It's beginning to look a lot like...

A week out and we have already had tons of Christmas fun.

Samantha had a rehearsal and Christmas program for preschool.

Here she is at rehearsal.

And in the program that evening.

Mom and I went to the rehearsal.  Nick, Papa, and Zoey joined us for the program.

Sam is such a performer.  You can really hear her for a lot of it.  Notice also the arm motions, clapping, and bow.

We have been hearing this song around the house for a few weeks.

We also had a mom's club Christmas party.  There was a santa.

We decorated our tree a bit ago.  There are more presents now :)

Sam helped a lot.  She even put the topper on.

On one of Sam's school days, Zoey got to go to a Wigglers (Under 18 month) party for the Mom's Club.  There was playing and snacks.

We tried for a group shot.

We also each brought a wrapped present.  I suggested putting them together and letting the older (above 1 year) kids to pick one.  Zoey dove right in and started pulling tissue paper.  She got a cookie monster that eats cookies and sings.  So cute.

 Nana, Sam, Zoey and I hit the mall in Tampa.

I put Christmas looking leg warmers on Zoey for her knees when she crawled.  She had on a Christmas onesie and Sam had on a red dress.  So I wanted a picture.  Sam tried, but Zoey would not cooperate.

 She did a bit better when I handed her an ornament.

We have been trying to spread out presents a little so it will not be too overwhelming.  I let Sam open this one the other day.  It is a tractor that goes when you wave your hand over it.  It had been getting enough light through the wrapping paper and making noise.  Sam was curious.  She loves it.

We (or really Nick and my dad) have started building the play structure, our main gift to the girls for Christmas and their birthdays.  It will be amazing, but a lot of work.  I need to be sure to document it.  We did not get a before picture.  Nick and my dad spent a lot of time clearing out an area on the side of our house under the trees so it is shaded.

Sam is doing very well.  She has been doing some amazing drawings lately, showing real imagination.  This one is spider man fighting Doc Oc.  What a girl.  She can also copy her entire name.

Zoey is doing well, too.  She seems content to crawl.  Sam walked by 10 months.  But Sam spent a lot of time in the jumparoo building leg muscles and loved for you to help her walk.  Zoey hated both.  She prefers to slink down and crawl.  She will stand for a few seconds, basically the before she realizes it kind of thing.  Funny how Zoey started crawling earlier but will probably walk later.  Not sure she can pull it off in less than a week.  Hopefully it will come soon and she can stop dragging the thumbs she sucks across the yucky ground.  She also is more of a challenge to take places because she has started squealing, sometimes for the joy of it and sometimes when she drops something or you take something from her.  Makes restaurants and church a real treat.  But she is mostly a delight, so I guess if those are my biggest complaints about her, we are doing okay.

Have a great Christmas.  I will have a lot to post next week I am sure.

Just peachy!

Nick's advisor retired from Georgia Tech and is going to be the chair at Morehead State, which is actually close to where we used to live.  I also needed to drop off some supplies at Zoo Atlanta.  And our Atlanta house needed a new dishwasher.  So away to Atlanta we went, less than a week after Nick's family was here.  So that made for a whirlwind recently. We stayed at the parents of a good friend.  It was wonderful to have a cozy area of our own and toys.  So much better than a hotel.  Thanks to the Ashes!

Sam made herself right at home.

So did Zoey.

We squeezed in a ton on our trip.  After bed times, we were able to switch parents and have girls nights and guys night at the same time.  So nice!  On Saturday, Sam, Zoey and I went to the zoo and saw Patty and Adam.

A really cute Joey!

I may be one of the only people who gets excited and takes pictures of displays and signs, but I research it.  Zoo Atlanta has really upgraded.  Here is a display in front of the tiger exhibit.

New direction signs and maps that highlight the area you are in.

A new sign, notice the smart phone bar code.  So cool!

Back to kids and animals.  We got some great views.  Here is Kelly.

The every visit elephant statue shot.

