Christmas 2008

This is going to be a long one...so grab a comfy blanket and settle in.

As always, we were extremely blessed this Christmas...but not only with gifts. God has blessed us with large, happy families and wonderful friends.

Christmas Crafts
Tuesday, Abbie and Max came over for lunch and craft time. In the past, we have always bought gifts for each other and the kids. We decided this year, it would be more fun to spend quality time together and let the kids make cookies...but then I decided a craft would be fun too. So, the kids first made snowmen that held a little heart saying, "Jesus loves you snow much!" Then we let them make reindeer out of their handprints and footprint. Max decided he didn't want to get in the messy paint though!

Abbie helped Brynna with her snowman.

Braylee & Max
Their finished reindeer.

Christmas Eve at Mamaw & Papaw's
Wednesday, we celebrated Christmas at my parents' house. I think I've mentioned it before, but my mom totally outdoes herself at Christmas! :) Drives my dad crazy, but we all enjoy it! We nibbled on the enormous amount of goodies she prepared and opened gifts together. It's been a tradition my entire life for our grandparents and my uncle Tom (dad's brother) to join us, so it was a pretty full house. Braylee and Brynna spent a lot of time playing upstairs with our old toys...makes you wonder why we keep buying new, huh?! :) I can't even begin to list all of the fabulous gifts we have received this past week, but I'm sure you'll see some of them in the pictures. After gifts, we filled our bellies with a traditional holiday meal and then played Pictionary. As bedtime was closing in, we headed home to get ready for Santa!

Egnew Grandkids- Emilee-12, Ely-9, Braylee-4, and Brynna-2

Braylee with Granny & Pa
The girls with Grammy.
The girls gave Aunt Trista a photo book.
My girls with my sisters.

Christmas Eve
Once we arrived home, the girls put the last sticker on their Advent Calendar and changed into their Christmas jammies. They were so fired up! It was easy to snap some fun pictures of them in front of the tree. We also sat out cookies and milk for Santa and left him a note. Brynna was instructing Leila not to eat Santa's cookies. She kept saying, "No, no, Leila. These cookies are for Santa." When the girls were singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, I noticed Brynna went into prayer-mode! ;) Surprisingly, they went to bed pretty easily!

Putting on the final Advent sticker.

Braylee says, "Where's the reindeer food?!" So dramatic. :)
Brynna tells Leila the cookies are for Santa.

Christmas Morning
Christmas morning arrived! Gramma had to work, so the girls called to wish her Merry Christmas. While on the phone, Brynna had to read Santa's letter to her...so cute! Once the grandparents, aunts, and uncles arrived, we began opening gifts. We started in the front room with stockings and gifts from Santa. I love how Braylee told Brynna that Santa only leaves gifts for kids, so mom and dad have to fill their own stockings. :) One of my favorite gifts was inside mine...season passes to Holiday World! After the girls opened their gifts from us, Mamaw and I made our big traditional Christmas breakfast while the others put together the gifts. Then we relaxed and played games.
Christmas Evening
Later that day, we went to the Swartzentruber Christmas (Alex's mom's side). Each year, someone in the family hosts since grandma's house isn't big enough for everybody. We are starting to outgrow others' homes too. This year, we celebrated in our church's fellowship hall. Instead of a regular gift exchange this year, the younger kids had a scavenger hunt to find a bag of goodies put together by Great Aunt Sue. Then, they put together a little penguin with a thermometer on it. :) The older kids and adults played Dirty Santa as usual, which is always fun.
Christmas at Gramma & Pappy's
The day after Christmas, I went ahead into the office to see OB patients...women are still having babies whether it's the holidays or not! :) Just ask Abby and Mandi! :) Then, we went to Alex's parents' house for lunch. After a scrumptious (as Pappy would say) meal, we headed down to the basement to open gifts. Gabe and the girls went first so the little ones could take naps. By this point in the week, Brynna was posing for every single thing it seemed! Gramma and Pappy got us a digital video camera!! We were excited since our old one is 6 years old...amazing how much technology changes in 6 years! While Brynna was cheering and dancing to the ABCs, I noticed something about how she does it...of course it's not perfect and she mumbles some letters, but I noticed she says "coo" instead of Q (something Braylee used to do) and says B again at the end instead of Z. She must think Bs are special. ;)
Christmas at Grammy & Gramps'
The next morning was somewhat stressful for me. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Mandi was in labor, but she wasn't progressing quickly. Our Clifford family Christmas was supposed to start at 1pm. I wanted desperately to be at the hospital when Ella entered the world, yet we really couldn't miss Christmas at Grammy and Gramps' either. We had family in from Maryland, South Carolina, and Texas...and it was the first time in FIVE years we would ALL be together! So, after talking to Andre' and Mandi, we decided to go to our family Christmas, while getting frequent updates on Mandi's progress. Braylee was especially happy to see her cousin Taryn. Taryn is only 4 months younger than Braylee, but since they live in Maryland, it had been quite awhile since they had seen each other!When we do all get together, the names can get confusing after awhile. We have Tarry, Tera, Taryn, and Terri Ann (what my grandparents call my mom...everyone else calls her Teresa), Lacey and Tracee, Brynne and Brynna, and Tom and Tomi. :) Besides all of this...it seems everyone's names start with either a B, T, or L!

