Our Future Golf Pro

Anyone that knows my dad know he plays golf religiously. Kelsie mimics the actions of those she loves, so as you can imagine she wants to play golf like her grandpa! The other day we went out to lunch and Kelsie started moving her arms in a kind of peculiar way and I thought she was dancing. So I asked her if she was dancing to the music. She looked at me like I was the stupidest person in the world and indignantly said "No Mommy, I am practicing my golf swing like grandpa". Once I knew that was what she was doing I realized that she in fact was "practicing her swing" just like grandpa does. It was hilarious! Mike and I still laugh about that all the time!

The Children's Museum

Since Mike was taking the rest of the year off we took Kelsie to the Children's Museum. We thought that it wouldn't be too busy on a Tuesday. Boy were we wrong! It was terribly crowded. Kelsie still enjoyed herself, but the crowds got to her toward the end. I don't blame her either. They were getting to all of us after being there a few hours. Next time we will not go during the holiday season!

Moody Gardens

We had planned on going to the Festival of Lights before Christmas, but it just didn't work out. We didn't want to miss it altogether so we took her a few days after Christmas. Kelsie decided she wanted to go through the aquarium first. I haven't seen her so excited about seeing the aquarium at any of our other visits there. She just kept shouting "Look Mommy, look Daddy" at everything. Her favorite are the sting rays. She loves watching them swim around and she always wants to feed them like we did in Kemah. Unfortunately they don't let you at Moody Gardens, but that didn't seem to lessen her excitement about watching them in the least. As we were going through she just kept asking about all the fish and animals and had a great time taking pictures of some of them. The only part she didn't like was at the very end when you go through the sharks. We didn't stay long there, because she kept saying she was scared. She was fine once she got to go through the gift shop at the end of the sharks and was ready to go see the lights.

It was very cold that evening, so we decided to ride the little train they have going through the festival instead of trying to walk. She loved it! It was definitely the way to go on a night like that. We pointed out all her favorite characters and she just oohed and ahhed over all the pretty Christmas lights. We then went to go watch the ice skaters at the ice rink they had set up and she thought that was neat too. She wanted to go ride the train again before we left, but by that time it was already past her bedtime. She got over it when we promised she could have a little treat before bed when we got home. We had a blast and can't wait to go again next year!

Christmas

Christmas just gets more exciting and fun each year. Now that Kelsie is a little older she definitely understands what Christmas time is all about and you can see her excitement as the day draws near. I love that she not only understands everything about Santa and presents, but the true reason we all celebrate Christmas as well. Her MDO program has helped drive that point home by having a Happy Birthday Jesus party instead of a Santa themed one.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas at my parents house along with my brother and SIL (who unfortunately had to be on bed rest due to a baby that wants to come out a little early). Kelsie loves having the family together including all of our combined six dogs (4 pomeranians, a lab, and a beagle).

Kelsie was super excited when we opened the first gifts on Christmas Eve. Although she didn't want to stop when we said that was all for that night. She was sneaky and grabbed another one and had it ripped open before we could stop her. We didn't mind too much, but we wanted most of the gifts saved for Christmas day. After that we hid the rest of her gifts while the adults opened their Christmas Eve presents.


Christmas Eve

She then couldn't wait to leave cookies and milk for Santa. She insisted that he needed lots of cookies and chocolate milk, because plain milk wasn't good enough. She couldn't wait to see if he had eaten them when she woke up on Christmas morning. The first thing she did when she was allowed down stairs was run over and check the plate to see that he had eaten the cookies, drank the milk, and even left her a little thank you note for the yummy snack. It was so cute seeing her try to read it to everyone after we had read it to her!

She then got to see what Santa brought for her. The first thing she saw was her rocking horse and instead of getting excited she asked "We're my pretend kitty cats?" That is all she has been asking for since we started talking about Christmas. Luckily Santa had pulled through and they were sitting next to her horse. All was well and she was excited again once she realized they were there.


