Another Christmas for the Books!

Christmas really snuck up on us this year!  It came so quickly and was over before we knew it.  I'm already trying to plan for next year so I'll be more ready!  We had our Merry Christmas Eve dinner with Nana and Papa.

Lexie loved getting the hot chocolate ready for Santa.  She drank a whole cup with marshmallows.  We read "Twas the night before Christmas" as she sipped on her cocoa.

                             

She put out the cookies that she decorated for Santa and then it was off to bed.

                            

In the morning, Lexie went to check on her cookies.  She said, "Santa didn't finish his cookie."  There was a crumb left.

             

Then, she saw that Santa left a letter for her!

             

She was so excited to open the present that Santa brought for her.  And was thrilled to see that it was the bike that she wanted.

            

We're so happy that Lexie loved her bike from Santa Claus!

             

We were able to get one picture of our 3 darlings in front of the tree before our house became a mess!

           

I loved my itunes gift card from Lexie!  We already got some fun apps from Toca Boca and some new Doc and Einstein videos to watch.

                 

Daddy loved his gift that Lexie made for him.  Another great idea from Pinterest and Lexie loved making it!

                     

Lexie was thrilled to get paper plates!!  Weird gift but this girl loves to make tiger masks.  She would ask us everyday for a plate, so we thought giving her own set of plates would tire her out.  She has already used about half of those plates! 

      

Lexie gave Gohan a new bone to play with.

    

Lexie was able to read the names on the presents.  She passed out the presents to everybody.

   

Lexie chose this skunk for Maxx because she said it's cute like him!

  

The boys gave Lexie a Cuddle-uppet!  She always sings along with the commercial!

 

She loved it because it's a doggie!

 

We are so thankful to our family and friends and how generous they are!  Lexie got so many presents and she is so good because she will play and use everything.  She has an amazing memory and will ask me about a certain gift and we will open that one to play.  We are slowly opening boxes as we clean out her old toys.

  

That night we went over to Aunty Terry's for dinner.  Lexie made gingerbread cookies with Rylan and Esther.

  

And she always has fun playing with Jade!  It's good to have a cousin close in age!

   

Finally, there was a clear night and we got to use Lexie's telescope to look at the moon.  She loves the moon and was excited to see it up close!

She is so sweet because she's always very appreciative of what she gets.  She always says thank you and will give us big hugs and say I love you!  We love that this was a great Christmas for Lexie and that everything we chose for her was just perfect for her!  

                   

Our best gift each year will always be our Lexiebug!  She is a gift that keeps on giving!  

            

So Much Christmas Fun!

Lexie was sick for a lot of December.  Poor thing always catches a cold around the holidays.  It's become a Christmas tradition.  Although she was coughing and congested, she had a lot of Christmas spirit in her.  She didn't complain and was always wishing us happy holidays or Merry Christmas Eve!  Even though Lexie wasn't always feeling great, we were able to squeeze in some fun.

This is the first year that Lexie has watched Christmas movies.  We started with "Home Alone" which is one of my favorites, but I didn't realize how violent it was and then she told us it was scary and didn't want to finish watching it.  When we talked with her, we found out that she didn't like the idea of being left at home by herself.  One movie she has been enjoying watching is "The Santa Clause."  We've seen the trilogy and it's funny enough to keep her interest.  Another cute one was "Arthur Christmas."  That was a surprise for us and we will remember to watch it again next year.

One of the fun things Lexie got to do this year was play Secret Santa with a buddy from Taiwan.  She had so much fun choosing a gift for her friend.  Every time we went to the mall, she told me that her friend would like a doll or stickers.  We decorated a card to send with the gift.

Lexie was excited when she got her gift from her secret Taiwan buddy.  She got some of her favorite things - stickers, Littlest Pet Shop dolls, and candy!  We're hoping that we get to meet our new friends at ROCks this summer.

                            

We went on the trolley ride to see the Christmas lights with our agency.  This is one of Lexie's favorite things to do and has become a tradition ever since we brought her home.  I still remember the first ride we went on.  Lexie was just bubbling with excitement and this was the first time she hugged me and said "I love you" all on her own.  For me, that was a big moment and that's when I felt like a mommy.

                                     

Lexie couldn't wait until we went on the trolley because it meant spending time with her best friend.  These two are adorable together!

                            

One of Lexie's dreams is to make snow angels.  Unfortunately, we'll never have a white Christmas, so we had our own winter fun and made a snowman, or should I say chalkman!

                             

We celebrated Jackie's college graduation!  Lexie had so much fun because she got to watch fishes in a huge aquarium.  We got to see a diver feeding octopus to a sting ray!

                                

And Lexie is always happy when Nana comes with us!

                  

Lexie has been helping daddy with his Christmas photo shoots and likes to pose in some of the pictures.

                    

                    

Christmas means cookie time!  That's all Lexie talks about is making gingerbread men.  So we made a date with Taryn and the two of them decorated cookies.

                        

Then she worked on her gingerbread house.  Lexie did really well putting the icing and candy on it.

                       

Of course it never fails and all of the sugar becomes too much of a temptation.  Lexie started sucking out icing from the tubes and trying to gulp down bottles of sprinkles.  I'm so glad we do this only once a year!

                      

Thanks Taryn for keeping the mess to a minimum and spending the day with Lexie.  I must say that Lexie stayed pretty clean considering how much frosting was being used.

                        

Lexie got a beautiful ornament from her friend, Hayden.  We are so excited that our princesses will be together next summer at Disney!

                           

This is how Lexie spends her downtime!  She loves her foam letters and will recite the alphabet and put it in order.  I'm so amazed at what she can do!

                           

Family Time

Having a photographer for a husband has its perks.  We get a lot of pictures of Lexie, but the downside is that we don't get many family pictures because Eric is usually on the other side of the camera.  Luckily, our good friend Naoyme was up for the challenge and did a photo shoot for us.  She got some great pictures of our girl.

And some pictures of our family!  

                              

The park that we went to is one of my favorites.  I love this place because it doesn't feel like Hawaii.  I love the tall pine trees, cool weather and best of all, no sand!

                              

Lexie had fun running and playing in the trees.

                           

She was dancing and doing her modeling poses.

Lexie's goofiness even rubbed off on us!

                  

This was a fun day just enjoying our family and being out in nature which we all love!

                          

Lexie did a great job taking pictures.  She's become a pro and finds ways to amuse herself.

              

Lexie loves to pick these yellow flowers.  They seem to pop up everywhere.  I guess because they are weeds, but she thinks they are amazing.  

                     

Lexie is growing up into such a beautiful young lady!  We can't believe that this will be our 4th Christmas together.