celebrating with family

the day after christmas we travelled to grammy and grampy's for a two day visit! the girls had a great time with cousin s and we all loved meeting baby a! what a beautiful, sweet baby! we opened presents and had an amazing christmas dinner (i think it tasted even better when grammy does ALL the work - thanks mom!). we opened presents . . . $5 stocking stuffers for the adults (a hit again this year!) and the kids were spoiled by lots of great goodies . . . lucky, lucky kiddos!
the next day we met for an amazing pizza dinner and got to see the dancing fountains right outside! what a treat! it was so nice to have such a great visit with our family!
it was our first time travelling with "the machine" . . . uh! the dialysis machine! despite lots of alarms in the night from the machine, we were able to travel relatively easily . . . it's like having a 5th child!
after lots of playtime, cooking hot dogs and marshmallows outside on the fire pit, and assembling and decorating a really cool gingerbread house we headed home. a perfect ending to the christmas holiday!

christmas 2010

well, it's so hard to believe it's over, but i am happy to say that this year we made present opening last 4 hours! that's record! we took LOTS of breaks . . . breakfast, hot chocolate, a snack, time to play, but it was nice to stretch things out and enjoy each moment! the kids had a wonderful christmas! b.c. took one look at his buzz lightyear four-wheeler and was in love! he rode it around all over the house most of the day! kam was so happy with all of her pony goodies and her new baby doll! she wanted to play with each thing as she opened it! mck's favorite thing was her belle doll. what a magical look she had in her eye when saw her. she also loved the bed she got for her! ken can't wait to use her sewing machine and worked most of the day on her fairt tale book! gotta love my nerdy/crafty girl! :)
the big hit for the family was the t.v. for the playroom! now we are really ready for friday movie night! now we can enjoy the new couch and watch movies all cuddled up together! what a treat!
we hung out in our p.j.'s most of the day and just enjoyed playing with all our new stuff! we had a yummy pasta dinner, fun drinks, and a christmas ice cream cake for dessert! it's hard to imagine that christmas could be any better than this! :)

christmas eve 2010

what a wonderful day! the kids and i made sugar cookies most of the morning . . . the kids played while i finished up wrapping last minute things and daddy finished up a half day of work. we got dressed up and went to church . . . a wonderful children's service that the girls really enjoyed! we came home to our traditional christmas eve dinner of appetizers and ice cream drinks! :) then we decorated our sugar cookies - making special ones for the big guy! then it was present time . . . matching pj's for everyone! :) the kids were adorable in them! :) complete with slippers and scrunchies too! ken was really anxious for everyone to go to bed and kept asking what time it was . . . making sure it wasn't getting too late. she didn't want anyone to be up when santa came! the girls put out cookies, sprinkled reindeer food, and all put the snowman on top of the tree. . . then we read "twas the night before christmas and headed to bed. the kids were out in no time!
can't wait for christmas morning. each year is more magical than the one before.

making sugar cookies

the kids and i spent christmas morning rolling out and cutting sugar cookie dough! what great helpers i have this year! :) even little b.c. wanted in on the action! he got a big kick out of stuffing the cookie cutters FULL of dough! :) kam tried so hard to get the cookie cutter far enough into the dough to cut the shape . . . but only managed to make a few! :) ken and mck insisted on rollingout their own dough and cutting all their own cookies! kind of nice to not have to do all the work on my own! :)

grinch day!

we had a super fun craft afternoon. . . grinch day! :) 3 fun grinch crafts that we found at the store! the girls painted ornaments, made little whirl-a-gigs, and played with grinch stickers! :) ken is so independent with crafts these days . . . mck is so patient and will sit for a LONG time trying to get things just the way she wants them . . . and little kam just wants to get in there with the big girls! :) their crafts came out pretty cute and they had lots of fun hanging them on the tree! :)

a trip to the austin zoo

oh how we have missed our bff's! we had such a fun time hanging out at the austin zoo for the afternoon! so many cool things to see . . . and even better friends to hang out with! :) it truly amazed me how interested the kids were in the goats! hello, we have goats! they still thought it was so fun to feed all the farm animals! i think the highlight of the afternoon was the lion . . . roaring and spraying, the GIANT pig at feeding time, and of course the train ride! :) ken had a story about EVERY single animal in the park, b.c. LOVED the choo choo and talked about it the whole way home, kam thought the turkey was pretty cool, and mck was happy to be with a&d! can't wait to see our bff's again soon! :)

our gingerbread village

the kids had a blast decorating a gingerbread village this year. everybody picked a house to decorate and went crazy! :) kam was fast and covered her house with all sorts of treats! b.c. pretended to decorate while sneaking as many candies as he could into his mouth! ken sat for a long time trying to add all sorts of cool things to her house! and mck, well, mck decorated her house for A LONG TIME piling as much as she could onto the tiny structure . . . and managed to eat about a pound of sugar in the process! :) the little village looked great! :)

our little ham!

