Christmas Eve, all dressed up and ready to party!!
I have been on break from school since Dec. 12th, yet I feel like life has been busier then ever! I had a hard time finding free time to blog, because instead, it seemed there was always something to be done to prepare for dear Jesus's birthday, our favorite holiday!
Nothing makes the holidays more frustrating then having to be three places in one day. This year we had many, different celebrations, with different parts of our families, and it couldn't have been better!
Christmas Eve was awesome, a small crowd, and best of all only one place to be at one time. Amazing! My brothers went to their wives' families, which made for a small gathering, and all healthy adults made for a Violet friendly environment. Score!
Violet with G.G. ( Great Grandma O.)
Daddy & Ava....she fell asleep on the 5 minute car ride over, and boy she was NOT happy to be woken up!
Violet happy to see Mimi
Her nurse's kit, like mommy!
Lucky for Violet, she happens to have three toys now named Violet. She thinks it's pretty cool, Ava is still asking if there is an Ava dog?!?
Snuggling mommy
Our family (minus Kylie) Christmas Eve 2012
Mimi and her girls
her shirt says " A is for Adorable" but she saw the A and said " A is for A-V-A"
Violet's 2nd Christmas, but 1st time opening her own gifts!!
Not so thrilled with the new hat..but with a head that big it was a must. She's now wearing 2t hats, same as Ava :)
Ava being silly with Aunt Lindsay
Someone didn't want to leave the party, but we had to get home and get to bed before Santa came!
So proud of the cookies and milk for Santa and the carrots and water for rudolph
and the candy cane for Santa to take with him
We made sure the fireplace was nice and clean for Santa.... then off to bed they went, and Mommy and Daddy (Santa's elves) stayed up til 2am cooking a brisket and putting together their big surprises!
Christmas morning came, and mommy and daddy's first gift was the gift of sleep! No early morning risers here, in fact I think I woke them up at 9 because I was dying to see their faces when they saw what Santa brought them! So we rushed to get dressed ( in new outfits of course) and went downstairs!
Checking out the new trampoline...they are professional bouncers already
A little unsure about her new trike at first, now we can't keep her off of it. As soon as it warms up I have a feeling we will be out riding bikes all the time
She's been asking for a guinea pig, but were putting it off a few years. So I got her a life like puppy Fluffy Snowflake. She really barks, and walks on a leash. I told Ava she has to walk her everyday, and that's one of the things you do to take care of your own pet......
So shortly after, someone else adopted Snowflake!!
Soon this dancing family will be rockin and rollin together, thanks to Santa!!
Violet giving Kylie a hand opening her gifts
Then it was time for the O'Leary side of things. I think this was Violet's second time (ever) being able to play with her 3 cousins. She loved it! She is really a kids' kid, and was in awe of other little people, and not shy about showing it!
Big Hugs for her big sissy...notice the purple shoes, MY favorite gift Violet got this Christmas. So perfect for her, awesome color, and she needed new sneakers!
2 of the O'Leary brothers and crew. We just keep expanding! 5 kids under 4, and surprisingly all but one are looking at the camera, not bad!
But with that many kids, the house didn't stay neat for long......
and they played so hard some got worn out!!
Last but not least we had 1 more celebration on Saturday. We got to see cousins we only see once or twice a year, and our newest cousin, only 4 months old!
Princess Ava and Princess Linden
2 tired princesses
It seemed like each time we cleaned up the scraps of wrapping paper, folded all the cardboard and found homes for the new toys and clothes we'd have another party and the girls got more stuff! What a problem to have right? We were soooo blessed this year, and I can honestly say everything they got was fun, educational or needed. No junk toys! Lots of art stuff, which they love! Some of their imaginary ink marker books are already complete!
They figured out how to multi task
They were reading while jumping
Painting and coloring with snack
and lots of giggling
and singing while jumping
and more singing... they gave us a concert including Adam Lambert, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Beiber and some my little pony songs!
Taking turns doing karaoke
Sometimes you gotta take a call during breakfast
Checking out one of Violet's toys
Only took a few tries, but she figured it out!
They may not always want to share, but they
always make up!
We had a very Merry Christmas, hope you did too!
