Christmas Eve & Day

On Christmas Eve we were in Mesa with Clint's family.  We took family pictures and then had dinner at my in-laws' house.  After dinner we read the Christmas story in Luke.  They have a tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve so I suggested that the kids open the small present that Amelia (and I) made.  Amelia's eight cousins (ranging from 5 years old to 2.5 months old) were excited when they saw the homemade ornaments that had their names on them.  Some thought they were cookies and wanted to eat them.  Luckily none of the kids did eat them...they were made from salt and flour so they are edible but they probably wouldn't have tasted very good.  We finally left to go home back to Gilbert.

 When we got home, Amelia helped me put some cookies and a glass of milk out for Santa. We wrote him a note saying "Merry Christmas" and "Enjoy the cookies and milk."  She went to bed and fell asleep after an hour or so, around 10:15pm. 

I woke up when I heard Amelia awake and talking in her bed, around 8:15am.  When I opened her door, she sat up and said "Santa Claus!"  After going potty and getting dressed we headed downstairs.  She saw that the cookies and milk were gone and said "Santa ate the cookies all gone (with a very excited face while acting like her fingers were cookies, eating them), and drank the milk all gone!!!"  Santa wrote a note back to Amelia saying "Thank you for the milk and cookies.  Merry Christmas to you too.  Be a good girl this year for your mommy and daddy.  Love, Santa"  She was also excited that Santa wrote to her and said "Santa write me a thank you letter!"

I went in the pantry to get my video camera and told Amelia to stay put.  Of course she didn't, and instea went over to check the stockings.  I had the full stockings hanging up on hooks, which were sitting on the top shelf of our DVD stand.  I heard a loud crashing sound while I was in the pantry.  Amelia tried to get her stocking down and when she pulled on her stocking, the top level of DVD's came falling down along with the stockings and stocking holders.  When I came in the living room, she was standing there looking at the mess and said "Oops, it fall down." 

She rummaged through the movies and found the stockings and took them over to daddy on the couch.

Daddy and Amelia Christmas morning with the stockings

We didn't get many pictures but did have the video camera recording the opening of stockings and Christmas presents at our house.  Amelia was thrilled to see what Santa brought her in her stocking.  Once the stockings were empty she wanted to open presents.  She would grab a present from under the tree and just assume it was hers.  A few of the presents were for Clint so I had to make sure she didn't open them.  She sat on the couch and ripped the wrapping paper off the presents and loved seeing what present she got.  She then got off the couch to grab another present.

After the presents were all opened, I made green french toast.  I used Christmas cookie cutters to make a french toast Christmas tree and stocking for Amelia.  She thought they were pretty cool and couldn't wait to eat them.  After breakfast was over, around 10am, we had a little bit of time for Amelia to play with some new presents before heading to Mesa for more Christmas celebration.  She really enjoyed playing with her Melissa and Doug food cutting box (wooden food with velcro that you can 'cut' with the wooden knife on a wooden cutting board.  She also loved the doll set we got her.  It comes with a baby doll, a baby doll crib, a baby seat that can be a baby carrier or be turned into a high chair or swing, and pretend baby food, pacifier, bottle, spoon, fork, and bowl.  Amelia would put the baby in the high chair and pretend to feed it food and milk.  She is practicing for when baby brother comes :)

We went to Mesa and had the big Ray family Christmas celebration at my in-laws house at about 11:15am.  There had to be about 100 presents under (and around) the tree.  We all sat around the living room (Clint's parents, his 8 siblings, a few spouses, and the 9 grandkids.  One of his brothers passed out presents.  It seemed like the presents wouldn't stop coming.  Amelia got a snow white doll (that she loves to carry around), a baby doll, a thunder tumbler car, cute tinkerbell and princess panties, a few outfits, pink boots, a princess sleeper gown with slippers, new white dress shoes, a note that said "A trip to Disneyland" and a whole stocking full of candy! 

I recorded her opening presents and was able to get one picture of her opening a present in all the craziness.


We hung around at his parents house and after Clint's grandparents and his mom's family arrived, we ate Christmas dinner around 4:30pm.  After Christmas dinner we had a white elephant gift exchange with the adults, and with the little kids.  They set up a Christmas tree pinata in backyard and the kids had turns swinging the plastic bat at the pinata.  I even had a turn (blindfolded).  One of Clint's brothers broke the pinata open and the kids got MORE candy.  We went back inside and had pie and ice cream for dessert.  After dessert, we all sat around a few tables and played the LCR game with miniature candies.  We each started with 3 little candies and played until only one person was left with a candy in front of them.  That person would be the winner and win the basket full of candy in the center.  Guess who won...ME!  So I got yet MORE candy.  I think with Amelia's stocking full of candy, my stocking full of candy, Clint's stocking full of candy, the pinata candy that Amelia got, and this basket full of candy, we have about 10 pounds worth of candy!  It is separated into two large bowls; one with all the chocolate candies and the other with the non-chocolate candies.  We will have this candy until Valentine's Day I'm sure, and then we will get more candy from my mother-in-law.

