Christmas Day 2011

The long awaited Christmas day finally came.  We have been counting down the days with an advent chocolate calendar.  Karis was excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday and open up the gifts under the tree.  Makena didn't really know what was going on... but she sure did like getting a piece of chocolate every night after dinner!

We kept the girls up until almost 10 pm on Christmas Eve so that Derek could spend some time with them when he got home from church.  The girls slept in a little the next day which gave us a chance to sleep in too! 

When we woke up, I finished making a casserole and we sat down to eat breakfast with our roommate.  It was a sunny warm day here in Southern California!  

The girls opened their gifts -- actually, Karis opened all of the gifts since Makena wasn't interested in them.  

After the gifts were opened, we headed to church for our Christmas service.  The girls took naps afterwards and then we went to my sister's house for a shabu shabu dinner and more gifts!

We ended the evening by singing happy birthday to Jesus and eating cake and creme brulee.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Every year on Christmas Eve, Karis and I make a birthday cake for Jesus.  It's a fun activity to do while Derek is typically at church all day.

It's been neat having Karis more involved each year.  This year, Makena participated for the first time by helping decorate the cake.  Since they had such a great time decorating the gingerbread house, I decided to decorate this cake with M&Ms and sprinkles.

A Visit With Santa and Mrs. Claus

We no longer go to the mall to stand in crazy-long lines for a picture with Santa.  I did it once when Karis was one.  The Santa was crabby and Karis wanted nothing to do with him (click here to check out the photos).  

This year we went to our neighborhood Christmas party again.  They have cookies, hot cocoa, goodie bags, and crafts.  There's no line to take a picture with Santa and you can take as much time as you need to get the kids ready to meet Santa.   

Karis loves the train that circles the Christmas tree. 

Mrs. Claus remembered Karis from last year because she was so happy.

Like last year, Makena was afraid to sit with Santa so I jumped in the picture with her.  (click here for last year's picture!)

Lights!

After dinner, we bundled up the kids and drove to Tustin where we heard there was a neighborhood with lots of Christmas lights.  Because the girls enjoyed them so much, it was the first time I thought the decor and lights were actually fun and not just obnoxious.  We had a great time watching their excitement and wonderment, while walking and holding hands in the cold.    

The girls loved all the bright lights, the different types of Santas (e.g., penguins, Grinch, Dora), and the music.  We'll definitely do this again next year!   

Dancing with Frosty

Christmas lights make her sleepy.

A Little About Karis' Personality

When the girls were little, I don't know how many times in my head I would say, "This too shall pass." From spitting up to sleepless nights to throwing food...  I had to remind myself that it was just a phase and the girls will soon outgrow it.  Well, there's one thing that I hope Karis never outgrows.  

Karis embraces new situations, new people and change.  I noticed this about her when she was really little and it still continues today.  She is always excited to see what's next.  I feel like she goes into every situation with a clean slate.  I love how confidently and openly she checks out new situations and people.  

At church, she has been in the "2-year old" Sunday school class for over a year.  She started going a couple months before she turned two, when she outgrew the nursery.  Every Sunday, she had the same teachers, same toys, same set-up and saw familiar faces.  Today, since she is now three, she "graduated" to the 3-year old class.  I wasn't sure how she was going to react, but in Karis-style, she was so excited to check out her new room.  She quickly embraced her new teachers and loved the attention she received for just having a birthday.  So much so, that Makena pointed to her back (for me to put a name tag on her) and walked into the classroom too.  She wanted to join the fun!  

Here is a picture of Makena after we dropped off Karis in her room. 

Here is a picture of Karis and her new teacher.  Her teacher really enjoyed her and is excited that Karis is now in her class.

Here is the craft that Karis worked on in class.

I hope that I can be more like Karis when I go places and meet new people.  I typically have lots of assumptions, pre-conceived ideas, and negative thoughts before I even get in my car to leave the house!

Our First Gingerbread House

One of Karis' friends gave her a gingerbread house kit for her birthday.  It was the perfect activity for a rainy morning. 

Karis kept saying, "Mommy, we're doing a good job" while putting the candies on.

Makena was more interested in eating the candy.

She even took a bite out of the roof before it was assembled.  Notice the lick marks as well.

The finished product!

Good enough to eat!

Celebrating Our 3-Year Old

Our sweet (not so) little birthday girl:

Karis was so excited to have a party.  She wanted EVERYBODY to be there, so we invited her favorite friends, young and old.  The theme was Curious George since that is one of her current favorite shows (along with Clifford).  

I created a spread of a few of her favorite things:  Pirates Booty, chocolate chip cookies (which she helped me make), cupcakes, licorice and lollipops.  

We had a bounce house in the front yard for the kids to enjoy. 

We had a couple of crafts.  One was with foam stickers which Karis loves to play with.  We have them all the time and every day she works on a "project."

We had mac n cheese and chicken nuggets for the kids.  My sister made a chili bar with two kinds of chili and a bunch of toppings.  It was a huge hit!

Afterwards, we sang Happy Birthday to Karis and she was enjoying every second of it. 

The adults enjoyed the red velvet cake while the kids had cupcakes. 

We opened the gifts a few at a time all throughout the rest of the day.

Thanks to my sister for also taking great photos to capture the day.

It was so much fun watching Karis enjoy herself on her birthday.  We made a big deal about her being three and she was so proud.  At the end of the day, it was late and Derek was putting Karis down for the night.  I'm not sure how it came about, but Derek told Karis that "tomorrow isn't your birthday" and Karis (exhausted and crashing from a day-long sugar high) started to cry.  

I guess she really did have a good day!

Sweet Dreams

Karis finally got a big girl bed! 

When we tried to move her out of the crib, we put her in a full size mattress.  Some days she would sleep in it, but other days she would want to be back in the crib.  So we decided to take down the crib and put the crib mattress on the floor.  She was excited to be out of the crib but also liked the comfort of having the same mattress.  She slept on it consistently without a problem.  But, she has been sleeping on her crib mattress on the floor for awhile now and had clearly outgrown it.  

We got a great deal on a twin size bed (thanks to Groupon!) and now she looks so small in her bed.  She loves her new bed, her new sheets, and crib rail.  I'm sure she's sleeping a lot better now with all that extra space!

Helpful Little Helpers

The girls love to help and get into everything that we do.  They especially like to help us in the kitchen.  

The other day, Derek was working on one of his motorcycles.  Instead of giving him his "alone time" we followed him outside.  =)  Derek had Karis help him clean the bike while Makena picked out a few tools and decided to work on some things by herself.   

Baby #3 at 12 Weeks

I wanted to go back and note a few things about this pregnancy (otherwise I'll never remember).  During the first trimester, my morning sickness wasn't "bad" but it was worse than the other two pregnancies.  With Karis, I was nauseous.  With Makena, I had stomach aches more than I felt nauseous.  With this pregnancy, I had both!  I was always hungry and craved spicy, strong-flavored foods like Indian, Greek and Korean.  I of course wanted noodles too... something I crave with every pregnancy.  

I was extremely tired until about week 15 or 16.  I took a nap with the girls every day, for up to two hours (and still felt tired!).  

The time surprisingly has been going slow.  I see the doctor for check-ups once every four weeks and the time in between seems so long.  

Here are a couple of shots of the baby at my 12 week appointment.