Great tiger view.

And the lion statue shot.

And while we toured the zoo, Nick went to put in the dishwasher.  Unfortunately, it seems that stores do not stock them, but deliver.  After running around, including to ones he called and they said they had some in stock but they were $700, he ended up at Brandsmart and put it in.  Along with a list of small fixes.  We went to the party.  Greg was very surprised that we were there and the girls were a hit, of course.

Both girls had a little bit of a runny nose, so naps and such made some of our plans rough.  Both fell asleep on the way to the party.  Sam slept through a lunch.  But she did get to play with Izzy and Charlie eventually, but I did not get pictures.

We also got to go by and have pictures with the same Santa Sam has had pictures with every year.  See http://southernkellings.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-take-1.html
http://southernkellings.blogspot.com/2009/12/merry-christmas.html

I am already plotting for next year!

And we had dinner with the family I used to babysit.

 Zoey got to hang out in her jammies after the Santa photo.

We had a great but busy time.  Poor Nick went back by to check the dishwasher and was told the outside outlet had been out for months.  They wanted it for a Christmas party.  Of course, they told him after everything was close.  So he got up Monday at 6 am, went to home depot, fixed and then we drove home.  He had a very busy week.  But grades are in (his may just be calculate).  So we are on to submitting papers and prepping for next semester.  Oh, and building our playstructure.

Zoey had her 9 month check up.  She is 29" (88th), 18 lbs 2 ounces (32nd) and has a little head 17" (22nd).  She also had the beginnings of an ear infection and is on her first antibiotics.  She had a lot of mucous, I thought from teething, but maybe an actual cold.  She is much better now, thank goodness.

The magic of it all!

We finally took Sam to Magic Kingdom.  She had a blast!  We had heard the week after Thanksgiving was less crowded and decorated for Christmas.  We had bought 3 day passes when we were going to Animal Kingdom, so we thought a Tuesday would be good.  The weather was great, warm most of the day and cool as we were leaving.  But it did seem a bit crowded.  Nick was a great sport, running around to get fast passes.  Mom was a huge help.  She rode a lot of the rides with Sam (and me and Zoey sometimes).  I rode Space Mountain by myself.  We took Sam on a lot of rides, but she did not like some of the dark ones.  She loved tea cups, small world, the shows we went to and the princesses.  And her favorite was driving the cars in Tomorrowland with Daddy!

First picture at MK.

First ride of the day.  She asked to do it again as soon as it was done.

Zoey was the perfect baby, even with only 2 cat naps she was all smiles all day.  Except for when she was overwhelmed by stimulation and did not know where too look.  Neurons firing!

It was neat how they had stuff to do while in line.

In the dumbo for taking pictures.  We did the ride, too.

It's a small world was one of Sam's favorites.  It was too perfect since we have been having playdates with country themes.  I could point out which country it was and ask if she remembered certain things about it.
This video is dark, but it was too cute how she started tapping out the beat.

You know I love Ireland.

And pandas!

Sam loves princesses.  She walked right up for a chat.  We went to the theater for meeting during the parade, perfect timing!

More chatting.  They do such a great job of making the kids feel special.  Sam even hugged them, but the Belle shot is way too cleavage to post!

 Zoey got to join for a quick photo.

Oooh, sparkles!

Chatting with her new BFF Cinderella.

A little mouse love.

Just to prove Nick was here!

A neat view of the castle from the train station.

Sam's absolute favorite princess is Ariel.  What a line, but well worth it.  A hug for Ariel.

Some chatting.

And a quick addition of Zoey.

One really cool thing we saw, I want to mention.  Many people have books for autographs.  One kid had a photo frame mat.  So she could put in a photo from the day.  I so want to steal that idea for next time.

We had to leave by 7 for the transition to the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, but it worked perfectly because we were all so tired and Zoey fell asleep.  Both girls conked out on the ride home.

On our way out, they lit the castle for the party.  So pretty!