Dear Kate,
The fun continues...
On your 7th Day of Christmas you spent the night at Sarahs!!! Mimi had some errands to run (read "take a break from all of us!!) so me, you and Abs hung out in our jammies all morning. Sarah got off work and Mimi got back from running errands so Sarah and I took your big sister to burn off some energy while you and Mimi bonded. But when we got home, you and I went and picked up pizza and headed to Sarah's house! Mimi was having Em and little Sarah at her house so I knew the 2 of us were better off somewhere else! You did great at Sarah's and got to sleep in the same bed as Mommy! I was a little nervous about rolling on you, but Sarah gave us her big bed, so not an issue! A nice, relaxing day for you baby girl.
On your 8th Day of Christmas we celebrated at Papa Rob's!
On Friday, Daddy finally made it in town! Hooray!!! And, we had our first Christmas of the weekend to attend at Papa Rob's house. Gramma and Papa Rob had all kinds of yummy food to munch on, and the whole fam joined in, including Miss Ida and Mr. Ron and they brought Madison! And Uncle Charlie stopped by to get a good look at you. He was a little disasppointed I didn't name you Theatrix or something weird like that, but he said Kate worked, and the middle name was perfect! You were, as usual, perfect and everyone had their fair share of holding you. The older kiddos ran around like crazy, but you were rather calm, which was nice. Before we knew it, it was present time, but you were so calm and quiet, Papa Rob forgot to give you his present and stocking!! Don't worry, Mommy questioned where your present was and soon enough you were presented with reindeer ears...
Ha! You also got a very stylish pink polka dot high chair/shopping cart cover, which will be coming in handy sooner than later as you are holding your head up so good these days! Everyone had a good time playing with their new toys, but soon we headed home to get some sleep.
On your 9th Day of Christmas you officially met ALL the McCormicks!
To start Christmas Eve off (yes, we're finally at Christmas eve!!) we headed down to Mammmaw's for a delicous lunch that we all prepared. It was nice since we weren't going to have a true Christmas dinner (as we did apps at Papa Robs and are doing apps at Mimi's), and it was nice because practically the whole family came and everyone had a good time playing whether it was the kiddos playing with each other or the adults challenging each other in trivial pursuit, vegas style! After we left Mammaws, we headed over to Sarah's aunt's house for their annual family Christmas dinner (again, apps!) and you got to offiically meet everyone! You were NOT particularly fond of Blair for some reason, even though she has had her fair share of dealings with a "Kate" BUT you were VERY fond of Ryan, Katie's hubbie. Hey, I don't blame you. I'm pretty fond of him myself, but don't tell Daddy. Well, you can. I'm pretty sure Daddy recognizes how pretty he is, too!!! You'd just smile away at him, giggling, acting all shy, then Blair would get you and you'd just cry!!!! We all got a good laugh out of it and a week or so later we did find out that it was nothing personal because Blair and Bebe babysat you while Mommy attended a funeral. She said you were happy as can be, so it must have just been that you preferred Ryan and since he wasn't available, well, you were fine with whomever :)
After the McCormicks Christmas, we headed to Mimi's to get ready for Santa Claus!!! Read "get ready to go to bed ASAP"! A great Christmas Eve...
On your 10th Day of Christmas Santa came to visit!!!!
Oh my!! For being 3 months old, you sure did make a good impression with Santa Claus!
Mommy and Daddy had a little something, too, but nothing like you two...
Your big sis woke up a little earlier than normal, but you continued to sleep for a little bit longer.
Look at all that fun stuff! A bean bag of your own, and blocks and oh my, your own computer just like your sister...
Your sis had fun showing you her presents, too...
She helped you look through your stocking, too...
And of course, the best thing to do with a full belly is sleep :)
After everyone cleaned up (or got a nap in!) we headed down to Mammaw's for our annual Christmas breakfast. Again, EVERYONE was down there, and super excited. The kiddos were all in their jammies (as usual) and were ready to open presents the second we walked in (as usual). Everyone talked about what they got from Santa and we ate a yummy yummy breakfast. You'll be sitting up there will all the girls soon enough!
And then FINALLY it was time to hand out the presents.