Indiana weather for you...it snowed on Easter and was 70 degrees on Saturday?! Crazy, but the kids enjoyed spending a little time outside. Then we played games. My SIL Heather dominated the first round of Last Word (Fun game!), but then they had to leave. When we played the next time, my cousin Tomi won, but we weren't ready to be done. So, we moved her back to the start and kept playing. When we had to quit (time to leave for Baby Ella), Tomi was back in the lead again!!
Aunt Beth, Gramps, Grammy, my mom, and Uncle Tom

My mom's family.

The whole family!

God's perfect timing allowed things to work out quite well for us (although I'm sure Mandi wishes things would have went a little quicker!). We were able to spend the entire afternoon and early evening with my family and then be at the hospital just a few minutes after baby Ella arrived.

Baby Ella's Arrival
Our newest little niece has arrived!! Ella Nyah-Marie weighed 6-14 and was a short little 18 inches! She looks a lot like her big brother Gabe did when he was born and appears to be just as healthy as can be. Our girls couldn't wait to hold her! We watched the nurses clean her up and assess her while she was in the nursery and Mandi was still in recovery. By the time Mandi was moved to a regular room, it was getting late and the baby was nursing. So, after a quick peek at her preciousness, we headed home. Braylee's Sunday School teacher said the next morning that Braylee could barely sit still due to the anticipation of going to hold Baby Ella after church! :) I've been quite content with my little family of 4 for the past two years, but I must admit...seeing my girls hold Ella...makes me dream about them holding their very own little brother or sister. Not that it's going to change our "plans" (knowing God's plan is truly our plan), but it does make me excited to think about adding to our family again!
Our House Update
We received our preliminary house plans on the 22nd!! I probably spent at least two hours that evening analyzing all of the details...just to spend another couple of hours discussing them with friends the next day! It's very exciting, yet intimidating and daunting at the same time!

Other good news...As you might have noticed in the pictures, I either have a ridiculous smile or no smile at all since I dislike my gap-toothed look. Today, the orthodontist put on a "power chain" to start closing the gap! Woohoo! Pray for the pain though...not fun.

Christmas at Granny & Pa's House

Yesterday was Christmas Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent. The girls looked beautiful in their Christmas dresses, and as you'll see, Braylee couldn't stop posing while Brynna was being quite stubborn about the picture business. We still captured some cute shots. It's a tradition to take pictures with cousins Sydney and Addison on Christmas and Easter after church. It never fails that we have one child who doesn't want to cooperate...and it was Brynna's turn yesterday.

