Christmas eve.....

The girls were so excited to go to my parents house and open presents. They begged to open at least one of our presents before we left.

Megan had guessed that the big box contained her American girl Bitty baby when I first put it under the tree days ago. It didn't make her any less excited to open it.
Taylor picked out his own present from the money my parents had given us. He's excited because its exactly what he wanted.

Ali's band room was just screaming for a drum set. (well so was she). It was a big hit.

Merry Christmas eve....

Its been a very long day already..

Brooke spent another night with us and this morning the girls went with Jeanne and her grandsons to the park to go sledding.

Taylor is working .

After they warmed up in the bath we played "beauty salon" and I put all their hair in braids. I decided I wanted my hair braided too.

The girls have been asking all day when we will leave for grandma and papa's house and right now we're

trying to pass the time while Mattie is sleeping, by watching Christmas movies.

I'm excited to hang out and open presents with my family tonight, and I know the kids are too..

Design school....

Ali and Brooke spent hours on Ali's sewing machine turning shiny fabric we had into skirts, dresses, jackets, and even socks for their design studio. Here is the Fab skirt they made for me..

and the ...... I think this was a cape or a shawl or something, for Mattie (who modeled it quite nicely for her picture )

And then a darling little skirt for Megan...

There was much more and they sold them at extremely reasonable prices... My skirt was only $1.25 !
Seriously fun stuff. I have to say my kids are extremely lucky.

sewing machines, band rooms, what more could they ask for.

the girlsbegged me to do this.....enjoy

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thursday.....................Friday

We were running a daycare yesterday, so there wasn't much time to post. We had the Cason girls for our regularly scheduled Thursday, and with Chandler that made 7 children all under the age of 9..

It all went just fine, and the kids were a bundle of loves and giggles..

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TODAY

After getting the girls off to school, the boys were doing their own intellectual stimulation. Chandler read all about the "life of worms", and Mattie was practicing the piano (just the wrong end).

Then we had cookies for breakfast......yummmmmm

Chandler loved them, and every time he'd drop one he'd SCREAM for another. Sorry Keena, I don't think they're organic..... (what happens at Aunt Jessica's stays at Aunt Jessica's!)

After cookies (and formula) Chandler needed a good scrubbing... He was nice and clean and covered in baby lotion.. he looked so handsome I had to take a few more pictures... He was so happy and smiley....

right now, he's snuggled in for his morning nap...

below

this was the look he made when Mattie realized he was sitting in his chair and yelled at him...

Salt dough

What a mess! But oh so much fun.

Another day

Last night I was getting Chandler ready for bed.. I changed his tush and stood up to get a diaper about 4 feet away. Mattie jumped right in and took over. He made sure his bum was super clean.

He slept like a champ (10 hours to be exact), and this morning he has been playing and chewing the life out of his toys. Teething maybe?
This was Mattie's outfit and I just loved putting it on him, ahh memories.. Mattie filled it out wayyyyyy more than Chandler.

(below) loveing the entertainer......

collage i made for Heidi

Gymnastics Winter show

These girls Rock! They did such a good job.
Meg's recital was at 4. Ali's wasn't until 7..
that meant 2 hours of waiting in between..
Mattie was over it half way into Megan's..
I was worried..
The girls wanted to go to dinner..
I felt weird about being with Ex and his family......
I didn't know what I was going to do for 2 hours...
I went to dinner (after the girls insisted).....
It wasn't so bad...
I made fun of Ex's sweater...
He was a good sport...
The girls were HYPER!
Mattie was happier after he was fed...
Finally it was time for Ali's show.......
Mattie made a cute little friend.
He followed her everywhere..

Handmade Christmas

Ali used her sewing machine to make Megan a doll blanket for Christmas. She got this darling sewing machine from Aunt Angie for her Birthday last May.. She finally got the chance to use it. It was very easy to use, and did a great job considering its size and ability.
I showed her how to use it and what she needed to do for the seams. We put a thin batting inside and I helped her stitch through the middle to keep it in place.
then we put a ribbon along the bottom for color..
She Wrapped it up in Christmas wrap and proudly wrote
To Megan, From Ali
on the front..
I'm proud of her for doing it (even if I did encourage the gesture), and she was proud of her hard work too.

a baby update for Keena......

YUMMY food!!

Megan Begged to help feed him.... Sticking her own tongue out was the secret to her success. "What? that was it? I'm still hungry!"
"Fine, I'll eat my fingers then..."
"oh, Aunt Jessica, You're sooo funny!"
Ahhhhhh..... Sleep...
Mattie's sharing his blue blanket.

Blurry, but still cute.....

Chandler is having a blast... All these pseudo siblings to keep him entertained and happy.. He's been sleeping great, only waking up once a night and going right back to sleep after a night cap.
We have learned that he Loves cheerio's and that his bottle has to be a perfect 72 degrees before he'll accept it. He Does NOT like to be put down, and as I mentioned its a very good thing we've got lots of hands around here.
He had a nice splash in the tub this morning and smells deliciously like Gerber Oatmeal lotion.
Right this moment he is dreaming of puppy dogs and lollipops in his cozy bed.
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later......

Grandma came to pick Chandler up for a sleep over.. Don't worry we get him back tomorrow.

"Hope you're having fun Mommy, See you real soon.."

More for Keena..... and me.......

Megan LOVES Chandler... She's very good with him too. She's had lots of practice with her dolls .
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Taylor Family Christmas party


Chandler got a new outfit for the occasion.......
"My First Christmas" Jammies...
He looked so cute.

He LOVED lying under the great big Christmas tree looking up at all the ornaments. (Don't mind the green beans all over his face.. A kid has to eat!)
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Mattie and Caden had a ball running around together.. I wanted to get a picture of them running up and down the hall.. I snapped a picture and Mattie automatically stopped and said "CHEEEEEESE".. Apparently this Didn't sit well with Caden because he broke down in a little sob... Mattie turned around and comforted him, it was so cute. *******************************************
After Dinner we had a Special Visit from the big guy himself.

SANTA!
Mattie Not loving it so much......Megan so cute, came immediately back to me and whispered "that's not the real Santa" I asked her why she said that, and she explained that his beard wasn't real.

Ali was as good as a 9 year old could be about it. It took her awhile to get comfortable in the midst of 20 cousins to begin with.

Chandler said, "woah, what the? Get me off this guys lap!"