Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas and are so thankful for family and for celebrating Christ's birth. We always spend Christmas at my grandpa's house and this year we were greeted by this:
He was standing in his street like this. If you know my grandpa, you know how funny he is and how he loves to play tricks. He told us, "I've read some magazines and the preppy look is out, and the trailer trash look is in." We were all dying laughing. Behind him is the "demerit" list he made. The demerit list started in New York when we said we have better stop asking up if he was warm enough. He said that if we kept asking, we would get demerits and not be invited back to New York next year. It then continued through Christmas. It's wonderful to have such a fun grandpa.

All the girls had to get a picture with him.
On Christmas Eve we always go to church and then we come home and cook Mexican food.
This year my mom had all the girls matching shirts. We wore them all day on Christmas Eve. At the mall, one lady said, "Boy I've seen a lot of people with those shirts on today." I guess she had just seen all the girls at different places in the mall.
After we read the a book about the Christmas story with the girls, we put the girls to bed. Emma Catherine said that she was going to sleep completely under the covers so Santa wouldn't see her and that he would be sure to come. Once we were sure they were asleep Ryan finished putting together the girls' big present.

Birthday and the Causey's

The 18th was Ryan's 31st birthday. The girls and I actually celebrated with Ryan a little early because we were going to be with Ryan's family on his actual birthday. Emma Catherine helped me make cupcakes, and then they helped Ryan blow out the candles.
On Ryan's actual birthday, we headed to Prattville to celebrate Christmas with Ryan's family. It was fun for all the cousins to be together. It made me wish we lived closer to Ryan's brothers, so we could play with them more often. We had a good weekend with them.

Ballet Recital

I posted earlier this fall that Emma Catherine is taking ballet at Worship Through Dance. She has enjoyed it and she loves her teacher, Mrs. Bridget. They had their first recital this month. It was a Christmas themed ballet and Emma Catherine was a cow. All the girls her age were different animals. Emma Catherine wasn't really happy about her costume. It wasn't that she was a cow, but it was that she had to be an animal at all. The older girls in the recital got to wear traditional ballet costumes and Emma Catherine thought they looked liked princesses. After the recital we called my mom to tell her about the recital and she asked Emma Catherine if she was gorgeous. Emma Catherine said, "No, the girls with princess dresses were gorgeous and I was a cow." We told her that she was a gorgeous cow, but I don't think she believed us. I think her spring recital will be more "princess-like."The day before the recital, Emma Catherine had a dress rehearsal, and let me just say that it didn't go so well. She hadn't had a nap in about 4 days and she was grumpy, weepy, and whiny. She didn't want me to leave her side and she when she was on stage, she really didn't dance much. I was so thankful that Lauren had stayed to go to the dress rehearsal because she was able to take care of Bailey for me.
I prayed all day on Tuesday that Emma Catherine would take a nap and that she her performance would go better than the dress rehearsal. Thankfully, the Lord answered my prayers and she took a great nap, and she did great at the recital. She was cheerful and happy to be doing ballet.

Breakfast with Santa

The Vinyards invited us to go to Breakfast with Santa with them and we were so glad that we did. The breakfast was good and they got to visit with Santa. We didn't feel rushed, which was one thing I really liked about it.
Bailey's favorite part was there there was chocolate candy all over the table. Every time I turned around Bailey was unwrapping another piece of candy. There's really no telling how many pieces she ate. Here are 3 pictures, but I could have posted more. Emma Catherine and Bryant are great friends.
Lolli taught Emma Catherine how to "charm" us.

Our Tree

I really like to post in chronological order but I just realized I forgot to post about decorating our Christmas tree. My parents have always gotten a real Christmas tree, so that's what Ryan and I have always done. I've tossed around the idea of buying a fake tree this year when they go on sale, because real trees get messy and they are harder to take care of, but I'm just not sure I can do it. I love the way real trees smell in your house and I love going to pick out our tree together. We always go to Lowe's to get our tree because they tend to have good prices and a good selection. (notice Emma Catherine "helping" Bailey look at the camera)Generally, we have put the ornaments on the tree without the help of the girls, but this year we let them help us. I am glad we did because they were both excited and it made the whole event more special to them.

Caroling with the Fishes

***Disclaimer*** I am desperately trying to catch up on posts for the month of December.

The night I got back from New York we headed out to the aquarium for Caroling with the Fishes. It was a members' night and Emma Catherine was excited to go. We had a good time and the girls got to see Santa again. (I think this was the biggest Santa I had ever seen).

New York

The first weekend in December, my grandpa always takes my mom, sister, and I to New York. We are so grateful for his generosity and we always have a fabulous time. This year we wanted to do something a little different the first day so we took the subway to China town.
We ended up in a secret room and all got fake purses and cheap sunglasses. It was an experience for sure.
We met some friends from home for dinner. Kristen and Blue are living in New York now and it was fun to catch up with them and eat at Virgil's, which we love.
We did lots of sightseeing and shopping and we saw the play South Pacific. It was a great show.



We also met up with an old friend from Palmetto. Noel used to live down the street from us growing up and we hadn't seen her in ages. We got to catch up with her in the American Girl store, while I was trying to decide on which dolls to get Emma Catherine and Bailey for Christmas.
This is Jimmy, the doorman at the Double Tree in Times Square. We have been staying at this hotel for over 15 years and he has always been there. He remembers our name every year.

Rock City

On the night of Thanksgiving, we went to Rock City's Enchanted Lights Display. We had never been there but we were excited to take the girls. They loved it so much. We also got to see Santa and decorate cookies.