Christmas 2017

• We went to the lighting on the square! It was a warm evening but a lot of fun!
• We went to get their picture made with Santa and they did so well! Abigail liked looking at him. Claire went straight to his lap, said “I’m claire. That’s Abigail. I want a purple bike.” We got a great picture!
• Claire is OBSESSED with our nesting dolls from Prague. She calls them “messing dolls”. 
• “Campus” = Christmas 
• We bought a new Christmas tree and put lights on the house for the very first time! 
• We have a shepherd named Will and an Elf named Pete. Most mornings, she wakes up and asks “where my guys at?” 
• We are doing a simple daily advent and claire likes finding out about our daily activity. 
• She still loves the Little People nativity and Abigail likes playing with them too. 
• We watched Claire’s Christmas program at KDO and she was so good! The cutest performance ever! 
• We had an early Christmas with Lolly and Papa. They made a yummy breakfast and then we opened gifts. Claire got a mickey and Minnie Little People House, a stuffed unicorn, some Mickey look and find books, and princess sheets for her bed (so so cute)! Abigail got a little people Cinderella carriage, new sleep sack, a rolling toy, a crinkle toy and a new soft blanket. 
• Claire went to spend time with Meme and Poppi. They drove around to see lights and went and watched The Star. Abigail and I wrapped presents. 
• We are doing the Usborne sticker book of the nativity. One page a day for the week before Christmas. 
• Part of the girls Christmas from Meme and poppi was tickets to go to ththe winter wonderland ball. It was the best night of Claire’s life. She had zero reservations about meeting the princess or dancing in s big group of strangers. 
• Claire loves the Polar Express. We watch it a lot and act it out. She’s enjoyed the Grinch, Frosty, the Santa Clause and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. We’ve also watched the Mickey Christmas stories again this year. 
• Mary = Married, and we lost Joseph. It’s really troubling Claire. 2 days before Christmas she asked for a soft Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. 
• We enjoyed doing a daily advent activity. 
• We made reindeer food with stuff we had in the house: oatmeal, blue sprinkles, marshmallows, crushed candy cane and shredded carrots. 
• We made cookies for Santa and she’s so excited for him to come down the chimney and open presents. I’m very proud to say that she does also understand that it’s Jesus’ birthday most importantly.
• Poor Abigail has had a sad cold for the whole week leading up to Christmas, and Andrew got one the weekend of Christmas. 
• We went to see the Stewart Family lights and Claire really loved them again this year. I think Abigail really loved them too.
• We went to Christmas Eve church service. 
• She loves wishing others a merry Christmas.
• Christmas Day: Abigail was up, per usual, all hours of the night and then ready to start her day pretty early. Claire got up at 8, and Andrew went to get her and bring her in like he’s done the last 3 years. Even though she was SO excited about her presents, she was terrified to open them. She perked up when she saw their stockings on the ground, and then got excited to see Will and Pete with their presents. Will was sitting by baby Jesus and they were ready to do the last nativity page of her usborne sticker book. She LOVED baby Jesus. Kept up with him all day! She still wasn’t ready to open her presents, so she helped daddy and hen Abigail. And THEN she was ready. She was so sweet and expressive, and wasn’t ready for it to be over. Abigail just hung out with her toys and the paper, watching her sister. Claire’s gift were a pink bike, a helmet, an Ariel princess, a watch, and a big girl swing. Her stocking had lip gloss, a light up tooth brush, bubble tape and fruit snacks (she openly said several times that the gum was her favorite). Abigail got a zoom and crawl monster, a remote, new pacifiers, some stacking cups, and a Christmas book. Her stocking had a reusable placemat, a new bow, and some puffs. We had a yummy French toast breakfast while Abigail took a great nap. Claire loved playing with every new thing. We watched Elf. Claire did her sticker book and our advent activity was to sing happy birthday to baby Jesus. The rest of the day was pretty normal, we just got to have daddy home with us. We had a delicious super of chicken Alfredo pasta, salad and rolls. Unfortunately, I let my exhaustion get the best of me and didn’t enjoy this Christmas like I should have. Thankful for God’s grace and baby girls that love their mama even when she’s grumpy. 
• We had Christmas in Russellville. The girls loved their cousins and Aunts and Uncles. I got to sleep in every morning which is better than any gift! Claire wanted so badly to sleep with Lauren and Annie, but she was brought to our room at 2am. She did sleep really well in the bed with us for the first time ever! Abigail did decent until the last night. We got to go to an indoor pool and splash pad twice and both girls loved it! Andrew and I got to go see the Greatest Showman and it might be my new favorite movie! We were all spoiled with great gifts! 

Claire was pretty sad to be finished with Christmas. We still play “Santa” and she wishes us a merry Christmas at bedtime and it’s 1/4. We took everything down on New Year’s Day. I’m excited to see what happens in 2018!