Last post and then I am ALL CAUGHT UP! Here is a little video action of Christmas morning at the Douglas house. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
(On a side note - Let me tell you what a sweet little girl I have! Alia's first words this morning had nothing to do with Christmas. Jason burned his thumb pretty badly last night and Alia woke up this morning came right into our room and said "Daddy, does your thumb feel better?" What a sweetheart!)
We have had a wonderful Christmas this year! Absolutely nothing to complain about ... except maybe that cold that hit our family on Christmas Eve. Oh well!
Some of our favorite gifts were -
Alia - Minnie's Big Beautiful Bow-tique, U.S. map, Barbie car, Barbie clothes
Max - pretty much anything and everything that had anything to do with cars or trucks
Mommy - my new MotoActv (so cool), "Mommy's Sippy Cup"
Daddy - Bose headphones, sweaters :-)
Yearly tradition - making a gingerbread house
What that really means is Mommy and Daddy decorating a gingerbread house while the kids "sneak" candy :-)
Yes, look how sneaky they are!
Time to make some cookies for Santa!
"I didn't eat any sprinkles Mommy!"
Master chef at work!
"Hey Max! High five for yummy cookies!"
The "before" picture!
The stockings all ready to be opened
Alia was such a good girl this year! She got exactly what she asked Santa for, Minnie's Big Beautiful Bow-tique!
Santa brought Max Mack the truck. It was a big hit!
Grammy got Alia this map of the United States. We are going to hang it up and mark all the places she has visited and all the places where we have family. She loves it!
One of my favorite gifts of the day ... "Mommy's Sippy Cup"
Alia and I took a break from opening presents to read a story from her new book from Grandpa.
Max loves stacking and stashing cars and trucks ... Here are a few of his newest ones.
I cannot believe it! My little baby girl is 4 years old! I am so insanely proud of her and how much she has grown up and come out of her shell. A year ago I would never have imagined that she'd want a big birthday party at Pump It Up and that she would play with everyone, be social and truly enjoy herself. She's still shy, but she also likes to have a good time :-) Her request was a pink ballerina party at Pump It Up and I have to say, it was SO easy! I'd happily do this option again for her or Max or for me!
Here's a little bit about Alia at 4 years old ... She loves everything girlie! Pink and purple are her favorite colors. She likes Barbies, Minnie Mouse, princesses and Dora. She loves art projects like stickers and painting. She takes tap, ballet and gymnastics classes and loves them all. She likes to eat oatmeal every day for breakfast, pirate booty and string cheese are her favorite snacks and she's currently really into these chicken nuggets that we get at Costco that are shaped like Mickey Mouse. She loves her little brother and maybe mothers him more than he'd like :-) She likes to wear "comfy clothes." Jeans are definitely out of the questions these days and she's happiest when mixing and matching as many colors and prints as possible!
Opening some presents on the morning of her birthday. This one was from Aunt Cathy :-)
The fluffiest, pinkest tutu Mommy could find for her to wear for her party!
A LeapPad 2! It's been a big hit with both kids.
Addie, Cash, Alton, Brant, Ruby and Alia getting ready to head in to the play room at Pump It Up
Alia and her friend Jack.
They go to the same school, but they met when they were 3 and 4 months old at Gymboree!
Alia and Baby Jack ... one of our best buds!
Mommies! Me (recovering from pink eye), Jamie (mommy to Carson), Shanon (mommy to baby Jack), Robin (mommy to Cash and Addie)
action shot
All party guests ... except Carson (he was in the potty)
This surprise was my biggest party planning accomplishment to date ... bigger than planning my wedding! Seriously! We had around 50 friends and family at his brother Mark's house to surprise Jason in honor of his upcoming 40th birthday! There were friends from high school and college and people from several states! I was so pleased that so many people were able to make it. The best part about it was that WE DID IT, he was truly SURPRISED! You can see in this video that it took him a few minutes to piece it all together. He said as soon as he walked in and we shouted surprise, he started to realize all the fishy business that had been taking place over the past few days. The bummer is that I really didn't get many pictures of the whole thing. If any of you out there have some, please send some my way!
SURPRISE!
Max barely managed to stay awake long enough to see daddy after the surprise and then he crashed!
Before he completely crashed, Max found a cozy resting place on Uncle Alan's belly
Outstanding birthday tee-shirt courtesy of Will :-)
Alia partied late into the night with big cousin Kelsey
So, while I was planning my little behind off to pull off the big 40th birthday surprise for Jason, my brother-in-law Mark was doing some planning of his own. He managed to fly my brother Jamie in to Indianapolis and get him to his house without me knowing anything about it! We arrived in Indy Thursday evening, my brother arrived Friday evening and my mother (who had no idea either) came down Saturday afternoon for all the festivities. I wish someone had had a video camera on me when I saw him! My jaw was certainly on the floor as well!
Here is a little video clip of him surprising my mom ...
Alia has had quite the birthday MONTH. It all started with a family birthday party while we were in Indiana. Aunt Kelly made her the most amazing birthday cake ever and sparked a love of Barbies!
Aunt Kelly's amazing Barbie cake ... yes the skirt is the cake!
Alia and Grandpa Max
All set up for the PINK 4th birthday party
Uncle Jamie playing with the kiddos!
Sir and Alia
Sir and Silly Max
Alia and her super helpful big cousin Kelsey!
Sir (Jason's stepdad Don), Alan (his stepbrother) and Jason
Alia opening presents with the help of her assistant Kelsey
More helpers than she knew what to do with
Mommy and her big girl
Uncle Will with a little girl right in the middle of enjoying that cake :-)
COUSINS (all but one) ... Xander, Luke, Max, Wyatt, Kelsey & Alia
