Christmas Whirl Wind 2011

Looking back at all the excitement of Christmas, I can’t believe we jammed in five celebrations in just a few days! Sorry for the string of posts, but I want to make sure I document them all! Feel free to skim through! They are out of order on the blog and I tried to fix it several times before giving up, so here is how we spent our Christmas holiday!

I had the best Christmas break ever and I'm sad to see it come to an end. Alexis, Mommy and Daddy have been quite busy and have had lots of fun together. We managed to see a lot of friends and family in just a short amount of time! We are getting ready for one my celebration with friends for NYE and then it's ack to reality!

Christmas with Mommy and Daddy

Lake Santa

Mommy's Birthday

Barak Family Christmas

Mannion Family Christmas

Ford Family Minute to Win it Christmas

Ford Family Minute to Win It Christmas

Our final family celebration was with my aunts, uncles and cousins. I must say, this was probably one of the bests Christmas celebrations we've ever had. Aunt Debbie really outdid her self with the Minute to Win it game and having our family expand this past year just made it all the better! Too bad Laureli was sick. But the girls got to play together at Santa and we are already looking forward to Easter!

Cindy Lou Who really enjoyed her first lollipop! We ruined the shirt, very quickly I might add and we needed to borrow Kynlee's bib. Mommy hasn't traveled with bibs in quite some time!Everyone was giddy with excitement over their goodies. Alexis played with her kitchen all day!Of course there was lots of love to share!Minute to Win it! Aunt Kim dunked the gingerbread man into her mouth within seconds! I'm pretty sure she plays this game at home on a regular basis. I had to race Uncle Kenny to stack six dice onto a popsicle stick. Unfortunately we didn't make it in under a minute, but I did make it and won 60 lottery tickets! Daddy had to stick Rudolph's nose onto his lubed up nose! That was definitely a site to see! Especially Aunt Debbie rubbing Vaseline on his nose! But he won a tv for my bathroom! I can't wait for it to be installed so I can watch the news in the morning! Brian and I really hit it big this year in the White Elephant game. I walked away with a cotton candy machine and an AMEX card and Daddy finally got an iPod/iPad player! We've been needing one for three years! This is an official apple product so we are pretty pumped about it!

Mannion Family Christmas

We ended Christmas Eve with the Mannion's at their new lake house! We had presents, cards, appetizers and cocktails! Everyone had a great time and there were quite a few surprises! It was an awesome time and I'm sad to see Christmas come to an end! I'm already looking forward to seeing Alexis's excitement next year! She was really starting to get excited about Santa and presents!

Just like Cinderellie, she knew exactly what to do in her tunnel. This picture is my new favorite!

I'm not sure who was more excited about the new golf cart! Grandpa was super surprised but it looks like Alexis was overjoyed! I hope he is prepared for endless rides this summer!

Grandma got Grandpa good!

Grandma thought she was the only one doing the surprising this year! But Grandpa shocked her with a new LV purse! She was stunned! This picture cracks me up! Alexis liked her play banana as much as she likes the real thing! At least she knows what it is and what you are supposed to do with it!

Aunt Missy and Uncle Mike couldn't leave Willie out! They are so good!

Daddy helped A open her new laptop!

So sweet! Uncle Jeff loves his Sweets!

Our family, minus two!

Mommy and her boys!

One proud Pappa!

Aunt Missy and Uncle Mike

Just Us

We started off Christmas at home where we opened a few presents before the big whirlwind of celebrations. We didn’t want to have to take up more than we needed to the lake only to bring it right back and Brian and I really wanted to see how much she truly understood. Her attention span lasted for about two presents and she loved her Cinderella doll immediately. As soon as Alexis saw her, her face lit up a and she smiled real big then gave her Cinderella a hug and a kiss. It was like this was the present she had waited for!

We have a bow in! You will notice that we are sporting a new do! She is finally keeping bows in her hair and wearing a little Pebbles Pony! I thought she looked like Cindy Lou Who all Christmas. Then when you take the rubberband out, she actually rocks the Grinch's hair style!

Belle wanted to see what she got too! Belle had two tumors removed yesterday. We are praying they aren't cancer, but we won't know for at least a week, if not two.

She loves Cinderellie!

Barak Family Christmas

We started Christmas Eve off at my parent’s house for lunch and presents. Alexis was most interested in what Papa B was opening. But, I can’t really blame her, it WAS the biggest one; so big it had to be wheeled in on a dolly!! Dad got an original Jack Daniel’s barrel and he loved it. Actually, she liked the shredded paper the best!

I have to give credit to Lily Lou Designs and SIG Creations for dressing all my girls this holiday season and making them look so sylish! This knot dress was just what I have been looking for. I guess I need to start thinking about our Valentine's day and Easter outfits! Alexis was decked out everyday this Christmas in one of their designs and she looked so cute! She did like her her horse, but as soon as Papa started on another present she was ready to be his little assistant.

