Christmas at the White House

Christmas at the White House

I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did at our house.
First, we had Christmas Brunch at our house with Brian's mom and brother's family on Christmas Eve. Nessa was so happy to spend time with her cousins. She loves them so much, but we don't get to see them as often as we'd like with everyone's busy schedules.
We went to the Children's Christmas Eve service at our Church. Nessa was so good...She was quiet and listened to the songs and the Christmas Story the Priest reads to the children. The priest has all the children join him at the front of the church to read the story then they all walk around the congragation to take the baby Jesus to the manger. Then at the end of the service Santa comes in and prays to the Baby Jesus and then the priest says a blessing and asks the congragation to join him in blessing Santa for a safe journey and such. Nessa was so cute holding her little hand up with everyone else to bless Santa.
Christmas morning

Nessa got lots of new toys. Baby Dolls, Care Bears, a DikaDikaDo (microphone for those of you not in the know), a Kaya American Girl Doll, and dress up clothes. She also got this beautiful rocking horse that moves and sounds like a real horse.

Christmas Evening, we watched Chronicles of Narnia, at least the first part. Nessa liked the popcorn in Daddy's bowl the best.

Wishing you all a happy 2008!

Christmas at the Zoo

WOW!!! Lights, Santa, Rudolph, Sharks and Penguins. Nessa loved it all! Nessa, Brian and I went to Christmas at the Zoo with Nana (or Nina as Nessa is calling her now) Aunt Chris (Hissy), Uncle Mike and some of their friends. This picture is of Nessa and Nana at the gift shop before all bundled up and ready to go!We started out with Santa while she was still a happy girl. On our way to Santa's we stopped and sang Jingle Bells with some carolers and warmed up by a fire. Then after a slight detour (mommy got lost) we saw the Big Guy, decorated cookies and drank hot chocolate from mugs that had blinking lights at Santa's workshop. Nessa wasn't too sure about Santa, but at least she didn't scream this time. Brian did most of the cookie decorating, but Nessa did all the eating! We got to ride on the carousel for FREE (you know Brian loved that) because no one else was in line. Most of the Animals were asleep, but Nessa likes the Sharks best anyway. She would have stayed there all night if we could have. She kept saying "Hi Sharky", I was afraid the sharks would think her little fingers were fish, but the people who work there assured me they wouldn't and they have had kids fall in before. It scares the sharks away and you just end up with a very wet kid. She also likes the dolphins and penguins. Then before we left we met up with Aunt Chris and Uncle Mike at the Cafe Commons and we had a celebrity siting! RUDOLPH came in to visit while we were there. He shook her hand and she tried to give him her slice of pickle.

Tradition

You all know how much my sentimental heart loves tradition. One of our family traditions is to open one present on Christmas Eve...new pajamas for everyone...then on Christmas morning everyone has on pretty new pajamas for pictures. Another tradition Brian and I started when we were first married is to choose one charity each year and instead of buying a gift for each other we give to a charity and put a card on the tree with the name of the person or group we gave to that year.

Some families bake a cake every year at Christmas and sing happy birthday to Jesus. Not just at Christmas but throughout the year many families have traditions, such as gathering in the street for fourth of July to do interpretive dance with sparklers or a family camping trip on a specific week or weekend.

Some families are strict about traditions, passing them to each new generation, and sometimes individuals create their own rituals. What are the family traditions or personal rituals you practice? How have they evolved over the years? Are there any new traditions you've always wanted to introduce?

Nessa Turns Two

Can you believe it has been 2 years already!?
Where did my baby go???!!!

It seems like just yesterday we were waiting for her to be born. Then finally here she was and she turned our world upside down.

She is talking more every day. Some of her most recent "Nessa-isms" have been hillarious! She started calling all drinks Coke. She has never had a Coke, but it represents all liquid beverages to her. Then today, she started to stand up in her chair and I said "Nessa, No!" She looked at me with her look that says "who do you think you are" and mimicked, "Nessa, No!" After making sure she was safe and secure on the "naughty" bench. Brian had to turn away to keep a straight face, and I had to leave the room! Another cute "Nessa-ism" is when she says Excuse You, instead of saying "Excuse me", she says in a very offended tone "cuse you". When she watches Nascar she yells, "Go Go" no matter who is on the screen, or when she sees a Colts Jersey she will say "Go Colts" every time! My favorite though is when she asks Brian for more of something he will say "Please" (as in Say Please) but she tells him "Good Girl" instead.

Welcome to our Blog

Hi! Welcome to our new site. We are discontinuing the Baby Jelly Beans website, so check in here for updates on our family.