December 2010 - Christmas & New Years!

December was a busy month for us! Check out what we were up to:

On the 10th Justin & I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. I know I say this all the time but I can't believe how fast time has gone by! I remember planning every last detail of our wedding, sending out invitations, finding the perfect dress, getting ready, and finally, walking down the aisle! So much has happened happened since then - I graduated with my masters, we have both had new jobs, we bought our first house and put in a pool, and we had Aubrey! Justin and I celebrated our anniversary by going to dinner at a new Italian restaurant, followed by dessert at our favorite wine bar; it was the perfect way to celebrate five years!

We tried to think of special things we could do this year to celebrate Christmas with Aubrey. The only problem is there is not much you can do with an eleven month old that they will enjoy! We went to look at Christmas lights in Grand Prairie - she slept through the whole thing. We decorated the tree with Bitsy and Aunty Eileen - that was okay but she got sleepy early. We went to Breakfast with Santa at the Neiman Marcus downtown - she LOVED it! We headed downtown on a Sunday morning and made our way to Neiman's, which was closed for the day, except for breakfast. We were seated at a lovely table with our name on it and waited for breakfast to be brought out. While we were waiting we were visited by Santa's elf who was making balloon animals for all the kids. Aubrey was fascinated by the elf's outfit and balloons. She loved the balloon snowglobe she received! As they were bringing out the food Santa walked in with a great big "HO HO HO!" It was a lot of fun to watch as all the kids turned around to look. While we were eating Santa made his way to our table. Aubrey wasn't all that interested, however she was perplexed by his big silver belt buckle. When we finished eating they invited all the children out to the middle to listen to live music and dance around. We were a little hesitant to send tiny Aubrey out there but she did great. There was a group of little girls that came up to her and were paying her a lot of attention, which she enjoyed. Once dance time was over we headed downstairs to have pictures taken with Santa. At this point Aubrey was exhausted and ready for a nap! All in all, I think she had a great time!

On Christmas Eve we stayed in the Driskoll with Bitsy. It is such a beautiful hotel and is very festive, we love spending time here every year. Aubrey had great fun puttering around the suite...the best thing about hotels is they are virtually baby proof. She was able to move about freely and check everything out. She had a lot of fun running from room to room. We had a fancy dinner in the grill...my favorite part was the amuse bouche and the gnocchi. Justin was brave and tried oysters. He seemed to like them but they looked pretty slimy to me. After dinner Aubrey went to bed in her cute Christmas nightie and waited for Santa to come. Christmas morning Aubrey opened her stocking, which she was actually pretty into, much to my surprise. Her stocking had a stuffed Grinch in it, little balls that light up, and a pair of black patent keds. Everything was a hit! Justin and I opened our stockings from mom, and mom opened her stocking from us. Later in the morning we headed to Uncle Dennis and Aunt Martha's house, where we had a yummy breakfast and fun opening presents. Aubrey was more into the bags and wrapping paper than the actual presents. She also was having fun picking one thing up and carrying it around the room. Here is a list of what Aubrey took home for Christmas:

-Clothes, clothes, and more clothes!
-Xylephone
-Marracas
-Tambourine
-Drums
-Winnie the pooh toy
-Books
-a llama llama toy
-a talking lambchop toy
-a lei with a big bell on it
-a stuffed gorilla
-Fischer Price kitchen
-Shoes
-TWO COLLEGE FUNDS!!! One from Bitsy & one from grandpa! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
-I know there is more but I've already forgotten!!

We headed back to Dallas on Christmas Day - Aubrey slept the entire way home. The next day Aubrey's Grandpa came over for lunch and a visit. She has grown so much since the last time they saw each other! It was nice to be able to visit with him and let Aubrey get to show off all her new skills. We had a great time, I wish we could do it more often!

We didn't do anything for New Years, which was kind of nice after all of the holiday festivities. Bitsy and I took Aubrey to lunch at Gloria's on New Years Eve. Aubrey enjoyed looking at all of the decorations, especially the balloons. The rest of the day was pretty normal - play, eat, play, bath, bedtime! Justin and I had a nice dinner at home and then went to bed early, only to be woken up by little miss in the middle of the night. I can say that it was the first time I've been awake at midnight on New Years in a long time!

Aubrey's first Christmas season was perfect. We were able to celebrate in different ways and got to spend time with family and friends. We kept old traditions and started new ones. I can't wait until next year, when she can understand what is going on a little more!