Christmas Part 2

After Christmas morning at home, we headed to Houston to spend the rest of the weekend with my family. There were 6 adults, 4 kids, and 3 dogs at my parents' house so Christmas was just the way I like it: loud, crazy, fun, and loving. I didn't take a ton of pics b/c Delilah was a little overwhelmed. She got some GREAT presents from Mimi & PopPop and all her aunts & uncles, and we all had fun eating, drinking, and being merry. Thanks for a wonderful weekend, Mimi & Pop Pop!

Sweet Cameron helping Delilah on her tricycle

I've got the hang of this, Mom!

Delilah thinks it's hilarious that 'cheese' means both food and to smile. Anytime you say 'cheese' while holding a camera she totally hams it up. Case in point:
Despite all 4 kids being on some kind of moving toy, this is the closest we came to a collision:

It's a little hard to see everything in this picture, but here's Brenden on a scooter, Delilah on her trike, and Cameron & Ashton throwing a football in my parent's driveway. Despite the lighting, how could I not photograph such a Rockwellian moment?

Aunt Jenny in a UT Snuggy...the new kind of Rockwellian moment. :)

Runyon hiding in a hallway, taking a break.

Reading with Pop Pop. So sweet.

Totally wiped.

We headed to my brother's house on Sunday morning, but there are no pictures b/c the camera battery had died by then. :( It's too bad, b/c we could have had some great shots of Red playing with her red cousins!

Hope everyone had a very merry and blessed Christmas!!

(Side note: I just added 3 pics to the bottom of my Thanksgiving post. They're not showstopping or anything, but you do get to see my super cute nephew. If you want to see them, click here)

Christmas Part 1

We've decided to start staying home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, so this was our first Christmas as just a family of 3. Went to the 4:30 Christmas Eve kids' service and Delilah was in awe of all the lights and singing and children. We came home, opened the traditional Christmas Eve pajamas from Grammy Di, put Red to bed, then had our first experience with putting together toys in the middle of the night. It was actually kind of fun, but I don't understand why Santa doesn't deliver assembled toys. Doesn't he have elves for that sort of thing?

Delilah and Dada before church on Christmas Eve

I love my Christmas Angel (FYI: she does NOT like frilly dresses. She pulled at this one the whole time she was wearing it, and was so happy when we put her in her pjs.) Since Delilah can't take pictures yet, I'm inserting a quick out-of-sequence picture of Chris & I at his company's holiday party a couple weeks ago. We take so few pictures together these days!
My present!
Thanks for my pj's, Grammy Di!
Christmas morning. The art easel from Grammy Di and Papa H was a HUGE HIT!!!
And here's Red continuing a Huntley family tradition. Chris's grandmother made little mailbox ornaments, and every Christmas morning Chris & his sister would open them to find little tiny envelopes with folded cash inside. This year Chris's mom made one for Delilah and this is her pulling out her tiny envelope. Love it. :)

Playdate Weekend Continued

As promised in the previous post, here are Laura's pics from when she & Scott watched the girls on Sunday. The weather was nice so the girls actually got to go outside. Thanks for taking such great shots, Laura!

First, a little coloring with water markers. Gotta love that there's no mess!

Then it's off to the park in a wagon for two. I LOVE THIS PICTURE!
Some slide time. As always, you can definitely tell that the slide is a favorite of Red's
Taking a water break.
Sharing a hug. So sweet!

Playdates & "I Love You"

Delilah said "I love you" for the first time last night!!! It sounds like, "luh doo", but wow did those two syllables melt my heart when she said them to me as Daddy was taking her up to bed. Mama loves you, too, Delilah!! So much it hurts!!!
Mama also loves Daddy so this weekend we did a kid swap with our sweet friends, Laura & Scott. Their daughter, Makinley, is one month older than Delilah and they play really well together. So we took Makinley on Saturday afternoon while Laura & Scott had a date, and they took Delilah on Sunday afternoon while Huntley & I went out. The girls were AWESOME and we had a blast both days!
Here are the pics I took on Saturday and I'll do another post this week with the pics Laura took on Sunday.

The weather was terrible on Saturday so we had to stay inside. We baked sugar cookies!

The girls loved watching them bake
Fun in the tupperware cabinet while waiting for the cookies

Decorating was a bit of a disaster b/c Delilah just wanted to eat all the frosting and Makinley didn't like the feel of the frosting. Dad did manage to encourage Delilah to shake a few sprinkles out. :) (Don't ask why they're on the floor...one of those "pick your battles" things)

"Mmmm...these are good"

"No, really, have you tried them?! They're awesome!"

"Makinley, trust me, you'll love it"

I had to include this next pic as proof that pictures sometimes lie. Makinley looks mad, but she was really just in a sugar coma (sorry, Laura!); Delilah looks like she just got caught doing something wrong but she really just has her mouth full; and I look super tired when that's really just how I look without any makeup. (The baby doll really does look that creepy in real life)

And towards the end of our time together, the girls had a BLAST in Delilah's canopy/tent thing. They were chasing each other in and out, fabric flying, tripping and twirling on top of each other, and giggling madly. Foreshadowing of many sleepovers to come...

Come back any time, Makinley...you are such a doll!!!

Wordless Wednesdays: Holiday School Pic

At the Park on Thanksgiving Weekend

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!!! We went to San Antonio and had a fantastic time, but forgot our camera again (I swear I just need to start leaving it in the car), so I can't post any pics until I get them from my sister-in-law.

So here are some pics from yesterday...we took Delilah to one of her absolute favorite places: the park!! Swings don't rate high on her list, but slides & sandboxes are the best!

Impromptu balance beam
There's a giant fish mural that Delilah LOVES. She walks along and points out all the fish and bubbles.
Can you see her in the lower left hand corner? :) Anybody need a ride? Tic Tac Toe & Inside a Giant Bubble
The mini zip-line type thing that she loves. Is it just me or does this picture have a very Rocky-esque, triumphant feel to it? Daddy thought his cherry limeade was well-hidden:
Limeade cup turned Sand bucket
Hooray for Parks!

Hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend as much as we did. I think we're making sugar cookies later today! :)

--I finally got around to uploading the pics from my sister-in-law. Here are some of me, Delilah, and Greyson on Thanksgiving.

Delilah gets crazy jealous of any child that sits in my lap, except Greyson. She adores him. This is a pic of me intercepting her tackle...I mean 'hug'.

I love these two little people!
Just me and the big guy