Christmas At The Stinson House

We had such a great Christmas this year! Christmas brought back all the memories and traditions Chris and I enjoyed as children and it was so much fun doing them all again with our girls. Ansley is at the age where she now understands who Santa is, what Santa does, and how magical he is. She was so excited about him coming to our house! Our cable had a Santa Tracker network that we tuned into every night. It was such a neat channel. It told us all the happenings at the north pole and it always asked a question that Ansley had to answer to determine whether she goes on the naughty or nice list. Sadly, she would get so "stressed" when it came time to answer those questions. . . but it worked like a charm because she tried so hard to "be good". She also learned the true meaning of Christmas. We read a book almost every night that told the story of baby Jesus and how the wise men brought him gifts and that is why we give gifts to those we love.

On Christmas morning, both girls squealed with excitement when they saw the gifts Santa brought them. One thing Chris and I learned is that they really didn't care what was "Ansley's" or "Kylie's" toys. They were equally excited about both sets of toys. They shared them all. Santa should have just put all the toys together. Maybe next year he will remember this. I know it won't always be like that, but he needs to take advantage of it as long as it lasts.

My parents came to our house this year around lunchtime. We had lots of yummy snacks instead of a big lunch. This let us focus our attention on the girls and their gifts rather than cooking and it was so worth it. Uncle David was even here this year and we are so glad he was. The girls loved him! Santa visited Gamma and PopPop's house in Alabama too. And of course, Aunt JuJu spoiled them rotten with lots of Ariel and Elmo things! Uncle David even gave Ansley a real set of Ugg boots! I was so jealous. But isn't that what aunts, uncles, and grandparents are for??? The girls were so overwhelmed with all their fun things that days later, Ansley was still "finding" new things and bringing them out of her toy room to show me. Its funny, but what a blessing that is!

Chris and I are definitely blessed to have such wonderful families that love us. We are truly blessed with 2 little gifts from God, our girls. I couldn't imagine life without them.

I am sad for Christmas to be over, but am looking forward to 2010! Happy New Year to everyone!

Instead of posting each picture, just click on this link for a slideshow of our Christmas. ..

Girls Day Out!

Yah! We finally have a bit of a vacation. Time to sleep in, relax, and play!
Well today, we ventured down to Lenox Mall for our first trip to Macy's Pink Pig! I wanted to go before the actual Christmas shopping season started. It is no fun at all waiting in long lines with a 3 1/2 year old and a 1 year old!
But before we could even get to the pig, we ran right into Santa! There was NO line at all. I couldn't believe it. We are not used to that, especially for Lenox Mall. We normally have to wait at least 2-3 hours. So here we go, I led a reluctant Ansley around to see him. She crawled onto his lap holding Honey tightly for security. Then, she became stoic! Not a sound, not a twitch, not a blink. Poor baby! There was no way she was going to share with him what she wanted for Christmas. Looks like Mommy and Daddy will have to be the messenger this year. Then Kylie joined her sister on Santa's lap and screamed with fright. Tears running down her cheeks. Finally, we got them settled in for a picture. However, there was no one smiling in this year's picture but Santa. Oh well, at least we can look back at the progression of each Christmas and how they reacted to Santa. These moments are priceless no matter how funny or sad they are. I will have to scan those pictures in. They were not taken with my camera.
Then it was time to ride the Pink Pig! Ansley and Kylie loved it! We rode it twice! Their eyes lit up as we went around and listened to the story and looked at all the decorations. Ansley has already said, " That was fun Mama! I want to go back to the Pink Pig!" It looks like we just started an annual tradition!

Waiting for our turn to ride!

Pumpkin Carving with Daddy

Daddy has been excited all weekend about carving a pumpkin with Ansley. He went and bought a pumpkin and a carving kit with elaborate designs. Ansley got to choose the design she wanted to carve. Chris says it didn't turn out quite right, but who can tell? It looks great to me! This is the first year where we think she actually understands some of the concepts of Halloween. They worked outside for a long time. Ansley was a good little assistant. She even helped with the powdered sugar (btw-which were used to help find the tracing lines). She loved it so much, she started licking the leftover off the porch-yucky! Silly girl, she knows better. But the girl loves sweets!

Hopefully this will become a yearly tradition for them, because I think they had a great time. Here are some pictures.

Let's Party!!

Ansley working on her pumpkin

Check out Kylie's face! Too funny!

Going to the party!

Today was our neighborhood Halloween Party. Its a fun get together for all the little kiddos in the neighborhood-and Wow! There are so many of them now! Anyway, they bowled with pumpkins, carved pumpkins, had face painting and lots of other fun things for the little ones to do. They even had a costume contest with a parade! It was so cute.

