One More for 2009...

I needed to include just one more photo for 2009... Ever since I can remember, my parents always gave us a coin to hold as we rang in the New Year. Some years they were silver dollars, sometimes it was a quarter or a fifty cent piece. Some years they had to wake me up to hold my coins and some years they called me to make sure I had my coin at midnight. But every year we all held a coin on New Year's Eve as a lucky charm and a wish to prosperity in the upcoming year. As long as you kept your coin all year, you would never go without. Or so the story goes. I've always tried to hold onto my coin and I have had a very blessed life. Coincidence? Probably. But its still a tradition I intend to continue with Emma. Thanks to Karen too for getting the coins ready tonight and helping to keep this tradition alive. This year, Emma was fast asleep and I was hesitant to wake her as I'm tired too. So, at midnight, I held both our coins in one hand and her little hand in my other. A perfect way to ring in the new year. Here's a picture of Emma, fast asleep alongside both our quarters.

New Year's Eve!

Counting down till noon, at which time we shot off little confetti poppers. (Thanks to Jen for this picture I bootlegged from her!)


Helping Emma & TJ set off their poppers! (Thanks for this photo & the next 2 Sarah!)


Oh! Surprised at the poppers!


Pretty girl with pretty streamers in her hair.


Emma LOVES her popcorn!




Group shot of Matthew, TJ, Emma, & Mikayla, post-baths and pre-"party."


Intently watching Goosebumps DVDs and eating snacks.

We had a low key New Year's today. We went to a "Countdown to Noon" playdate at Jen & Hayden's house this morning since neither Emma, nor her little friends will be up at midnight. Truthfully, I most likely won't be awake that late either! :) The kids had fun playing with toys, having lunch, and shooting confetti poppers. Then Emma had a mini-party with TJ, Mikayla, and Matthew this evening. The kids enjoyed some popcorn and licorice while watching a goosebumps DVD. Yes, my kid likes creepy movies. Her current favorite is "Monster House!" She's so funny. She lasted till almost 9:30... which is plenty late for me. That's almost 2 hours later than her normal bedtime. Now if only she'll sleep in two hours late tomorrow morning... Now THAT would be a way to ring in the New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Here's to 2010!!!

Playdough!

All of the kids (Emma, TJ, Matthew, Mikayla,, & Lucy) got play-dough in their stockings from Santa this year. It was a big hit with them and Santa was especially happy since he got it all from the Halloween clearance section for 75% off! :) So Emma and the boys spent most yesterday's raining morning molding and rolling and making endless "balls" and "snakes." Emma had also got this coconutty monkey for her birthday and she loves making playdough hair with it!

"Disneyland" (sort of) and Pez!

Grandma gets each of the kids a $25 gift card each Christmas and I took the older girls to Target yesterday to use theirs. I had actually intended to use Emma's card to buy diapers since I figured she didn't know the difference anyway. And then she saw this toy.... and fell in love with it. Emma loves her new Little People amusement park ~ she calls it "Disneyland!" So funny. It has the rocket ride, spinning teacups, a roller coaster, and a ferris wheel. I can see why she thinks its Disneyland. I think I'm going to remove the batteries when she's not looking though because the "music" is ridiculously loud and annoying, especially for a toddler toy.




Emma also got a Pez dispenser in her stocking this year. I loaded it for her and let her have a couple pieces this morning... she thought it was really cool to have the candy pop out of Buzz Lightyear's head! It's so neat to watch how excited she gets over simple things like a 99 cent Pez dispenser.

Favorite Christmas Photos!

I already posted a bunch of pictures as a montage, but some people have problems viewing them, so I posted some of my favorite Emma pictures from the day below. These are some of the ones I liked best...


One of Emma's early presents was the Tinkerbell toothbrush holder and she loves it. We must be averaging 4 to 5 times a day for teeth brushing lately. In fact, Emma told me she needed to "Bush Teef" BEFORE we went to see what Santa brought! Wonder how much longer I can milk that mindset...


How am I going to maneuver around all these stockings???


