Christmas

This was by far the best Christmas we've had in a long time.  Definitely the best yet as a family.  Other than me not getting much time off of work, it was wonderful.  We went to Woodward to visit my mom and brother for Christmas.  Nice and relaxing.  I was able to have lunch with my two best friends from high school, Andrea and Michelle.  I'm bummed I didn't get a picture of us for the blog.

Avery made cookies for Santa with Nana and we opened our presents Christmas Eve.  Avery had so many gifts (mostly from Nana) that she didn't get through them all before she went to bed.  Santa did visit the next morning, which Avery confirmed by looking at the milk and cookies before under the tree.  I still don't think she fully gets it, but by next year she will for sure.  Santa brought Avery a bicycle, piano mat, games and sadly I don't remember what else, but there was a lot.  

We had to leave Oklahoma a day early because of a winter storm moving in. Good thing we did too or we would have been snowed in OK for a few extra days.  It would have been great to see snow, but I had to get back to work.  Instead, we spent the day driving and running from tornadoes which was very scary.

When we got back from OK, Jason's side of the family came to Houston for Christmas round 2.  Brett and Caleb were in from New York too, so it was the whole family and wonderful.  We went to Discovery Green one day and took Avery ice skating for the second time this season.

For New Years Eve we went to the Holcombes' beach house in Galveston.  It was cold so we hung out inside for most of it, except for fireworks for the girls.  Again we tried to let Avery and Maddie sleep together without success.  Finally at 10:59 p.m. we went and got them out of the room, let them celebrate the NY ball drop with us and then put them in separate rooms.

The new year has started off busy professionally.  Both jobs are busy and EMH is expecting a lot of growth this year.  All of that is good, but it's going to be a tough year for me to juggle.  Jason and I are going to Las Vegas next weekend with Stephanie and Randy for Steph's birthday and Dede and Jerry are watching the girls (THANK YOU!!!!).  We have Grand Cayman in April, Florida in May and I'm going to California in August to see Adele (Hello...).  We'll have to squeeze in a few more trips somewhere, but nothing planned yet.

Both girls are doing great.  Avery is getting so big.  She is a little girl with a big vocabulary and a smart, smart brain.  She is silly and sassy with a bad case of hives right now.  (an allergic reaction to something, we can't figure out what).

Emily is growing like a weed.  A weed that is fed a lot. She started solids at 6 months and quickly went from not knowing how to eat to eating 6+ oz of solids a day.  She has mastered sitting up, but has no interest in crawling.  Being held so much over the holidays probably didn't help.  At her six month apt. she was 26" height (55%), 16lb (57%) and 17.13" head (84%).  She has a full head of hair that is turning blonde and an adorable "Trump" comb-over up front.