...santa came & santa went...

I'll tell ya - our holiday season has been far from relaxing, but there's no doubt we made the most of it! Although our house was not ready for Santa to visit us there, he found me at KK's house, and boy - I am not complaining! I am not saying that I am ready for my nutty parents to plop me down on his knee & make me tell him what I want for Christmas, but I will say that he gained some major brownie points with his deliveries! I'll give you the short version to spare you the 1000 lines of Christmas talk...

Once again this year... Gingi's tradition of decorating Christmas cookies was quite a delicious project! On Christmas Eve, she got out all of the decorating tools... hooked me up with my own little bowl of icing (I suppose they didn't want me dipping my frequently licked icing brush into everyone else's bowls.. hehe!). You'll see some photos of me painting , licking, & eating! We went to church on Christmas Eve & then drove around for a while to see some "petey yights" (aka: pretty lights). After our "yights" tour, we returned home, where I finally got to rip into one of the presents under our tree. Mom & dad said that I had to get some shut eye, so that Santa would come to leave me some toys.... and even though I found it a bit unnerving that the jolly, chunky guy was going to be in my house while I slept, I reluctantly turned in & slept like a baby.

Christmas morning was a wee bit overwhelming... we started off the morning with breakfast at KK's house. Santa left me EXACTLY what I'd been asking for - - PLUS SOME! I was shocked come out of my room to see a ball, a baby, a baby stroller, and a new red hot play kitchen (complete with all of the food, dishes, & cooking supplies an almost 2 year old could dream of). It took me a little while to warm up to all of the new toys... I started with my jam packed stocking & worked my way over to the big stuff. After just a few minutes, I realized that I hit the JACKPOT! Little did I know, it was only beginning...

After we wrapped up breakfast & got dressed, we headed to Popi & Gingi's house, where we opened more presents... among a bunch of things, I got a new pink tricycle. That's right... this girl has WHEELS!! We ate a super delicioso Christmas lunch (thanks to Gingi) at a beautifully decorated table (thanks to Bebay). Shortly after we finished opening gifts, we headed off to watch daddy play at the 4th annual San Angelo Christmas Bowl (a charity game that CHS alumni play every year). The players & spectators at the game raised $1400 dollars for Meals for the Elderly... we all had a great time.

Christmas evening meant that it was time to head to DooDah's house for more celebrating. After another smorgasbord of food (thanks to KK)... wouldn't you know.... MORE GIFTS! I ripped into a new "inchy waa" (aka: a radio flyer inch worm) and a pop-up tent of my very own. Whew... one would think that this much gift opening would be all a kiddo could handle, but we wrapped up Christmas festivities with another evening of food & gifts at DooDah's again on Saturday evening. This time, we were joined by all of KK's family (the McWilliams clan).

Many, many, many thanks to all of my family members for the gifts... being "home" for Christmas this year was so special. I am the luckiest & most blessed girl to have such an amazing, generous family!

It has not slowed down even a little bit since Christmas. We spent the past 5 days painting almost every single room in our new house. I've got photos for you all, but you'll have to wait... my little hands cannot type one more word tonight ;o) Hope you enjoy the slide shows that I put together below! Happy New Year to all & to all a GOOD NIGHT!

Christmas Eve Photos

Christmas Day 2010 photos

McWilliams Christmas 2010 photos

snazzy pants

Who knew garage sale items could be so FABULOUS!?!? A few days ago, Gingi was busy sorting through lots of my aunt Bebay's garage sale clothes & stuff, so I decided to "help" her! I am sure you'll agree from the photos... that I looked pretty darn snazzy strutting around in all of my finds... sassy, eh?!

I was plenty excited with the box of scarves... and the box of hats & belts, but a little bit later - Gingi broke open the box of Bebay's bags 'n' purses... and holy moly - - - it was like Christmas a week early! I filled both of my arms with purses...and when I could not hold any more on my little arms, I made Popi & Daddy hold some of them, so that I could try out every last one in the box!

Gingi let me keep several of the hats & scarves... and it took a lot of coaxing to get those hats off of my head over the weekend. I am so glad that Bebay has fabulous taste, because these are the best hand-me-downs EVER!!!

Isn't the little rascal cute?

