New Year's Day & The 1st Snow

On New Year's Day, we went to Cal's cousins, Chris and Christy's, house - we didn't get to see them at Christmas because Christy was sick. Below is the reason we don't ask Caroline to smile for the camera anymore.

While we were there, Chris and Christy gave Caroline the coolest Elmo microwave for Christmas. It has a turntable that rotates, and a couple of the pieces of food actually pop up when they are done. She played with it nonstop for a couple of days. Now it is in the normal rotation.

Below, Chris is giving Caroline a piggyback ride. She loved it! Although she doesn't like men (except daddy, her granddads and Uncle Charles), she has definitely embraced Chris.

Our first snow of the winter (the next morning) was so deep we could hardly walk. HA! If you look really hard on the ground and in the air, you might see a few flakes. But, when we told Caroline it was snowing, she said, "I have to get my boots on and go outside," so we did. It was SO COLD that day we stayed out less than 10 minutes.

While Cal and I were fixing breakfast, Caroline had to play with her new microwave.

Could this be a new trend - how many hair accessories can we fit in our hair? She wanted more, but I finally convinced her they wouldn't fit.

Christmas Morning at Home 2009

On Christmas morning, both sets of grandparents and my brother (Uncle Charles) came over to see what Santa brought.

When Caroline first sat on the Sit 'n Spin, she wanted me to do all the work and turn her. She figured out pretty quickly that it's a lot more fun when she does it herself - she goes a lot faster!

Santa brought a Dora doll that actually smells like strawberries and came with a brush which Caroline enjoys using. Unfortunately for Dora, her hair doesn't look that good anymore.

She had so much fun tearing wrapping paper this year!

Cal and I got her a shopping cart. Once she opened it, she started putting presents in it and pushing them over to the spot where she was opening her presents.

Then, she would put her trash in it and push it over to Ger for disposal. It really kept things nice and neat.

She brought another present over to open, and then...

took another load to Ger. It was really cute to watch!

Grammie and Ger got her a tutu. We were trying to get her to pose like a ballerina (since we know so much about it) - this is her interpretation.

Grandma and Grandpa got Caroline a Minnie Mouse cash register. She sometimes uses the scanner as a phone.

Caroline was so much fun during Christmas this year. She really enjoyed it. I think next year will be even better!!

Christmas in Shelbyville 2009

Cal's aunts and Granny Jessica gave Caroline a recordable version of The Night Before Christmas with each one reading a page or two. Caroline loves hearing it over and over. She'll probably have it memorized by next Christmas.

Caroline definitely enjoyed playing with Rocky. He was very patient and gentle with her.

She kept hugging him again and again, and he mostly stood there and let her do it.

Aunt Diane gave Caroline a pram. For the first few days, we had to take it everywhere we went - good thing we have an SUV.

After the festivities, Caroline helped vacuum the rug.

For some reason, she would not move from this spot. She would reach out as far as she could - that one strip was very clean!

Christmas Eve 2009

On Christmas Eve, Caroline received the traditional Christmas pajamas.

When Cal asked her to hold them up so he could take a picture, this is what she did.

We decided to be a little more specific for the second one.

Caroline wanted to leave cookies for Santa on her plate with a glass of milk and a Nemo napkin.

These are presents Caroline put under the tree for some of our family. They are sorted by wrapping paper and in a straight line - I can't imagine where she gets that!! Ha, Ha!!!

Baking: Christmas 2009

The Sunday before Christmas we decided to knock out almost all of our baking. This was the first year Caroline really participated, and she had so much fun making sugar cookies. She helped roll out the dough...

cut out cookies...

and make fingerprints in the cookies as she smashed them into the cookie sheet. Unfortunately, I can't say there were no cookies harmed in the making of this blog entry.

Earlier that day we went to the mall to use a coupon that was about to expire. Caroline and I went to Gymboree while daddy tried on shoes. She had been wanting an umbrella for months, and we FINALLY found a good one!!! As soon as we got home, she opened it up and started carrying it around (and no we're not superstitious). As you can see, she didn't even waste time taking off her coat.

After a couple of mintues of picture taking, she decided she wanted to take daddy's picture with the umbrella. I only helped keep the camera steady and Cal actually made it in the picture!