My Mom made her apron (one and for Lauren and Addison too.)  My Mom also made the girls little purses for their coloring books and a special spot for all their markers.  The girls loved both items. 

Lauren was a huge help getting dinner ready.  Claire and Addison had fun watching Nana and Lauren prepare the salad. 

A rare picture of the Mommy and Daddy and I love the way it turned out! 

Addison had a blast in that little rocking chair with her Great Grandma.  She pooped out of her diaper, on the carpet, and on her tights..therefore she had not socks or tights to wear. 

Lauren waited patiently to open all her gifts from Gramps and Nana.  She got lots of clothes from Gap, jammies, slippers, a Ken doll and clothes, a Woody doll from Toy Story 3, Tangled Leapster game, a Zhu Zhu pet, a glow doodle, a cute skirt and shirt, and some puzzles.

Addison got some Lego's, books, clothes from the Gap, jammies and slippers, an Elmo doll, a Dora doll, Toy Story 2 movie, and several other things. 

Towards the end of the night Addison was getting really tired.  She just laid her head down on this little stool, and I know it was time to head home. 

Lauren was still going strong with Gramps and loving every minute of Christmas.  It was a good one.

On the way to school the next day, out of the blue, Lauren said "thank you for all the presents Mommy."  It was so sweet and so awesome that she appreciated all of it! Now, time to get ready for her 5th birthday!!!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was so much fun.  I always wake up before the girls because I am so excited to see their excitement for all the presents.  Christmas morning I always make monkey bread for breakfast, so I had to get that ready.  Lauren woke up about 7:15, and Addison about 7:30. 

Lauren wanted a Hannah Montana guitar from Santa and a Hannah Montana microphone...and that is what she got.  She also got a Hannah Montana book, a Tangled book, Tarzan and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies.  Her stocking was filled with candy, lip gloss, princess necklace, notebook and pencils.  A Taylor Swift CD, and a Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.  She also got a Zhu Zhu pet, which she loves. 

Addison had fun getting everything out of her stocking, an Elmo cup, Zoe toothbrush and lots of candy.  She got all the Tinkerbell fairies from Santa, some puzzles, books and a Hello Kitty purse from Santa.  She also got Beauty and the Beast movie and a Zhu Zhu pet. 

The doll house was a huge hit.  The girls love it.  That makes it so worth all the time it took Mark to get it together. 

Addison got Lauren some Hannah Montana lip gloss, a HM purse and a HM jacket. 

Lauren got Addison a Minnie Mouse doll (it is her 3rd Minnie Mouse doll!) 

Lauren loves the Barbie car. 

Addison was just chillin, taking a break from opening presents.  She is actually sitting on a present, the Leapster that we got Lauren.  She also got the Finding Nemo game and the Backyardigans game. 

Addison wanted a Dora doll so she got the one with Boots.  Lauren got the Sleeping Dora.  Addison also got the Dora backpack filled with Dora goodies.  Addison also got a T-ball set and a set of cars to push around in the kitchen.  She also got a sesame street puzzle. 

Jessie is Lauren's favorite character from Toy Story 3.  This is one of her favorite gifts.  She also got a Strawberry Shortcake house and a Tinkerbell house and some Tinkerbell accessories (cheese, the mouse, a ladybug, fire fly, etc.)  We also got her a huge 51 piece puzzle of the states.  I also got her 4 new dresses, tights, some shirts, and a robe and some slippers. 

Mark surprised me with this KU sweatshirt and it is so comfortable.  He also made me a calendar of the girls (which he does every year.)  I also got some more jewels for my Pandora bracelet from the girls, and some running gloves and an ear warmer for the cold days running outside. 

Zoe always get a bone filled with peanut butter that she will chew on for 5-6 hours (or until we take it away because her gums are bleeding) a squeaky toy (the pink bone) and a stuff toy (that will be destroyed 30 minutes after we give it to her!) 

Mark went to Dallas a few weeks back and that was his main gift.  The girls also got him some Husker stuff for the basement and I got him a Husker hat and a paper shredder! 

Christmas morning was awesome.  It gets better and better each year with the girls.  It took us almost 4 hours to open everything because the girls wanted to play with the things as they opened them.  It was awesome to just take our time and open things whenever they were ready. 

We had lunch, the girls took a nap and then we headed to Gramps and Nana's for more fun.  More on that later! 

Santa's Been Here!

I am always just as excited for Christmas morning as the girls are...if not more.  I love the excitement on their face and in their voices.  Just a few more things to do before I am off to bed. 

I love Christmas Eve just as much as Christmas.  We started a new tradition this year of baking a cake for Jesus (since it is his birthday and all.) 

Then if was time for cookies for Santa.  Yummy. 

After naps it was time for church.  I had to have a mini photo shoot first! 

Dinner at Mama's house after church and new jammies. 

Cookies and milk for Santa. 

Where is Santa???

It took Mark 4 nights to get this doll house together, but it will be all worth it in the morning.  Merry Christmas everyone. 

Christmas is Coming

The girls are so ready for Christmas.  Especially now that I have finally wrapped most of the presents and put them under the tree.  They are so excited.  Addison asks every night if she can open the presents, and Lauren tells her "not till Christmas sissy."  Santa still has lots of gifts to bring, including the doll house that he worked on for 4 nights in a row.  But, it is done and it looks awesome, and I think the girls will love it. 

I am especially excited about these two bags from Mark.  Now I can't wait till Christmas either! 

Addison is sick now...I am home with her today.  She has a fever, runny nose, and a cough.  Normal winter stuff.  I just hope she is feeling better by Christmas.  Merry Christmas everyone. 

Christmas in Omaha

The girls had a blast this weekend in Omaha celebrating Christmas with Mark's family.  Addison got a book, a movie, a Dora microphone, some Tinkerbell stuff, and some clothes.  She really likes the Tinkerbell tea set, with all the tiny pieces! 

Lauren was so excited to get her Rapunzel dress and Rapunzel hair.  She also got a few movies, a Barbie horse, a Buzz light year doll, and some clothes as well. 

Emma was so excited to get her pillow pet from us.  She ended up with a fever that night, so she snuggled with the pillow pet all night!

Addison loves playing with Eve, her youngest cousin.  They enjoyed playing with the Tinkerbell tea set. 

This is Lauren and Uncle Jeff (who she secretly adores as you can see here.) 

The Aquadoodle was a big hit as well.  This is Addison's gift, but Lauren and all the cousins have enjoyed coloring on it as well. 

Lauren looked so pretty in her Christmas dress.  I took this picture before I put the bow in her hair that I made.  The bow is beautiful.  I will post more pictures on Christmas Eve. 

Addison was not thrilled to wear her Christmas dress.  It is a little too big, too long, and I think too scratchy and frilly for her.  So, instead of taking a screaming 2 year old to church in a dress that she hated, I changed her and put her in this dress.  She was still not very happy with me after I changed her (if you could not tell.)  I am not real sure what we will wear on Christmas Eve yet...guess we will have to wait and see. 

Merry Christmas

Gingerbread House

Another thing we did last weekend was our Gingerbread House.  It has become a Harding family tradition to make one each December.  Lauren loves it, and Addison really got into it at the end.  I definitely need to buy more candy next year to put on the house.  The girls had so many ideas for decorating the house, but we ran out of the candy that was included in the kit. 

I am always in charge of the icing (which is harder than it looks) and the girls are in charge of the rest.  Mark just usually watches us because he says this is "my thing" with the girls, which is fine with me...but he did help out Addison when she decided she wanted to decorate too. 

Addison's turn to decorate!

The finished product.  It looks better and better each year.