Christmas Day

On Christmas day we woke up and headed to Dallas. Our first stop was in Corsicana to have Christmas with Terry's family.



By this time Bella was really starting to get the hang of opening presents. It really didn't matter if it was hers or not.



Bella got to see all of her cousins. Again, I just didn't do a very good job of taking pictures this year. This is her cousin Stephanie.



Bella being silly with cousin Jordan. Our stop in Corsicana was quick because we were double booked on Christmas day. Thank goodness they were only a little over an hour apart!

We left Corsicana and headed further North up to Denton to spend Christmas with my dad's side of the family. More family time!




Bella was showing Papa her new book that he and Mema gave her.

The whole gang was there except my brother and his family. Normally we take TONS of pictures of each family. All the cousins. It irritates all the boys to death. This year we somehow did not take any of those pictures. I'm not sure how this happened. Kinda disappointing. I know all the boys were probably devastated.



I however HAD to have our picture. This was the only picture our little family took in front of the tree all season.

Sunday we all got up and went to church with Mema and Papa. We took up a whole pew and there were 11 of us missing. Our family just keeps growing!



Bella cooperated for a few pictures in front of the tree! I'm not real sure where the curtsy came from but it was too cute not to post.

And we snuck in a picture of Bella with her great grandparents.

We had a great holiday season. The tree is now put away but I can't wait to get it back our again next year!

Christmas

This year we moved Christmas Eve and Christmas Day up by one day. We did our family gifts on the 23rd. I must admit I did not do good at all taking pictures of Christmas this year. I suppose I just wanted to actually be in the moment as opposed to worrying about preserving the memory on camera. We still got a couple of cute pictures.

Bella is VERY into My Little Pony right now. She also loves mermaids. These are My Little Pony Mermaids. They are also very small with lots of little pieces. I'm not sure WHAT we were thinking!!



She is also VERY into the Disney Princesses. She was beside herself that she has all of them now. They are constantly being undressed and redressed. They all share clothes but she knows which dress belongs on each doll. Smart girl!



Christmas Eve morning was our Christmas Day morning. Santa brought Bella a new kitchen and some new food. So fun. The night before we told her that Santa was coming and she was so excited. I got the feeling that she thought she was going to be able to see him. I gently told her he would be coming while she was asleep and she wouldn't get to see him. I broke my baby girls heart. Her whole face fell and big-o tears started streaming down her face in a silent cry before she fell into her daddy's chest. It was so sad but fortunately short lived.



Last year we started a tradition of my parents coming over Christmas morning and watching Bella get her Santa gifts, then cooking breakfast. They came again this year! Somehow I missed getting pictures of them being there.

What a MESS!! Oh well, At least she was having fun.

Christmas with the Coxes

Our Christmas with my side of the family was very low key this year. It was nice to just hang out with the whole family. It's always fun to watch the kids open presents.

The boy with the droopy drawers. He is such a cutie!



Courtney



This is what Dad did the majority of the night. He filmed us all opening our gifts.

Bella got some new panties. That is a WHOLE other blog post. Needless to say, potty training at the Richards' house is interesting.

We had chili for dinner and chatted around the table after we opened presents. I didn't take many pictures this holiday season but I promise Mom, Terry, Tim, Alyssa, and I were all there!

Festival of Lights

We met the Douglas clan in Galveston for the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens. Last year our little family of three did this by ourselves. It was fun to have the Douglas family with us this year. Of course Bella was in heaven with her BFF Avery. She actually loves every member of the Douglas family. We got there first and were waiting out front for them. Bella saw them walking up and and took off running towards Lori, jumped into her arms, and threw her arms around her. I'm not sure I've ever gotten a welcome like that from her. It was great! She was so excited to see them.

The girls were snuggled down in the wagon.



Bella got her first taste of funnel cake. As you can see, she liked it!



The wind was blowing so hard. If you look closely you can see the powdered sugar flying off the funnel cake. That did not stop Bella from enjoying it.



The Princesses

A great way to start the Christmas break!

Christmas Program

This year Bella's Christmas program was the story of the birth of Jesus. All the kiddos in Bella's class were angels and they sang Away in a Manger. One of the perks of her attending a Christian school is getting to to things like this and sing songs about Jesus. We are so fortunate that she is able to attend such a wonderful school and that it just so happens to be at our church. She has grown and learned so much already this year. It's hard to imagine where she will be at the end of the year.

Ryan and his red boots. They usually seat Bella and Ryan next to each other but it didn't work out this time. I didn't get any pictures of the two of them together.



She looks like such a sweet angel!





This year Dad even got to perform. Our church praise team was there to sing and Dad lead the congregational singing at the end of the program. So this year it was Bella, Ryan, and Dad's Christmas progam!



We even got a a special visit from Santa Clause. Bella was very interested in him this year. She talked about him all the time. She was just a bit apprehensive when it came to actually sitting on his lap.

Yo Gabba Gabba

Terry and I took Bella to see Yo Gabba Gabba live. To say she loved it would be a major understatement! Watching her was so much fun! I think I watched her and her reactions more than I did the show. The show was at the Hobby Center which is wear we go to see musicals. It was great to take her to the same theater.

I had a Foofa dress made for her to wear. She was so excited to wear it. I'm really not sure that she has a favorite character. She seems to love them all!


Bella and Daddy in their D.J. Lance glasses.


Oh dear! I love this girl!





Biz Markie showed up and I actually think he was Bella's favorite part of the show. He does "Biz's Beats" where he beatboxes. Bella always tries to beatbox along with Biz when she watches the show on TV. At the live show Biz actually sat down on the stage and invited kiddos up to beatbox with him. Bella wanted to go down there with him so bad she didn't know what to do. She kept saying, "It's my turn!". There was no way we could get down there so she never got her turn. We are pretty sure she was dreaming about it the next morning because she was saying, "It's my turn!" in her sleep. She really loves Biz!



We had such a good time at Yo Gabba Gabba!

First Haircut

On December 9 Bella got her very first haircut. Lisa has been cutting my hair since Terry and I got married so it seemed fitting for her to give Bella her very first trim. Bella was a little apprehensive at first but ended up doing very well. She is such a good girl!