ICE & Christmas 2010

This was the first year we visited the Gaylord Texan at Christmas time.  Jeff surprised me by taking the day off on my birthday and we headed out to see ICE, which is an incedible ice sculpture display at the resort with a theme of Charlie Brown Christmas this year.  Every room was a different scene from the movie made completely of scuplted and colored ice.  Ava was totally amazed!  The temperature in the exhibit is 9 below zero so we wore large coats inside.  We had lunch and walked around the hotel after buying tickets.  It was a great birthday!

In the very last room of the ice exhibit is a large nativity scene and the Christmas story plays in the background.  Ava was excited to see baby Jesus and we were excited to see Christ in a public forum.  What an incedible sight to see among so much commercialism! 

Ava sitting next to a sculpted reindeer

Ava checking out Santa with Daddy......but keeping her distance

Christmas Eve Church Service

Christmas Eve at Poppy & Grammy's House. 

Ava pushes Elmo in her new shopping cart while Daddy & Uncle are busy putting presents together

  

Opening presents was so much fun that Ava decided she should open all of Keegan's gifts for him this year :)

She's probably beginning to wonder where this phantom brother is!  Just eleven more weeks!

Ladybug Pillow Pet from Aunt Kara & Uncle Adam!

Christmas at Nana & Gramps House

After 3 days of Christmas, all three of us needed a very long nap!

These are a few of my favorite things........

I know that Christmas will be different for Ava every year; just as it is to every child. I wanted to take a minute to quickly list Ava's favorite things about Christmas 2010 (random as they may be.)  I hope to remember the little things that made us smile this season...... all because they made her smile.

1. The Grinch and his dog Max (we've seen the movie more than a dozen times already)

2. Mini Candy Canes (unless they come from Santa)

3. Singing along to "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas"

4. Her Pooh Bear & Piglet Ornament (it moves branches on the tree several times a week)

5. Hearing the "Snoopy Song" on the Radio (the piano song on Charlie Brown Christmas)

6. Sticking Bows to Presents once they are Wrapped 

Busy Sunday Afternoon

I feel like there are so many things to try to fit into the holiday season and not enough time to do everything.  Ava is at such a fun age that everything we do is more exciting than its ever been because of her enjoyment and funny comments.  Since she was born, I've looked forward to making cookies with her so we gave it our best shot last night.  We decorated snow men, stockings & Christmas tree cookies with chocolate chips, sprinkles & bright red icing (that I'm about to have to clean up off our table and kitchen floor.)  While it was probably more of a mess than a success it was such a fun time together!  The funniest part was I began to notice that everytime I looked away or walked away to get something her decorated cookies were ending up in her mouth....one by one.  I wasn't even able to take picures of the ones she made because they disappeared so quickly!  She would tell you that eating them is much more fun than decorating them :)

With all the business of the holidays, this pregnancy is flying by!  We realized yesterday that our baby boy will be here in exactly three months and we still have so much to do.  It's so different decorating for a boy than a girl.  I have had to completely switch gears and remove myself from all things pink, frilly & floral.  We decided to buy wooden letters for Keegan and paint them in the colors of his room.  Of course Ava helped us paint (with her own brush and a bowl of water.)  It only took a couple of hours and we are really excited about how they turned out!  Now we have to decide if we will hang them above the crib or stand them up on a wall shelf.

Ava's visit with Saint Nick

Every year Santa visits our neighborhood tree lighting festivites.  We enjoy carriage rides and a petting zoo along with hot chocolate & cookies.  This was Ava's second year to sit in Santa's lap and while she had to be bribed with a cookie and did not come close to giving us a smile, I think we would all agree that she didn't look as terrified as last year! 

She definitely had more fun feeding the animals with Daddy in the petting zoo.