Liam is one!

Well I can hardly believe that my baby boy is one!  We had a super fun party here at the house. We rented a bounce house, which was really fun for all of us. Liam got some cute presents, including a race track from Mommy and Daddy that he just LOVED:

http://youtu.be/TloyLpI6i9c

He also loved his egg-free, dairy-free cake! (I tried it, too, and it was good--a little denser than regular cake but still yummy.)

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us and to family from afar who sent gifts!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  Santa was very good to us, as always.  He brought the girls a princess castle!  Liam got a slide (sports-themed, of course), Bailey got a Dora dollhouse, and Emily got a telescope, which we have all enjoyed using. We saw Jupiter and four of its moons one night! Of course there were many other presents as well, and we enjoyed seeing our family on Christmas eve and on Christmas day, too!

My favorite part of the day was when Emily woke up on Christmas morning (at 6:45, LOL).  She RAN across the house and checked out the tree.  I heard a gasp and then she said, "BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!" and ran to wake up her sister. Just hearing that joyful shout made my day. :)

Coconuts

Sometimes I forget that my children are Florida natives. It makes me laugh when Emily asks for a jacket because it's seventy degrees outside. Or when she declared the pool "frozen" because the water was 72 degrees (she wanted to swim last week when it got up to 88 outside but after putting her toes in the pool, she quickly changed her mind!). But the best example of their "Florida-ness" happened this week.

Liam is very interested in the Christmas tree, as I imagine most babies and small children are. Well, he loves to toddle over there, grab two (plastic) ornaments, and run off with them, gleefully banging them together. Yesterday, Bailey saw him grab the ornaments and she yelled, "MOM! Liam's taking the coconuts!"

Me, totally baffled: "What coconuts?"

Bailey: "The coconuts from the Christmas tree!"

And THAT is how you know your kid is a Florida native. :)

A Visit with Santa

Last night we took the kids to the mall to have dinner (which was a fundraiser for Emmy's school) and to visit Santa. I wasn't sure how it would go, but I had high hopes that everyone would do well. Emily and Bailey were very excited to see Santa, and they both asked him to bring them something. Liam wasn't too sure, but when I put him on Santa's lap, he seemed okay, so I walked over to where the photographer was standing. Well, when he saw me walk away, he got VERY upset! It was pitiful!! But I actually like the "crying" picture because it is a memory of how he acted when he saw Santa for the first time. We also got a cute shot of just the girls, too.

Liam is walking!

And here he is!

Emily is SIX!!

It's hard for us to believe that our little girl is SIX YEARS OLD!  Emily came running out of her room at 6:45 this morning.  She knew there were a couple gifts waiting for her. :)  Mommy and Daddy sang "Happy Birthday" and then Emily opened a couple presents.

One was from Aunt Joann and Uncle Dave.  It had two princess nightgowns inside.  She loves them--she has worn one every night since getting them.  As soon as one comes out of the wash, she wears it again.

Then Mommy, Daddy, Bailey, and Liam gave her a ballet book and puzzle, which goes with her party theme, and a solitare game called Clever Castle.

Emily was also super excited about school.  We made chocolate cupcakes to bring to her class today, and Mommy got to eat lunch with Emily at school!  Her teacher gave her a special ribbon to wear, too. 

We went to Chili's for dinner and Emily got a yummy dessert--AND they sang to her!  It was a great day.