It's time for Christmas catch-up! This was Lydia's 4th Christmas, and the first time we really played up Santa Claus and presents. She had a lot of fun this year, observing the Christmas lights around the neighborhood, Santa Clauses everywhere, and most of all...singing and dancing to Christmas music! Boy does she love it! Meanwhile, it was Molly's first Christmas, and although she doesn't "get it" yet, she had a lot of fun, too!

On Christmas morning, we greeted Molly with a song for her first Christmas! (video, below.)

Remember what Lydia asked Santa Claus to bring to her for Christmas??

He brought it!! She must have been a REALLY good girl this year, because her new dollhouse is taller than she is! It's very cute, and very detailed. It came with wooden furniture, and has so many sweet details. "Santa" spent a lot of time putting it together. (Thanks, Oliver.)

She was actually kind of timid at first when she came down the stairs to see it. She was clearly happy, but didn't know if she should go touch it or not. She wasn't sure what to do! Videos, below.

She also got Princess dolls, a Baby Alive doll, a real Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner (junior version) and lots of other fun stuff. What a blessed kid she is!

Molly had fun opening presents, too! Video, below.

I love this picture of the girls with 2 of their cousins at Omi and Opa's house! So cute. (Molly, Lydia, Warner and Miles)

Here is our top 10 moments of Christmas 2011! Enjoy!

10. Grammy had knee replacement surgery on December 14th and is recovering really, really well! Lydia visited her at the hospital with me a few times and was such a good girl. Grammy has been home now for over a week, and she is doing great! Grammy had been in a LOT of pain leading up to this surgery, so we're so happy for her to have a new knee!

9. Lydia wanted to listen to/sing the same three Christmas songs over and over and over. We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Jingle Bells and Silent Night. She walked around the house singing them, and danced anytime Christmas music was playing was on the stereo.

8. We had a great time taking the girls to visit Santa Claus and we love the picture we got!

7. Molly looked SUPER cute in her first-ever Christmas dress (the same dress Lydia wore for her first Christmas - pics coming soon).

6. Lydia fell in love with the Nativity scene figurines at my parents' place. Although they're made in Italy and they've been in the family for a long time, they're pretty indestructible, so Grammy let her play and play and play with them. Each time we went over there, Lydia would leave with at least 2 of the figurines. Boy did the wise men and baby Jesus have fun at our house!

5. Lydia enjoyed Omi's special homemade Christmas cookies, and really loves her Nutcraker music display!

4. We took many walks to see a special Christmas display in our neighborhood. A few neighboring families have joined forces to display approximately 25 or so of those large blow-up Christmas decorations. It's pretty spectacular for kids, and Lydia loved it.

3. We had 2 absolutely perfect Christmas celebrations with our families. On Christmas Eve we had the Kreutz Christmas with my parents, my sister and her boys. It was so much fun! And on the 26th we had the Barron Christmas with Oliver's parents, brother, sister-in-law and their boys. It was a perfect night. As for the 25th, we had our own Christmas morning and then a special dinner for Omi and Opa at our house (Grammy and Poppy were invited, too, but it was too soon following Grammy's surgery.).

2. Rather than Lydia waking us up on Christmas morning begging us to open presents, Oliver and I were up before her, eagerly waiting by the Christmas tree with coffee and cameras so we could see her reaction to the dollhouse!

1. A few days before Christmas...Molly started crawling! This kid has NOT wanted to crawl! She LOVES to cruise, however, and definitely prefers it. We have some fun crusing videos that I'll have to share here soon.

A Christmas recap is coming soon, but first things first... Today is a very special day for Lydia and Molly's cousin, Liam! He's turning 5 years old!


Happy Birthday, Liam!



Video, below.

Tomorrow is Lydia's holiday party at school. I have little gifts for her teachers, and this card that I made! Following the party, she is officially on school vacation until January 2nd!

Last Saturday, Lydia went to a special breakfast with Santa at Warner and Miles' church. (Molly stayed home with Mommy and we ran errands while Oliver and Omi took Lydia to Ft. Worth for the breakfast.) They had pancakes, made arts and crafts (Omi helped Lydia with hers) and then...they got to see Santa! Lydia showed Santa her princess wand that she brought with her, and once again asked him for a dollhouse for Christmas. She got to sit with Santa all by herself, and also with her cousins, Warner and Miles. How fun! The pictures are blurry, unfortunately, but a good memory for the kids anyway.




Katie, Mike, Warner and Miles

Molly's Baby Dedication, continued... (Thanks, Mike and Katie, for sending these pictures to us.)



Lydia and her cousin Warner

Attempting to capture cute pictures of the girls together. We captured cute smiles of each of them...but never at the same time. Bummer. But cute pics anyway!

Yesterday was Molly's Baby Dedication at church! Since I know that different faiths practice different traditions for babies, I'll explain what a baby dedication is... It's a ceremony where christian parents, and their families, make a commitment before the Lord to raise their child in a godly way, prayerfully, until the child can make a decisioin on their own to follow God. The parents commit to instruct the child according to God's Word, set a godly example, and of course pray for them always. We were so blessed to have our families with us last night, and a couple of friends as well, to pray for Molly and show their love for her. Grammy and Poppy, Omi and Opa, Aunt Katie, Uncle Mike, Warner and Miles, Aunt Kelly, Stephanie Villarreal (she was Molly's super sweet God-send of a caretaker for a few months before I began working from home), and their Godmother, Stefani Adair (my dearest oldest friend since we were 9 years old, who we recently asked to be the girls' Godmother.). Unfortunately I don't have any pictures yet, because our camera broke and we had to rely on others to snap a few photos and video for us. However, I do have these sweet pictures of Molly in her little dress (using our old camera). She was a very good girl during her Dedication, and she received a little pink Bible with her name engraved on it (Lydia has one, too, from her dedication.).

Lydia's 2011-2012 school picture! 3 and a half years old.