I feel like we're so behind on blogging. We've been posting pictures, but haven't included much about our happenings. And now, as luck would have it, I have no idea where to begin! I guess we'll just skip to December!
My friend, Christy, and I got together just before Thanksgiving and made homemade Advent calendars for our girls. (picture to follow). Each day Allie receives a small piece of chocolate and an activity for that day. Boy does she love her calendar. Surprisingly, she gets more excited about the activity than the treat! So far, we've done lots of craft projects (paper chains, construction paper Christmas trees and candy canes) decorated a gingerbread house and made marshmallow snowmen...just to name a few. We had our first measurable snowfall today and it was so nice to hunker down inside and keep busy with our crafts.
In addition to the Advent calendar, we also had a cookie exchange with friends and celebrated St. Nick's day on Dec. 6th (a big tradition here due to our town's German ancestry). He left a few small presents under the tree for Allie and Katelyn. It was double the fun for Allie though, as she enjoyed unwrapping both hers and Katelyn's gifts!
This is the first year that Allie seems to (somewhat) grasp Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, etc. She's enjoying the festivities (albeit small - reading stories, watching movies, listening to music, etc.) leading up to Dec. 25th. And Alex and I are having such a fun time watching her experience these for the first time.
Well, I can't finish this post without some talk about little Ms. Katelyn. She's such a happy baby. She smiles all the time, is a chatterbox and loves to interact with Mommy, Daddy and Allie. She's sleeping pretty consistently now in terms of when she naps (ready for bed about 1.5 - 2 hours after waking from sleep). However, the nap durations are still very unpredictable. At night she still wakes up every 2-3 hours. Sometimes she'll drift off as soon as we put the pacifier in her mouth. Other times, we feed her and then she goes back down shortly there after. Regardless, it'll be nice when she's sleeping for 6 hour stretches without requiring Mommy's or Daddy's attention!
And, now, what you've been waiting for... the pictures!
Katleyn - Perusing her book (it's just an excuse to show off her Santa suit)
Allie - decorating a gingerbread house
The girls - taking a bath together
Allie playing dress up - It takes a certain person to pull this look off!
Katelyn - chillin' with her girlfriends, Ella (2 months) and Pyper (almost 4 months)
The girls relaxing one morning
We hope you all are having a very enjoyable holiday season!