We had a great Christmas and were glad we could spend it with family, even if it does get really crazy.  I hope that anyone who reads this also had a great Christmas too!
Bring on 2011!

Cousin Charlie's Quick Visit

My sister and nephew stopped by on their way home from Cottonwood to Tucson.  Amelia had a fun time playing with her cousin Charlie.  She showed Charlie her special teddy bear (the one Clint and I made at Build-A-Bear when I was pregnant with her).  Charlie had a stuffed kitty cat that used to be my sister's when she was a child.

Amelia giving her special bear a 'big daddy hug'.  This is how Amelia says she is giving a big, squeeze hug.  I get a 'big daddy hug' every night before she goes to bed :) 

Amelia was covering her face and counting, I guess for hide & seek but Charlie wasn't hiding very well.

Amelia can count on her own to 20.  I have been counting our 15 stairs aloud everytime I walk up or down the stairs with Amelia.  I guess she stored that information because one day she covered her face, pretending to play hide & seek with me, and she started counting to 15.  I then taught her 16-20.  If I say twenty-one, she will say twenty-two, twenty-three, and so on up to twenty-nine.  She doesn't count past 20 on her own though, only if I prompt her and help her if she gets stuck.

Temple Christmas Lights

On my way back to the valley from Cottonwood, I stopped in Mesa and met up with Clint at his parent's house.  We went out for a quick bite to eat and then took Amelia to see the Christmas lights and hear the music at the Temple.  She really enjoyed seeing the three Wise Men and their camels.  The pictures were taken on my cell phone and of course it was dark so they were kind of blurry.

Amelia showing off her new ladybug hat and gloves, and one of my scarves

Mommy, Amelia, three Wise Men, and camels 

Cottonwood Visit

Amelia and I drove to Cottonwood for the day for my sister's baby shower.  Amelia had fun playing with cousin Charlie, Grandpa Dave, and my cat, Daisy.

Since we wouldn't be seeing my sister or nephew anytime soon, we had the kids open their Christmas presents from each other.

Rip off that paper!

"What's in there?" Amelia would say when opening a box or bag.

Piano time with Grandpa Dave. 

Picture of the two preggo mommas:

Heather @ 32 weeks & Me @ 28.5 weeks

Snow & Shower

My parents came down on Friday December 3rd.  Our local Bashas' was having a fun activity outside their store.  They brought snow in, had a bouncy house, bbq food for sale, and boutique verndors set up in the parking lot.  My dad, Amelia, and I went down to the store when it started at 9am to show Amelia the snow.  She saw snow once before when Clint brought a bucket back from Show Low last year.  As you can see in the pictures, there was a decent amount of snow.  It was the perfect opportunity for Amelia to wear her cute ladybug hat and gloves.

Posing with Grandpa Dave 

Trying to learn how to walk on the snow. 

Trying to grab the snow. 

Sinking in the snow a little bit. 

Posing with mommy :) 

Throwing snow at Grandpa Dave. 

Grandpa caught the snow that time! 

Bouncing in the bouncy house. 

More bouncing. 

The reason my parents came down for the weekend was for the baby shower my mom was coordinating on Saturday.  We wanted to have a baby shower for my relatives that live in the Phoenix area that can't make the drive up to the Cottonwood baby shower.  We had the baby shower at Chili's and enjoyed a nice lunch.

Amelia enjoyed sitting between both her grandmas (Grandma Betty pictured). 

But Amelia kept coming over to sit in my lap every so often too to get some love from me!

Thanks to all those that were able to come to the baby shower!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

For Thanksgiving this year, my mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew came to our house.  I don't have any pictures really of Thanksgiving beacuse I was in the kitchen doing all the cooking.  My mom has been having back problems (3 herneated disks, 1 of which is extruding) so she was on the couch or sitting the whole time.  We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner around 12:30pm.  Amelia and her cousin Charlie played for a while and then took a nap.  After naps were over, we had pumpkin and cherry pie.  My sister and her family left to another family party in Phoenix.  My mom, dad, Clint, Amelia, and I drove to Mesa for Thanksgiving dinner at Clint's parent's house.  We enjoyed more delicious food and great company. 

Charlie and Amelia (wearing the cute turkey hat Grandma Susie had for them)

Grandma Susie with the grandkids for dinner.

Charlie and Amelia with their turkey placemats.

Amelia lounging in her red reading chair in her bedroom.

