More Christmas...

I am playing catch up (as usual)!

 Christmas wore us all out, but it sure was fun!

 We kicked off the season and the celebrating here!

Chris' family goes to Gatlinburg every year in December!  This year I suggested we get a chalet instead of hotel and we found this beautiful place up int he mountains!  It was a great 3 story cabin with a king suit for each couple!  It was great!

The only down side was the rather treacherous drive up the mountain to get to it and it was a bit of a drive down to Gatlinburg!  I think next year we'll do a chalet again, but something closer to town!

The best part of Gatlinburg is always the time spent together!  Plus everything is decked out for Christmas and it is a great way to start the Christmas season!

 This year Jessica is expecting (much like me last year) and is too close to her due date to travel on Christmas!  Sooo... we celebrated with her there in Gatlinburg!

Ava Grace got her first taste of opening gifts and she liked it!

 Lily, a seasoned pro, liked it too!  ;-)

 The girls both got such fun and thoughtful gifts from Jessica and John!

I think the winner for Lily was this UT mascot stuffed animal that folds in on itself and becomes an orange ball!  She has turned into the biggest UT fan in the family!  You know I am loving that!  She asked for UT stuff for Christmas and tried to steal the UT gift at the dirty Santa at our family gathering!  She says she pulls for Tennessee because that is where she is from!  Believe it or not, we are even converting Chris to pull for Big Orange!!

After Gatlinburg, Christmas seemed to rush at us all at once!  The weeks between Gatlinburg and Christmas flew by in a flurry of shopping, decorating, holiday parties, and fun!

Ava Grace caught on quick to the unwrapping business! Although the first box or two of the season were all about the paper and bow, by her second round she had figured out that good things were in those boxes too!!

Lily enjoyed helping her get her paper started and speeding her along when needed!

I sure do love these girls!

Christmas in Chattanooga this year turned a little from tradition!  We had Lily before Christmas instead of after this year, so the family adjusted and we celebrated on the 23rd and 24th!  Kenslee and my SIL above enjoyed the musical book that Grandmommy got for both little girls. 

Ava Grace also got her first Bitty Baby!  She loves her baby.  Just today she held her up against her and patted her back and kissed her head.  It was so sweet I almost got a tear in my eye!!

The big girls hand fun unwrapping a big box each full of individually wrapped gifts from Grandmommy and Papaw!  At the bottom of the box full of little gifts was the biggest surprise... a $50 gift card to American Girl!  The girls immediately climbed up in Grandmommys lap with the computer and started shopping!!

Although Ava Grace got the hang of opening gifts, she didn't quite understand that ALL of the gifts weren't for her.  Soo... she helped.... everyone.  :-) 

I am almost done with Christmas pictures!  Just have Christmas morning left and then we'll catch up on Ava Grace's birthday!  This birthday right next to Christmas thing is a challenge!

Tomorrow... one year.

Tomorrow our baby girl will turn one.

We have been planning and talking about how we "just can't believe it has already been a year!"  Tonight, however, it truly hit me.  I was on my way home and and I said to myself, "She'll be one tomorrow."  Yes, I teared up right there in the car... that's how I know it really hit me.

How in the world did the year go by so fast?  There are so many things I wanted to do.  More pictures to take, more videos, more playing, more documenting, more blogging.  But time doesn't stop for pictures or blog posts... and so tomorrow, we will celebrate.

This unbelievably sweet, curious, super silly, wild girl will be one.

She weighs just 19.1 pounds (as of last week).  She's petite.  She walks... everywhere.  She is all about walking and has officially thrown in the towel on crawling altogether.  She says Mama, Dada, Woof Woof, Roar, Bye Bye, More (with prompting), and copies several other sounds and words.  She does everything big.  Plays big and loud.  Loves big and loud.  She is a Mama's girl.  She has a soft spot for her Daddy in the mornings and doesn't want to let him go and gets really excited when he gets home at night.  Her sister has her whole heart and when Lily is around, we are all second fiddle!  We are kicking the bottle tomorrow, which is fine with her because she likes her sippy cups just fine and we have tried out some regular milk and she seems to like it too!  She is such a good girl... a trooper... she rolls with it!  We can take her anywhere and as long as we are close, she's a happy girl!   

Tonight was just another night to her as she played before bed.  But tonight, for me, was a night to pause.  When she toddled over to me and motioned for me to pick her up because she was ready to settle down and go to sleep, I held her a little tighter.  We snuggled longer.  I turned down the TV in favor of watching her sweet face as her eyes drooped and she drifted off to sleep.  Then, I held her and snuggled her some more.  My baby girl will be one tomorrow.  Wow.