Our Christmas vacation has been the absolute best. We haven't gone and done much of anything but our days are still full and I always wonder how it is already 9 o'clock each night. Christmas with our two year old was pretty magical just as I had imagined. Everything was a big deal and she woke up excited each day to see what was in store.
December 23rd we did a little Christmas crafting for our playroom tree next year. It didn't happen this year so we thought we would get a jump start and make sure it did for 2015. We made pom pom pinecones that were super easy. She had fun but let's be honest-she made about two and then she was throwing the pom poms across the room ha!
Our finished product. Our playroom will have to transition from lots of pinks to boy colors too so I thought this would be great for both.
Christmas Eve morning we had Christmas at Grandmomma and Granddad's. She helped Santa this year and made matching orange dresses for her orange baby doll (her one and only present request). She also found the doll-a 1982 cabbage patch doll on ebay! It was such a thoughtful, awesome gift.
She wouldn't be still long enough for a picture so this is the best we got. Just look at the cuteness!
Owen gets to attend Christmas at Grandmomma's and it's probably his favorite day ever. A house full of people, dog cousins and a loving sister!
Christmas Eve night was the Porter Christmas. All of my life we have spent Christmas Eve night with my mom's family and the tradition continues.
Gammy and Gran Stan gave her a washer and dryer! This girl loves to be a little helper and actually prefers pretending to do chores around the house than playing with toys so this was right up her alley.
She also received a baby BOY doll. Do you know how hard it is to find a boy doll? I understand it's usually girls playing with dolls but some little girls have brothers! Playing with babies is her absolute favorite thing so I'm sure he will get lots of love and help with transitioning to the real thing.
Four generations of Porters with a growing "Jack Porter" on the way :) My brother was in from Florida so it was wonderful just having everyone together. Also, this picture was taken with my timercam on my iPhone propped up on the washer and dryer ha!
When we got home on Christmas Eve we baked cookies for Santa. And let me add that through the holiday season I have completely fell in love with my kitchen. I knew it was great but didn't know how great until I started using it frequently. I don't think I would change a thing about it if I could have designed it myself. And my freestanding one level island is the cherry on top. I'll do a kitchen tour in the new year :)
We did a little baking and a lot of tasting :)
She picked chocolate chip so the cookies didn't stay in their shapes well but we didn't care. She added sprinkles to a few and cut a lot of them out herself. She loves to be in the kitchen!
We finished our cookies and set them out with carrots and milk for Santa and then got ready for bed. Every night we read two bedtime books. Right now the basket is full of just Christmas books. She normally picks out one fun Christmas book (her favorite is The Sweet Smell Of Christmas ) and The Nativity. It is a long book with big words for a two year old but she always wants "baby Jesus". Now that is CHRISTmas.
This was a different night but I want to remember this-reading The Nativity with my two babies. He was kicking so she rested her hand on my belly. Love this moment so much.
Once sister was asleep Santa got busy on her dollhouse! I was a little nervous we would have to pull an all-nighter when I took this picture but after about an hour and a half it was finished! I'm thankful for my handy husband.
Santa came!
As I've mentioned in previous years we try not to overdo it on the gifts. We don't want the gifts and material things to be the main focus plus we are blessed with very generous families so we let Santa bring 3-4 things and then she gets a few gifts from us and we put the rest in her savings account. This year she got a wooden kidkraft dollhouse, a chalkboard easel, a birthday cake, an orange baby doll (hallelujah my cousin Lynn found one at our local Mission ha!) and books. She received a baby alive (Baby All Gone) and Peppa Pig figurines from us. It was still a big Christmas!
Tomorrow I will recap Christmas day (not many pictures but lots of wonderful memories) and put a big red bow on the season as we look to the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. The end of the year recap is probably my favorite post each year so I'm making the blog a priority this week.
Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!
Hope your Christmas was merry and bright!
Oh my goodness, that washer and dryer is precious! Kennedy loves to help around the house too! Where did you find the baby boy doll? We looked at Target and didn't see anything and didn't want to attempt Toys R Us but maybe now after Christmas is over...
ReplyDeleteHey Carol! The washer/dryer actually came from Kmart and my mom found the doll on Amazon! Hope this helps, Kennedy needs those things! :)
ReplyDelete