Well, it's over halfway through January and I'm just getting around to posting about our Christmas. Maybe one of these days I'll get caught up on all the things that happened in 2016 {Hawaii, two little beach trips, a trip to the aquarium, etc...}!
This Christmas was a good one! We said several times that we felt like Emery was just at the perfect age! She understood so much more and really got into all of the fun stuff we did! We decorate early and she was so, so excited about it! She even put some ornaments on the tree!
We had a nice day in the middle of November so we went to take our Christmas card pictures. I loved how they turned out!
We went to the Christmas tree lighting at the Summit and Emery *loved* the giant Christmas tree!! We had to walk and drive by it several times.
We finished our Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving and put a Christmas tree in Emery's room. To say she loved it would be an understatement. She said "good morning" and "good night" to it every day and even gave it hugs and kisses! I think it's safe to say she loves Christmas just as much as I do! We had her Christmas lights connected to a little button and ended up having to move the cord because she pulled it up into her bed one night and kept turning her tree on and off!
We baked lots of Christmas goodies, too! She loves to bake and always wants to help in the kitchen!
We did some fun crafts, too! Anything with glue is a big hit!
Emery has also gotten really into coloring lately! I printed off some Christmas coloring pages from Pinterest and she loved it! She's getting pretty good, too. She colored the baby Jesus and the sheep in the bottom left of this picture.
Emery got to see Santa for the first time this season with Vanna! Emery is super shy around people {I cringe when people talk to her in places like the grocery store because she usually freaks out}, but she has no fear of any character that's dressed up! She would love Disney World! So, she was a big fan of Santa! She doesn't always get super smiley, but she never hesitated to go and sit on his lap.
She spent some time at my sister's house the night they went to see Santa and had a great time with Vanna's dress up clothes! I adore this picture!!
Our Chick-fil-A had a Santa and cookie decorating night and we went to that with Vanna, too. We picked her up from school, went to Starbucks for a treat and some hot chocolate, and then went to see Santa at Chick-fil-A that night!
We happened to see this Veggie Tales Christmas book at Publix one afternoon and ended up getting it. It was her favorite Christmas bedtime story and we read it so many times! She would always point out Baby Jesus, "Mommy Mary", and "Daddy Joseph".
After reading the book a few times, she started doing this with her blankets and calling herself "Mommy Mary".
Another Santa visit! She was pretty smiley for this one!
Daniel and I celebrated Christmas with our church friends one night at a Tacky Christmas party. That's seriously my favorite Christmas party theme! It never gets old! Emery didn't look tacky at all, though...just cute! This was one of my favorite Christmas outfits of hers!
We had several really cold days, so we made lots of trips for hot chocolate! I learned to take a cup for Emery with us so I could pour some of mine into it. I love how she bundled herself up here. The {backwards} hat plus her hood, which she calls her "shade". And as always, she's riding with several friends.
Daniel and I made a quick trip to Atlanta to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra to celebrate 8 years of dating. I'm so thankful for him!
Once Christmas Break started and our nieces were out of school, we had our annual Cookie Baking Day! Emery was all about the rolling!
Using the cookie cutters!
She did a lot of this!
And you can never have enough sprinkles!
She really didn't even eat that many. She just liked to sit and look at them!
We saw Santa again when he drove through our neighborhood! She loved it! Especially the fact that he threw us some candy!
Daniel had a few days off before Christmas {that was so nice!!}, so we went to brunch and then Bass Pro one morning. We had definitely seen Santa plenty of times, but they have so much fun stuff to see and do at Christmas that we wanted to go again. We got there right when they opened and it was already crazy! We rode the carousel *tons* of times! She loved it, but nothing will compare to the
first year we took her to Bass Pro!
Checking out the fish...
Had to have a picture with the bear!
Killing a little time on the four wheelers while we waited in line for Santa.
She's never seen a stuffed animal she didn't like!
I love this sweet face!
We finally got to see Santa!
We even got a smile!!
The next day we decided to make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning and to share with our friends and family. We used Pioneer Woman's recipe and they were good, but I wished they were a little more fluffy. They sure were pretty, though!
That night, we went on our annual Jammy Cocoa Christmas night! {
2013 |
2014 |
2015} Vanna got to go with us this year! We had two excited girls!! Emery loved all the Christmas lights this year and was so excited when we were driving around!! It was the cutest!
We got some pizza for dinner first!
Then we were off to get our treats and hot chocolate!
Emery picked a mitten cookie from Panera.
And Vanna got a donut from Starbucks.
For breakfast the next morning, we went to Krispy Kreme for some Christmasy donuts!
That night, we had my family over for a little pre-Christmas party. Emery was so excited to finally get to open a couple of presents. She'd been singing "It's very, very, very hard to wait" {from Daniel Tiger} for weeks about the presents that were under the tree.
Bob and Larry were a big hit!! One of them usually goes everywhere with us...usually Larry!
She loved the dress up clothes from Nana and Poppa, too. She almost always has one dress up thing on!
And this cute cat and mouse flip-a-zoo from Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, and Vanna is so sweet. She figured out how to flip it super fast!
The next morning was Christmas Eve! Possibly my favorite day of the year!
We did her new puzzle from Nana and Poppa and she was so excited about it!
And then we started a new tradition this year...we made a birthday cake for Jesus {in a dress up outfit, of course}.
She helped bake and decorate the whole thing!
That afternoon was the Christmas Eve service at church. I love this service! Emery even held a candle at the end...with my help, of course. She tried blowing it out, but she just did the "f" sound.
We took a few pictures by the Christmas tree at church and then headed home for Christmas PJs and one present before bedtime!
She *loves* her drum! And so far it hasn't driven us crazy.
Once she was in bed, we got to work setting everything up for the morning. This part is so fun!
Emery loved opening presents and gasped every time she opened one...even if it was an Amazon box!
Digging for the last present...
She loves to be cozy so the robe was a hit!
She wore it to open a few more presents. This one was a Mr. Potato Head set and she calls it "head atato".
Trying to say "cheese" but not wanting to take her eyes off her stocking.
Loving her cozy kitty sleeping bag, too!
Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, we went to church and then headed back home for a nap and to play some more!
Nana and Poppa came over for dinner that night and we had our "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cake for dessert! Emery had been asking all day, "Is it cake time yet?" She put the candles in, blew them out {sort of}, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus!
I forgot to take a picture of the finished cake until right before we cut it! I got the decorating idea from Pinterest.
The next day we had our last Christmas celebration with our entire family and I only took two pictures! Love this one of Emery in the t-shirt we got from the Dirty Santa gift exchange.
And my nieces taught me how to use Snapchat! {I'm old...} Emery loves it and calls it "chapstack".
It was a whirlwind there for several weeks, but we had so much fun together!
