Finally Christmas

I know I know, I'm a little behind on my blogging. I have lots of excuses for you, but you probably won't buy any of them, so I'll just move on. We did Christmas early with Josh's family, since we'd be traveling to CT for the actual holiday. We had fun opening presents from everyone. We got books and DVDs from our lists, plus I got some awesome ornaments this year. Every year Mom gives an ornament to each kid, and it has to do with something that happened to them that year. For instance, my SIL Beka got her license, so she got an ornament about that. Anyway, I had a few ornaments for this year. Because of our trip to Disney World, Josh and I both got Mickey heads that are shiny like disco balls, so they remind me of the big ball at Epcot. Plus I got a graduation ornament, since I finally finished college, and get this, we got a pregnant ornament! I've never seen anything like it--I think it's my favorite one :). Oh, I didn't take a picture of it, and our Christmas stuff is already stored away for another year. Sorry! Here are two pics from that night. The beagle is Canyon, a new addition to the family. Pets are nice when someone else owns them, in my opinion. And the second picture is Dad with his pal Sammy the snowman.




Here's Josh and I on Christmas morning at my parent's house. Don't we look awesome? :)




It was so much fun seeing our nieces. They are around a year and a half old, give or take a couple months. Olvyia is older than Ariana by a couple months, so that's the give or take part of the equation. Here's Josh with Ari. It's rare to capture these girls smiling perfect for a picture. This one's not a complete smile, but Josh cooperated, so I was happy.


Here's my sister and her hubby each with Ari. Ari looks more like Tony I think, but there are times when she totally looks like Sara.



Let's see, what other pictures do I have of Ari? Oh by the way, I didn't necessarily take all these pics. Josh took some of them, and we also traded with pics with Steve and Eden, so I'm posting some of theirs. They took way more pictures than we did. Anyway, here's a close up Ari-girl eating (or being distracted) in her high chair, and the next one is Ari, the monster-baby!



Here's some of Olyvia, or Lyvie. Look at that gorgeous profile! And those eyelashes--I'm so jealous :)


Doesn't she look so much like her daddy? And I like the next one too, cause someone caught her smiling for the camera.



This next one is Lyvie's version of giving me a hug. She comes at you normal enough, but right at the last second, she bends in half and sticks her head into you. She gets her arms up and all, so I think she just likes to hug short people :) Or perhaps she was trying to hug the baby.


Who me? Get into trouble? No way! I was, uh, just organizing the cabinet. Yeah, that's it.


And here's a couple shots of the girls together. They played nicely for the majority of the time. They gave each other hugs and shared toys (sometimes). They both loved playing the piano, or playing with anything else noisy for that matter. Here is Ari mid-speech on the tales of her sippy cup and Lyvie trying on Uncle Josh's sneakers. Don't think she'll ever grow into those.


This picture was taken right as they were fighting over a book. I don't remember the details, but it involved each gal swiping the book from each other and lots of tears following suit. I wish I had caught it on video, cause a couple seconds later Tony smacked Ari's hand and told her no and she kept on trying to get the book. Then Tony says, Ari, do you want another smack? And she stops, sticks out her bottom lip and looks all pitiful while slowly shaking her head no. It was so priceless, cause she completely understood what he was saying to her. It makes me realize how fast these girls are growing up.


And here are a couple random pictures of big people. Yes, there were adults present. It's just more fun to snap pictures of the kids :)




I still have more blogging to do, but I need a break. My feet are swollen today. I mean, I've heard of swollen ankles, but swollen feet? My toes look fat! So I need to go put my feet up. I have baby shower pictures to post, as well as a sixth-month belly picture, so I'll get to them soon. Never fear.