Highlights of November:
Um yeah, I can't really remember November. I must have blocked it out. I remember Thanksgiving but of course, we were all sick. Aubrey had her very first ear infection this month and it was painful for all!
Highlights of December:
Despite being sick Bitsy and I were determined to celebrate the holiday season to its fullest. We kicked off the season with the Rockettes Christmas show. I messed up and got us tickets in the 4th row which was a little too close, but Aubrey loved it. She stood up for the whole 2 hour show and watched in amazement as the ladies kicked, danced, and tapped. Getting to watch her reaction to it all was priceless.
Our next event was a night of gingerbread house making and tree decorating. I was stressed about the tree because sometime over the past year rats chewed up the lights on the tree, but Bitsy was nice enough to put some fresh lights on for me. We decorated a gingerbread house which was a hot mess, but still fun. Aubrey was more interested in eating the candy than putting it on the house but that's not a surprise!
Of course, we had to take Aubrey to look at holiday lights so we did a quick pass through Farmers Branch one night which was a lot of fun. She loved it so much we couldn't wait to take her to Prairie Lights. We got to Prairie Lights when they opened and sat in line to get in for about an hour. At this point, preggo Mandy had to go potty! My only option was a port-a-potty and while I insisted I could hold it Bitsy made me go, lol. The lights were pretty as always but Aubrey especially enjoyed getting out and walking through the lit park. This was the first time we've ever done that and it was definitely worth it!
Next up was cookie/candy making...Bitsy and I do this every year for mine and Justin's co-workers and while I never actually enjoy the process it is fun to give out our goodies. This year we had white chocolate covered oreos that were decorated like snowmen, homemade peanut butter cups with sea salt (they were amazing!), peppermint puppy chow, and something else but I've forgotten. I think we'd enjoy the process more if we didn't try to get everything done in one day, so maybe next year we'll remember that!
Christmas!
We spent Christmas eve with grandpa as always and it was a great night. We hung out, had a picnic in the living room, and got ready for Santa Claus. This year I made Aubrey a Christmas Eve bag which had new Christmas pj's, matching pj's for Meagan, a snowman glow stick, red and green m&m's, and a new Christmas book - basically everything you'd need to enjoy Christmas Eve. She put on her new nightie and had a dance party with grandpa before he left. When he left she hung her stocking, set out Santa's cookies, and hung a special Santa key on the door. She went to bed but was pretty much up all night because she was sick but she didn't let this interfere with the excitement of Christmas morning. Santa brought Aubrey a keyboard and a new American girl doll named Ally, along with a stocking filled with goodies. Aubrey skipped over the big gifts and went straight for the stocking. She loved pulling out what was in there and playing with everything. She got a princess wallet with fake money, a flashlight that puts dinosaurs on the ceiling, nail polish, lip gloss, and various other things. When the rest of us were opening our stockings we looked over to find Aubrey painting her toenails by herself - what a mess! After stockings we packed up and headed to Dennis & Martha's were we had breakfast and set to opening gifts. Aubrey was pretty sick but she got so wrapped up in the excitement of the morning that she was able to have fun. She got a ton of presents but her favorites were:
-A cinderella suitcase filled with dress-up clothes
-Ladybug Dream Lites
-Telephones: 2 telephones connected by a long tube, old school style
-"Dragons Love Tacos" book
After presents we stayed for a tamale lunch and then headed home. It was a long trip with a sick kiddo but we made it to Bitsy's house in time to have a nice Christmas dinner and play with Aubrey's new toys. The weather started to get bad and we woke up the next morning to ice and snow!
New Years!
New Years? What's that? It's been so long since we celebrated I can't remember what one is supposed to do....Anyway, it came and went and now it is 2013!
