Christmas Extravaganza!!

Okay, it's taken me a while to begin this post, just because there is so much to tell! I'm not sure where to start! We had such a wonderful Christmas. Claire loved every minute of it, despite having her first cold. She was a real trooper! Santa's sleigh must have tipped over in our living room--we could hardly move for all of the packages! The fun began on Christmas Eve with the traditional opening of the Christmas PJs. As long as I can remember we have always received new PJs on Christmas Eve so we would look festive in Christmas morning pictures. Claire's new PJs have snowflakes and bunny feet! We put her in her new PJs and set out cookies for Santa. Then it was off to bed.

On Christmas morning, Claire enjoyed a bottle before diving in to her pile of presents. We opened presents as a family before everyone else arrived. Claire received several toys from Santa, some clothes and a doll from Mom and Dad. I got tickets to Cirque du Soleil and Lee got the greatest gift from Santa--a giant 'G' wall hanging for the office. After this round of presents it was time for a nap.

Grandmommy, Papa, and Auntie G came over next. We divided up all the gifts. Papa was nearly buried under his presents--his pile rivaled Claire's! We had a great time opening presents and watching Claire play with the paper and tissue. Soon it was time for Grammy and Grandaddy Bill to come over. Claire took a nap while we exchanged gifts. Then G-Daddy and La-La came over. Uncle Michael, Sarah, and Uncle Jamie came, too. Claire woke up and enjoyed all the company. She opened lots more gifts and loved playing with her new Learning Tad from Sarah.

Uncle Jamie

Sarah and Uncle Michael

Soon it was time to enjoy Christmas dinner. We had a yummy feast. There was lots of dessert, of course. After dinner, it was time for Claire to open more gifts! She got lots of neat toys and clothes from Grandmommy and Papa and from Grammy and Grandaddy Bill. What fun! After Claire opened her gifts, it was time for our dollar stockings. This is a revival of a tradition in Lee's family where we draw names and each person has $5 to spend at the dollar store. It's a hoot! Gretchen won the creativity prize for her themed stocking "pimp-my-brother-in-law". We had lots of laughs.

After the dollar stockings it was time to wind down. Christmas is by far my favorite time of year. I love being with family and spending time together having fun. I am so thankful for all of my blessings--especially my new gift this year, Claire. What a special season to spend with her and watch her experience so many things for the first time. I love her so much! I hardly remember life without her. Thank you, Lord, for the best gift of all.

Christmas Festivities

We had the first of many Christmas celebrations this past weekend. Claire visited Grammy and Grandaddy's house on Sunday. We all went to early service so we could meet for lunch in Duluth. Grammy cooked a delicious lasagna and we spent a long time visiting around the table. Claire took a nap on her daddy during dessert, so she was ready to play once we finished up. Grammy has a train around her tree just for Claire. She loved it! She watched it go around and around and was fascinated by its noises and the Santa that it carried. This will be a fun tradition to enjoy for many years to come!

Claire's first Christmas Tree

Claire loves her decorated Christmas tree. She has discovered the lights and colorful ornaments, not to mention all the packages underneath. Thank goodness she isn't quite crawling yet!!

Room Addition

I finally have before and after pictures of our room addition. With all of Claire's toys, we were having a hard time moving around in our living room. So, we decided to enclose our screened porch. It has made such a difference! Claire has tons of room to roll around and play, not to mention we had a spot for a big fat Christmas tree!

Living room looking toward the kitchen and porch

Looking from the kitchen onto the porch

Looking from the addition toward the front door

Big-Girl Bath

Claire had her first big-girl bath last week! She is now able to sit up very well, so we turned the tub around. She loves being able to splash with her hands and pick up her bath toys. It's much, much easier than having her lie down! She loves bathtime and doesn't want to get out. I guess I won't ever have to worry about having a dirty-bird!

Pat-a-Cake

Claire has a new trick. Grandmommy has taught her how to 'pat-a-cake'. She loves it! Now all I have to do is say the word and she starts clapping. It's adorable. She is growing so fast and learning new things everyday. I actually have a great video of it, but for some reason I am unable to upload it. I"ll keep trying, but in the meantime, enjoy a snapshot of her in mid-clap :)

Claire's First Tooth

Well, it's finally here! Claire is sporting a tiny white speck on her lower gum. She was unusually clingy yesterday and wouldn't let me put her down. She wasn't particularly fussy, but just wanted to be held and cuddled. She didn't nap at all--every time I tried to put her down she woke right up. Once Lee got home she was the same for him--and he is the 'baby whisperer' that can always get her to sleep. So, the thought crossed my mind that she might be teething. I checked her gum and what do you know?? There was a tiny white speck peeking through her lower gum. It doesn't seem to be bothering her very much. She is her usual happy self, just a little more demanding of my attention.

I tried to get pictures of her 'speck' today. That was an adventure! Claire was enamoured with the camera and wouldn't let me get close enough to get a shot. She kept grabbing the lense and lense cap and moving it just as I was getting ready to snap it. The resulting photos were pretty entertaining, so I thought I'd share those. You can barely see the speck in one or two of them, but I mostly got blurry shots of her ear :)

You can barely see it in this one if you look closely

Christmas Portraits

We had our family portraits taken last week and I thought I'd share a few. Claire is such an angel. The faces you see in these photos--that's how she is all the time. Thank you Lord for my happy girl!!

Claire's first Christmas tree

We got our tree! It took us two nights of looking, but we finally found the perfect tree for Claire's first Christmas. We looked at Lowe's, Big John's, Lassiter's Band lot, and 2 different Pike nurseries. We eventually found the perfect, big, fat tree that we were looking for. Now that we have more room with our new addition, we wanted to fill it up! Claire was not up for all of this looking, so she took a good long snooze. You can see from the pictures just how excited she was :) I can't wait to see what she does once it's lit up and decorated. That's going to be tonight's adventure!

First stop: Pike

In the car....again

Claire enjoying the tree search from dreamland in the backseat

Finally--we're home!!

Hooray!!

Happy 87th Birthday!

Sunday was a busy day for us. We started by going to church in the pouring rain. After church, we headed for lunch and then to Duluth. We met Debbie and Bill at KB Toys so that Claire could help pick out her Christmas train. The Christmas train will become a tradition at Grammy's house each year. I'm not sure Claire really helped make any decisions, but she sure loved looking at the toys! Next we headed over to see Grandaddy Dyer. Sunday was his 87th birthday! We enjoyed cake and visited for a while. Lee and I gave him a giant singing birthday card that we all enjoyed. Claire gave him one of her new pictures for his room. It was fun to spend time together. Claire sure did like sitting in Great-Grandaddy's lap and getting to meet Great-Great Aunt Betty for the first time. What a fun day! All dressed up for church

Getting ready to brave the elements!

Opening the giant singing card

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Having fun with Great-Grandaddy

Hello, Great-Great Aunt Betty!