Christmas Holiday

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was the very first time we did not travel for the Christmas holiday. Emily sang in the Christmas Eve choir. She was definitely excited about Santa coming that evening, but sad to say goodbye to her Elf. We opened presents first thing the next morning. Emily received a bike (Santa) and a dollhouse (us). Freddie received a lego alligator toy, but was much more interested in Emily's dollhouse. Nema and Abuelo came to hang out from San Antonio that day. They were able to help us keep the girls busy playing all day long. We enjoyed our relaxing holiday.




Emily loved her stocking gifts almost as much as her presents under the tree.


Freddie just wanted to drink her milk.


Emily was pretty surprised to see that bike.

We play dollhouse every day now.

Granddaddy and Tuddie gave Freddie some new wheels. She loves it!

Freddie was under the weather for most of the week. She loved being held.

Ballet & Tap Christmas Performance

Emily had a dance recital to end the fall semester. She was very excited to showcase her talents. We watched quite a few tap and ballet dances. She did a great job of smiling and doing the moves. Emily had taken tap and ballet in the spring. We bought her tap shoes at that time. Once she decided to continue doing tap next spring, we asked if her shoes still felt okay. She admitted that her tap shoes were a little snug. Then during one of the wonderful, winter performances, she confessed to our camera recording, "Mommy! It feels much better with the new tap shoes." Parents of the year award caught on video! We were very proud of all her newly developed accomplishments.

Christmas Tea

Emily was invited to a girls-only, Christmas tea. She loved the idea of going to hang out with her best neighborhood friends while dressed in fancy clothes. We were in charge of bringing an appetizer. We brought Santa crackers (we used peas instead of capers). Emily put almost every mustache and set of eyes on each of the Santas. We had fun doing that together. There was also a game of "guess how many M&Ms in the jar" at the tea. Emily guessed 45-8 which translated to 458 by the 5 year old recorder. Emily ended up being the closest. She was ecstatic about taking home a jar of M&Ms. We had a great time.

Christmas Program

Emily's Christmas program was last week. She did an awesome job. Bribery definitely works with that girl. She did most of the hand gestures and sang as loud as she could. Freddie was a bear during the video of the performance, so we don't have any to share. Hopefully next year!

Little Monkeys

We went to the opening of the Houston Zoo's African Forest the other weekend. The whole exhibit is really cool. You can really get up close with the animals. We are looking forward to going back. Since the weather was so great out, we were able to join Tripp for some fun in the park along with a ride on the train. We had a fun morning.

Bending and Stretching

Freddie is still not walking, but she can hold plank for about 15 seconds. We feel once she decides to start walking, she is never going to stop.

Turkey Day 2010

We went up to Plano for Thanksgiving. We had a really awesome time. Emily played with her cousins from the moment we got there until the moment we left. She absolutely loved it. There was even time to do turkey crafts before the big feast. Freddie was spoiled by all of the family. She really loved hanging out with Granddaddy and cuddling with Uncle James. It was a lot of fun to just all be together. Thanks to our hosts for the good times.