Mara really has stretched Christmas out a long way! She frequently (almost daily) plays with her "home center" kitchen. And her Playmobil from Susie and Mike is upstairs in her big girl room now. But here's the scene when we opened it initially.

We visited Super Gammy after Christmas and had a nice time with her, my dad, Uncle Carl, Uncle Paul, Aunt Eileen, and Kyle.

Mara, as always, is in a snuggly Daddy mood. Today, we were both competing for Daddy's affections... me snuggling on one side, her snuggling on the other, and then she started crawling further and further onto him, and then punched me in the eye with the chapstick. Ooops. I was laughing so hard, while telling her it wasn't nice. I got an apologetic hug, so that made things better.

She remembers who gives her things, or maybe we remind her enough. She mentions Pop-pop Cherry when she plays with her home center. She mentions "Tavis Care!" when she rides (and gets bucked off) Benny the Bull.

That's all I have for now! Happy Sunday!

Merry Late Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! And Happy New Year, etc. etc.

Mara enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree. Look how proud she was of her hanging ornaments:

I also took her 2 year photos since I didn't do that around her birthday.

Santa, family and friends were very generous this year!

 I wasn't able to get all of the presents the Lewisville Dardens and Travis/Claire brought later in the day, but suffice it to say, this room was JAM PACKED.

Mara wanted to open her stocking before she ate or anything. And she woke up extra early to do so (I guess we talked it up too much!)

 She made out with lots of yogurt drops, fruit roll ups, a slinky, a shirt, a hat and gloves set, Finn McMissile from Cars 2, and some other items.

 Zack and I received stockings, too! We made off with our favorite candies, some markers/pens for me, a beer koozie for Zack, Hangover 2 blueray, among other items.

I think Zack made pancakes for breakfast, but it didn't take long before someone wanted to open presents. She got art supplies.

 Breakfast, lunch, and dinner pretend foods.

 Which Mommy helped open. Those Reeses Christmas trees are half gone, btw.

 Daddy helped with the food removal, too.

 We DID take turns, you just can't tell from these photos. Little Mo was so helpful with passing out a present to either Mommy or Daddy and taking turns. She was so patient and sweet.

 She now has another Elmo, to go with "Monster" (Cookie Monster). She was pushing Elmo around in her doll stroller today.

She received this awesome computer from SuperGammy (among other things).

  She got a small train set... that kinda makes her look like she's playing Twister.

 

 A lot of yogurt drops got eaten Christmas day. She put them in her new shopping cart (courtesy of Adam/Marianne/Max) before it was assembled.

 She was happy about it.

 Cheryll, Graham, Travis and Claire came over before lunch and we had another Christmas! Mara's big present was this amazing kitchen, with a kitchen on one side and a grill/outdoor table on the other. She cooks like ALL the time.

 Here was the only shot I took while the Darden's were here... of our amazing dinner. Spreading around the work really makes it easy! We contributed the tenderloin and twice baked potatoes. Claire and Travis brought the green beans, bourdin spread, and a few desserts! Graham and Cheryll brought a salad, pound cake, and homemade rolls. (I'm probably forgetting something we ate).

 All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas! We got to celebrate some more during New Years when we exchanged gifts with friends... but I don't think I took any pictures of that. Sorry!