~Christmas 2010~

Christmas morning was so much fun at our house! Alexa REALLY got into the whole Santa thing this year and Payton was sooooo much more interested than last year too. It was so much fun to watch their excitement and joy!

Alexa has been asking for a pillow pet FOR.EV.ER!!!! And so Gramma & Grampa Mortenson gave them each one for Christmas. We decided on the same for both girls to cut down on the fighting over them...however, already today, Payton has been wanting the one Alexa has even though it's EXACTLY the same!!! Silly girls!

Alexa's BIG present this year from Santa Claus was her first big girl bike! And Payton gave her the helmet. As you can see...she was just a leeeeetle bit excited!!!

And Payton was more than happy to take over Alexa's old Dora Trike!!

We had a great morning but now it seems like sickness has taken hold of our house...or rather just Kevin! Hopefully it'll pass soon so we can enjoy the rest of our holiday weekend! Merry Christmas everyone...we hope you all have had a wonderful Christmas, full of the Spirit of our Lord and Savior!

One last picture of the girls in their new dressup clothes!!

Thanks Uncle Darron & Aunt Ann (and peeps) for the fun present!!!

..::Christmas Eve 2010::..

Our day started off with the girls playing with Gramma and Grampa! They loved having them here when they woke up. We decided to give them their Christmas present then, since we wouldn't be around them on Christmas morning to see them open it. Alexa, of course, had to be part of the action! Merry Christmas G&G, we hope you enjoy your photo album!!

We then ventured out to the Arizona Sonoron Desert Museum for the morning. I think this may be a new Christmas Eve tradition for us. We got there shortly before they were starting a show where we got to see a bunch of the behind-the-scenes animals up close and personal. The girls loved it. We got to see ferrets, pelicans, skunks, quail, birds, porcupine...I think that's it. They let the birds fly through the little auditorium and they just about took off our heads. It was pretty cool. And it was such a fun family activity to do on Christmas Eve.

We enjoyed the rest of our day and even went out for dinner tonight since we'd had our "Christmas Eve" party last night. That was another relaxing thing that I think we'll have to make tradition!! As long as we're not having a family party on Christmas Eve, that is. Then it was on to opening our Christmas Pajamas. This is another tradition carried on from my side of the family and I love it. I love seeing the girls in matching jammies and how excited they get to open them. Aren't they the cutest little "Santa's Helpers" you've ever seen??!!!

Once the girls were in bed, Kevin and I got busy helping Santa get everything ready! Alexa had made a note for Santa several weeks ago advising which tree the presents needed to go under. She didn't want him to get confused!! And she wanted to leave cookies for Santa and some veggies for his reindeer, along with a drink of water for both too. She's really been into Christmas this year and I've loved seeing her excitement. Payton has realized a bit too...she knows who Santa is and that he says "ho, ho, ho". She points him out whereever we go these days! I can't wait to see their sweet little faces tomorrow morning!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight!

Christmas Party

We had our very first Christmas Party at our house tonight. Kevin's parents came up from Elfrida as they're heading up to Phoenix tomorrow to spend the rest of the holidays with Kevin's other siblings. Duane & Emily and family also came. It's so fun to be around family again and be able to celebrate the holidays with them. We had a big smorgasbord feast as is tradition on my side of the family...Christmas Eve is all about the appetizers and treats and so I wanted to carry that tradition on. We had sooooo much yummy food. Christmas really is so much more fun with kids! Thanks Mortensons for celebrating with us, we had a great time and are looking forward to the rest of the Christmas season!

Baby Bump Update: 5.5 Months

Well, here we are at 5 1/2 months. Baby boy is moving like crazy!! And apparently, growing like crazy too! I swear I'm bigger with this pregnancy than my first two. Perhaps I'll have to do a comparison at 6 months with pictures from all my pregnancies!

::DDD = Daddy-Daughter Date::

For Kevin's Christmas present this year, he requested the Christmas Package Basketball Tickets for the U of A games. This includes 4 games around the holidays. Tonight was the 2nd game and Alexa got to go on a date with her daddy! She was sooooo excited. She'd already been to a U of A Football game but now she got to go to a basketball game too. Kevin said she was totally enthralled. And she actually made it the entire game! Some popcorn and a lemonade, not to mention her good little friend Pierson being there too, didn't hurt!! I love that Kevin makes it a priority to spend one-on-one time with his girls!

~I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home~

The girls get sooooo excited when they know daddy is almost home! Kevin always calls right as he leaves work, so I can alert the girls right about when we expect him to pull in the driveway. Well, tonight, they were extra excited and were waiting for quite some time before he actually got home. And this is how I found them!! I sure love how much they love their daddy!

**Christmas Cuties**

..::Dear Santa::..