I know, I know... enough of me - you wanna see some pix of my new brother or sister, right?? Well - you're in luck! Last Friday, I went with mommy & daddy to the sonogram. My new baby bro or sis is pretty darn cute... I think he/she looks a little like me... what do you think? Ok - so, I will admit that these 4-d photos probably don't do my new sibling justice, but use your imagination & you'll see that this kid is precious!

All was great at the doctor appointment & sonogram... the baby is growing beautifully... he/she is a little smaller than average, but all of the parts checked out fantastically. I was once again amazed to see the "hawt" (aka: heart) on the screen... we also saw that little booger sucking his/her thumb a few times.... smart kid!

I've also included a couple of photos of mommy & her belly... these were taken on her birthday last week... she's seems to be growing just as well as the baby ;o)

snow in san angelo???

Would you believe it if I told you that when I woke up this morning & looked out the window... I caught a glimpse of a 2 inch layer of cold, white, fluffy stuff all over the ground?? YES... here in West Texas! Daddy left SUPER EARLY this morning for a hunting trip & per mom, he was pretty upset about not being able to experience this RARE weather with me. Poor pops, those deer better be really big out there!

As we likely won't see this much snow again for quite some time... mom insisted that we at least take advantage of the photo op. She bundled me up as if we were in Alaska in 20 below weather... packed me up in the car... and drove us over to our new casa, so I could play in the snow. Now... as pretty & intriguing as the snow appeared this morning... once I was face to face with that cold, wet stuff, I have to say that it didn't excite me quite as much as when I was viewing it out the window in my warm, cozy pjs.

But, I slowly warmed up to the idea of walking around in the snow covered yard. I giggled a little & kicked some of it around, but became a little perturbed when the snow stuck to my precious new boots. As any true shoe-lover would do, I constantly made sure that my boots (and mom's boots) were brushed clean. I hope you enjoy the photos.... I missed ya today, daddy, but don't worry too much... you didn't miss any profound snowman building or anything... I'll wait until you can help me with that one! Hopefully we'll get snow again before I graduate high school. :o)

don't ya know... he says "ho! ho! ho!"

I'm guessing that it's not hot news to any of you guys that the jolly guy has a well-known Christmas expression, but thought I'd share a little video of my version of his jolliness :o) "Satee" can't come too quickly for this little girl!!

a mini-twee designed by me

What a not-so-restful Thanksgiving holiday we had... we were busy, busy, busy, but it was so fantabulous to see so much of our family & to eat soooo much yummy poultry!

I have noticed over the past few days that peeps are throwing around the "SANTA" word a lot again. His name always seems to make an appearance around the time we eat the bird. I remember my visit to see him last year... I must admit, it makes me a little bit nervous to think about seeing that big dude with a beard, but I will also admit.... that all of this talk about toys does intrigue me. I've let mom & dad know that I would like for "Satee" (aka: Santa) to bring me a ball and a baby. I have learned that Satee's favorite phrase is "Ho, Ho, Ho" and will promptly let you know if you ask!

In addition to the "Satee" talk, I have developed a HUGE interest in all of the beautifully lit "twees" (aka: trees) that are lining the streets. My excitement peaked today when mom we were able to dig our mini-twee out of the storage unit (still filled with a good 80% of our lives). Mom got the "twee" for me after last Christmas with the intention that it would be our family's "kiddo tree" and that my future siblings & I will be able to decorate it however I like. We made a visit to the store, where I got to pick out ornaments for my mini-twee. After a little contemplating, I decided that I wanted only "peent" (aka: pink) and "bue" (aka: blue) ornaments for my mini-twee. I picked a few of my favorites & mom got crafty stuff to make snowflake garland.

After a chilly afternoon of raking and bagging leaves out of our tree-filled yards (a whopping 27 bags full to be exact), we returned home & began beautifying my "twee". First we strung foam snowflakes onto yarn to make a stunning garland. I looooove to string beads, so mom was correct to think that I'd like to make garland. I strung enough snowflakes to go around my "mini-twee" a few times and then we proceeded to hang all of the ornaments that I picked. My style is to hang as many balls on one limb as possible, so I did notice that mom was following after me to spread them out a bit... she's nuts. To finish off the decor, we topped my mini-twee with a "bue" sparkly star. She's a beauty! Mom took lots of photos, so have a look & let me know when you'd like for me to design your "twee". :o)

a few photos that we took this weekend in my new fun coat :o) ...