Santa visited our house while we slept Christmas Eve and we woke up to Christmas morning excitement. Mia had a field day opening her and Ali's gifts -- books and color crayons and markers and a rattle and Candyland. Santa was particularly good to Mommy this year. I got the Wii and a Sony w170 digital camera. Dad didn't get much, but we've been having lots of fun with the Wii. :)
By the way, Mia got her first Barbie doll - a Cinderella Barbie of course.Later Christmas Day we went to PoppaDama Huber's and had another big party. My mom made lots of awesome snacks and a very yummy Christmas dinner. And oh, my goodness, more presents galore!! Jammies and books and movies, a bunch of art stuff, legos for Ali... and Mia's most favorite gift of all - her very own digital camera. She's quite the little photographer. She turns the thing on, points it all over the place - "Mom! Takin' pictures of the fan (as she clicks and clicks away pics of the ceiling fan in Ali's room)" "Mom, need my camera... say CHEESE!" She takes pictures of all sorts of stuff, but really likes to take pictures of her sister, which is so cute. Though she wants Ali to say "cheese" and of course, she can't.
Friday we had a little dinner with Matt, Trace and Madison, and they gave Ali the cutest little fleece outfit, and a shape sorter. And Mia got this enormous paint set with brushes, and sponge stamps, and she got finger paints with a smock. It is so cool, and she just LOVES it. She's already painted us quite the stack of artwork, and she does such a good job. She's very artistic. She's been drawing faces of everyone and lots of rainbows. Since the fridge is covered in Christmas cards, I don't have anywhere to hang many more of her pictures, but we have a bunch of them up. She's very proud of her paintings. She especially likes to hang them on her easel for baby Ali because it's what Dad always uses to block the TV so Alice isn't zoned on the boob-tube all the time. It's much more interesting to look at Mia's art, we tell her. Mia keeps painting more and more pictures for baby Ali to look at all the time.
Saturday morning we had brunch at the river with the Huber's and Aunt Pat's side. That was a lot of fun. Molly, John and the kids weren't there, but we got to see Johnny and Katie & Paul. Amelia had a blast playing with Connor, who belongs to Sean (McArdell cousin) and his wife Mindy. We took off from there and headed straight to Dan & LeAnne's for a gathering with the Lynches and a little baby shower for Lucia (JD's cousin Sean's wife). It was a great time as always, and of course all the kids together was much fun and chaos.
Finally, on Sunday morning we had another brunch with the Parrantos and Great Grandma Dietz. That was a blast also-again, many playmate "cousins" all having the time of their lives. I am always so impressed with Amelia and what a great little player she is. She plays by herself, she plays with us, she plays with her sister, she'll play with anyone... and she just loves other kids so much. She's so friendly and kind, and such a good sharer. And Alice, I think, will be another little miss social. She wants in on the action so badly. It is adorable watching her watch what's going on around her. She's very alert and expressive. Mia talks pretty much non-stop... and she's talking a mile a minute. Ali is babbling up a storm and I think that once she's able to talk, JD and I will never have a moment quiet.
More pictures coming, and Christmas pics soon to be posted on Shutterfly also.
