Treacherous

These steps:

Plus These Shoes:
Equals = A Broken Foot
ONE WEEK before my Disney, 2012 Marathon!

Big Sigh and Gigantic Sad Face for this Mama! Stupid me decided to dash up our stairs in my heels and landed myself a broken fourth metatarsal bone.

Very ouchy! Now I see why cartoons always show stars when the characters fall down. I literally saw stars when I fell, and I immediately knew something serious was wrong with my foot. When the doctor was pressing on the swollen, bruised area, I almost fainted & barfed. For a girl who has never broken a bone in her life, this has been quite an experience.

For a Mommy of two little ones, this is quite inconvenient.

For the stay-at-home Mom who cleans, launders our clothes, & does all the errands, this is stressful.

For the work-out fanatic Anne, this is frustrating that I'll be out of the gym for at least 6 weeks, maybe longer.

For the Anne who can usually handle whatever life throws at her, this causes a great deal of anxiety.

But, the silver lining in all of this is that I don't need foot surgery, and I wasn't carrying one of my children.

Definitely NOT the way I wanted to end my holiday season and begin 2012!

Santa Came!

We had a lovely Christmas Day! Santa obviously came during the night and dropped some goodies off for us.

Santa seemed to enjoy his brownies and milk. The reindeer goodies also disappeared, so we did our part to keep Santa and his reindeer nourished!

Amelia was ready for breakfast first thing, so we took a few minutes for a blueberry waffle before bringing Madeline down & opening gifts.

Madeline is so funny on Christmas morning. She gets a shy bone with all the attention, so she wants to be carried down the steps and into the spotlight.

Grandma greets her with a Merry Christmas!

Amelia was apparently really hungry, so instead of making Madeline wait for her to finish up, we moved her breakfast seating into the living room.

Madeline started with her stocking, and she received a Barbie doll. She was very excited that Santa must've read her letter!

Patiently waiting for Mommy to undo the Barbie from her wrappings.

Who needs presents when you have wrapping paper?

Gift opening with Madeline is sort of a long process. She enjoys getting out each gift and playing with it immediately. Her face says it all!

Christmas Morning family photo!

Amelia finally got around to opening up one of her gifts, and she loved the blocks.

Amelia received a little Barbie doll as well.

All in all, a wonderful day spent with family. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve & Other Pre-Christmas Celebrations

Our family had several pre-Christmas gatherings in order to accommodate everyone's desire to visit with as much family as possible during this busy time of year.

Nana and Papa came to visit us Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve. We enjoyed playing with them and opening a few gifts. We had a nice visit with our Stewart grandparents. We also had a pre-Christmas celebration with my brothers and their families. We had a lovely day of heavy appetizers, gift opening, and visiting.

Amelia showing off her walking skills for Nana and Papa. Notice she is not in the above picture. She wanted nothing to do with a group picture.

Madeline especially loved her matching jammas. Now she and Stella can be twins!
Uncle Pat and Aunt Kim made an appearance.

Amelia just chillin in the middle of the festivities.

Opening gifts with Nana and Papa.

On Christmas Eve night, we set out our reindeer food. Madeline really enjoyed this little activity!

Santa sent us a special request for brownies and milk, so of course, we happily obliged.
All bathed up and ready for night night! Snuggles with Grandma!
Sweet dreams and Merry Christmas!

Date with Daddy

After Madeline's preschool program, Madeline was able to have a special date with Daddy. This is becoming the tradition, and what fun for both Daddy and Madeline!

A date with Daddy isn't complete without a little Chic-Fil-A lunch in the food court.

A little visit with the Big Guy in Red. Madeline had no apprehension toward him. She cheerfully told him her wish list,

Gave big hugs, and

Listened to a sweet story.

The date ended with an ice cream treat. Awesome Daddy used a napkin to protect Madeline's dress!

Madeline fell asleep on the way home and proceeded to nap for three hours. Perfect ending to a perfect date!

Preschool Christmas

Madeline's preschool put on a cute little program for Christmas. This year, they combined the three and four year old classes, and it was such fun to watch all the kids perform.
Madeline was a little shy up on the stage, but she never once reached out to come off the stage. We were proud of her.

Madeline got into a few of the songs toward the end of the program.

After the program, the kids ate lunch. We snapped a few silly photos of Madeline and her best friend, Aubrey. These two little girls are thick as thieves, and they are so cute together.

"Daddy, we're making funny faces. Take a picture!"
Madeline is tickling Aubrey here. I love that genuine laughter between girlfriends.

Sweet BFFs!

The little one in red is new to the class, and she stole the show up on that stage. She was belting out all the words and busting some serious dance moves. So funny!

What a fun way to end the first semester of preschool!

ONE YEAR OLD

Sweet Amelia is 12 months old! What a wild year it's been for all of us. Amelia is such a sweet, silly girl. She loves to laugh, cuddle, wave, clap, eat, and play with Little People & blocks. Unfortunately, Amelia also does a lot of fussing, drooling, snotting, and running fever. Poor thing, she was dealt a rough deck with reflux, ear infections, intense teething pain, and many little ailments along the way. Poor baby is super tight with our sweet Doctor B.
Amelia eats like a champ when she's feeling good. Waffles, carrots, green beans, crackers, yogurt, applesauce, and milk are probably her most favorite things. However, she's learning to point at our food on our plate and will try just about anything we are eating. She has tasted and loved pickles, banana peppers, chips, pretzels, cheeseburger, chicken, french fries, roast beef, and the list goes on! Those four teeth can gnash and tear up some food! :) Just recently, Amelia's discovered the use of her pincers to pick up the little scraps on her tray. Gotta love those newfound skills.

Amelia lights up when she sees Madeline and other little babies. She's a social little thing. She doesn't like to be excluded from the crowd. Her babbling, squealing, pointing, and knowing what she wants is really improving. It's getting easier to understand her wants, and we've got another little independent girl on our hands. Amelia makes it known what she wants!

She's a playful little thing. Amelia can turbo crawl after Madeline, and she gets to her destination quickly! She's pulling up and starting to cruise along furniture, and she loves to walk with us holding her hands.

Look at that belly...so cute.

Amelia got her first haircut a day or so after her birthday. Just like her big sister, she seemed to really enjoy getting pampered.

Madeline was super excited to celebrate Amelia's birthday --- cake, singing, presents are FUN!

Amelia wasn't so sure about her cake.

Hmm, what is this?

Kinda sticky...

Not a huge fan of the cake, but I'm sure that will change!

Amelia, we love you to pieces sweet girl! You are a blessing to our family, and we are looking forward to seeing what this year brings!