Christmas 2014 (but most importantly... Oliver)

Here is a little bit about Christmas 2014. We made the decision to stay here in Frisco and not travel at all over the Christmas break. Thankfully, mom, dad, Craig, and Jacqueline were willing to make the trip down to spend Christmas with us. Mom and Dad got here on Christmas Eve and Craig and Jax got here on Christmas day. We had such a fun time eating, opening presents, and celebrating Christmas with each other. We absolutely love when Uncle Craig and Aunt Jax come and we get to spend time with them. It truly was a great Christmas.


But here is the real deal. This is what happened over Christmas that will go down in Wyatt history as one of the greatest days ever. Well... for Ava and Macy anyway. Here is the back story (sorry it's so long). They have been begging for a dog for years. Seriously. Years. I am not really a dog person. I don't hate dogs, but I don't love them either. I have been refusing to get my children a dog because I knew that it would be me, the non-lover of dogs, that would end up taking care of it. And the thought of being responsible for another living thing was daunting! Well.... I caved. I totally cracked. It took about 3 years but I gave in. It got to the point where the girls were becoming obsessed with wanting a puppy. It was all they would talk about. If we went to a pet store, Ava would leave in tears because she wanted to take one home so bad. Whenever they would go to a friends' house to play, I would have to talk to them about playing with the friend and not spending all of their time with the friends' dog. It was becoming a HUGE part of our life and discussions about dogs almost always ended with Ava in tears. On a couple of different occassions, we gave them the opportunity to "earn" a dog. We told them if they were good for so many days (no fighting with each other, disobeying, back talking, etc) then they could have a dog. Of course, they could never make it more than a day or so (which we totally knew and that is why we made the deal!) BUT... this past summer... one day I had totally had enough of the begging for a dog, so I sat them down and really talked with them about how I was SERIOUS about them earning a dog. If they could go 20 days without fighting with each other, they could get a dog. AND THEY DID IT! 20 days. I couldn't believe it. So then after 20 days the begging became intense. The fall was crazy for us with trips to Arkansas, soccer, etc. so I convinced them that Christmas would be the perfect time for a dog. And maybe they should just ask Santa because mom and dad are obviously taking their sweet time on finding them a dog.

Fast forward to a few weeks before Christmas. Ben and I are having the "are we really going to do this" conversation. They had fallen in love with a maltipoo at a local pet store. My #1 criteria for a dog was that it be a non-shedding dog. We also needed something small because our yard is really small and I didn't want to have to worry about a big dog with Aubrey since she is still little. So I began the search online for a maltipoo. I found a breeder in Oklahoma. After MANY emails back and forth with her, we found this little guy.

The breeder was not very accommodating as far as holding him until Christmas Eve so we made the decision to give him to the girls early. We gave it to them the Friday before Christmas which was their last day of school before the break. Ben drove to Oklahoma that day to pick him. Macy had karate that afternoon, so Ben took both of the girls to her karate while I stayed here and got everything ready. I put him in a box with a note from Santa that said he needed to bring this gift early. Needless to say, they were so excited and fell in love instantly. He is a really sweet dog. He rarely barks, doesn't shed, and LOVES being right in the mix of all 3 girls. We are still working on the potty training. I should probably just commit myself to the house for a few days and knock out potty training Aubrey and the dog all at once! Here are a few pics of little Oliver (aka Ollie).

Here are some other Christmas pics: 

 A trip to see Santa in our Christmas PJs:

Aubrey wouldn't get in the picture without me. And I had just given her a tootsie roll trying to bribe her to sit in Santa's lap. 

Holiday Party at school:

Making Christmas Cookies: 

Christmas Morning:

Keystone

We took a ski trip in December and this time we brought the girls with us (all 3 of them!). We went  to Keystone, Colorado. Ben's parents also came with us. They were a huge help with all 3 of the girls, but especially Aubrey since she is too little to ski. This was Ava and Macy's first time to hit the slopes and they loved it. They actually both got a little bit of altitude sickness the first day so they didn't make it through the whole day of ski school. But they did great the second day and were so sad when we had to leave. They are already begging to go back again. Ben and I both love to ski so we are really glad that they enjoyed it! 

This was the first day. We think Ava really was sick, but maybe Macy was being a little over dramatic. : )

This is right outside our condo. There was a huge hill that they slid down on their bottoms. 

This little one loved the snow too!

Ready to hit the slopes on the second day!

 Ski pose! 

Going up the mountain on the Gondola:

 Grammy, Pawpaw, and Aubrey met us at the base of the mountain for lunch each day. 

We didn't ski our last day, but we hung out at the base of the mountain until it was time to head to the airport. We sat by the fire and drank coffee while the kids played in the snow. The girls also went ice skating. 