Emma couldn't believe her luck when she found a whole tub of cotton candy under the tree with her name on it! On a side note, Santa couldn't believe it when he found cotton candy for $1.00 a tub at Walmart as compared to $3.50 a bag at Disneyland!!! :)


Gotta get the paper off quickly!


Princess Jasmine is almost as big as Emma!


Mommy & Emma in front of the tree before everyone else got there and the madness began...


Uncle Kenny with Emma,TJ, & Matthew...


Taking off to ride around the block... Man, Emma picked up this pedaling thing quickly! I had seen her scooting around on a trike at daycare, but didn't know she could actually RIDE one. She figured it out immediately.


Emma LOVED her new princess plate with her picture on it!


I got Emma 4 new personalized books this year. This one, "Emma's Seasons," is her favorite so far.


She fell asleep before we even finished unwrapping gifts. Such a sweet girl...

Christmas Morning 12/25/09 at OneTrueMedia.com

Here's a collage of photos from our Christmas morning... Hope you all enjoy it! We had a great day and Emma loved all her toys from Santa. We are so blessed to have each other and our family. It was a great day!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Santa Came!

As Emma slept, Santa came! He left Emma a tricycle and a shopping cart full of veggies and other food (TJ got both too). She's going to be so excited when she wakes up tomorrow morning!!!

Christmas Eve Jammies!

Emma got to open her one Christmas Eve gift tonight - new jammies! She loves her pink Minnie jammies and they are cozy which is great since she is always kicking off the blankets while she sleeps. TJ got matching jammies too, but they are green and blue with Mickey and, since Matthew is with us this Christmas, I got him some too! He got GI Joe. The funny thing is that I forgot to have Emma open her gift BEFORE her bath, so that is why she is sitting in her diaper opening a present!. I took Matthew and Emma to McDonald's for dinner earlier tonight too. I'm sensing a possible Christmas Eve tradition brewing... No cooking, no mess to clean up in the kitchen AND the kids ran themselves silly and were ready for bed soon after getting home! This was Emma's 1st trip to McDonald's and she LOVED climbing all over the play equipment. She was a little hesitant to cross the netted areas but I heard her telling Matthew, "Hold my hand Matt-you." And, when he did, she got braver and started climbing all over. It was a good evening. :)

Christmas Carols 12/23/09 at OneTrueMedia.com

Emma sang some Christmas songs for me today and actually let me tape them too! I can't believe how well she does singing all these songs. I especially can't believe that she adamantly refused to sing any of these songs last week at her school performance!! Talk about a stubborn kid...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Christmas Lights in Rancho

We decided to venture out in search of new Christmas lights this year. Karen & I had both heard about an "amazing" neighborhood in Rancho Cucamonga from our respective friends. So we checked it out last night. It took 3 cars to get us all there - Emma & I, Karen, Todd, Mikayla, & TJ, Katie, Lucy, & Tim, Scott & Matthew, and Grandma! Whew! That's a big group. So big in fact, we lost a member at one point! Mikayla went one way while the rest of us walked another way. Talk about scary. Luckily, she knew her mom's number by heart and borrowed a cell from another mommy to find us as we were searching for her. She did very well, exactly what she should in a situation like that, but it was traumatic for her none the less. Between the traffic, the overwhelming mobs of people, 2 tired toddlers, and Mikayla's mishap, we had a lot of tears by the end of the night. Not sure this excursion will make the cut to become an annual tradition... Even though Emma finally found a Santa Claus that she wasn't afraid to approach!

Christmas Party at the Eagles Club

We went to the annual Eagles' Children's Christmas party yesterday afternoon. Emma enjoyed her cotton candy (surprise, surprise) and her balloon animal. She still didn't want to sit with Santa, but did like the present she got... despite the exasperated look on her face!

Christmas Craft Day 2009

We did our annual craft day this weekend. All the kids spent the night at our house Friday. We had a big holiday breakfast - eggnog french toast, bacon, and fresh tangerines and blackberries - when we got up. Then we all painted Christmas ornaments and Christmas treasure boxes. Emma chose a gingerbread man box. :) We also make a special ornament each year to hold one of Emma's Christmas photos. This year it was a square frame with a little snowy house and we painted it to look like the night sky.