Christmas Morning!

Sydney woke up almost 2 hours earlier than McKinzie so she had plenty of time to enjoy the new cars that Papa Ray and Grandma Judy sent for christmas! She was so excited and hopped in one car and played for a little bit and then went to the other - back and forth all morning! It was precious.

Santa brought rollerblades for McKinzie, but of course little sister loves them too! Let the fun begin!

McKinzie and Sydney wore matching pijamas for christmas eve and morning - too cute!! I love this picture because Sydney was so excited for every gift opened. She was truely happy for everyone and it was so precious!

My favorite memory of this Christmas morning was McKinzie's pure excitement - from seeing all the gifts under the tree from Santa to noticing that he had eaten the cookies she left for him - she was jumping for joy! I also loved Sydney's quiet enjoyment of our Christmas activities. She loved every part of it because she was with all of us and sharing in her sister's excitement. It was truely a magical christmas this year.

Christmas Eve

After dinner and bath time the girls we able to open a few presents on Christmas Eve! McKinzie's favorite was a Disney Princess book with CD.

Calling Grandpa and Grandma on Christmas Eve!

Sydney just loved getting to spend time with everyone together!

Merry Christmas!

We had fun taking our own family picture! The girls loved having Daddy set the timer and run!

The Christmas Card Photo Attempts ...

Build a Bear!

McKinzie had so much fun creating her very own pink princess bear. There were endless bear choices, but it only took Kinzie 2 seconds to decide on pink!

Putting in the stuffing and the heart.

Bear's first bath!

Choosing accessories! This took some thinking, but was still so much fun!

The finished product! A perfect pink princess teddy bear named McKinzie. Sydney loves her new little lamb! Thank you Grandpa and Grandma Whiteman! What a wonderful Christmas gift!

Meeting Santa!

It's safe to say that McKinzie has been a good girl this year! She has been so patient as we figured out our new routine as a family of four. McKinzie has grown up so much this year - in stature (4 inches and 5 pounds!) and also in maturity. We're so proud of the sweet and fun loving little girl that she is!

Playing with friends

We've been enjoying the cooler winter weather by playing with friends as much as possible! These two girls have been best friends since they were two years old!

Little girls and dresses

I bought the girls' christmas dresses the other day and McKinzie and Sydney had so much fun twirling and dancing! It was so precious!

Christmas Creations

Andy and McKinzie created a family of snowmen to decorate our lawn for Christmas!

Deck the Halls

Even before we had our sweet girls Andy and I loved celebrating the Christmas season. It's so fun to share the excitement! McKinzie and Sydney were very excited about putting up the tree! They were great helpers.

McKinzie was really excited to put the star on top of the tree!

I think Sydney helped for a few minutes and then she wanted to play with the pretty decorations, of course!

And then she just wanted to play!

And finally McKinzie wanted to play too! The whole tree process took so much longer than she had expected!!

The posed christmas tree topper picture! McKinzie was so over it ...

But finally, the good stuff! Hot chocolate filled with mini marshmallows!

Under the Weather

We've all been hit with a tough cold/flu virus. It's interesting to slow down for a few weeks while everyone recovers! I'm always amazed at how the girls can make the best of things!

Snack Break

Happy Birthday McKinzie

McKinzie had her friends over for a morning playdate - the highlight was a Barbie birthday cake! We also went to her favorite asian restaurant for dinner so McKinzie could use chopsticks. She is really good!

Down on the Ranch

We visited a ranch to give the girls a taste of country living! It was so fun. The girls had a chance to see baby farm animals, milk a cow, feed the cattle, jump in the hay and ride a pony. The pony ring was in the center of all the activities so most of my time was spent chasing Sydney and making sure she didn't go under the fence!

Trick or Treat!

Our one and only true trick-or-treat stop!

Halloween 2010

The girls have had a blast with their halloween costumes this year. Sydney wore her wings for about 2 seconds and McKinzie wore her Tinkerbell outfit for 3 days straight.

ABC's

I'm working with McKinzie on a few preschool skills. It has been quite a learning experience for me too!

Halloween fun at the zoo

McKinzie got to dress up as Tinkerbell and have a fun day at the zoo!

It was fun to show Sydney all of the zoo animals. She had a great time too.

The day ended up being too hot for costumes!

McKinzie was able to paint pumpkins and do some Halloween crafts. I loved that she wanted to paint a pumpkin for Sydney too!

Looking for the lions!

Sydney was so excited to see the zoo animals, but she was also just as excited to see the birds and squirrels that crossed her path!