December 23......Baking with Gamma

The kids went to Gamma's house and baked gingerbread men while mommy and daddy finished up shopping! Of course Ethan ate most of his before he even got to frosting them and Taelor decorated her perfectly (my little perfectionist!). They did save a few for us and they were oh so good!!

December 22......Elf

We had movie night tonight and watched Elf! I think we are the only people who have not seen this movie, it was very cute and funny and the kids really enjoyed it too! This will be a holiday favorite added to our list for all the years to come.

December 21.... our first gift

The kids got to open one of their first gifts tonight, only because my dear friend Alyssa gave it to them and said they needed to open it tonight. It was a Christmas Book with all the characters that they love. Of course we read Beauty & The Beast and Toy Story first. It's a very cute book and the kids enjoyed the Christmas stories a few days before Santa came.

December 20....Craft day

Yes I know I am a bit behind, but here are the rest of our Christmas days and the fun things we did.

Today we did a craft, Ethan wanted to make a reindeer and Taelor made a stocking.

Taelor's Tea Party

The girls got to make jewelry and get their nails painted

The Menu was decided by the birthday girl.....Nutella, PB &J, egg salad and turkey sandwiches. Jam tarts, butterfly cookies, cupcakes, pink petite fours, scones, pink lemonade and of course tea! All handmade by Gamma @ English Rose Teas

All of Taelor's friends and cousins joined her in celebrating

Mommy's got to have their own tea too.

"Ted" wanted to join in on the birthday singing and help blow out candles too!

Thanks to both Gamma and Grandma for everything!!

All the girls!!

I wouldn't of expected anything less when I asked Taelor what she wanted to do for her birthday party......she wanted a Tea Party just for GIRLS! I mean what little British girl wouldn't want a tea party, I still want to have tea parties! Lucky for her, Gamma is the best British Gamma and has her own English Rose Tea business and made her birthday party spectacular! The desserts were amazing, wait I mean AMAZING! It was so fun to watch all the girls sip tea out of their tiny cups while their moms got to enjoy a "big girl" tea party too! After it was all done, Taelor said "can we do that again next year", so we shall see, it might be tea parties for the next few years....maybe with different themes!

Happy 4th Birthday Taelor

Happy 4th Birthday Taelor!! More to come on her birthday, but it was a great day! What better day then to celebrate on New Years Eve!!

Taelor is 4

Birthday girl had to start her day with a cup of tea of course

My big 4 year old

Happy Birthday Taelor

Taelor's favorite....cupcakes

Making a wish (Ethan joined in too!)

Daddy and his little girl

My babies

Can't forget the Mince Pies Taelor had Gamma make...her other fav!

Yes my baby girl turned FOUR this past New Year's Eve. I still can't believe how time has flown by. She is one amazing, sweet, shy little girl and I feel so blessed to have her as my daughter. I love her to pieces.

Taelor was born at 12:19 am and we were still awake at that time, so I went in and gave her a kiss and said Happy birthday my baby girl, as I sat and stared at her, the memories of ringing in the New Year of 2007 in the hospital with our precious bundle of joy overwhelmed me. It was 4 years ago that our lives were changed forever. As I walked out of her room, tears came to my eyes, but tears of joy to see how much she has grown up into a little girl. A little girl who has the heart of gold, and the biggest heart already for Jesus!

In the morning, on her birthday, we started the day off with a cup of tea and french toast (Taelor's choice of course). We headed to the Spectrum for a bit of shopping with the birthday girl and then had lunch at Islands. Since Taelor has the best day to celebrate a birthday, New Year's Eve, we let her stay up as late as she wanted to. We did the New York New Year and she was so excited to see everyone celebrating on her birthday. We did the countdown....5,4,3,2,1.....and instead of saying Happy New Year, Taelor said Happy Birthday to ME! So cute! Ethan was so tired that night that he didn't even make it till 8:30! Taelor was tired too and at 9:30 she was done for the day. I kissed my little 4 year old to bed, tucked her in with a big smile on my face knowing my daughter made me a mom and I am so proud of her.

I look forward to this next year in her life, to see her grow and learn, but most of all I look forward to her just being the little girl that she is!

December 19....shopping

Hubby and I spent the day finishing up Christmas shopping! We had a great "day date", lunch and shopping in stores that we never go in with kids, it was a great day today!

December 19....My first teapot and Tea time

My first Teapot!!

Ethan opted for milk....

We enjoyed our tea!

Ethan then joined us

Love that this cup is bigger than her

Watched the Toot and Puddle Christmas as we sipped tea

Yes, that is right I finally got my first teapot! I know I am married to a Brit and I didn't even own a teapot! Well now I do thanks to Linda! Last night at my parents Christmas party we do a gift exchange where you can steal gifts, well of course my niece got this gift and didn't really want it so when my name was called I stole it from her, then the sugar and creamer was another gift that Saul stole (for me) from someone else. But a few people later and it got stolen from me! Oh I was so sad, but Linda my dad's cousin was the one who stole from me and at the end she came up to me and said Merry Christmas and handed me the teapot! An early Christmas present yeah and I love it! So tonight we made tea and snuggled on the couch for a Toot and Puddle Christmas special! It was a great night, movie watching, tea and rain, what more can I ask for!

December 18....Alanis Christmas party

Me and hubby

Karla and Aunt Tami

My beautiful niece Alycia and Randy

Renae, Kandice and Aunt Judy

Uncle Randy and his daughter Kandice

Alycia, Vanessa, Jon and Jessica

Watching the gift exchange

Only my brother would get this! Funny!

Tonight was the annual Alanis Christmas party at my parents house. It was a night filled with fun, laughter, chatting and eating, lots of eating! I look forward to this party every year, reminds me of the big Christmas' we had growing up, glad I still get to have a big Christmas with my family! I love my family, they are really the best!