Fun with Family

We spent almost a week in Texas hanging out with Robin's family and Emma was spoiled rotten!  Here are lots of pictures from our week with The Curry Clan

 

Emma and Pops doing what they do best- she NEVER falls to sleep with Robin or I, ONLY Pops.  They took an hour and half nap together the morning after Christmas:

Eating lunch in her wagon while the rest of us ate at the dining room table!  Gigi came up with a great little lap tray to fit over the wagon... maybe we have an invention idea here?:

Emma, Aunt Crystal, and Great-Granddad:

Koby was very worn out from all of the entertaining he had to do, he took quite a few naps and made himself very comfortable as you can see from this picture:

Alana (Robin's aunt), Bruce, Reagan, and Lynnette got to come for a couple of days.   Emma really loved getting to know Alana and Lynnette, pictured below:

Emma being a ham while sitting with Gigi at dinner:

Reading a bedtime story with Gigi and Pops:

Pops showing Emma off at church on Sunday morning: (he also talked about her several times during his sermon!)

Gigi, Pops, and Emma in front of some pretty Christmas lights at their church:

Gigi talking to Emma about the nativity scene- Baby Jesus was Emma's favorite piece:

Robin, Pops, Gigi, and Emma looking at the Nativity Scene:

Sunday afternoon, Pops, Mommy, and Uncle Tommy took a break from watching the horrible Dallas Cowboys' game to take Emma to the park right behind their house.  Here, Pops is catching Emma on the slide: (notice the static-hair!)

Uncle Tommy sliding with Emma:

I LOVE the static-hair look!

Saying Goodbye to Great-Grandmom and Granddad:

Monday night, Zachary (a few months older than Emma) and his parents came over to play and eat dinner.  Emma loved playing toys with an older man:

Emma really liked playing with Zachary's cars:

Aunt Fallon reading "Snow White" to Emma:

Aunt Fallon sitting in Emma's wagon with her after Emma demanded that Fallon sit "RIGHT HERE!"

Gigi sitting with Emma in the wagon:

I couldn't resist taking this picture of Robin and his brother Craig trying out these green and yellow recliner chairs at a furniture store:

And this is what our car looked like after packing for our trip home to Tulsa.  We almost had to figure out how to strap toys to the top of the car!  Emma raked in the toys this year!

Thank you family for a wonderful Christmas- we all loved spending time with you. 

Emma's 2nd Birthday Bash

Wow, if Emma didn't know how to open presents before 2 weeks ago, she sure does now!  Between Birthday (that is exactly one week before Christmas Day) and Christmas, she has had celebration after celebration for the last couple of weeks and I'm certain we will have plenty of toys to break in over the next several months!

We celebrated Emma's birthday with Robin's family on this Saturday night when we were all together.  Emma loved getting to celebrate her birthday again!

Here are a few pictures from our celebration!

 

This is the rice krispy treat cake that Alicia made for Emma- Emma loved eating all of the M&M's off of it WHILE we sang "Happy Birthday" to her!

 

Opening gifts: Emma got several cute dress-up outfits (including a tiara) from Craig and Fallon:

Daddy held several of the outfits up to himself:

He also tried on the tiara, silly daddy!

Emma was very clingy to Gigi during her Birthday celebration!

Crystal and Tommy got Emma this adorable soft bear named Nicolas- she loved it!

Gigi and Pops got her this baby doll stroller:

She pushed her baby doll all over the house to show it several things.  Here, she is telling the baby all about the nativity scene!

Happy Birthday Emma, our big 2 year old!  We all love you so much!

Christmas Night

After spending Christmas morning with Jill's family in Tulsa, we packed up the car and headed to Texas to spend some time with Robin's family in Arlington, TX!  Emma did great on the road trip there- she slept and read books during the entire trip!

Once we got there, we had a yummy dinner and then sat down for a very fun gift opening session.  Emma had a ball!  She got so many great presents but here were a few of her favorites!

 

She got a new wagon from Gigi and Pops- she pretty much lived in it for the next several days- she even asked to eat her meals in her wagon.  It has a little door where she can get in and out herself:

 

Craig and Fallon got her a great book and this HUGE stuffed dog- she wanted to "ride on it!"  Then she asked to sleep with it- it took up 3/4 of the pack and play and she slept in the remaining 1/4:

Crystal and Tommy got Emma a great Fisher-Price nativity set- she loved it!  She got to hear the Christmas story from several different family members as we played with it:

Emma loved opening presents and was a bit disappointed when they were all opened.  She kept saying "More presents, more presents?" 

Christmas Day

We started Christmas Day by waking up at our house to open a few gifts.  Emma loved finding her stocking filled with small presents.  She didn't know what to play with first!  We ate a quick breakfast and then headed to Nana's house for Christmas with my family.

 

Christmas morning at our house: stocking time!

Nana's house (yes, her tree is this small!)  Emma is saying, "Are all of these presents for ME?"

Emma got a precious pink chenille rocking chair and ottoman from Aunt Judy and Uncle Ron:

Emma loved playing with her Cousin Haley:

Emma got a lot of really neat presents at Nana's house: puzzles, books, and a new baby doll that talks and goes potty!

Christmas Eve

I have several posts to catch up on but I thought I'd start with Christmas Eve!  We spent Christmas Eve with my family in Tulsa.  My brother (who is an amazing chef) fixed an awesome Christmas Eve dinner: filet mignon with bernaise sauce, yummy mashed potatoes, and asparagus.  We all voted that he should continue this tradition every year.  Even Emma loved the steak!

Nana let Emma open one gift on Christmas Eve because she was SO interested in all of the gifts under the tree! 

We had our traditional Braum's Peppermint Ice Cream following dinner- Emma was a huge fan!

To finish a wonderful evening, Aunt Judy and Emma had a Christmas dance-off.  They made up some routines to "Jingle Bell Rock" (I think.)  This pic is kind of blurry but you get the idea:

Counting Down to Christmas

We have been taking a lot of breaks from unpacking and settling into our new home to enjoy all of the Christmas festivities.  It is amazing the difference a year makes... last year, Emma didn't show a lot of interest in Christmas, but this year she is fascinated by everything.  She LOVES Christmas lights, Christmas tress, snowmen, Santa, gifts, etc. 

Emma's Sunday School had a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party during church on Sunday.  Here are a couple of pics of her playing with bubbles at church.

Yesterday, Emma and I went to a very fun playgroup Christmas party at our friend Leah's house.  Emma had a great time playing with friends and receiving a new puzzle during a puzzle gift exchange.

Today, our family went to Bass Pro Shops to hang out and meet Santa.  Emma didn't want to sit on Santa's lap.  She immediately started crying when we walked up to him.  Santa was just about the nicest person I've ever met- he suggested that we take Emma over to the coloring table and then he would come over for a casual, candid pic with Emma when she was comfortable and happy.  What a guy!  Not exactly the traditional 'sitting on Santa's lap- telling him what she wants for Christmas' type of picture, but it's unique and memorable. :)  Here's our 2008 Emma and Santa picture:

We're looking forward to celebrating Christmas with family over the next several days here in Tulsa and in Texas!  Merry Christmas everyone- have a blessed time with your families!