After church, we drove up to my Granny and Pa's house for Christmas dinner and gifts. The little girls received trunks of dress up clothes, shoes, and purses. They had so much fun trying everything on! My cousin Shane's daughter, Tanay, is only 5 months older than Braylee. They had the best time together. We were all blessed with lots of goodies and enjoyed the company.

Mamaw & Braylee
Uncle Travis, Braylee, & Aunt Trista

Great-Grandchildren~ Ely, Emilee, Brynna,
Jaidyn, Braylee, Tanay, Ashton, & Shaneisa

Brynna liked helping us open our gifts too.

Braylee & Tanay

We stopped by my Grammy and Gramps' on the way home. Gramps was up walking around without a walker!! I am just amazed at how far he has come since September! Praise the Lord! We are so thankful for another holiday season with him. He is headed up to Indy for more testing today though. Please pray everything goes well and he'll be back in time for Christmas at my mom and dad's house on Wednesday.

Last night, we were excited to get the long awaited phone call from Tyson, one of Alex's best friends. He and Lauren got engaged last night!! Braylee came running down the hall saying, "Tyson is getting married!!" We're so happy for them!

Visit from Santa

Tuesday, my mom, Braylee, and I went Christmas shopping. We left at 9am and arrived home at 1am. ;) It's not that we completely shop ourselves to death; it's just we enjoy shopping and making a day of it. We take our time...ate lunch at Los Bravos, let Braylee play in the play area, and still got in some serious shopping. Braylee was the BEST little shopper! I'm not kidding when I say I think I only heard one or two whines from her all day long. She's such a girly girl and enjoys spending time with Mommy and Mamaw. :) Probably one of my favorite memories was watching her while we were in Express. She stood in the 3 way mirror for a good 45 minutes...dancing, singing, posing, and putting on a show for the other shoppers. When Aunt Trista called to check on us, we told her what Braylee was up to and she said, "She's going to be famous one day, I know it!" It is true that Braylee loves to perform! Another highlight of the day was a moment of complete spoil-ment from Mamaw. I was finishing up in one store when Mamaw said they were going over to Build-A-Bear. When I found them, Braylee was standing in line with not one but two new friends to stuff! Holly and Hal Moose are specials right now for the holiday season. We wanted them to both be girly though, so they became Holly and Jingle...one in a girly Santa outfit and another in a girly elf outfit- Jingle for Braylee and Holly (with the antlers) for Brynna. She had so much fun and the nice lady let us each put a heart in...so each of them have lots of loving to give with 3 hearts! They also both play "Jingle Bell Rock." Braylee couldn't wait to tell her sissy about her surprise!

Wednesday, Trista and Brody came over to play while Jenn ran some errands. They were here when Brynna opened her new friend. If it looks like Braylee and Trista have greasy hair, it's because they decided lip gloss can double as hair product...what a mess! :)

Yesterday, Santa came to daycare! The girls were so excited and loved every minute of it. They each received princess doodle pad/book sets and several other goodies. We really like it at the new daycare so far...just wish there were a few more girls to play with...lots of little boys there.


We're finishing up last minute gifts today and making goodies to take to Granny & Pa's house tomorrow. I love Christmas Sunday, so I'm really excited about church tomorrow. It's such a special time. We have so much to be thankful for with God's plan of Salvation and sending His only Son into this world...because He loves us so much! Many blessings to you and your family this Christmas season!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

My friend Mandy designed our Christmas card this year. They turned out soo cute! I had planned to take a picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses for the card...until we were at Wal-Mart one day and I saw the fake snow!! I knew the girls would love it. I put them in the outfits I made (decorated is probably the more appropriate word) and let them enjoy the snow! I love seeing the joy on their faces. They had a blast!

