Let it Snow!

We had our first real snow last Thursday and as soon as Addie saw it coming down early that morning, she immediately put on her new snow boots, mittens, and fleece hooded jacket and claimed that she was ready to go "snowing".....well before 8:00 a.m.

Rather than waiting until Chris got home from work that evening to venture out into the fluffy white stuff, we bundled up right after lunch and headed out to play. I'm not sure if the 20 minutes of getting ready was worth the 10 minutes we played, but it was fun (cold, but fun) and both girls napped very well that afternoon :)

All bundled up!

Making a snow angel: this was the first thing she did when she stepped foot in the snow ;)

Taste-testing the snowflakes

The snow stuck around (and is still here today) over the weekend so we decided to take the girls on an impromptu sledding adventure over at Chris's dad's house on Saturday. Bundling up was a little quicker this time since Daddy was here to help and we loaded into the van and headed over to check out the big hill! We all took turns on the purple sled and Chris and Addie occasionally went down on the toboggan together, racing Lydia and I. Although it was VERY cold (like 18 degrees cold), both the girls LOVED their time sledding.

Lydia's sledding debut video...and I know you can't tell by her facial expression here, but she had a blast and wanted to go again and again when we got back to the top of the hill!

Addie turned 3!!!

With our Little Bear having a birthday 2 days after Christmas, we try very hard to make it special for her. So.....on December 26th, the tree and all the Christmas decorations come down and get boxed up until next year. It's kind of funny because Addie acts very sad to see "her" Christmas tree get dragged out the back door, but I don't think she fully realizes that we do that to prepare ourselves for another big celebration!

This year was a bit different than other birthdays for her because her birthday fell on a Sunday and that just so happened to be the day when ALL of my mom's family (who ALL live out of town, other than Grandma and Grandpa) were in town getting together for Christmas. So we had to be a little creative in how we made this day special for Addie....and I'm pretty sure she had a fabulous day!

We started the day by letting her go to the Donut Bank with Daddy to pick out her own donut. Rather than packing all of us up to go eat AT the DB with the Sunday morning (and holiday) crowd, we decided we would all enjoy our donuts at home. After eating her donuts at the "Princess Table" (which was just the kitchen table decorated with all sorts of "princess-y" stuff), she got to open her presents from us. "Princess" was definitely the theme this year, as she received Cinderella figurines, a Princess Glitter Glue set, and a few books, including "Fancy Nancy" and "Pinkalicious" (which are her new favorites!).


At church, we got to sit with our ENTIRE Downing family (which I might say, filled up the first 3 pews on both sides of the church!!!). After church, we let Addie choose what she would like for lunch so we made our stop at McDonald's to pick up her Happy Meal :) When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted me to make for her birthday this year, she said, "Chocolate with strawberry icing".....and so, that's what she got. Although the combination was a bit interesting to Chris and I, she LOVED it which is all that mattered! Here is our princess, blowing out her THREE candles.


We all enjoyed a good nap after lunch and then we headed over to my parents' house to gather with the Downing family for a Christmas celebration. It was amazing to have ALMOST everyone there...just about everyone traveled in blizzards and harsh conditions to make it so we were SO excited to have everyone there safe and sound. The whole family helped Addie celebrate her special day by singing "Happy Birthday" to her before digging in to her Disney Princess cake! She was more than thrilled about that!


Here she is tearing into her present from Grandma Jan, Papaw Jerry, and Uncle Jake...a Fancy Nancy DOLL and some Fancy Nancy books :)

I think she is already a few steps ahead of Fancy Nancy when it comes to fashion...this girl LOVES to put crazy, ahem, I mean "fancy" outfits together! Now she is just making sure we eat with our pinky's up and call each other "darling" at the dinner table ;)


I think I'll say this EVERY year, but it's SO hard to grasp that she's been in our family for THREE WHOLE YEARS....and then there are days when I feel like she's been around forever (and I mean that in a good way, I promise!). Addie certainly adds "life" to our family with her funny, quirky ways and we feel so blessed to be called her Mommy and Daddy. She is such a wonderful big sister to Lydia, which I know our little tiny girl will always appreciate! I am so glad they have each other and even more, I am so thankful Chris and I were chosen to raise them for the glory of God!

A Very Merry Christmas

We had the most wonderful Christmas this year with the girls and all of our family! Chris and I spent a lot of time preparing Addie's little heart for the birth of Christ and I think she really got the idea of WHY we were celebrating, which just made our hearts smile :)

We celebrated Christmas with Chris's mom, "Granny," and his brother, "Uncle Mikey" on Christmas Eve after church. On Christmas morning, we got up and had Cinnamon Toast Cake for breakfast...and even put a candle in it and sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. After breakfast, we headed into the living room to open gifts. The girls were so thankful for all of their presents and had some time to enjoy playing with them before we headed to Papaw Mike's house for lunch. After opening gifts and eating lunch at Papaw's, we came home to take naps (and ALL of us took naps, which rarely happens!). Our celebrating continued that evening with Grandma Jan, Papaw Jerry, Uncle Jake, Grandma Jackie, and Papaw Bill.

Needless to say, we were all pooped by the end of the day, but we had a terrific time with our family remembering the REAL reason for Christmas. Enjoy the pictures!