Surprise Trip to SF

My pictures from this trip to SF are so awful (taken in the dark with my phone!) but I want to remember this day many years from now so I have to document it somehow...

A few days before Christmas, my parents arrived in San Francisco to spend a few nights in the city before joining us in Walnut Creek.  We didn't have plans to see them the day they arrived but decided surprising them by being in the lobby of their hotel when they checked in would be a lot of fun.  Well, it rained like crazy that day and delayed their flights, cancelled their flights and delayed their new flights.  They kept us updated on their frustrating day of travel and we just kept pushing back our secret plans to meet them.  When it was getting to the point when we either had to head into the city or forget it altogether, neither Mom or Dad answered their phones so we knew they were finally airborne. 

We headed into San Francisco and the sky cleared.  It was great!  We weren't opposed to walking around the city in the pouring rain, but we'd much rather have clear skies!  Our plan worked perfectly!  We entered the lobby of their hotel just as they were checking in.  The girls ran up behind them to greet them and Mom shrieked so loudly that the security guard starting heading over to make sure she was okay. Corey was able to stop him and assured him everything was fine, it was just a Grandma seeing her grand kids for the first time in a few months!

 

This was one of the Christmas trees in the lobby of the hotel. 

The ornaments were as big as Audrey.  But that did not discourage her

from trying to remove them like she does with the little ones at home!

 

Coloring under a fun ceiling at the Disney Store.

I loved surprising my parents (Dad actually knew our plans and did a great job keeping quiet!) but I also loved seeing San Francisco all decked out for Christmas and buzzing with holiday excitement.  It had probably been 15 years since I've seen the city at Christmas time.  We watched the ice skaters in Union Square, saw the big tree, of course, and rode the glass elevator at the St. Francis to see everything in sight!  The girls loved it.

Such a fun Christmas memory!

Merry Christmas!

Well, this year was unique.  We juggled Christmas and a stomach bug!  Bah Humbug!  I was stricken Christmas Eve just as we returned home from a church service.  And Natalie woke up with it Christmas morning.  Such a major bummer.  But Corey handled the holiday (and sick Natalie) beautifully while I slept through much of Christmas day.  As for Natalie, nothing quite lifts spirits after getting sick like a pile of presents from Santa waiting under the tree!  So she recovered much more quickly than I did!

Christmas Eve we got all dressed up and headed out to try a new church.  Not sure it's the church for us but it was fun to go again.  Unfortunately Audrey was acting very two that evening so I spent a majority of the service in the church entry with her doing puzzle games...and feeling not so good.

Christmas morning brought lots of new toys and two very special new dolls into our family.  Natalie received an American Girl Doll and is in love, love, love.  Actually, I think we're all in love with "Julie"...she has the best hair EVER.  And Audrey got a doll with great hair, too, who she named "Lita Baby".  They've been mothering their dolls all week!  Their doll lovin' mama is loving this!!

 Audrey snuggling her new tea set cake slices and cupcakes. 

This kid will snuggle anything!

 Meet Julie

 Meet Lita Baby

Papa Rod and Grandma Lala steered clear of the sick house until after Christmas so more pictures to come of Christmas, part two.

Gingerbread!!

We made gingerbread cookies a few weeks ago and they turned out so cute!!  Natalie is such a talented artist with pencil, pen, crayon and paint...and it turns out she's amazing with tubes of gel frosting, too!  She created really intricate and detailed designs and they looked awesome. Audrey had a method, too...how to get the most frosting in the highest piles on each cookie!!

 

 Every season Audrey has a new picture face. 

This year it seems to be with eyes closed.  

I won't do the gel frosting again, even though it was fun to decorate with. 

It never hardened so the cookies were hard to store. 

Consequently, we ate them all

within 24 hours!!

Christmas Tree

I've posted to this blog once this December.  ONCE.  That demonstrates how crazy this month has been.  It's been fun.  Just busy.  I ran a 5K in 38 degree weather and that sort of didn't sit well with the cold I was coming down with.  Consequently, I was down for a few days and had an obnoxious cough for a few weeks.  But the rest of the family has remained healthy and for that I am supremely grateful. 

We put our tree up the first weekend in December so we've been able to enjoy it for a while now.  Such fun.  We've been listening to our favorite Christmas music, finding our Elf, George, every morning, reading an Advent story book every night and lighting Advent candles each week.  So, it's been a really nice season.  Hard to believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

Trying to get the kids to look at the camera when there was a newly decorated Christmas tree behind them was all but impossible!  The ornaments get rearranged daily and they love looking at their picture ornaments from years past (thank you, Nana!). 

In all of the places we've lived and all the houses where we've celebrated this holiday, putting up and decorating the Christmas tree makes it really feel like home every time.

2.5

Audrey is 2 and a half.  And getting more delightful every day.  Her vocabulary is awesome.  And her conversation skills are even better.  She's become a good sleeper, finally, although she still rises far too early every day.

The other day at the park she went up to a woman and said,

"I Audrey.  I like applesauce and I poop in the potty!"  Classic.  And mostly true.  Her name is Audrey and she does love applesauce but she only OCCASIONALLY poops in the potty.
The potty training thing is going ever so sloooooowly.

She says "please" and the sweetest "thank you" unprompted. 

She shares willingly with her sister.  Too willingly at times. 

She asks me all throughout the day, "are you happy, Mommy?" 

She told me the other day that her "fayvowit" meals are

jelly beans, vitamins and soup. 

Lovely. 

She has the best giggle.

It's impossible to hear Audrey giggle and not join her.

She responds to comments like, "you're adorable" or "you're a hoot"

with, "no, I Audrey!"

She rides a tricycle like a champ.

She's terrified of Bob the Bobcat, the mascot at Natalie's school.

That seriously cuts down on the school functions we attend.

If Bob's going to be there, we don't dare go.

Every time we go to the grocery store she tells the checker,
"I Audrey, this is my mom, my daddy's at work

and Natalie's at school."

She feels it's important they know.

She insists on eating her breakfast out of a half pint mason jar.

She asks me every night to make a tent out of blankets on her crib.

Yes, she's still in a crib.

To stall at bedtime, she says,

"I just need to hug you for a minute."

How on earth can I say no to that?

I asked her the other night if I could nibble on her arms and legs

because she is so cute and she said,

"no, Mommy, I breakable!!"

When I tell her I love her she says,

"I love you, too, Mommy."

or

"I know you love me, Mommy!"

 

May she always know.

 

Happy Half Birthday, sweet baby girl!