Sickies

Monday night around 8pm, I told Alex I wasn't feeling too well. I'll spare you the details, but the next 24 hours were not pleasant for me...a nasty GI bug had hit. Thankfully, Braylee was a good little mommy and took wonderful care of Brynna and me (even though she herself had been sick during the night). She was such a big helper, coming to check on me and give me some lovin occasionally. She held down the fort all day. For lunch, she fixed turkey and granola bars. ;) At one point in the afternoon, Braylee came to me saying, "Brynna spilled cereal (Fruity Pebbles of all things!) all over the floor!" I told her it was ok and Daddy would clean it up when he got home. Poor Alex did have a mess to clean up...and said he couldn't be upset with the girls since they had tried so hard to clean it up themselves. He said they had gotten out the broom, the swiffer, wipes, papertowel, etc. :) I have a feeling they spent most of the day watching cartoons...and miraculously, the bowl of M&Ms on the bar was still fairly full the next day!

Wednesday, we did a little holiday baking. I bet you can't guess which cookies Mommy decorated?! ;)
Last night, Jamie and her kids came over for pizza and brought the girls a Christmas gift. It's soo cute...an interactive nativity set and storybook. It's barely 9am and Braylee has already had it out again this morning.
I was surprised Brynna wasn't sick earlier this week since she is typically my "puker." Last night, she more than made up for it. :( Poor little thing had a rough night, but as usual, she is sweet even when sick...laughing at the bubbles in the sink as I was washing her up, cheerfully chatting with Leila when she climbed in bed with us, and simply saying, "I'm done, Mommy." when another sicky episode was over. (Jamie, I hope your kids aren't sick!)

Miss Mouse

Friday night, the girls were decked out in some of their Barr-Reeve gear and anxious to get to the first home game of the year. Brynna liked the game, but the second Dillon would start playing the drums, she'd start shaking her hips and throw her arms in the air! ;)Saturday, Jamie and I made our annual trip to see Miss Mouse. It's a fun morning for the kids. They get to meet Miss Mouse, Santa's helper who promises to pass along messages to her boss. ;) Then, they decorate Christmas cookies, listen to a story, and write a letter to Santa Claus. I think Brynna liked eating the cookie the best. Afterwards, we ate lunch together and then Ava came over to play for the afternoon.

Ready for church

Hmmm, I wonder what Brynna was dreaming about?! ;)

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Yesterday was Alex's birthday. Since it seems we are never at home in the evenings, the girls gave him their gift Tuesday night when he got home from his basketball game. He desperately needed a new coffee maker since his was just about ready to die. The girls wrapped and decorated it all by themselves! Can you tell?! :)

Alex is known for being an early riser and yesterday was no exception. He was out of the house before any of us girls were even awake. So, we called him with birthday wishes. I only worked 1/2 day yesterday; and when we arrived home, Alex was there grabbing some lunch. The girls were thrilled and sang Happy Birthday to him. (I wish I would have recorded it...with Brynna's little butt swaying to the music!) Alex doesn't get into all of the hype over birthdays/holidays. So, as much as I wanted to do something special for him, I settled on giving him some new clothes from the Gap (He is my preppy boy!) and I'll treat him to dinner sometime soon. (Two BR games this weekend isn't allowing for any date nights soon.) We are planning a trip for the two of us in February so that will kind-of be like our gifts to each other since my birthday is in March.

Last night, Alex and I went to my office Christmas party. It is always so much fun! We laugh and laugh and always come home with the silliest of gifts (and some good ones too!). They even surprised Alex with a little personal birthday cake!

While Alex doesn't make a big deal out of birthdays, it's hard for me not to want to do something special for such a special guy. Everyday, I thank God for making such a wonderful husband and best friend for me and the perfect daddy for my little girls.

Gingerbread House

Yesterday, I let the girls put together and decorate a gingerbread house. About 5 minutes into the project, I remembered why I had decided to skip the holiday craft last year. It's messy and not all that easy! ;) But of course, the girls loved it, or in Brynna's case...loved the icing! Braylee liked adding all of the last details.

The first picture is Brynna with Bear in her belly! :) I'm sure this is a result of spending extra time lately with Aunt Mandi and her growing baby belly. She looked so sweet when she came to tell me she had a baby in her belly!
Here's a picture from 2006. Baby Brynna was only 2 months old then, and Braylee was the same age as Brynna is now. They just grow up too fast!