Oh Twoodles!

Shortly after the holidays winded down, it was time to gear up for a special girl's birthday. After she went to sleep, I decorated the living room complete with pink streamers and a Minnie Mouse balloon for her to wake up to in the morning.

I also made sure she had a custom party hat to wear fully knowing I would spend way more time on it than she would spend wearing it. 

 

But isn't it so cute? I even made it out of an extra fact sheet about her I had left over from her birth announcements.

Well, the big day arrived and she woke up a little startled but quickly discovered how fun streamers can be!

Does that really say 2!?! We had a big day planned for her doing what she loves best, so we treated her to a quick yummy breakfast--a cinnamon roll with pink icing and sprinkles.

 
Which she had no trouble digging right into. Actually, before we gave her the fork she started digging in face first like it was an eating contest or something.

Yummy! 

After she was fully fed, we told her about her surprise to go to Disney World! Her birthday was on a Tuesday this year, so Robert was kind enough to take the day off and come with us to celebrate. We thought a lot about what to do for her birthday (party, friends over, etc.) and decided to do what she would love most. She loves Disney World and Mickey and his friends, so that's where we took her.

Doesn't she look thrilled?

So she hated the hat...what else was to be expected. After a short drive, we arrived at the happiest place on earth. We purchased our annual passes and received her birthday pin, then we were off for a fun-filled day. 

Happy Birthday Princess!

This is what Dawson looked like after the first ride. 

He woke up not long after. You can't miss all the fun, right?

Giddy up!

She loves the cars. Hopefully, by the time she is 16 she will have improved on her driving.

It's a wild drive with her in the driver's seat.

Intermission:

Sorry Disney for picking some of your beautiful flowers!

Birthday touch up moment.

Then it was back to playing!

Choo-choo! It's Dawson's first train ride.

Tea cups.

She loved her play day with Dad, Mom, Dawson and a few of her other closest friends:

Goofy

Donald

And the Mouse himself. She was star struck by Mickey, I think because he actually spoke to her and sang her Happy Birthday. She was so excited to go into the room and then just stared at him, patted his nose, and gave him a kiss.

We were having a blast.

We had to stop and get a turkey leg for Robert. 

Dawson wanted some too. Must be a guy thing.

I sure love my cute Mickey Mouse.

It was a perfect day and way to celebrate this cutie-pa-tooty! She was all smiles throughout the day and kept up with the Disney Park pace well. 

We are so blessed to have her and get to know her personality more and more each day. Everyone had a great day.

After we drove home, we let her open her presents.

and eat a nice meal (a/k/a Mac and Cheese).

It is so cute how she has really gotten into imaginative play now. She received some fun presents and enjoyed trying them all out before crashing in bed.

Happy Birthday Annabelle! We are glad you are ours. 

Love you!

Our Low Key New Year's Eve Party

To start, we got dressed up in our best dress

to really make it a true New Year's Eve party.

We followed that up with a rousing game of Jenga, 

which is definitely more fun when you lose. Crash!

 Then we did what every normal American does who stays in on New Year's Eve, we watched the coverage of Times Square on TV.

 However, only a few of us lasted until midnight. Robert and I watched the fireworks together from our front door.

Happy New Year! We are thankful to have another year.

Holiday Cheer

It starts with a tree.

Then the stockings are hung. 

My sweet sister-in-law, Laura, made the cutest advent calendar that contained a quote, scripture, task, and song for each day. It helped us to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas. 

This year was the longest I've ever taken to finish decorating for Christmas (over a week!). It was worth it though to have some feeling of the holiday spirit in our home.

This is how it looked before the kids got to it.

 I tried using the gate again this year. It helped somewhat, but Annabelle loooved the tree and messed with it daily, causing some of the lights to go out. I didn't have any energy left to change them out.

 She could only last so long on the outside. One day, I came out of my room to find her like this (below). So much for the gate. Ha! Actually, it helped keep her mostly out of it. Without it, I think the tree never would have survived till Christmas.

Our complex gets into the spirit as well. I love driving into the parking lot at night and being welcomed to bright shiny balconies.

Annabelle loved all the decor around the building. Getting upstairs takes longer in December as we always have to stop and say hello to the reindeer, snowman, and penguins.

 Per Chateau Tower tradition and right before Robert left for the Baseball Winter Meetings, we watched the St. Pete Beach boat parade.

 It was a great night.

When he got back home we picked right back up with the light fun and went out one evening to Largo City Park to see their lights and play on the playground.

Dawson enjoyed riding along.

They had tons of motorcycles decorated with fun decor and lights. We held our own little dance party.

The following weekend we attended Safety Harbor's Christmas parade.

Annabelle was a very active participant in the parade.

Dawson thought the parade was boring. :D

We had a great time. Annabelle kept wanting her candy opened, but never ate the entire piece. Additionally, she wore each necklace she received.

She raked in the gifts. Someone gave her this Beanie Baby-score! I think she is running out of hands.

In case you're wondering what it looks like to see a monster truck pass you while you are sitting on the curb, here's a glimpse:

I thought for a moment I was back in Georgia.

Just before the big day, we went to see a local house in St. Pete that puts on one of the most interesting light displays I've ever seen. I was in my pjs already when we decided to head out, so I made everyone else get in there jammies as well. We had a lot of fun, so a new tradition was born!

Bubbles!

 This is their yard!

 I'm going to fill this post up with lots of pictures. I kept a lot of duplicates because they are funnier in succession, so hopefully you enjoy. First, you have to envision all those picture perfect photographs you see of kids sweetly laying cookies out for Santa, family Christmas morning photos, etc. 

Got it? Okay...
Here's ours! Starting on Christmas Eve:

This is how we do Santa cookies.

"Cookies! Let me give one a try. Yes, I do think these taste quite nice. I think he'll like them."

Caught red handed!

"No, it wasn't me. I wouldn't eat Santa's cookies. Please, no pictures."

"Hey, look what I can do with this cup!"

"What was in that milk?"

"Just making sure they are still good. Yep. I think these will do nicely."

"Okay, okay, I will put the cookies out. I'm sure he's going to love them. Here you go Santa, I left you the good parts."

"Oh man. I can't help it, the cookies want me to eat them."

"Ummm. I don't have anything in my mouth, I promise. I am finished. I'll be a good girl."

Luckily, it looked like the cookies were good enough because Santa did come and left LOTS of presents for the kiddos.

Family picture time!

Annabelle: "UGH!"

Annabelle: "This isn't any better on Dad's side. How do you like this pose?"

Annabelle: "At least give me some milk." 

Dawson: "Um...she's sitting on me. THIS IS NOT A SEAT. Help! Anyone?" 

Dawson: "I guess we are going with that then?"

Sometimes you just have to shake things up a bit.

Okay, enough. It's not going to happen, so we finally let them open their presents.

Finally! Let's rip and tear.

Dawson had a great time helping out

and playing with all the paper.

 There were so many presents that we had to take a break to get through them all. Lucky kids!

 Merry Christmas!

 One of our favorite gifts was the slide! It's been a great addition to our living room.

Even Dawson gets a turn on it once in awhile. I think he likes it just a little. ;)

Here I am opening my present from Robert. 

SURPRISE! I am going on a cruise at the end of January with my sisters. We have awesome husbands. They got together and booked a cruise for all of us. Even arranged airfare and will be taking care of the kids. 

Robert spoiled me with one of the best gifts I've received. I'm so excited for my girls trip! Thank you Robert!

 Needless to say, it was a looong day. This is what happens when you open and play with presents all morning.

Crashed out in Grandpa's arms.