New Christmas Traditions

Since we celebrated Christmas here in Biloxi this year and it was just the 3 of us, we had the chance to start a few Christmas traditions for our little family. Shelby is still pretty young, but she was starting to "get" the excitement of Christmas this year. So we started a few simple traditions, and they were so fun! Can't wait to continue these traditions next year with both of our sweet girls :)

First up was decorating Christmas cookies for Santa Claus!

Shelby of course sneaked a few bites of icing throughout the process ;)

Excuse our squinty smiles! We opted to decorate our cookies
outside (for obvious reasons!), and it was super sunny!

We also decided to decorate gingerbread houses with Shelby this year :)  She helped us decorate 3 mini houses, and then Derek & I did one together just the two of us when Shelby was already in bed one night. It was so much fun!

Shelby helping Daddy assemble the houses

Daddy showing off his hard work!

Shelby sneaking a few bites of candy ;)

Intense concentration! Derek & I were both really surprised & impressed
how much she got into this activity! By the time we got to work on the 3rd
house, we could really tell that she "got" the concept and was starting to get
her creative juices flowing. We were both cracking up b/c we suggested for
her to a put a red M&M in a certain spot, and she quickly replied "No, red
one up top!" :)

Shelby's houses :)

Mommy & Daddy's gingerbread house

Hopefully you're not sick of Christmas posts from me yet...I still have to share our Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and our belated Christmas celebration with Granddad & Grandma!

An Early Christmas at BooBoo & Pop-Pop's House

We celebrated an early Christmas at BooBoo & Pop-Pop's (Derek's mom & step-dad) house while we were in GA earlier this month. Maleah, Lucas, & Elly as well as an aunt & uncle of Derek & Maleah's were able to join us, so it was a lot of fun having everyone together! Here are a few pictures of our evening together....

BooBoo explaining to Shelby how to do her art project. Shelby & Elly were
supposed to make a mini wreath out of Cheerios and melted green candy.

Stirring the cheerios and melted candy together...

But when it came time to assemble the wreath, there were a whole lot of
sampling going on ;)

In the end, no wreaths were made..but I'm pretty sure Shelby enjoyed herself!

The 4 "big kids" working on our annual Christmas art project! This year we made sleighs out of candy.
Derek's mom is very creative and always comes up with new & unique ideas. It's
always a fun project & brings out a bit of creativity & competitiveness in all of us! :)

Derek posing with his finished project

Shelby & I posing with my finished project. Shelby wanted to "help" me
with my project, but I'm pretty sure she was only interested in sneaking bites
of the candy!! ;)

Shelby loving on one of her new Christmas gifts!

Checking out her new Abby Cadabby slippers from Aunt Maleah,
Uncle Lucas, and Elly while holding her new Elmo doll :)

Snuggling Elmo :)

Elly taking a break from opening gifts to rearrange the furniture ;)

Shelby playing with her new alphabet puzzle!

Elly & Shelby opening their new books from BooBoo

This is a singing Christmas tree..Shelby & Elly both LOVED it!

BooBoo & Pop-Pop just got new bunk beds for their basement in preparation
for cousin sleepovers in the near future! Shelby & Elly had a blast playing on the
top bunk. It made Mommy very nervous, so I made Daddy stand guard!

Shelby shared her favorite game with Elly...taking laps! Both girls
had a lot of fun doing this!

Professional Family Pictures {Christmas 2012}

{pictures taken by Carrie Hall Photography}