Zoo Lights

The Houston Zoo decorated for Christmas this year.  They opened their doors at night for everyone to come check out the awesome lights, listen to carolers, ride the carousel, and eat some yummy treats.  We even saw the giraffes and tigers wandering at night.  It was our first cold snap so we had the perfect weather to get into the Christmas spirit.  We had a great family night out!

The Nutcracker

Clara and I had a girl's day out at the Nutcracker with some of our favorite friends Miss Amy, Natalie, and Claire.  Clara loved all the dancing so much she was dancing in her seat.  It was right during nap time so we only made it through the first act.  Next year I know she will want to stay through the whole thing.  Such a memorable day!

And while us girls were watching the ballerinas dance, Daddy and George were out playing tennis.  Fun times!

Kid's Night with Santa

We joined The Carters at the club for Kid's Night with Santa.  We enjoyed dinner, Christmas crafts, cookie decorating, and our first visit with Santa for the season.  For the first time ever, both George and Clara sat on Santa's lap without tears.  Success!

Decking the Halls with Daddy

We finished decking our halls last weekend with Daddy.  We started with the outside lights.  George and Clara loved to climb the big ladder.  They helped a lot.

That afternoon we decorated our Christmas tree.  George and Clara decorated the whole bottom half without much help from Mommy and Daddy.  They really enjoyed it and we only had one ornament break.  Pretty good for two three year olds. 

While I was cooking dinner Clara situated her dolls in seats by the Christmas tree and read them a few Christmas stories.  She also danced to Christmas music for them.  It was by far my favorite moment of the day.

Meet Chippy and Princess

On December 1st Santa Claus sent us our scout elves.  The night before their arrival we read the story about the Elf on Shelf.

These elves are sent to homes to watch over little boys and girls during the holiday season.  When the elf is given a name, he or she is given magic.  Each night they use that magic to fly back to the North Pole to report to Santa about the behavior of the children.  Santa then decides if the little boy or girl is on the naughty or nice list.  With their magic, they return home each morning.  They are always in a different spot in the house.  The kiddos have to find them but they cannot touch them because if they do their magic will go.

The night they arrived, the elves kindly put up our Christmas tree for us and sat atop the tree waiting for George and Clara to find them.

They also left some goodies at the breakfast table for George and Clara to enjoy.

 

Clara pretty quickly named her elf Princess.  George came up with Chippy after some serious thought.  We can't wait to see what adventures Chippy and Princess will embark on around our house this Christmas season.

Clara the Pirate

Poor Clara had her first injury that required medical attention.  She and George were fighting over a fishing pole toy that had an elastic string.  They pulled it so taut that it broke and snapped Clara right in the eye.  This happened right before bed so we put ice on it for an hour until the swelling went down.  We could tell she was able to see and track things so we put her to bed and called the doctor in the morning.  This little trooper handled the doctor doing all sorts of eye tests including putting drops in her eye and looking at it under a black light.  This test revealed three scratches on her eye.  Clara had to wear an eye patch for three days and we had to put drops in her eye for a week.  The first day she ran around telling everyone she was a pirate yelling, "Arrrg!"  It was pretty cute.  When she got tired of wearing the patch, George showed his true support by wearing an eye patch too. 

She handled everything with maturity well beyond a three year old.  Mommy and Daddy are very proud of our sweet girl and we are so thankful that the injury wasn't anything more serious.  Clara's eye is all healed!

6 Months in the Blink of an Eye!

I am six months pregnant with our little man and had my monthly doctor's appointment this week.  I up eight pounds this pregnancy so far, which is such a huge difference then with George and Clara.  Little man's heartbeat was strong and he showed our doctor how active he is by kicking the whole time she was listening to his sweet beating heart.  I've definitely noticed he has a pattern of movement.  There are certain times of day and night that he decides to show Mommy how strong he is getting.  I think John and the kiddos will be able to feel his kicks soon.  We look forward to our next appointment in January because we have another ultrasound.  It will be awesome to see this little guy again!