Alexa insisted on writing her own letter to Santa this year. She dictated to me what she wanted written so that she could SEE it and then copy it in her own handwriting. Here is her letter to Santa Claus:

Translation:

Dear Santa

I would like

For Christmas

little fire truck

Doll house

Pillow Pet

Bike

Stuffed Animal

School Book

Love Alexa

Then today, we went to the mall to mail the girls' letters at the special mail box especially for Santa Mail located at Macy's. After that adventure (you can tell Payton LOVED it!!), we headed to our community center for a picture with Santa. This is the first time we've done it and Alexa was so excited. Payton, on the other hand, wouldn't go anywhere near the jolly old man without her mama near! So our first picture with Santa, yours truly gets to be along for the ride!

Here's Alexa telling Santa everything she would like for Christmas!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas with all our fun Christmas-related festivities!

~Gingerbread Houses~

We did our annual making of the gingerbread house tonight. I let Alexa pick out a little village as opposed to just one house and we will definitely be going back to the ONE house next year. It was soooo much work putting those little things together that we only got 2 made. Alexa had a lot of fun decorating and eating the candy and Payton just enjoyed eating the candy!

A First for Alexa...

Today we took the girls for their first official visit to the dentist. I know what you're thinking...Alexa is FOUR and she's just NOW going to the dentist??? Well, being that her daddy was in dental school when she was born, he'd periodically check her teeth and we figured she was fine. We knew that once Kevin graduated, we'd have a VERY affordable :-) dentist to go to. So that's what we waited for!! Kevin is loving his job and where he works and so I finally booked an appointment for the girls and I to get cleanings. Alexa did sooooo well! She wasn't nervous at all. And Monique, our hygienist, was wonderful! Payton on the other hand...she didn't want to have anything to do with the big scary dental chair (even if it was at her daddy's office), so her first official visit will have to wait for another time!

...:Christmas Lights:...

This weekend, we headed up to Phoenix to go to the Christmas Lights at the Mesa Temple. The last time Kevin and I did this was the first year we were married, so it was fun to go back and take the girls with us. We coerced Kevin's brother, Darron, and his family into coming with us since we were staying at their house and we all had a great time!

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Alexa loved the lit up plastic bubbles in the reflection pond!

We tried to get a family picture, but Alexa didn't want to be a part of the family apparently!

Aaaahhhh....we finally convinced her to be in at least one picture!!

It was a beautiful night at such a beautiful place. We truly felt the Spirit of Christmas as we walked through all the lights and looked at the various scenes from the Bible, depicting the story of our Savior's birth. I think we'll make this a family tradition from now on!

What Alexa Sees...

Alexa LOVES to take pictures. For some reason this morning, she wanted to take pictures of Payton drinking her milk. And since I was trying to get ready for the day, anything to keep them occupied was good with me!! I might be a little, okay a LOT biased, but I sure do have cute girls!!

Comparison

Every once in awhile, I get Payton dressed for the day and am suddenly hit with a total deja vu moment! And I realize I have totally seen this little girl somewhere before, just a little bit different. Today was one of those days. The outfit, the smile, the piggies...it all came back to me from a different time and place...so I had to share it with you! I love the similarities in my girls but I also love their differences. Plain and simple...I just love them to death!!

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On a side note...Alexa had her 4 year check up last week and even though she had to get FOUR shots, she did awesome!! Her current stats are 41 1/2 " (85th percentile) and 38 lbs (65th percentile). She is a complete joy (most of the time!!) to have around. She's my sweet & sour little lady...most of the time, she's so sweet, but we definitely have our sour moments too!! She's so smart, TOO smart sometimes, and is thriving on learning about everything around her right now. She loves being a big sister, a little too much sometimes, and is very excited about having a baby brother. In her words, right after we found out, "I knew I was right, Mom!!"

We love you Alexa and are loving watching you grow up!

IT'S...

Looks like we'll be adding a lot of BLUE to our massive amounts of pink in this house!!!

~Gaslight Theatre~

If you live in or around the Tucson area, you NEED to experience The Gaslight Theatre! Kevin first introduced me to this place when we were dating. And it's taken us almost 7 years to go back again. But it was well worth the wait.

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It's an old saloon type theatre where they put on musicals...the kind where you boo when the villain comes on stage and cheer when the good guys come on! It's totally interactive and really just so much fun! We went to their Christmas show, The Secret Santa, and it got me into the Christmas mood for sure...I think it'll be a holiday tradition from here on out, especially now that we're back in Tucson!!

What a fun date night with my man! Thanks babe for a great night out. And a very BIG thank you to Kevin's parents for staying with the girls so we didn't have to pay for a babysitter!!! :-)