Wal-Mart was having their Black Friday sales start at midnight so Clint and I drove to Wal-Mart at 11:45pm.  (Don't worry, we didn't have Amelia with us...she was asleep at home with  my parents)  The parking lot was full and we parked in one of the furthest spots.  That night there was a freeze warning so it was VERY cold.  When we walked inside the store, there was a huge line wrapped around the store with people and full shopping carts.  I thought it started at midnight (which it did) but I guess people were allowed to come early (many hours early) and get stuff to put in their shopping carts.  At midnight, the registers opened for people to pay for the items in the shopping carts.  There was only a few items we kind of wanted but there was no way we were standing in a 5 hour line just tp pay!  I found the few pj sets for Amelia that I wanted and hid them behind some pillows in the home bedding section of the store :)  We walked around and laughed at people for being so crazy and standing in a line for many, many hours, to just save a few bucks.  I think I would rather sleep, save my time and energy, and pay full price than waste countless hours doing what these people do on Black Friday.  Clint and I left around 12:30 to go to bed.  I went back to Wal-Mart around 11:30am, found my hidden pjs, did some grocery shopping, paid (there was no waiting in lines), and left.  When I got home, I set up the Christmas tree in our living room on the 2nd floor.

Amelia enjoyed hiding under the Christmas tree.

This was an artifical tree that Clint and I got last year from Wal-Mart after Christmas for 75% off. 

She helped Grandma Susie fluff up the branches.

Amelia with our completed Christmas tree. 

Taking a ride on horsey Grandpa Dave before bedtime.

Amelia has a few different incentive charts on the wall from Chuck E. Cheese; one for brushing her teeth at night, one for not going potty in her pull-ups at nap time, and one for not going potty in her pull-ups during the night.  The chart is for two weeks and every time she brushes her teeth at night or has a dry pull-up, she gets to put a sticker on her chart.  I told Amelia that if one of the charts got filled with stickers by Thanksgiving, we could go to Chuck E. Cheese.  You can download and print a variety of incentive charts off their website: http://www.chuckecheese.com/promotions/rewards-calendars.php

When you bring it back completed, they give the child 10 free tokens.  We went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner with my parents and had pizza and fun!  I grew up going to Chuck E Cheese in San Diego so I wanted Amelia to experience the fun too.  I had signed up on the email list and had discount coupons for the pizza/drinks.  There were also coupons for free tokens that I got when I signed up.  We had 65 tokens to use for playing games.

Amelia riding next to Chuck E. Cheese in the car. 

Big cheeeeeesy smile :) 

Bopping the hammerhead sharks with mommy. 

Riding on the tractor with Barney and listening to Old McDonald (one of her favorite songs). 

Group picture...thanks Mom/Grandma Susie!

Ray family

Clint, my dad, Amelia, and I racked up 220 tickets.  We should have had more except that some of the ski ball games were taking our tokens and not letting us play, and then the ones that let us play, didn't give us tickets :(  I beat Clint and my dad in the basketball shooting game :)  Amelia had fun seeing all the games and bright lights.  Before we left I wanted Amelia to use her tickets to get some prizes.  I wanted her to feel like she accomplished something when she filled out her incentive chart with 14 stickers.  She picked out a bracelet, a tinkerbell pencil, a sucker, and a pair of sunglasses.  Clint wanted some pop rocks and I got a tootsie roll.  Hopefully we will be able to go back soon.  Amelia has been doing great not going potty in her pull-ups at nap time, and good every other night or so without going potty in her pull-ups. 

Fall Festival

Our church had a Fall Festival and I signed up to bring a dessert.  I made Worms in Dirt.  I put it in a new, clean pot, used a new trowel for the scooping device, and placed some artificial flowers in the pot.  People didn't eat the dessert because they thought it was a table decoration.  I took a big scoop out of it and then people realized it was one of the desserts :)

 Amelia was a ladybug again this year.  The costume was one that Clint bought off ebay before she was born for the personal ladybug baby shower he threw me.

Amelia looked adorable in her costume...except when she had unzipped it and started taking it off, getting almost completely naked!   

I was also a 'ladybug' this year...I wore black pants, a red shirt, ladybug wings, and ladybug ear rings.

Amelia enjoyed playing the games.  Here she is throwing a bean bag.

This was pin the nose on the jack o' lantern.  She didn't want to be blind folded so she knew exactly where to put the nose :)

This was a game where you put the rings on the spiders' legs.

Last, there was a mini golf/croquet game.  She wasn't very good at this game...maybe next year.

She enjoyed listening to the Halloween music, like The Monster Mash.

She danced with some friends from church.

She hung out next to the janitor...oh wait....that's daddy!

Clint dressed up like Joe Dirt.  He had to grow out his facial hair for a month in order for it to look authentic.  I was glad when Halloween was over so he could shave it all off!

There was also trick-or-treating at the Fall Festival.  Amelia was shy at first about saying Trick-or-Treat to people but after a few times, she got the hang of it and said it loud and proud because she wanted the candy.



We didn't go trick-or-treating on Halloween since it was on Sunday this year.  After dinner in Mesa, we came home and answered the door for the few trick-or-treaters that stopped by our house.  Amelia would hide when they would knock. But then once I opened the door, she would come and help put candy in their buckets/bags after they told us Trick-or-Treat.