WHITE Christmas?!?

That's right! We had a WHITE CHRISTMAS. As one of my patients at work's mom pointed out, it was a "once in a lifetime" event. The last white Christmas in Dallas was in 1926!

Jacob had fun pushing his truck around in the snow. Jenna liked it ok. She mainly was confused I think. It didn't take her long to slip and fall on a stepping stone. She didn't like it after that.

Christmas at a Glance

Mimi, Jenna, Hannah, Brian, Jacob, Grandma and Papa

Jenna and her jewels

fun toys!

*super cool new scooter*

HOHOHO

playing with one of brother's tools

more jewelry

stocking goodies

letter from Santa. He also left some batteries for Jacob's Smart Cycle

Christmas Eve Eve and Eve

We decided to let the kids open a few presents when I got home from work on 12/23 since it would be the last time it was just our family of 4 together until after Christmas.

Jenna got a turtle tambourine and some nesting barrels and Jacob got a garbage truck and a recycle truck. I found the recycle truck in one of my parenting magazines. It's made by a company called Green Toys. Their toys are made from recycled milk jugs. The recycle truck came with cardboard pieces that had printed on them newspapers, cans, and bottles. There is a slot for each on the side of the truck. Super cute!On Christmas Eve while Jenna was napping, Jacob and I decorated a pre-assembled gingerbread house. It was way fun. A few of my friends had bought the kit but said they had a hard time keeping the roof from caving in so my friend Sharon suggested the pre-assembled version. It was so great I think I'll stick with it until one of the children insists otherwise!Brian's family came over Christmas Eve. Brian worked both Christmas Eve and Christmas day but he was home by 3 so it wasn't too bad. Here we are eating...crab legs are a hit with this group!

Jacob and Jenna got about a million toys. This is Jacob checking out his Spiderman shaving kit.

Jacob with his new tool belt.

Jenna saying CHEESE!

Pre-Christmas

at the Carrollton police kid's party

Jenna loves hats!

Jacob standing on one foot like the snowman behind him. This was at Santa's Village. There were around a dozen little gingerbread houses set up you could walk through. There was everything from a petting zoo to Santa. The lines were VERY long so we only went through 2 houses but the lights and decorations were fun to see.

at Santa's Village

My trio in the yard after daddy finished the decorations. He did great (you can't see most of it in this picture).

my sweet boy before church

my little beauty

at the Richardson police and fire kid's party

That's Jacob in the green striped shirt RUNNING to LEAP into Santa's arms when he arrived on the fire truck.

Austin

We finally made the trek to Austin to visit Brian's sister and her hubby. They have a new house just south of Austin. We spent the first evening walking around downtown Austin. We wanted to see the bats but didn't do our research....they migrate to Mexico for the winter.

Brian and Jenna on the Congress St bridge

The second day we went a visited one of my best friend's from college. She and her hubby live in the heart of Austin in the cutest little old house. I love it! Then, we went back to Heathers for lunch and a nap before heading to San Antonio for the evening. The river walk was beautiful. It was all lit up with Christmas lights. There were even boats of carolers!
Eating on the River Walk

on the boat
at a candy shop

The next day we had a few things planned but it a cold front came through and ruined our outdoor fun. So we went to lunch and played the Wii for a while before heading home. It was lots of fun. Heather and Doug were great hosts and we are already planning a return trip in the spring.

Jacob loved playing with Sharky. In the 2nd picture he is jumping off the couch, over Sharky and onto the giant ottoman. I'm sure Heather and Doug can't wait to have kids! Ha!

Thanksgivings & KCS

We had a seafood Thanksgiving. Crab legs, sea bass, etc. Jan, Heather and Doug joined us to feast.

Then, a few days later the Kansas City Southern Railroad's Christmas train was in town. We went and saw Santa on the train, along with tons of cool miniature trains inside 4-5 cars. The wait was LONG (1.5hr) and COLD but Jacob loved it.

Communication

As of yesterday, our "little punky" is 15 months. What fun! I thought I'd better give an update since she is growing and changing so fast.

Our lil J is an excellent communicator. I couldn't begin to tell you how many words she knows. Dozens. This past month she also started saying short phrases like 'thank you', 'bye-bye', 'nite-nite' etc. As of the past few weeks, she has added short sentences like 'where'd it go?' and 'there it is!' and 'see-you!' (later) and 'i got it'...I could go on and on. She also knows parts of several songs including "Happy Birthday" "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Old McDonald Had a Farm."

Language development is totally fascinating to me. It's amazing. I downloaded these (really poor quality) videos the other day. Jenna repeated everything she heard on the video (that she wouldn't say while I was recording). Stinker!

I really love how she knows what she wants and what she doesn't want...and she'll let you know! Jacob was 18 months when this happened. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was so exciting not to have to guess what he wanted to do or eat...

She still does EVERYTHING her big brother does. I'm not sure that will ever change. She's a feisty little thing. Like her Bubba, she never slows down. Ha! And I thought it was just a boy thing!

That's all for now. I'll leave you with a few pictures. Yo wekkom (you're welcome in lil J language).Jenna and DaddyMom, stop taking my picture all the time!Cheeeeeese!For Aunt Heather and Nana: look who's not afraid of his truck anymore!!!

And last but not least, my favorite picture of them all. Look at that little curl on the side of her head. It is the most precious little thing in the whole wide world!