You, again, made out pretty darn good with a new wagon, and enough room for your sister, too! I can't wait to push you around in it, and I'm POSITIVE your sister can't wait either!!
Your cousin Sydney REALLY loved playing with you, to the point where she started asking for a baby sister for Christmas. I kind of pushed that a little bit :) Of course, her big sis wanted a bunny at the last second. I think they may not have gotten everything they wanted for Christmas but I bet they made out just fine...
And of course Mimi couldn't get her hands off you either!
But at the end, it was always Sydney wanting to love on you!
She needs a little sister, huh. We all had so much fun playing, and laughing and talking and goofing off, all on Christmas morning! What a great way to start off Christmas Day!
On the 11th Day of Christmas you got even more presents from Mimi!!! I know, I know, it's not another day, but we had 2 big events on Christmas day, so I thought I'd separate them out. After we left Mammaws, Mommy and Mimi got food ready for that afternoon/evening at Mimi's house while you napped it up...
Soon enough you were awake and the food was smellin' good! Although, I will add that Mimi's oven went out when we had a couple more things to cook. Sausage balls should not have taken 1 1/2 to cook! Not surprising at all, we had plenty of food even with the oven breaking!We did things a little different this year, since everyone had a little different schedule. We decided to do all appetizers and everyone could eat at their own will rather making everyone eat at 5:30 even if you just ate at 1! It worked out perfectly, other than we ate and ate and ate all night long! Of course, you knew no difference and just enjoyed everyone's company...
Once everyone arrived, we immediately took pictures...
Mimi and Pic-pic and ALL the grandkids!
And your big sis always trying to pet her baby sister!
Here's our family of four - just perfect, huh!
And Mammaw and Pawpaw and the GREAT grandkids!
Soon enough we passed out the monsoon amount of presents to everyone and while we TRIED to get you kiddos to open one at a time (so we could see what you got, take pictures, etc.) there was no chance of that actually happening! Well, you waited patiently, it was all those other kiddos!! Again, some awesome presents including a kitchen and a pink elephant that spits balls out of it's nose!! We had fun fun fun opening presents and tons more fun hanging out afterwards. You actually stayed up pretty late for some reason but finally you conked out. I think we all were a little wound up that night! But oh so fun!!
On your 12th day of Christmas, you partied it up on New Year's Eve with the gang!!!!
And by "party it up" I mean hung out in your bouncy seat with the other babies! Look how precious y'all are. Gonna be the best of friends, too!
Oh, yeah, so Christmas day came and went, and you may have noticed that nothing was in there in regards to the gang. Well, a LONG time ago, we decided we'd do our Christmas on New Year's Eve AND in our brand spankin' new house! More on the house later BUT we finally moved on Thursday, Mommy had to leave town on Friday (where you got to hang out with Blair and Bebe!!) and on Saturday we threw a New Year's Eve party for the whole gang!!! We are indeed straight up crazy. No doubt. But that's just how we roll.
So the gang all came over around 6 where we had dinner ready for the kiddos AND you were all in your matching pajamas! Instead of matching Christmas outfits, this year we decided to do Christmas pajamas, which, if I do say so myself, was a fantastic idea! The big kids ate and then played, or maybe vice versa, or really not much eating, just lots of playing, but soon enough it was time for pictures!!!
Now, remember - 7 kiddos this time! S-E-V-E-N! and 3 were under 6 months and the other 4 were 3 and under!
Considering the obvious, I think we got a pretty good shot! Or maybe the mommies have just lowered our expectations of pictures of all the kids!! Whatever the reason, you guys sure are cutie pies and are loved loved loved by your big sister/brother.
After pictures, Mimi took you and Abs and Ellie to the rental house for one last night, while the adults brought in the New Year adult style! Apparently you did not want to leave the party and cried the whole way home, to the point where Mimi had to pull over a couple times. A bottle satisfied you, but I'm pretty sure Mimi needed a different kind of bottle after that ride! All in all, what a great way to wrap up our holiday season and bring in the new year - with our bestests of friends!!
Merry Christmas baby girl - Merry Merry Christmas! What a great first Christmas for you and many many many more to come! Love you SOOO much!!!!!!!!
