Christmas in KC

Santa happened to visit our house early as we wanted to avoid transporting things back and forth.  What's great with an infant and 4 year old Christmas can be any day of the week and they don't have to know the difference.  Brady was really excited for his gifts and enjoyed helping Ellie with her gifts as well.  She would be perfectly happy just eating the paper.  Brady thought it was funny that she got chew toys as presents.  We don't need a dog to buy chew toys, we just buy them for our infant.

First Snow 2012

All I can say is that I was so happy Cory was home.  Brrrrr!

Letter to Santa and Wrapping Presents

Brady wrote multiple letters to Santa this year.  He wanted to keep the letters simple and just focus on his list.  Here are a couple of his wishes.  Supper Mario Tennis, Drums, Phone. I get a lot of  "how do you spell....?"   I'm ashamed to admit that sometimes I will leave out words.  Hence, why Super Mario Tennis is missing the Mario and we ran out of room for the S.  We asked Brady why he wanted a phone for Christmas and who was he planning to call.  He told us that he didn't want it to make calls, he wanted it for the games.  We tried to reason with him that games can be played on the iPad, but he remains convinced that a phone would bring him new games that are not available on the iPad.  What did we do before technology.

Brady also had fun helping wrap presents.  This particular present took a good 20 mins and a lot of tape to wrap.  I rewrapped it which I think hurt his feelings a little bit.  He did say it was good I wrapped it again because Kyle could probably see the present and that "wouldn't be good".

Christmas Program

Brady and Ellie both had Christmas programs at school this year.  Program should be used lightly as Ellie's class performance lasted about a minute and Brady's was finished in five minutes. 

Ellie's class sang the 12 days of Christmas.  Ellie did a great job smiling, eating her sign and banging her hand on the ground.   She also loved Santa's beard and had no fear of him.  I have a feeling next year she will not be so welcoming.

Brady's class sang and did actions to a Alvin and the Chipmunks song.  He did a good job with the singing and actions.  Coordinating twenty 3 - 4 year olds is no easy task.  After the program Santa visited and talked with the kids.  One of the kids asked if he was the real Santa Clause.  Santa responded simply with "No".   All of the parents gave a surprising look expecting some type of explanation, but the conversation just moved onto the next topic.  No more questions about the true identity of Santa.

Brady and his best friend Marcus.

Videos of the performances:

Christmas in Wichita

We had a busy weekend in Wichita.  We celebrated Christmas with my mom & sisters, saw my dad, Christmas with grandparents and celebrated my Grandpa Larry, Lexi and Pam's birthdays.  Exhausted just thinking about everything we fit into the 24 hours.  Here are a few pictures of the kids. 

Ellie is surrounded by the Christmas talking, noise making stuffed animals.  She's not sure what to think.  Grandma Janet tried to send us home with some of these, but I thought it made more sense for them to continue to live in Wichita.

Ellie - 6 Months

Ellie is 6 months!

Unofficial Stats:

Weight: 15 pounds 9 ounces

Height: 25 inches

Other highlights from the past month:

• Sleeping -  She's been going to bed around 8:30pm and usually sleeps until around 5:30 - 6:00. Occasionally she will wake up to eat earlier in the morning, but she is more consistently sleeping through the night. 
• Favorite activities - Playing on the floor with her toys.  Putting everything she can put her hands on in her mouth.  Playing with Brady.  She loves laughing with him.
• Dislikes -  She is a very happy baby, but you can instantly make her angry by using the nasal aspirator.
• Notable accomplishments - She sits pretty well on her own.  She can sit for at least 30 seconds without support. 
• Eating - She has started solids.  So far she has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes and green beans.
• Other notable activities - Ellie celebrated Thanksgiving in Wichita.  She also went on a Disney Cruise.

Here are some new pics!

Winter Wonderland 2012

Every year Cerner has a Christmas holiday event for the kids.  It is very well organized with lots of activities for younger kids.  They have a Santa Clause and every kid gets a book as a present.  I thought the ring toss onto Cory's head was pretty funny.