3 Days of Christmas and 4 Days of Birthday!

I'll be honest, the thought of blogging about Christmas is completely overwhelming to me this year. I mean, we had 4 events in three days at which I took 188 pictures! Oh, and my previous concern about Delaney getting lost in the shuffle? Not to worry. We celebrated her birthday 4 different times and she hasn't even had her kid party yet!

I decided to make a photobook of all the pictures I took, but here are some just to give you an idea of our various celebrations.

We hosted Christmas Eve with my Mom, Ed, Ken and his family, Jake, and Sam. This is a pic of Jon showing off the spread.

My two sugar plum fairies. Harper had a run-in with Delaney's bed frame a couple of days prior which gave her a Superman-shaped tattoo (similar to Uncle Kenny's) on the bridge of her nose.

Merry Christmas from the Cochran's!

We tried to get some pictures out of the way before we ever sat down to eat.

Anticipating present time

Honey and her grandkids

After everyone left, Delaney set out Santa's cookies and milk.

Wasn't it nice of Santa to wrap all of Delaney's presents in green and all of Harper's in pink? I thought so.

Delaney's face as she came down the stairs Christmas morning.

The first things they saw were Harper's new pink chair and Delaney's new car mat.

We headed over to Mama and Papa's at about 8:30 to open more presents and have breakfast.

It's 10:43! I'm officially 4!!

A picture of most of the loot (before Boo and Gram's gifts were added in)

Delaney's birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy!

After playing in the snow and naps, we went over to Doug and Lori's house to celebrate with the Cochran side of the family. The kids all had a great time hanging out.

While the adults sat around and discussed politics and pressed each others' buttons!

On the evening of the 26th, we celebrated Christmas and Delaney's birthday with Boo and Grams. They got Delaney a super cool stable with 4 horses, so Boo got more hugs than usual :)

Boo and Grams and the grandkids

Snow Day!

A beautiful 4 inches of snow fell all day on Christmas Eve. It was magical to have a white Christmas! After we did our Christmas morning festivities, we let the girls play outside for a while before going down for naps. Delaney was more interested in helping Daddy shovel than building a snowman. Harper flat out refused to put on snow boots or a snow coat. Fine. Go ahead and play in the snow in your jammies and Pumas. Whatever.

I love the virgin snow that has no footprints.

Such a helper!

Taking a break from child labor to make a snowball.

Harper did not complain once about the cold. Nope. She complained about the "Mess! Mess!" on her gloves. You're gonna have to get over it, babe.

Getting ready to throw a snowball at me!

Since we were out for more than 5 minutes, I talked Harper into her brown coat. She insisted on the glasses.

Harper takes a turn at shoveling. Notice the gloves are now off.

Happy Birthday, Delaney!

Delaney-

I can't believe you're 4 today! I wanted to take a few minutes to write you a letter to let you know how special you are to Daddy and me. Our lives have been blessed immeasurably because you are in it. We have enjoyed watching you grow and develop into a beautiful, smart, fun, friendly little girl...and your legs have gotten so long! The four years have absolutely flown by, but I can hardly remember what it was like not to be a Mommy.

Right now some of your favorite things to do are singing (both songs that you have learned in school and songs that you have made up), playing with cars, playing with Barbies, playing games on the computer (you call it "clicking"), watching TV, and painting. While you love school, church, your friends, and your grandparents, you would prefer to stay home everyday with Mommy and Daddy and have a lazy day. You are a good sister to Harper, not always patient, but you love her and always encourage her.

Some nicknames I call you are pumpkin pie, snuggle bug, Delaney-kins, beautiful girl, baby doll, big girl, sissaboo and sissy. Right now you love Daddy more than anyone in the whole world. I am a distant second, but I'm ok with that. It's important to me that you and Daddy always have a close relationship.

It still is amazing to me that you were born on Christmas Day - the best Christmas present that Daddy and I have ever received! Every year, I cry a little bit because I get nervous that you will get lost in the shuffle of a busy day and you won't feel as special as you are!

Sometimes I sit and imagine what things will be like when you are older - a teenager, a college student, even a mom yourself. I'll be honest - it scares me!! I pray God's blessing over your life and that you will be happy and healthy. Mommy and Daddy will always love you be so proud of you!

December 25, 2006

December 25, 2007 - 1 yr old

December 25, 2008 - 2 yrs old

December 25, 2009 - 3 yrs old

Birthday Party for Jesus

Our small group held it's annual Birthday Party for Jesus. We had 16 kids over - 15 of them were 4 or under!! Traditionally, the oldest child reads the Christmas story and we eat cupcakes. This year, we also incorporated a sensory activity and an opportunity for each kid to donate quarters or dimes to the Metro water bottle fund. (Our church is collecting dimes and quarters to help provide potable water for third world countries.) I'm really happy we were able to continue the tradition and help instill in our kids the real meaning of Christmas. All 16 kids gather in the living room.

Becca did a fantastic job reading the story of Jesus' birth!

As part of the activity, Erin assigned every kid a part. Lucas, Tyler, and Zack were wise men. They needed cool shades because they were following the bright star. (And because Erin didn't have three crowns)

Koen and Brayden were shepherds and got to hold these cool staffs.

The group traveled to each room upstairs to see if there was any room for them at the inns.

Daddy, says, "No room here. You should have made a reservation!"

Making slow progress back downstairs and to the basement where...

the Star (aka Josh) was waiting to point them to the stable.

Claire was also a sheperd.

Mary and Joseph proudly show off their baby Jesus.

After the cupcakes Delaney, Claire, and Lilly spend some quiet time reading with Mr. Jason. It was pretty loud and chaotic at our house. Delaney was having a hard time having so many people invading her space and playing with her stuff.

Brody (10 months) and Luke (1 year) showed up in the same jammies :) I bet they are going to be good buds growing up.

Mess! Mess!

Harper may look just like her Daddy, but she has a few of my quirks. The most obvious one is her dislike for messes and love of order and neatness. At every meal, we go through several napkins because she cannot stand to have her hands messy or to see even so much as a crumb laying on the table or counter. She holds her hands up or points to the spill and says, "Mess, mess!" until we get it cleaned up. We try to explain to her to keep eating and we will clean it all at once at the end, but she is not content with that. So, I basically have to wipe her hands, face, and table after every bite!

Watching her eat this cupcake was pretty funny.

Uh-oh!

Mess! Mess!

I lost count of how many napkins it took to get through the eating of this cupcake !

Pancake Breakfast

Allan is the breakfast king at our house. Two or three times a week, he makes breakfast for the girls (and me) - usually oatmeal, eggs or pancakes. He also makes smoothies that the girls love. Today we added some special blueberry topping to our pancakes and both girls gobbled them up. Harper could eat pancakes for every meal!