ready for christmas

More cookie baking at our house...

Rachel's little dog joined the fun...

Abigail is the pro at decorating and taste testing...

If you can't tell, Abigail took a bite out of each cookie she decorated...

Trimming the tree:

This year Abigail insisted we got an angel for the top of the tree. So I took her out and she picked it out. With Daddy's help she got it on top.

My tree trimming helpers...

christmas fun time

I decided to take the girls to the Children Museum where my parents live. It is a fun place to go especially when going outside means shivering. We all had a blast playing and even made a Christmas ornament.

We also spent some time at my parents house. My Mom got her baking things out and the girls helped bake Christmas cookies. At the end of it there were sprinkles, frosting and cookie dough everywhere but the cookies were great!

My sister Kelly had a baby just a couple of weeks ago and they got a chance to meet her- Nina. Abigail was very sweet with her and happily held her and laid down beside her. Rachel was very close by too, watching closely.

And just a cute picture of Rachel who even thought she was sick last week still smiles!

I'm ready for the theater

My Mom and I took Abigail to see the musical, "Winnie the Pooh's Merry Christmas" at a local Children's theater. My Mom loves the theater so when she saw that they were putting on this production she was excited. So Nana Carol bought Abigail a special dress complete with a matching dress for her doll.

Abigail really enjoyed the musical. She laughed at the funny parts, asked a few questions, clapped after all the songs and gave me a lot of kisses and squeezes. I think she was just really happy! After the show we got our pictures with the cast and went to lunch.

s n o w

SNOW angels, SNOW balls, eating SNOW, SNOW flakes, SNOW blowing, SNOW sledding....

spirit of christmas

I took Abigail to our city Christmas light parade. It was, ah....cold. But totally worth it. Abigail had a blast waving to the floats and collecting candy. The floats were all lit up and were really pretty and us girls yelled and shouted happy screams of Merry Christmas as they were driven by tractors. Well, not all of them but there were probably 5. Abigail suck on a candy cane on the way home and as we warmed our toes by the fire and next to Jake I decided that even if it's 15 degrees out we can still have a lot of fun.

(this float was from Jake's office!)

happy thanksgiving

We have had a great Thanksgiving week. We were happy to have Jake's parents and sister here with us and Jake and I hosted our first Thanksgiving feast this year.

Cousin Tarin and Rachel are only 2 weeks apart in age. It was so great to see all the girls having fun playing and being together.

On Thanksgiving morning we had the parade on TV but it was the dog show afterward that captured the attention of the girls the most.

My parents and sister Kate joined us to eat...

For Rachel having all the extra people in the house was a bit overwhelming. If our family wanted to hold her she needed to choose or have the iPAD to entertain her with.

But we had a great time hanging out, shopping and eating together. It was nice when on the last night together Grandpa & Grandma got a sweet moment with their girls.

Happy Thanksgiving

screaming and laughing

Abigail has a book with a matching doll that talks when you read with it. When Jake was reading it to her, Rachel, who totally loves animals, got up on the couch and started cuddling and patting the bunny. She starting screaming and laughing and just really loving the bunny. Abigail was really patient and completely ignored Rachel and listened to Jake reading her book.

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We also have been baking a little. I decided to try to bake with both girls. Rachel is curious so it made for a bit of a challenge/mess. She had fun taking the baking soda and spilling the entire box on the tile. (I guess I should not have let her take it!)

I think Abigail looks so grown up here!