Christmas Cookies!

She doesn't like red hots! She eats around them...pretty funny! These are sugar cookies that my mom made with us every year. We finally got around to making them! We had to have something to leave out for Santa! Santa is coming Thursday night so we can have our family Christmas on Friday. I can't wait to celebrate our first Christmas together! We leave for Ohio this Saturday morning and will be home the following Saturday. Thank you all for sharing in our joy and being apart of such a special time in our lives. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Playgroup Christmas Party

We went to Pump It Up for the Christmas party. SOOOO fun...I don't know who loves that place more, me and Marc or Ana. Marc was so disappointed that he had to work! :) We drew names to see who would buy for who and Ana got a gift for Anna! :) Jacob had my Ana and he got her a "My Little Pony" which she carried around with her all day. FUN TIMES! We love our playgroup!

Daddy Came to Music Class!

Last Friday was the last music class of the year. We will probably be able to do one more session before we move, but Marc won't be able to go to any of the classes because he will be in Florida. So he left work to come to class for the hour and then get back...just to be apart of her favorite activity! This was the first time he was able to make it and they had such a good time! He is such a good daddy! Reindeer antlers! This is one of Ana's favorites..."tap your sticks in the air with a one, two three...."
We take the scarves and stomp, dance, wiggle, play "peek a boo"...whatever the music moves you to do! :)

Ana is quite the "teacher's pet". She ALWAYS wants to help...the class just knows to give the bag to Ana to hold as they put their instruments away.

Blowing out the candles!

The year Marc and I got married we made this advent wreath at our church in Del Rio, TX. We started our tradition of "Advent" that year and have done it every year since. We have an "Advent of Devotions" that we do every night throughout the advent season. It entails a bible reading, family discussion, singing, and nativity building. Marc and I have enjoyed this and LOVE that Ana is sharing it with us now. It's fun for her too because of the singing and the nativity building and THEN blowing out the candles when we are finished. It's a wonderful way of focusing on what this season is all about, the birth of our Savior....Jesus Christ!

Advent Singing

Advent Singing
Video sent by mstitzel

Ana LOVES to sing with us and it is so neat. She doesn't know the words but always seems to understand and sings so loud and proud! We sound horrible but it's the family memories that count! It's the last thing we do before bed and she is always so sweet.

M&M's are the best!

Ana has a deep love for M&Ms. She gets one when she goes potty in the potty now. And most of the time that works great. WELL, she was getting SOOOO bad at taking her jammies off at night time and we'd have to put them back on her every night and she'd be freezing to death. SOOO frustrating. I tried everything from making her put them back on in the morning...by herself which ALWAYS made her mad and it took a good hour of our morning to taking away favorite toys....WELL, it dawned on me to use some POSITIVE reinforcement. SO, now if she has her jammies on in the morning when she wakes up...she gets an M&M. PROBLEM SOLVED! Little stinker. You think M&Ms will work forever?

Decorating HER tree

After we put up our family tree in the living room, I told Ana she could have her very own tree to decorate. I had gotten her Sesame Street ornaments and she LOVED it. After she finished she said, "Target...more ornaments?" SMART GIRL! Training her right! :) She has decorated this tree bunches of times now. When she starts to mess with the "big tree" I tell her to go play with her tree and that has worked well. Ana loves the movie "The Grinch". (The old cartoon version.) The second time she watched it, I was sitting with her and I looked at her and she was CRYING! I asked her if she was sad and she said, "No...happy mommy...Grinch nice now". (It was the end of the movie when he is carving up the roast beast.) I was floored and called a friend who is a child psychologist to ask her if a 3 year old could have that happy/cry emotion. She said some kids do and if she is a sensitive kid...she could be in tuned with that emotion. I really do think she gets it! What a sweetheart she is!

Vegas BABY!

We drove up to Nevada to see our AF friends who are stationed there this past weekend. Ana was SOOO excited to go see her friend Katy and we told her they live in Vegas and Marc taught her to say "Vegas Baby". Nice. It was a WONDERFUL visit and it went so fast that I think Ana and I will go back up there while Marc in gone in Jan. We took the kids to a park and had a picnic with the Gempler's and Bacon's.
The girls are feeding the ducks...Gina was born while we all lived in Alaska and was the first baby Marc fell in love with. She's so big now!
When you ask Ana who her best friend is...she will tell you Katy! SUCH a good visit! We miss you guys!

Happy Birthday Papaw and Gracelyn!

We had a fun week but Ana and I have had a cold that we can't seem to get rid of! She has a new phrase that is just SO THREE..."Why Not"....so sassy and with attitude! :) Sometimes she uses it in the wrong context so I have to give her the correct sassy response to help her out...it cracks me up. I'm sure next week it won't be so cute anymore.

Christmas Tree Shopping

Ana had more fun playing in the trees than looking at them! She chased this poor chicken around the entire nursery while Marc searched for the perfect Christmas tree. Did you know they bring in chickens to eat the scorpions and bugs out of the trees? I had no idea!
FINALLY after a couple of days of looking...Marc found the perfect tree! Thanks Daddy!

The Gordon's!

The Gordon's are our good friends who adopted Myah from China while we were adopting Ana! They got home with Myah one week before we left to go get Ana. When we got home with Ana they left THE NEXT DAY to their new assignment in Wichita Falls, TX. So we went through the entire adoption process together and just barely got to see the girls together! They are here in Phoenix visiting for a memorial service for a pilot who was killed last Monday. It's been a sad week for our Air Force family but the amount of love and support given to the family has been amazing. I'm so glad we are apart of such a special group of people. Ana was up to her crazy bath time antics and Myah was shocked at first I think...but quickly joined in!
The girls have played awesome together and it has been so fun being with the Gordon's again...it doesn't seem like they have been gone 6 months at all. We just picked up where we left off! :)

Christmas Party/Festival Weekend

Santa taxied in on Sat. morning for the kids Christmas party! He barely fit in the cockpit! :) Ana got a book from Santa. She wasn't too thrilled with him at first and then warmed up a bit.
She made this necklace at the party and LOVES it!
The base had a Christmas festival with snow flown in from Flagstaff! We had a blast. Santa was there also and they lit the base Christmas tree and had crafts AND it was cold enough for hot chocolate! FINALLY!
Before we left the base Christmas festival we took a sleigh ride in a TWO horse open sleigh. Ana was so excited to see "Coco" again. He is everywhere...kinda like Santa!
Fun Fun Weekend!

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

21 Nov 051
Video sent by mstitzel

Oh, so helpful!