Christmas Snow!

Reese was so excited when we woke up the other morning and it seemed as thought the world had been blanketed with snow. As soon as we opened the window she ran to grab her boots. It took some serious distractions to convince her to eat breakfast and get dressed before we headed outside. We went out about 9:30 a.m. and didn't come inside until 11:45 a.m., and if Reese had it her way we never would have come in. Even when she got tired she just wanted to sit on the front porch and watch the snow. She would say, "watch mommy, watch snow on bench."

Her favorite part was building our little snow man. She fittingly named him frosty.

Reese & Santa

Reese with Santa at our ward Christmas party!

Reese asks to see Santa everyday. She can even do an imitation, "HO HO HO"!

Festival of Lights at Thanksgiving Point

We knew this year Reese would really love going to see the Christmas lights. She also loved that her dad let her drive.

Some of our favorites...

We had to stop and check out Santa's reindeer. Reese wanted to climb right over the fence and jump on for a ride.

She kept asking for Santa. She's seen him several times now and can't seem to get enough. Apparently he's her new best friend. I guess that shouldn't surprise me, as we keep telling her he's going to bring her presents. Reese is always game for presents!

Binky Gone...

That's what Reese would say. But her dad and I would say, "Reese is one step closer to "big girl" status". Potty training is the only missing link in the chain.

But for now we are celebrating how easily and bravely Reese placed all her binkys in a bag and left them for the binky fairy to take away. She said, "bye bye binkys, bye bye."

And...a few hours later she was rewarded when the binky fairy left her a present and a note.

She was so excited to find out that the binky fairy left her a pluto stuffed animal. She's wanted one for awhile.

Surprisingly however, she was just as excited about the note. She carried it around for the rest of the day, pretending to read it over and over again.

We're just so glad the binkys left with out too much of a fuss. There has been a bit more whining since their departure, but I think Reese is so used to soothing herself with her binky that she's not quite sure what to do with herself when she's upset or sad. She's asked for them a few times, but I just remind her that she gave them to the binky fairy and she seems OK with it.

Yea for Reese! Now about potty training...

Gingerbread House Massacre 2010

This year we continued our Gingerbread house tradition, and Reese couldn't have been more excited. What's not to love...a table full of frosting and candy, to nibble at your hearts content; every 2 year olds dream come true. Reese made sure to taste test every candy in every color.

She even wanted to help take pictures of her artistic work...

(Reese has now taken unofficial ownership of our old point and shoot. It's quite commical to see the things she takes pictures of...most of which are of her own eye...)

We were really proud or our finished product. In the days that followed Reese had so much fun playing with the house.

The first week she would play with it like it was a doll house of sorts. She would take our cute little gum drop family and dance them around, have them play with each other, walk with each other, and talk to each other. It was soooo cute; like a whole new toy.

But then I started noticing a few things....

It started out innocent enough...a piece of missing candy here and there, a few nibbles from the colorful rice crispy tree's....she was inconspicuous and sneaky.

The attack started slow and easy....

Then yesterday it turned into a full fledged massacre. Our poor gum drop family didn't even know what hit them. They were devoured and destroyed in seconds. Their pathway broken into pieces and the cute rice crispy tree's chewed to stubs.

...and look at that face...not an ounce of remorse or regret...pure nonchalant pleasure.

It's sad really...but we still love her and will stand by her through any potential criminal trials.

We're just glad she got so much pleasure out of our family tradition.

Santa 2010

Our good friend Cindy hooked us up with a free Santa Photo at the mall this year. We weren't sure what Reese would do, or if she'd go anywhere near the man. But as always, she surprised us all and happily posed for the photo. She even told Santa that she wanted a princess for Christmas. Our little girl is growing up so fast.

After, as I was looking at the photo, I couldn't help but notice how big she is. She looks particularly tall in this photo. I had one of those mom moments, when you realize that your baby really isn't a baby anymore. I guess it's a good thing I have another baby on the way.

Quotes I've read recently...and really liked

"Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

"Words do not convey meanings; they call them forth. I speak out of the context of my experience, and you listen out of the context of yours, and that is why communication is difficult." - David O. McKay

"I believe with all my heart that because God loves us there are some particularized challenges that he will deliver to each of us. He will customize the curriculum for each of us in order to teach us the things we most need to know." - Neal A. Maxwell

"Our scars are there to remind us of where we’ve been, but they don’t have to dictate where we’re headed."