Okay...so here it begins...I am going to ATTEMPT to blog a little something every day or every couple days...Yes, yes...I know I've said this in the past but I'm really going to try. I really want to make the effort of capturing Mallory's life and ours I guess too so she can have something to read when she is older. So here it goes...
CHRISTMAS 2013....
Christmas this year has been the best! I know I say that every year but I guess it just keeps getting better and better. Having a kid at Christmas is truly amazing. This year Mallory was a little unsure of Santa Clause but she sure talked about him ALL of the time. She calls him Santa and not Ho Ho which delights her daddy. The first visit with Santa went a little something like this...
She just wasn't quite sure of THE BIG GUY. She sure took his candy cane though. Picture is not shown but she bit right into the candy cane...wrapper and all. She liked the fact that he gave her candy and received some nice cookies from the nice ladies up front but that was about it.
She helped decorate the tree this year as well which at first she didn't really get into but boy once we got her a "rella" (a.k.a. Cinderella) ornament...she loved it. She would take the ornaments and re-arrange them often.
We also made a gingerbread house...but not your traditional gingerbread house...we made "Rella's" castle. She loved it...she liked most eating all the candies. I did attempt to make Christmas cookies with her too since she LOVES cookies but she wasn't too fond of it...not sure why? I even tried to get her to lick the chocolate spoon...nope! She sure ate the finished product though.
I promise I'm not eating any of the candies mom...
Finished product...not too shabby.
We also took a nice little trip over to the Springfield Mall one evening for a fun night. We took her to see Santa but this momma wasn't going to pay $20 for a picture with her not sitting on his lap. So no photo there. But she did sit on my lap next to him and did talk to him in her whisper voice. When Mallory gets shy or around people she doesn't know or hasn't warmed up to yet...she whispers. Its pretty cute. So she whispered that she would like some toys and told him thank you for her candy. We then headed off to the merry-go-round just as the snow was falling from above. BUT they didn't have change for a $20 so I had to go to the Cookie Factory to make change. I headed that way leaving Mick and Mallory to take in the sights...NOPE here comes daddy...he HAD to buy Mallory a cookie. So she got to pick one out...she also had to make sure that daddy wasn't eating it when she rode the carousel. She yelled..."Daddy...no cookie!" Which indeed...daddy did take a sampling.
Yes she is wearing her cowboy boots...she wears them every chance I let her.
She choose the bottom one with flowers on it.
After our nice ride...we rode the Choo Choo Train. She LOVED it. Not sure if the videos will load on here or not but she was dancing and definetly not whispering when she was yelling out to Santa as we drove by. We were the last ride of the night and the only passengers so we got an extra long special ride. This may have to be a new tradition as Mallory really enjoyed it.
This photo cracks me up...you can't see her very well but this is when she first got on. She looks terrified!!
And this would be our third attempt at visiting with Santa. Was pretty
impressed. Her daycare had a Christmas party and of course invited Santa
to come visit with the kids. She marched up to him, cautiously but told
him she wanted toys and Baby Jesus for Christmas. (in her whispering
voice). Thought he was going to choke. He responded well by saying he
didn't think he could deliver that but if a baby doll would work instead
and she shook her head yes. She didn't sit on his lap but she stood
between his legs without mommy right by her. Pretty proud momma!
She enjoys reading her "Rella" book and "Santa" book each night. The Santa book is The Night Before Christmas and for some reason she calls the man in the book Woody. Not sure why but it cracks us up every time. lol!
She has also really been into Baby Jesus as well. She talks about Baby Jesus all of the time. She actually thinks anything that looks like Jesus or a baby is Baby Jesus. She even called a man in Walmart Baby Jesus one day. It melts my heart knowing she is learning about Jesus and likes it. We watch on my phone the story of Baby Jesus. I have the Bible app for kids and we watch new chapters of the Bible every night. We also pray every night and its great to hear who and what she wants to pray for. They are usually pretty random. She will fold her little hands and just pray. There are times where I forget to pray at night and she will be almost a sleep and say..."Mommy, pray."
Now comes Christmas...she loved it! She got so excited before walking into the living room to see her "toys." She got right to work and wasted not time unwrapping. Half way through, she did want to start opening her toys and playing with them instead of unwrapping them. She got so many cute things. She got an American Girl doll Bitty Twin ( just one) and she named her Molly. Not sure why but Molly it is. She also started calling her other baby-Baby Elliott which is her cousin. She also got a shopping cart and a baby car seat carrier. Her daddy also thought it necessary that Santa bring her a John Deere gator...motorized. I thought it was a little much and a little soon but boy was it worth it to see the look on that girl's face. She jumped up and down and squealed. Santa had managed to wrap it and wait till the very end and she was so excited! She also got very excited about her coloring books. She received numerous other toys but those were probably her favorites. She proceeded to load all of her toys in the back of her gator and transfer her Molly from the car seat in the gator to the shopping cart. Back and forth, back and forth...all day long. And all night long the day after....she hasn't even tried to push the gas pedal yet...she just sits there. She so enjoyed every minute. She takes her Molly everywhere and loves her gator! It has been a joyous Christmas where I have really reflected this year on the true meaning. It truly is such a blessing to have Mallory in our lives every day but especially on Christmas.
This was Mallory in her Christmas dress....and an added accessory. This was right before church. And the only picture I have of her in her Christmas dress. We had hopes that we could do pics afterwards...lesson learned...NOPE!
Look of pure excitement on Christmas morn.
GATOR!
LOVE THIS ONE! This is were mommy had to grab a Kleenex.
Meet Molly...Mallory's new best friend.
Here Mallory is using "battery". She calls this tool here battery as apparently we only use it to change out batteries. So she was trying to use her "battery" on her gator.
We also had snowmen pancakes for breakfast. They didn't turn out quite as planned but still cute and Mallory LOVED them!
On our way to church....
This was Mallory's expression after we pulled into church...parked and about to get out when daddy says...oh shoot! I still have my old house flip flops on. (which have holes in them). So we rushed back home to change shoes. I look down in church and what did he change into...yep tennis shoes!
This was Mallory after coming home from daycare today. I had all her toys put away in organizing totes and showed her where everything was. She proceed to take everything out and put it back in the gator...in the back of course. She has her baby in the back and Molly right next to her enjoying a quick cartoon before bed. This girl cracks me up!
(officially the longest post I have ever written)
