Merry Christmas 2010

Wow, I promise I don't mean to go so long between posts. But really, did I have to let a whole month go by? But I couldn't go any longer without writing about our first Christmas here in Northwest Arkansas. The main reason that it was so awesome was because my parents flew out to stay with us for a few days. It was fun to show them around and give them a feel for life in Bentonville and as an employee of Wal-Mart. Here are some more highlights:
*Christmas Eve shopping with my mom and realizing that whipped cream to her does not mean Cool Whip (like it does for me). Must be a generational thing?
*Ty and my Dad going for a last minute shopping trip on Christmas Eve and coming back with a brand new Blu-ray player! Yay for us and yay for a Dad who loves technology.

He wasted no time getting us set up and squared away.
*Playing intense games of Scrabble...on our phones. But we did play a good game of Scattergories. Ty won of course and my mom made him feel about it...of course. It was fun to realize that my mom and I play games the exact same way. Even when we get competitive with other players we will say the exact same thing in the exact same way and even pause between each word for the same about of time. We must be mother and daughter. She is the one who taught me how to play games.
*Elsie calling her Grandpa, "Beepah."

Elsie was cozy with whoever had the biggest gadget at that time. I have no idea where she gets this from. :)
*This was our tree after Santa came by. I think was more excited for the play kitchen than Elsie was. And the small table and chairs was all Ty. I bought them on Craigslist but he restored them to their former glory. He even added a new table top to really make them last. I love them and Elsie loves to play with her new toys on it.

*Watching Elsie open up her presents. She loved the unwrapping part at first but I amazed how quickly she got overwhelmed with the whole experience. She was fine with just the Lightning McQueen car she got in her stocking and her brand new Woodie doll that replaced the one she lost at church a few weeks ago. That was a sad day.

*This is NOT the Woody doll I was talking about. This one I thought for sure would make her squeal with delight but instead, she covered her face in her hands until we took it away and has yet to really give him much attention. It was so sad and so hilarious at the same time. She loves Woody but prefers him not to be the same size as her.

*Doing FaceTime with all my siblings throughout the morning and watching all the nieces and nephews open their presents or show us what Santa brought earlier. I can see that being a new tradition now that we aren't getting together for Christmas anymore.
*I'm not sure how many Woody dolls one little girl needs but she loves Toy Story and LOVES Woody. He goes everywhere with us and heaven forbid he looses his hat.

*I loved the dress I made for her to wear to church the day after Christmas. I used the Oliver + S Playdate Dress and some not-so-obvious Christmasy fabric from Joanns. I was really worried after I completed it that it was going to be really frumpy on her but she wore it perfectly and looked so darling. This was the best picture I could get of her, she would stand still. Silly girl!

*And of course Elsie getting the chance to play with her Grandma. They tried playing Memory, Elsie likes to hoard the cards and doesn't really care about making a match. They painted, read books and played with all the new Cars...she was in heaven and I loved seeing them play together.

*And then last but not least, going with Elsie to visit Santa when he came to Ty's work. I thought she would love it but as you can see, she wanted nothing to do with the him.

I have to tell you about Santa's visit. Ty's team is in charge of creating the North Pole and getting Santa to show up. Santa wears an ear piece that receives information from hidden "elves" in another room. Before you enter the North Pole, you fill out a sheet with your child's name on it and different facts about your kid. Favorite toy, movie, foods. What they want for Christmas. And than something that they need to improve on next year (Elsie's was, eat you dinner...is she only child that will not sit down and eat her dinner? Please tell me no). So when your kid goes to sit on Santa's lap, Santa calls them by name and knows all sorts of things about them. Its like Santa truly has a list and is checking it twice. The kids get really into it and are so shocked when he knows their name before they even talk to him. Truly magical. Except for our daughter, there was nothing magical about her experience. But it made a great memory.
I hope everyone had a great Christmas and enjoyed lots of love, family and food! I know we did!