Awwwwww...the shredded paper!

This present is so big! She had to help Uncle Larry open it, but she did get bored after a few pulls and no results!

She also liked climbing on the big presents too! Something fun to do around every corner at Christmas! All in all it was a great time with my family!

And the Other Reason

So, I'm not entirely selfless! I do love this time of year because it's MY BIRTHDAY!! Call me a kid, but I LOVE my birthday and I pray I never grow out of it! I want my kids to have the one day that is all about them! So, I may make a big deal out of birthdays and Christmas, but that is because, in the end, it is just another day to be with family. I started my day off with working out with this beautiful girl. Then I spent the rest of the day cooking for family. And I ended it, once again, celebrating with family, prime rib and red velvet cake! So, as you can see, it was a little bit about me!Someone loves Red Velve Cake as much as her Mommy! She had TWO slices! While I'm not quite sure how much actually made it in her mouth, it is clear to see it is a favorite! My Grandma used to make this for me every year! Each Christmas, my aunt makes it for me and it is soooo good! This year, my mom got it from the Farm House in Huntsville and it was awesome.

All I need for my birthday!!

Santa: Take Two

I'm so giddy right now! I love celebrating and getting together with my family! Anything to remind me of when I was a kid! I want Alexis to know what it is like to always have family around, just like I had! This time of year always makes me sentimental, but who doesn’t get that way this time of year? This year we added two new babies and the Mannions, who built a home next to us. Alexis's grandparens are never going to miss a moment, either.

But we still remember why we celebratet Christmas. I truly want to thank Jesus for the blessings in my life; my baby and husband, my family, whom we are so lucky to have so close by, my friends and all the traditions we are continuing as our big family grows even bigger!

Santa came back to visit this year! We celebrated with cake, fajitas, books and of course, lots of family pictures! I love this time of year! So many reasons to be together!

Alexis was much better this time seeing Santa, from afar. We've been talking him up and pointing him out, ALL OVER the place! We even ate breakfast with "him" yesterday. She seemed super excited; acted like she knew exactly who he was and who we had been talking about. When he walked in, she gave him a high five and even shot him a few smiles. It was a toss up on how it was going to go when she actually landed in his lap. But, as it turns out, not much had changed! The fear was still there!Getting warmer!I might want to give him a kiss...but this thing looks funny!? What is it??I'm not fighting too much!Mommy never gets to be in on the action!My sweet Kynlee RaeAnd the reason we are all together and so very thankful for all we have!We didn't get a great Santa picture this year! Good thing we still have Christmas day!I think they look pretty good in this time!This cracks me up! While it is a very sweet picture, Alexis was really trying to be a smart @$$, not pose with her cousin! She was so funny! She KNEW we wanted to get this super cute picture, so when I sat her down, I would back up and she would bolt right up. But, when I was messing with my FROZEN camera, she would sneak in for TWO seconds, just long enough for me to NOT get the the cute picture I wanted! But, I got this one anyways! Laureli is smiling and posing right into the camera! I miss that age!Yes, I told him to cut it out and, he knows that this isn't appropriate, but admit it, it is funny!Mimi, Papa and Alexis!Grandma and Grandpa! I'm so interested see if it sticks to these names we've given them! Brian is pushing for "Nana" and Grandma isn't digging it!!So sweet!It's Santa!!Memaw and PePawThe next generation!Silly Moulders!I will never stop saying it...I LOVE these kids!KynleeSuch a Poser! She looks right into the camera!

Snow Date

That’s right, folks! That is definitely snow that you see! We met Jaime and Keely in downtown Katy this afternoon, after a long day of shopping, for the 2nd annual Christmas in Katy. We had a snowball fight, saw a glimpse of Santa and even played in his sleigh! Keely loved the snow, but Alexis wasn’t too sure! She once again isn’t feeling well and has a runny nose, so she wasn’t into exploring! Just when I WANT her to play in the dirt, she won’t. Go figure! We had a really good time though and I got some loving from K, so that made my day!

Now we are getting ready to cheer on the Texans tomorrow! We finally picked up our Division Champ shirts today! Needless to say, this house is pretty excited that they made the playoffs. So, Go Texans!

And, I can’t leave off my Bear Kats! Sam Houston is going to the Division 1 Championship! I like to think of it as the National Championship for Division1. Eat ‘em up Kats!

Keely likes to pretend that she doesn't want my loving, but she couldn't stop giggling!

Not too sure what to think of my first time in the snow!

K throwing snowballs at me! She definitely has her mommy's arm!

Santa's Sleigh!