Christmas

The Christmas holiday has come and gone. The end of the season is such a bittersweet time for me. I have so much anticipation for Christmas and look forward to it for so long. I also love the excitement and hope that comes with a new year. The festivities all month long are so wonderful! I especially loved experiencing Christmas as a mother. Everything changes when you have children. Instead of experiencing things for myself, I'd almost rather watch Kayla experience them. The joy that she brought into our home this Christmas certainly didn't disappoint! It was full of "Ooohs" and "Ahhhs" from our sweet little girl. We took lots of photos, so let's get to them!

Kayla was all dressed up in her Christmas outfit for our Ward Thankful Christmas party. She has a little Christmas bell that we found in our decor and she loves it! I tied it short so she could wear it as a necklace and she loves bouncing around with it on. She also loves chewing on it.....and everything else she finds.

Mommy and Kayla in our Christmas outfits!

The Magic of Christmas

 We made Christmas cookies this year! I love sugar cookies, especially soft ones, and Brett was a trooper to help me decorate them all. We took the cookies to both of our places of work to share the yumminess. I also made homemade bread loaves and hot fudge sauce to give out as gifts to our many wonderful friends here in the RGV.

Brett brought home these funny Shrek ears after the cast of the Shrek Musical came on his morning show. They looked so funny on Kayla! Oh, and she loves the empty ice cube trays. :)

We had originally planned on going home for Christmas, but a lot of things didn't work out to let that happen. Gratefully, my Dad decided to come down and spend it with us. We were so excited and happy to have Grandpa Kelly here with us for all the Christmas festivities! Kayla was a bit hesitant but she warmed up to Grandpa pretty quickly. 

Picking up Grandpa from the Airport

The day my dad came, we did a bit of last minute shopping, which was crazy! Afterwards, we came home and had a yummy salmon dinner and then headed out to Hidalgo to check out the Christmas lights with Dad. 

Cinderella, Prince Charming and their castle!

Hooray for Action 4 News!

I love this!

On Christmas Eve, Brett had to work the afternoon, so we just barbecued up some burgers for lunch. It was such a beautiful day that we decided to eat out on the patio. 

On the evening on Christmas Eve, Dad, Kayla, and I walked around the neighborhood looking at all the Christmas lights. Kayla loved them. She really is such a precious and happy child. We watched the MoTab Christmas Concert on PBS that evening. It was so wonderful and really brought the spirit of Christmas.

We had Christmas nachos for dinner!

 I actually had to work the overnight shift that night, so I headed to work as Brett headed home. Soon after he got home, Santa arrived! :) I got home a little after 7:00 am Christmas morning and Kayla was awake and waiting for me! I nursed her and then the fun began! We were all very spoiled this year. Brett and I decided we were going to cut back and set a tighter budget this year.....that didn't really happen. Seeing Kayla loving all her gifts and playing with them after made it all worth it though.

 Here's a short video of her coming out to see her presents. 

We all received some wonderful gifts! Here are pictures of a few of the gifts.

Dad got a new suit for Haley's wedding from Santa!

 Kayla got this little scooter from Santa. Its so cute. It plays lots of different songs. She loves scooting around on it. She was pointing to it excitedly when we brought her out to show her the gifts. She's been riding it ever since!

Grandpa gave Kayla an Elmo book and doll.
Brett does the best Elmo impersonation though!

Brett got new scriptures from Heather and Dad

Grandma Betsy gave Kayla this cute guitar

Grandma Jean and Grandpa Tom gave Kayla the Little Mermaid

Brett modeling some of Kayla's new clothes :)

The aftermath!

Brett got me this beautiful painting of the Savior!!

We made a delicious Christmas dinner after I took a nap. We ate dinner outside again. It was so perfect! Kayla was asleep when we first started dinner, but joined us later. She loved the ham, potatoes, rolls, and yams.

We gave Kayla a Christmas bath complete with bubbles.
This is her with the Santa beard we made. :)

Brett headed back to work that evening around 8:00 while Dad and I watched a Christmas movie. I again headed to work the overnight shift right before Brett got home. It was a wonderful holiday and we were so so blessed. Until next year, Merry Christmas!