Saturday Night Christmas Parties

every year all our baylor friends head to the Hodders house for the annual Christmas party.  It used to go way into the wee hours of the morning...not so much any more now that everyone has kids! Chloe loved seeing all her friends and eating some GOOD food!  Afterwards we headed to my sisters house to celebrate an early Christmas with extended family.  Here are some pictures!

playing in the hodders backyard

staying warm with mommy

having dinner with hallie

keeping baby Jesus warm

warming up by the fire...a little close with her tutu!

riding in a box...so fun!

the north pole express

On Friday night we took Chloe to the north pole express.  she talked about it all day long because we made the mistake of telling her the night before that we were going on a train! so, she woke up saying "Chooo-Choooo, Let's go!".  Hmmm...our train ride wasn't until 8:30 pm. so this made for an interesting day, but after much consoling, going to Target to buy her a train, and having talks with daddy on the phone about how we weren't going until night time...it was FINALLY time! Adorned in her holiday "nommers" we arrived at the train station just in time for a picture with Santa, which oddly, turned out to be a much better experience than first expected! She was a bit clingy, very unsure and finally when we sat her on the big guys lap-she was totally serious.  She didn't smile, laugh, cry...nothing.  Eventually we got her to warm up by telling her NOT to smile-well, thats all it took and this is what we got! I was so relieved!!!

 Afterwards we joined the rest of the crowds in the tent and danced to the music.  Chloe enjoyed dancing in the aisles and jumping up and down, yelling "Chooo-Choooo!" She had to have been wondering, "Where is the this train you guys told me about?!!!"  Finally, after walking through Christmas trees and snow we boarded the train! It was everything she had hoped for! The train pulled away with Chloe yelling "Choo-Chooo, here we go!!"  As we rode along I couldn't help but tear up a bit...all the hustle and bustle of the holidays so many times takes precident over the tiny memories that I forget to capture.  The pure innocence and joy that Chloe felt about seeing Santa, the conductor, the train the lights and dancing to the music was almost more than my heart could hold! I wanted to freeze it all, shove it all into a little bottle so that I could open it back up in 20 years at christmas time and feel it all over again.  I love you my chloe girl, and I promise not to ever forget these little memories!  thank you so much for bringing such abundant joy to our lives! we are so blessed!

handing in her ticket

dancing to the music!

soooo excited!!

walking through the snow!

getting her ticket punched

proudly holding her ticket!

dancing on the train

look who is coming!!!

oooooooooh!!!!

It's Santa!

so happy!

Nate, Chloe and the conductor...yes, chloe was a bit freaked out by him! :)

happy birthday to me!

yesterday i turned 30! nope...I don't think it feels any different from 29! do i look older? i don't know...but i really don't feel older! we celebrated at the dragonfly at Hotel Zaza on Saturday night with my parents, lance and lindsay, the bales and the stephens.  we had sooo much fun! we even got to meet Tiki Barber! He is so stinkin cute and soooo polite! here are some pictures!

melissa, mary and me at our table

me & mary

me & nate

me, lindsay & this lady!

mom, mary, me, tiki, lindsay & melissa

mmmm...donuts

on saturday morning we took chloe to krispy kreme-my favorite! chloe loves krispy kreme-I mean who doesn't?! We had fun wearing our hats, watching the donuts being made and of course eating too many donuts and washing them down with tasty chocolate milk!

ahhhh!

thank you!

thank you all for all our prayers for baby libby! the surgery went so well yesterday! the doctor was able to do everything and she is recovering now! I got to see her last night and even with all her cords and tubes she looked beautiful! Her color was great and she was breathing so well!  One nurse said there is a chance she could go home sometime this weekend! What a praise! :) nates at the hospital visiting them now! (and bringing home my car because it was so icy last night by the time we left around 12:30!) Mary said that she just got to hold Libby for an hour which is awesome!!! We are so thankful for Libby's healthy little heart! :0

libby's prayer day!

hey guys! if you are reading this today, (Monday, December 15) please say a prayer for our sweet friends The Bales.  Their precious baby Libby is having open heart surgery today to repair a hole in her heart.  We put together a prayer schedule which started at 6am and ends at midnight tonight and it filled up quickly! We also made this incredible prayer chain for the hopsital! I just put the last one on and we are at 127 links! God is soooo good!!! :0 I'll be heading up to the hopsital soon...but please, please say a prayer for Mary, Connor and baby Libby today! I know they would appreciate it!!

sunday school christmas party

tonight we all got together with our friends from sunday school at the shortinos house.  we had an awesome time hanging out with friends, eating awesome food and exchanging ornaments! the ornament exchange is always a sight to see! lets just say we aren't always on our best behavior! 

chloe showing off her "nomers" before we leave!

angie, me and katherine

sometimes the ornaments are HORRIBLE!!!

shane showing off his snowman ornament that doubles as an earring

sometimes there are little "arguments" 

and sometimes some pouting

oh...and remember these little "darlings", I ended up stealing them for a very special person! ;)

oops...just found another memory card...

so these are totally out of order, but here are a few pictures taken lately that I forgot about because it was with our little camera! 

all the copppell girls at angie's baby shower!

and chloe got to go with Lindsay and lance to the Coppell Christmas parade because we had Nates Christmas party! She had a blast and loved the lights, the band and of course, seeing Santa!

candyland party!

today we went to bennett and bella's candyland party! chloe ate pizza, played with her friends, jumped in the jumpy, made reindeer food and decorated a cupcake! she couldn't have been happier!! melissa...you rock and I think we owe you a maid for the mess we all made! :)

2 year olds with cupcake icing and candy sprinkles was a bit dangerous!!!

saying their prayers

chloe and ella claire

cupcakes!

chloe and caroline in their matching shirts!