Christmas Day

I felt like Christmas took a lot of time coming this year.  Maybe because Adam was working like crazy and then went out of town for a few days (more about that later).  I didn't really do anything Christmas-y, so it was hard to get in the spirit of things.  Luckily, Adam and I had to give talks about the reason we have Christmas a few weeks before, so at least we had some lovely discussions on stories and events centered around the Savior.  Other than that, no cookie-baking or craft-making went on in my house. Poor Lily is a deprived child.  I'll make up for it when she starts to develop a longer-term memory - say around age three.

Amazingly, Lily only managed to get one present opened before the big day, so I was feeling pretty good about my distraction abilities. She had a blast on Christmas morning. We figured she would be excited to open presents, but I didn't realize how long it would take her to move from one thing to the next. Every present had to be carefully inspected, removed from the box, batteries inserted and played with and/or read for a little bit before she was ready for another. Not only that, but she loved to carry presents around to different family members - a giver already! So then we had to re-gather all her unopened presents from various places around the room before she was finally finished. Get ready for an overload of pictures...

After presents we went to Church. Here is what we go through trying to get a family picture. Lily is typically diving out of our arms, hiding, chewing on her fingers (she thought this was particularly funny so she kept doing it in every picture while we tried to hold her hands) or generally not paying attention to where the camera was. Hence, we never take family pictures. Someday she may sit still long enough.

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Winter Wonderland

Well we didn't have a white snowy day or much cold weather at all, but we did have a wonderful Christmas!  A few days before the big event we took Lily down to the Strip where some of the hotels were decked out for the season.  Adam and I liked the decor and Lily liked running up and down the sloped entrance to the Venetian Hotel. Pretty much exactly what we expected from her.

Lily and my chubby self.  Hooray for pregnancy!

There were fountains everywhere - Lily's version of heaven.

And heaven Lily-style must include at least a few staircases.

A huge Christmas Tree that lights up at night.  Lily (and Adam and I) stood in awe at its size.

Ice Skaters came during the day, but we went at 9 in the morning, so it was just pretty ice.

Lily's new favorite word is "whale" so when she sees water, she says "whale." Here she is searching for whales in the pool...

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