Christmas Day

After we finished opening the rest of the gifts with my family, Mike's mom came over and we exchanged gifts with her as well. Then we all had a lovely lunch and visited for the rest of Christmas day. By the end of the day we were all exhausted, but it was a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of wonderful memories that we will all cherish in years to come. I can't wait to see what next year will bring when we will have a new addition to the family to share Christmas with as well!

Our Trip to the Zoo

Mike decided to take the last two weeks of the year off so we could all enjoy the holidays together. We thought it would be a great opportunity to take Kelsie out to the zoo. It turned out to be perfect weather for it and it wasn't all that busy. She loved looking at all the animals. We caught the sea lion show, which none of us have done before. Her favorite part though was petting the goats and riding the carousel. She even rode one of the carousel animals that went up and down the second time she rode the carousel. She has never done that before and we were so proud of her for deciding on her own to try something new. Right before we left we rode the train. She wasn't so sure about it at first, because she thought it would be too noisy. Once we were on it she finally decided it was OK and that the whistle wasn't as loud as she thought. Overall it was a wonderful family day and I hope we get to go back again soon!

Kelsie's School Christmas Program

For weeks Kelsie would come home practicing various Christmas songs that they were practicing for her Christmas Program at her school. She was very excited about it and kept asking when they were going to have the actual program, so when the day finally came she couldn't wait to go to school! Me, Mike, my parents, and my MIL all came to see her perform. I could see that she was looking for us as soon as she walked into the auditorium. Once she saw us she started telling the little girl next to her that there was her mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa, and grammy. It was so cute to see her so excited!

They made some adorable reindeer shirts at school for the kids to wear and I was a little worried that Kelsie wouldn't want to wear it, but she had it on and didn't seem to mind in the least. She did wonderfully during the program. She sang and did all the hand motions along with everyone else. Just like at the Noah's Ark Program earlier this year when there was a pause between songs she would giggle a little. I guess she gets a kick out of the audience clapping and waving to them. She had a blast and we were all very proud of her and the rest of the kids performing that day. I hope they have another program soon, because Kelsie loves them!

After the program everyone except grammy (she had an event at her church) came back to our house to visit and play. I took the opportunity to get some pictures of everyone with Kelsie. I tried to take care of that at the church, but Kelsie was not being very cooperative about taking pictures. We all had a wonderful time and Kelsie enjoyed her day.

The Christmas Carnival

We went to the Christmas Carnival they had at Nick's school and it was so much fun! They had pony rides, a train, and all sorts of booths and games setup for the kids. Kelsie's favorite part was the pony rides. In fact she rode them 3 times! She was so excited to be at Nick's school and was even more excited when we found him. It turned out to be perfect timing, because he was about to ride the train and she wanted to ride with him. We spent 2 hours there and Kelsie enjoyed every minute of it!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

The weekend after Thanksgiving we started putting up our Christmas decorations on the inside. I wanted to get it done early this year, so we could have some time to enjoy them. Kelsie was very excited to help with the tree. In fact she hasn't stopped redecorating the tree ever since. Every day, sometimes several times a day, she will move the ornaments she can reach around and even use them as toys sometimes. We don't mind and I love the she gets so much enjoyment out of it!

Thanksgiving

Unfortunately Mike had to work on Thanksgiving this year, but he was on the day shift so we all got to have Thanksgiving dinner together that evening. My dad decided to come pick Kelsie and me up that morning and we spent the day with my parents, my brother, and my SIL. Kelsie had lots of fun playing with everyone and helping grandma make a couple of pumpkin pies.

Mike came over after his shift and we all had a yummy Thanksgiving dinner together. Although we missed him being there during the day it still turned out to be a really nice Thanksgiving. Kelsie and I decided to stay the night that night, since Mike had to work again the next day and we helped grandma put up her tree and some of the other Christmas decorations she has. It was fun and it is something we usually don't have the opportunity to do together.

Christmas Pictures