omg. b.c. is such a little monkey! :) he is such a ham in front of the camera and is such a smiley little guy! :) he is even showing off his forward rolls now! :) it's impossible not to love this little guy! :) seventeen months and full of personality! :)

playroom sleepover!

the girls had their first sleepover on the new playroom couch! what fun! :) they looked so sweet and cozy all cuddled up . . . nothing like a sister sleepover! :) can't wait to see many more of these to come! :)

who needs toys when you've got boxes?!?!

we bought a couch for the playroom . . . the kids weren't interested in anything but the boxes! they played in the cardboard boxes for the ENTIRE time it took us to put the couch together . . . and the couch was from IKEA, so you know that was a LONG time! :) they were so sad to see all the boxes go! :)

dancing at the library

kam was all smiles this morning for her dance performance at the library! :) she was so excited! she did sooooo well! :) and i must say she was the cutest little dancer there in all her PINK! :) the morning was topped off with hugs from santa, some playtime with her sweet friend m, and some goodies! :) now i am really looking forward to the recital in the spring! :)

ballerina baby BOY!

just wanted to capture what is becoming a regular occurance over here. . . dressing b.c. up so he can dance! :) the kids loves it! :) we may have a little dancer! :) poor guy! :)

a grinch hat for daddy

daddy brought home and plain santa hat and asked the girls to decorate it for him for a contest at work! :) the girls and i had a blast decorating it up with a giant grinch, some tinsel, and christmas balls! :) daddy even wore his grinch shirt to work to top off our amazing design! :) the best part . . . he won a $50 gift card! :) go girls!

let it snow!

we got to visit the snow room again this year! :) what a treat to watch all the kiddos playing in the snow! ken and mck acted like old pros . . . flinging snow and making angels right from the start. kam was a little more timid, but was all smiles after a few minutes . . . and little b.c. preferred to stand on the sidelines and watch the craziness! what a fun afternoon this was . . . and the best part was the money we paid to play in the snow is going to help some friends with three sweet little girls - one of whom is battling cancer.

kam's christmas party

you would think she was being tortured . . . but no, this was kam's pre-school christmas party! can you tell how happy she was? i think she was just plumb worn out! they had had a little too much fun with p.j. day and lots of activities . . . she just wasn't too interested in waking up from her rest or eating any of the party food! she eventually snapped out of it and had a slight smile on her face as we were getting in the car to head home! :)

kam's first performance

sweet kam had her first little dance performance! she was super cute dancing to "mrs. santa claus"! the dance was followed up by a gift exchange and yummy goodies! :) she even had some extra special friends in the audience to cheer her on . . . thanks ms. j, e and n! :) what a fun morning!

four in the tub!

this is a rare treat . . . all four kiddos in the tub for a bubble bath! :) we had to snap some pictures! we had lots of fun with bubbles! :) and there is NOTHING like the smell of four clean babies! :) (no matter how big those babies are!)

storytime with santa

i'm not sure the bailey kiddos know how lucky they are! we got to spend the afternoon hanging out with mr. claus and some amazing friends! :) the big guy himself arrived and read "'twas the night before christmas" (with about a bazillion entertaining interruptions!) and then each kiddo got a little personal time with santa! :)

kam asked for a "ponydemotehatrol airplane" which translates to "a pony remote control airplane"! mck asked for a belle doll (so sweet!) she was so cute and nervous when it was her turn! and ken . . . well, ken asked for a ride on santa's sleigh. wow. that'll be tough to pull off . . . wonder what santa has up his sleeve for her! :) b.c decided he preferred visiting santa with me . . . and just wanted to give him five . . . and then a kiss! :) oh so cute!

then santa joined all the kiddos outside while they played! and the mommies got all sorts of wonderful goodies! what an amazing afternoon. we are so lucky to have so many wonderful friends!

santa breakfast 2010

thanks to some sweet friends at pas our whole family went to the santa breakfast and show this year! the girls had a wonderful time! they sat completely mezmerized for the entire show! they loved seeing santa and getting their picture taken. b.c. preferred running around in the lobby to watching the show . . . and then preferred just giving santa a high five! :) he is at the edge of every picture we have with the big guy! :) but he sure got a kick out of seeing him! :) what a fun christmas this will be . . .

thank you miss j! :) we love you! :) so lucky to have met you and your wonderful daughter!