Christmas 2012

We had a really fun, busy Christmas. We first flew to Dallas to do Christmas with my family. We started Saturday with the kids opening their presents from Mal and Dal. We lined them up in age order (just like we used to do every year with our cousins when we were little) and had them come downstairs to see their gifts.  

David did not enjoy his mustache.

Mal gave Presley, Bryn and Amelia the hats we used to wear when we were little.

Presley loved all her presents and wore the princess dresses daily!

Presley enjoyed Bryn's dress-up wardrobe as much as Bryn did!

David loved his tiger chair, just his size!

That night, Mal and Dal took us to dinner at their favorite German restaurant. Presley enjoyed dancing with Liam and Bryn to the accordion player. Cameron did not so much enjoy his German, as he got food poisoning and was pretty much out of commission the whole next day. I felt so bad for him, but so glad it didn't last more than 24 hours. 

The next day, we all hung out at Amelia and Daniel's and played games and watched football. That night, Emily and Nick arranged for us all to take a limo ride and look at the Deerfield Christmas lights. It was a lot of fun and even though he didn't feel good, Cameron rallied to join the family. 

 Christmas Eve morning, the girls all did a belly-dancing class. Poor Presley had come down with some kind of stomach bug that night before... I felt so bad for her, but she really didn't want to miss our dance class. She and Bryn were so cute in their tutus.

 Christmas Eve, the kids all set out cookies and carrots for the reindeer. Cameron read the Christmas story from the Bible, then we read Twas the Night Before Christmas, courtesy of Uncle Tim, Debbie and their kids.

The kids were all so excited to get to bed that night. Thankfully, they didn't wake us up till 7:30 the next morning. 

The kids all played with their presents for a while that morning. 

 

 

 Her favorite gift from Santa, My Little Pony Pinkie Pie

 The afternoon on Christmas Day, we got snow! It was coming down so fast while the kids were napping, we were so glad it stuck around for them to play. 

 Later that week, we flew to Birmingham to do Christmas with Cameron's family. We opened gifts with D and G that day. Presley loved everything, but I think her favorites are here three pair of princess shoes and her Sleeping Beauty dress.

 Two of her favorite things- crafts and princesses!

  

 We got to spend a lot of time with Craig, Charelette and Caden. Presley and Caden play so well with each other. They would play Christmas morning where one of them was Santa and the other was Sleeping Beauty or Sleeping Flynn Ryder. They would go to sleep on the couch while Santa would leave a gift. Craig and Charelette got Presley a Rapunzel long hair piece. They also played Rapunzel- Caden would get injured and Presley would heal him with her long hair. They were hilarious to listen to and entertained each other so well!

 Bulldog and Nana drove over from North Carolina for a few days while we were there. We were so glad to get to see them, too. 

Once again while in Birmingham, we just couldn't escape sickness... Presley and I spent a day in urgent care and she had strep and a double ear infection. She was so weak and pitiful, it really came on quick. I am so thankful she bounced back right after starting her antibiotic.

Here's our newest picture of the four generations of David Smith- pretty amazing!

 We got to stay in Birmingham through New Year's. It was so nice to have family to help with the kids and babysit. Cameron and I got to go to a movie and have a nice evening out on NYE with Rachel, Craig and Charelette. We are so thankful we got to spend so much time with both our families and miss everyone so much!

David at 14 mos

I am working on my Christmas post, but I just realized I haven't done a good update on David in a while.

He is now 14 months old and developed quite the personality. He loves airplanes. Since we live close to the Air Force Academy, we see and hear them all day and he always stares outside saying "pla."   He loves to stack things and put the cookies in the cookie jar correctly. He loves to push around his cars and he loves to do laps around the house- through the living room, kitchen and dining room. He could do this all day, and in fact did at Christmastime at my parents and Cameron's parents' houses.  He eats great- gets 3 bottles a day: first thing in the morning, right before naptime around 11:30 and right before bedtime around 6pm. He usually eats a yogurt and cheerios for breakfast (right after his bottle!), eats lunch after nap around 1:30 usually of ham, cheese and any kind of fruit. He particularly loves pears and blueberries. For dinner, he'll eat whatever we're having but he loves scrambled eggs, spaghetti, and any kind of bean.

He is way too obsessed with his pacifier and will only take the wubbanub kind. I told myself after christmas I would only give it to him at bedtime and naptime, but he's had a fever and bad congestion so I've postponed that a little bit. He hasn't been a very sick child. He's had 2 bad stomach viruses, both since we've been in Colorado and bad congestion this week. Presley just got over strep throat so I'm thinking his congestion is somehow related.

He still only has 4 teeth- 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Hopefully, we will get some more sometime soon! He is starting to talk a lot. He can say ball (ba), brrr, mama, dada, pl (plane), ooohhh, doggie, da do (thank you), hi, bye bye. I think there are a few more, but those are his main ones. He signs hungry more (and says mo) and all done. Those are really the only signs I've taught him and Presley and they seem to be enough to help us communicate. He still loves to be outside and loves getting the mail with Cameron. He LOVES his daddy- I mean, really loves his daddy. He lights up when Cameron gets home every night and just wants to be held by him.

He currently weighs 18lbs, 13oz. He's still rear-facing in the carseat and doesn't seem to mind. I'm going to try to keep him that way till closer to age 2. He does however get very mad if I give Presley a snack in the car and not him... you cannot sneak food around this kid. He loves to snack, especially on puffs! He is so much fun to watch every day and has learned so much in such a short time. He adores Presley and is so sweet to her (unless she takes a toy from him, then he lunges in to bite her!) We'll have to work on that, as he hasn't bit her yet, but it's coming.

We will head to the doctor for a 15 month check-up so I'll post his stats later. Here's my sweet man with his rosy cheeks eating lunch today! He is such a happy little man!