Christmas Sing

Sam finagled his day off for this week to be on Hazel's 2nd birthday and Bailey's Christmas sing at school; so it turned into a busy family day! We all woke up early so we would be ready to drop Bails off at school and then ventured into her classroom a few minutes later to watch her class sing. Hazel was upset that she was not allowed to go up and sit with Bails.

 Bails was so cute. She was so excited to see us there. Despite having all the songs memorized (because she sang them all at home ALL THE TIME) she was too busy looking around at everyone and waving at us to actually sing any of the songs.

 Funniest ten minutes ever. I am so glad Sam got to come with me so he could hold Hazel and film the performance while I snapped all the pictures. I guess Med school doesn't make him mess everything.

 And then Santa arrived! Bails was a little hesitant, but once she got her candy cane from him she was ready to be friends.

 Class picture with her two teachers, Ms Camille and Ms Kim. She loves them.

 After the performance she brought me a little Christmas present and happily posed with it.

 Love my little girls. Miko was an angel and just slept away in her car seat.

 And then we left to go run some errands while she finished off her day at school.

The best thing about her school? You just drive up and they pull your kid out of the car and they walk them in, and then they bring your kid to the car at the end of the day! I don't have to get out of my seat at all.

Hooray for her first 3 months of pre-school.

Sorry, Mom!

I finished my shower and returned to the house to find this little monster on top of the table and covered in dry erase markers. We made eye contact and she immediately says, "Uh-oh, Mommy. Sorry!" 

If she didn't apologize for coloring all over herself every time she manages to get a pen or marker in her chubby little fingers, maybe I would believe her.

O Christmas Tree

Call me the Grinch but I procrastinated and almost convinced myself to not put the tree up this year. The girls were obsessed with every tree and ornament collection we came in contact with; they immediately pulled the ornaments off the tree to play with and re-arrange them. I just foresaw my future spending way too much time trying to get them to leave the tree/ornaments alone and it did not sound fun. And then the epiphany came; I will just let them play with the ornaments. Who cares if they all get broken. All that will mean is less Christmas decor to shove back into those boxes that somehow manage to shrink every year. And that was the exact attitude these two little darling girls needed their Mom to have. They had an absolute ball decorating their beautiful Christmas tree.

 They had so much fun running back and forth between the tree and I, collecting the ornaments and finding the perfect spot for them on the tree.

And how did our tree turn out? Initially like this:

About five or six ornaments per branch, all basically located on the bottom right side of the tree. The prettiest Christmas tree I have ever seen. Sort of. There was plenty of time for it to evolve over the next few weeks... 

When it was time to take it down half of their play room was taken out of the tree and about a dozen or more ornaments had met their untimely demise (as well as plenty of tree branches).

 

Poor Miko, a distant part of the party. And Bails was more than overjoyed to find a huge sock that had her name on it. She wore it around the house for hours.

 The socks were such a big hit they never actually got hung up, they just got stuffed with toys and little feet for weeks. Christmas through the eyes of a 2 and 3 year old.

Homemade Ornaments

In an attempt to not let myself go crazy trying to keep their chubby little hands off the Christmas ornaments, I decided to let them make their own so they can play with/break them to their hearts content. They are full of little finger prints and loving pokes, but they loved it.

 Now hopefully they can survive the next 24 hours while they dry out.

They had fun time until...who knows what happened? Another typical Braden household activity.

Dance Recital

Bailey had her dance recital today. She was beyond excited. Usually it is pulling teeth trying to get her into the bathroom so I can do her hair and brush her teeth, but today she was more than willing to get her dance bun and make up on. 

 Sam almost didn't make it because he was on his long day of internal medicine. At the last minute he showed up and boy was I grateful. Uncle Robby also came last minute and lets just say it would have been a disaster if I would have tried to take all 3 girls by myself. When we first arrived the were little dancers everywhere. Bails wandered on stage with the rest of them to dance around and play before the recital started.

 Hazel also found her way on stage. She had to forego the coat half way through the dancing around because she was working up a sweat.

 The nursery leaders tell us all the time that these girls love each other so much. Bailey is always so helpful and protective of Hazel in nursery. It makes me happy to hear. They are very loving and protective at home, but they can also fight to the death; it's nice to hear they get along well outside of the house.

 The girls were happy to sit and watch the few numbers, but Bails was so happy when it was her turn to jump on stage.

 She told me before her recital that she wanted Sam and I to cheer for her....Go Bailey Go! And when she heard us she would wave back at us and say Hi Mom, Hi Dad!

 And then the dancing started and she followed Ms. Julie's directions perfectly. She did so well.

 Sam recorded each song she was in while I snapped the pictures and Robby did his best to keep Hazel from running up onto the stage. Sam, of course, thought Bails was the best dancer of the group.

 She was so cute to watch. She did a tap dance to Holly Jolly Christmas twice and then a ballet to some snowing song.

Hazel got bribed with two dum dums throughout the recital to keep her from screaming because she wasn't allowed up on stage. Robby also had to take her out to get a couple drinks as well.

 This little girl kept grabbing Bails to dance with her. She obliged for awhile but then pushed away and wandered to the back.

 And then the show was over. The girls had fun running on the stage for a few minutes and then we raced to the car to get Sam back to the hospital before he got in super big trouble.

 Her little buddies in her Friday morning dance class. She is the outcast in the group. All the rest of the girls are neighborhood/church friends.

Such a cute little dancer. She was so happy to be just like Aunt Rachel and Dana.