Ansley is The Little Mermaid this year. She loved the costume from the Disney Store and there was NO putting it back on the rack. Her interest in princess things seems to be starting! It fits her so cute and let me just tell you, she was working it during the parade.

Kylie is a strawberry this year! It is the cutest costume I have ever seen! I knew immediately upon seeing it that it was a keeper. In fact, I picked it up and was afraid to put it back because someone else might take it. Sure enough a lady came in the store while we were there and was looking for it. Oops! Finders Keepers! I am so glad I held on to it.

And. . . Kylie won the costume contest--complete with a trophy, candy, and a Toys R Us gift card ! Way to go Kylie!! Her costume was definitely unique. Ansley didn't quite understand that it wasn't her trophy, so shh. . . don't tell her. She could have won it too! She looked absolutely adorable in her costume!

Better costume pics to come in our Halloween post! Check it out after Halloween!

Kylie is 15 months old!

Okay, do the math, she is really almost 17 months old! Did I really just type that--wow! My baby is getting so big!

Anyway, we were a little behind on our 15 month checkup due to some insurance delays, but we finally got it done last week. Here are Kylie's 15 (or 16) month stats if you are interested:

Weight: 23 pounds 12 ounces (50%)

Length: 31 inches ) (60%)

She is also cutting 2 bottom molars-ouch! But they are almost in now, so we are good on teeth at least for a few weeks-yah! She has been trying to bite her sister and her teacher at school while they have been coming in, so no more excuses for biting-Miss Kylie! She thinks its funny(of course), but no one else does! :-)

Burt's Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday, we took the girls to Burt's Pumpkin Patch to pick out thier pumpkins. It was so cold that all our noses and cheeks were red. This was Ansley's 2nd trip and Kylie's 1st trip there. They both loved looking at all the pumpkins and was excited to get to pick out one of thier own. But, let me just tell you, it was much harder with 2 kiddos than with one! We wished we had a few extra hands to help us with this trip--maybe next year!

I will spare you all the funny details, and just leave you with the pictures instead My girls are in constant motion and I can never get them to sit still enough for a good picture of them together, but it is what it is! Enjoy the pictures!

This is one of my favorites. This was the pumpkin she wanted and she is trying to pick it up. Look at the expression-hilarious!


Goin for a ride. . .

Precious smile!

Ansley, just taking in the sights-happy to be there.

Mom, another picture????

Am I stuck here like this?

Kylie doing some shopping. . .

This one's big!

Precious face!

(I just wish the lady in the red sweater could be cropped out of all my pictures-grr!)

My girls

(Kylie is tired and doesn't want to cooperate with her sister anymore)

We're Back!

Well friends, I have to say my blog slipped from my priority list these past few months, but now that things are slowing down a bit, I hope to update it with some of our favorite moments since July. So many priceless moments go on around our house I wish I could share, but it would be impossible to record them all!
Just know my girls are so amazing and I LOVE watching their unique personalities grow and develop. Sometimes, I catch myself just sitting still and watching them play by themselves and interacting with each other. They truly are each other's best friend already at 3 and 1. I am so glad they are going to be close--I was worried about that before Kylie arrived!
Many times Chris and I look at each other, shake our heads, and just laugh because they are into everything and everything is funny to them, no matter how messy, loud, or impossible it is.
Ansley is now a big girl! I kiss her every night and tell her how much I love her and how proud I am of my big girl. If I ever call her "Baby", she will quickly correct me and say, "Mommy, I am not a baby anymore, I'm a big girl!"
Kylie--2 words. . . Miss Personality! She is a bit of a wild child, but is the most funny, outgoing, and easy going little one I have ever met! She loves to laugh at you, herself, and anything that is going on. She is starting to put sounds together to make words and it amazing! At 16 months, she literally seemed to start talking overnight.

Anyway, you may find that I back-dating(is that really a word?) some of my posts. This is so things seem to be in a logical order. Otherwise my random thoughts and moments might get too confusing for everybody!

Enjoy the pictures. These are a few random ones from Friday of my girls having fun!






Ansley posing! She begged me to take pictures of her. Big contrast from a year ago!

Happy KyKy!

Kylie in her diva pose. I don't know what the heck Ansley is doing!

"Hehe!" she laughs!

The lighting didn't turn out so well, but she is posing in her new outfit from Gamma.

Her model moment. Too bad, the picture quality wasn't so great. Someone needs to learn to operate the camera better!


This is too funny! I wonder who the ring leader was in this unique idea. Hmm. . . Could it be LITTLE sister??


She's checking to see if I am watching. . .


Iknow, I know, we are NOT supposed to be on top of the table!

My favorite of them all. . . took my eyes off of her for a moment, and this is what she does. I keep telling her that she is NOT a table dancer! Geez.