Christmas Festivities

We enjoyed having Joseph home for a few days during Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we visited the duck pond in town and played at the park there. We skyped with some family that night as well. After dinner, I gave everyone their Christmas Eve boxes with new pajamas and a fun movie to watch. Several months ago, Ashton played at a friend's house and saw the movie, Cars. Anytime we talk about her friend, Will, she immediately wants to watch Cars again. Being the cool mom I am, I borrowed it from a friend (I'm not cool enough to buy it). We laid out blankets and Ashton actually sat still for the first 30-45 minutes of the movie. After that, she could care less. Oh well. It's the thought that counts, right?

Christmas morning was fun. We got up, had breakfast, and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Ashton blew out two candles in behalf of the special day. We opened presents and Ashton loved all of them. She immediately wanted to play with each one. Joseph and I got her a balance bike since she is outgrowing the tricycle she has. Well, we mentioned that she had to be more careful with the new bike as she could fall. Now, she's scared to ride it. Fail! Maybe one day she'll change her mind.

She got fancy boots from my brother and his wife. They had to be worn the moment she opened them.

And a tutu...

Excited about a Messi jersey.

This is what she looked like most of the morning.

The adorable outfit my brother got for her.

Joe's sister got him a light-up Astros hat. Ashton likes wearing it too.

We spent the rest of Christmas morning/afternoon hanging out around the house. We had a family over for dinner that night and Ashton played with her friend. They always have a good time together.

As always, we missed being with our families during the holiday season. But unless airfare drops a ton, we will be spending holidays in Texas. It is nice to continue our own traditions though so we don't mind. Crazy to think next year we'll have two kids to celebrate Christmas with!

Why We Need a Dog

This Christmas, we have the privilege of dog sitting for our neighbor. Ashton loves this dog so it was easy to say yes. Ashton loves dogs in general but having one in our house has made her very happy. She wakes up in the morning and from naps and immediately requests to wake up Sprinkles. Here's some evidence of the fun times they are having together.

Filling her food tray with plastic food. At least Ashton isn't trying to eat the dog food.

Ashton will be pretty bummed when Sprinkles leave. So will I. It is great entertainment as I can sit on the couch and let them play. Maybe a dog will be under the Christmas tree next year...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I'm really enjoying Ashton's age this Christmas season. She is young enough where presents, wish lists, and consumerism are way over her head. However, she cares about decorating, Christmas lights, and other Christmas festivities. Our town has quite a few Christmas-y events so we've done some the last week or so.

Our traditional gingerbread decorating kit. She loved decorating the train.

We went to one activity at night that we probably won't visit again. They had "trolley" rides and since Ashton loves Daniel Tiger with trolley, I told her about it. Of course she wanted to go. So we went. It took over an hour of waiting in line for us to ride the trolley (which was just a trailer attached to a pick-up truck). She did great waiting and enjoyed playing with her glow stick that the event planners handed out.

I took her to the library for their holiday open house and they had Santa come. Ashton doesn't really understand Santa and doesn't talk about him. But she loved seeing him and sitting on his lap. This girl has no fear of strangers, which is both good and bad. She also made some cool ornaments there.

No fear. Went running towards him and loved sitting with him.

We went to a church that hosts a live nativity each year. They had hay rides and a petting zoo as well. Ashton enjoyed all of it. While there, we walked over to the local park's Christmas festivity where we met Santa again and roasted a marshmallow

On the hay ride

She's obsessed with the blow up lawn decorations on our street and loved that she could stand right next to some at the park.

No fear again.

Roasting some marshmallows. She thought it was cool to roast it for 3 seconds, take a bite, and then roast it some more. Her fingers were super sticky.

In other news, I'm ready for Christmas to be here because it means 2-5 weeks until we meet our baby boy. I'm measuring a few weeks behind all of a sudden, which is what I did with Ashton so doctor isn't worried. I am guessing baby boy will be bigger than she was simply because I think he will come later than her. I'm just hoping he's not over 9 lbs! Anemia is worse this time around but we finally got that under control. He is extremely active. Any time I sit to rest for a minute, he's kicking away. And these are some powerful kicks too. I don't recall having that with Ashton so I'm hoping he's getting out his energy out now and will be chill when he comes (wishful thinking at least).

Joseph received a new calling at church today. Since we moved to Lake Jackson, he has served in Young Men's. When the wards combined over a year ago, he continued to serve with the young men organization. Well, now he gets to serve with the young men in the Spanish branch. He was called as the Young Men's president in their branch. Thankfully, the times work out that he can still attend sacrament meeting with me and then go to his meetings/church. It will make for crazy Sundays but we'll adjust with time. We definitely did not see that coming and were shocked when he was extended the call.