Aubrey turns TWO!

On December 17th, Aubrey turned TWO! It's hard to believe that she is already two. Although we have had a few terrible two moments in the last few weeks, she is still such a joy! She is funny, sensitive, sweet, silly, happy, loving, friendly, polite, and easy going (most of the time... unless shopping is involved).

We did not have a big party for her this year. (3rd child problems!) December is such a crazy month for everyone, so I decided that she wouldn't know or care if she had a big party this year. We will throw a big bash next year when she is old enough to care about her birthday! We celebrated at home on her birthday by having her favorite dinner... macaroni and cheese. (I'm pretty sure we had some other things to go with it but all I can remember is the mac and cheese!) We got a small cake, sang happy birthday, and she opened presents. I took cupcakes to school the day after her birthday so that all of her friends could sing to her and celebrate with her.

Cupcakes at school:

 A little bit about our TWO year old...

She has recently started talking up a storm. To be honest, the speech pathologist in me was getting a little worried that her language was delayed. She had a fairly small vocabulary (about 50ish words), only a couple of 2+ word phrases, and was pretty difficult to understand. And then she turned two and VOILA... language explosion. She has words for pretty much everything in her environment, uses tons of phrases and short sentences, and is much easier to understand now. It's so fun to listen to the things she says.

She had her first trip to the dentist. And she did so great. She does not like for me to brush her teeth (only wants to do it herself), but for some reason she laid back and let the dental hygenist brush away.

She is the WORST shopper ever!!!! She will not ride in a grocery cart and will only stay in a stroller for a short amount of time. Grocery shopping is seriously such a pain with her. She wants to walk or push the buggy. Which would be fine if she would actually walk beside me and not touch every single thing she sees. Lately, I have been letting her push the little kid size buggies at Kroger which works well if I only need to get a few things. But if the store is crowded or if I need a weeks worth of groceries, that is not a good option. Her latest trick is to start opening candy in the checkout line while I am putting the groceries on the belt or while I am paying. Then I have to buy the candy which means she gets to eat it. She totally knows how to work it. Seriously... worst shopper ever.

Do not be deceived by the cuteness of this picture!

She is a good sleeper, but wakes up early. She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 and wakes up around 6:30. She takes a 2 hour nap each day. She still sleeps with a pacifier. She rarely has it during the day anymore but I still give it to her at night and for nap. She used to jump in her bed and go right to sleep without a peep, but she has now learned how to delay the bedtime routine by asking for milk, covers, books, stuffed animals, extra kisses, high fives, etc. It's quite the process to get her settled each night.

She is super friendly and cuddly and loving. She loves to give all of us hugs and high fives. She waves and says "hi" to strangers when we are out and about. She will run to her teachers and let them hold her and cuddle with her when she gets to school in the mornings. She is super attached to me and wants me to hold her all of the time. I am happy that she loves me so much, but sometimes it is hard to get things done with a 2 year old attached to your hip.

She is so polite. She almost always says thank you when you give her something. It doesn't matter if it is something she really wants like candy or just something simple like a blanket at bedtime. She will say, "thank you mommy" and if I don't acknowledge her right away she will keep saying it until I say, "You're welcome." She also says, "bless you" whenever anyone sneezes, and please, and will even say "yes ma'am" and "yes sir" to Ben and I. So sweet. : )

Her favorite foods are mac and cheese, yogurt, raisins, and cheese-its. These are the only foods that she will eat consistently without fail. Balanced diet.. right? It drives me crazy. The girls were such good eaters and would at least TRY anything I put in front of them. Aubrey will eat a variety of things but just not consistently. For example, today for lunch she ate a piece of ham wrapped around a cheese stick and carrot sticks. Tomorrow if I put that same thing on her plate, she probably won't touch it. She loves anything salty... goldfish, pretzels, almonds, popcorn... but even these snack things are not consistent. Last week she ate an entire small cheeseburger. A few nights later I ordered her one from a restaurant and she wouldn't touch it. I always give her the same food we are eating for dinner but there are a lot of nights where she either doesn't eat it or only takes a couple of bites. She is clearly not starving or malnourished so we are just going with it for now. I'll keep making her a plate, and she'll keep asking for yogurt.

She is really tall. Her height has actually gone from 99% percentile to 89th but she is still way taller than her classmates and just seems SO big for her age.

She loves to sing, dance, color, and CLIMB. The girl has no fear. 

She is a really happy baby (sniff....sniff... toddler). She has her moments where she acts like a two year old, but most of the time she is laughing and smiling and easy to please. We can't imagine life without her and feel so blessed that she is ours. Happy Birthday Aubrey James!