Catching Up: Christmas 2012

We kicked off our Christmas season with a trip to the Toledo Zoo to see the lights.  It also happened to be Teresita's first trip to the zoo.  The day was an unseasonably warm, which is why the older two are not wearing coats in December in Michigan.

We set up the tree and Nativity set, and slowly added to them as Advent went on.  On the Feast of St. Nicholas, the kids woke up to a few little surprises in their shoes.  And yes, Ana Luisa does put on tutus and fairy wings right after she rolls out of bed in the morning.

Teresita found a candy cane in her shoe.  She's a fan.  She's also walking more!

And then some of us put stools on our heads.  And made crazy faces.

Other people didn't have anything to put on their heads, but think their older siblings are hilarious.

We also attended our parish's annual pancake breakfast with St. Nicholas.  And by "attended" I mean that I sat in the hallway with Ana Luisa while she hyperventilated because she is terrified of adults in costumes, while Jeff took the other two inside to get a quick picture with St. Nick.  Teresita's favorite part was his beard.

We made a batch of homemade marshmallows, which we do most years before Christmas.  The kids favorite part is licking the beaters afterwards.  Teresita was all over that tradition.

 

Hmmm....a little too much sugar, perhaps?

We also had our first snowfall.

And tried out some freezer-paper stenciling to make t-shirts for aunts and uncles.  Teresita was very serious about painting Tia Chu's shirt.

We went to Mass on Christmas Eve.  Teresita enjoyed having all the Seromiks there to drool on.  She spent the whole time going from person to person, giving them slobbery kisses. Both girls wore dresses that my mom made for me and my sisters when we were little.  How she found time to do all that hand-smocking, I have no idea. 

 

We actually remembered to take a picture of our whole family- a Christmas miracle!

 

We did our Seromik-side gift exchange that night..  Juan Pablo gave Tia Padu the shirt he made her.  It has a tree on it and says "I Love the Forest".  He made all the stencils himself, and chose the colors of the shirt and the paints that he used.  He was very proud.  Especially when she put it on and he saw that it actually fit her..  It was very cute, I think it's the first time we've really seen him get excited about giving someone a gift.  He was so proud of the shirt, and so careful to keep it a secret until Christmas.  He's growing up, our little man.

Ana Luisa made Tio Sebas' shirt.  The thing that looks like an eye is actually a guitar.  When Juan Pablo pointed out that it doesn't actually look like a guitar, she responded very confidently that that's because she paints like Picasso.  Juan Pablo paints more like Monet, but she's like Picasso. She is certainly not lacking in self-confidence.  I hope she stays that way.

Christmas morning we opened gifts at home.  This year the kids each got a sweater, made by mama.  Juan Pablo's is red, of course.  I put a zipper on it, which he thought was impressive.  So did I, a little bit.  I had never sewn a zipper on a sweater before.

The girls got matching purple sweaters.  Ana Luisa makes the craziest faces.

They each also got a photo book from papa, with pictures from the last year.  They love looking through them.

And each of them also got one toy.  Or, in Ana Luisa's case, a purse, which she is modeling here.  Inside the purse were a necklace (which she is also modeling), lip gloss, nail polish and lotion.  Because those are the things that we knew would made this three year old fashionista happy.  She is also wearing sparkly shoes that she got from Tia Chu the night before, over her footie pajamas.  I'm sure we'll be seeing that same look on the runways soon.  Teresita got a baby doll, and Juan Pablo got a set of pattern blocks.

The next day we went back to Abuelo and Abuela's, and the kids got more gifts.  By then, Teresita had wised up and figured out that it was much more fun to sit on top of the pile of gifts than actually open them.  Or, once the gifts were opened, to sit inside the box.

Ana Luisa gets so excited about new clothes.

Teresita not so much.  "OK big sister, I know we just got new matching dresses, but I really just want to go sit in the box if you don't mind."

Jeff was able to  take the rest of Christmas week off, and it was so wonderful to have so much time to spend together as a family.  It was hard to say goodbye to him when he went back to work on the 2nd.  We really enjoyed our Christmas season, especially it being our first with Teresita in the family.  We are so blessed.