It Started With Red Pancakes.....

Christmas 2010 began with making red pancakes on the eve of Christmas Eve. They were extremely yummy but Mommy made a mental note not to give them to Lexa again. Next time hers will be cooked before the food coloring is put in...just know it's not pretty when it comes out in the diaper!



Christmas Eve turned into a little bit of a disappointment as there was something like 10.5 inches of snow in these parts. Needless to say, the trip to see Nana, Papa and the rest of the family was not made.

Daddy, Mommy, Jace, and Lexa made do by attending church in town







Starting a new tradition of opening a new pair of p.j.'s on Christmas Eve





And making cookies for Santa (that Mommy burned. Actually she not only burned the cookies, but she burned a hole right through the kitchen towel trying to get them out of the oven) and leaving carrots and green beans for Rudolph.



Leaving green beans may seem strange but Jace was adamant. He was even certain that 5 was the magic number that should be left. Low and behold, Rudolph ate every single one!



It seems Mommy had the most difficult time sleeping Christmas Eve and was the first one up and waiting on Christmas morning. She may or may not have made unnecessary noise to speed up the process.

Mommy also must remember to tell Santa (for next year's sanity) that he should look over presents more carefully before putting them under the tree. A 100 piece Scooby Doo puzzle is just not the smartest idea for a 3-year old who wants to put it together 95 times a day.

Anywho, back to Christmas morning.

Stockings were found and presents were ripped apart.





Mommy is really going to be sad when she can no longer pull off 'necessities' such as a car seat as a Christmas gift.



Once the final bow was ripped (and Mommy made her Starbucks run) it was time to head to Grandma and Grandpa's for some more X-mas fun!



Christmas night was spent with Grandma's side of the family eating and eating. Oh and there was some eating too.



Jace and Grandma always find time to cook together. The menu on this particular night was chicken noodle soup.



A random shot of Bean hanging out at her Grandma and Grandpa's.



Erin, Tom, and Keegan. Keegan is the one shaped like a basketball.



There was a baby shower for Erin.



Jacer even became the proud new owner of a REAL camera.



One of Mommy's best and oldest friends was also in town with her little bambino. Cameron and Lexa will most likely be married. However, since Lexa is not able to date until she is 25, the wedding is in the very distant future.



It is always good to get a bite to eat with your future spouse while the parents are still footing the bill...and make sure your brother approves of your choice. Of course he did...not sure how he will feel once Cameron has hair and can stand on 2 feet.



Cameron's cousin Warren was in town too and made a great play buddy for Jace.



Lexa even tried out some of Cameron's Grandma's fun things.



Her favorite was this rocking chair....



And this is where the story of Christmas 2010 comes to an end. Lexa and Jacer were getting pretty tuckered out so the crew headed home to rest up before the next round. And Jacer's birthday which is rapidly approaching!

Peanut.

Miss Lexa. The older she gets the more apparent her 'peanutness' becomes. Of course she is Mommy's child so undoubtedly nobody expected her to be 6 ft. tall! Or much over 5 ft. for that matter.



Bean had her 9-month checkup at the Dr. yesterday. She weighed in at a whopping 17.1 lbs (22nd percentile) and 26.5 inches long (18th percentile)! She is a tiny little bundle of personality...and Mommy really does love her size. What Lexa lacks in height she makes up for in hair!! That seems to be a common theme among Mommy and Daddy's offspring....

The rest of Lexa's checkup was great. No shots this visit...except for her second dose of the flu vaccine. The Dr. thought she may take a few steps soon. Say it ain't so!!
Actually Mommy isn't so sure....while Lexa does love to be on her feet and has no fear, she is still pretty unsteady. Only time will tell but Mommy is putting in a wish for as close to March as possible!

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Mommy thought since this is the season of giving she would throw out a couple of random pictures for your viewing pleasure.....

Chuck and Denise sent Jacer and Lexa some p.j.'s for Christmas. Mommy wasn't thinking and let them see the package. Needless to say, they opened their gift a little early. Aren't they too cute!!



P.S. on the personalization...somebody besides Mommy needs to talk some sense into that boy. Most people call him 'Jacer' now and he is convinced his name is spelled J-A-C-E-R. Mommy has tried explain that there is no /r/ but he is a stubborn one!

Mommy took this random shot of herself and Lexa the other night....it just tickled Mommy how that sweet little girl was looking at her



Mommy's experiment with cake pops...she had a very willing taste tester.



They passed the test!

Just Dance.

Jace and Lexa received musical cards in the mail from Rita. They spent the next several hours dancing.

Mommy is not joking. Lexa even threw up because of all the shimmying she did after eating.

He*l May Have Frozen Over

If you are curious as to why Mommy thinks this, check out the picture below.



That’s right folks. Lexa is scared stiff of Grandmas, Aunts, Uncles, friendly old ladies at the store, (and the list goes on) but put her on the lap of a goofy guy in a red suit with an overflowing beard and she is cool as a cucumber.
Mommy was snapping pictures as quickly as possible to get a good one before the waterworks were turned on. But...those tears NEVER CAME. Lexa sat there like it was her job!

Now that Mommy has shared her utter disbelief with you, allow her to give you a little background.

Santa visited the kids at Tricia’s house yesterday. Mommy knew Jace would be ecstatic, thrilled, over the top excited, etc., etc. and he did not disappoint.



He sat on his lap and had a little chat



And even received a gift!



After Lexa sat so calmly, Mommy was even able to get a picture with both smiling children. (Ok, Lexa isn’t smiling but this expression while sitting on Santa’s lap equals pure bliss in ‘Lexa Land’.)



THIS is pure, PURE bliss

It's in the Genes

Aunt Erin graduated over the weekend and became Dr. Komp. The entire family was there to celebrate and watch her in all her Chriopractic glory.

Dr. Komp. Mommy taught her everything she knows. Except all that cracking back stuff of course.



Lexa, at the hotel, getting ready for Erin's big day. Notice the girl already has a comb in her hand. Ok, it's more to chew on than anything.



Grandma getting some cherished 'holding time' with Lexa Bean.



Erin getting her hard earned diploma...the pictures are pretty bad but Mommy did what she could with very dark images. (Hint: Santa, Photoshop would really enhance these shots.)



And she got it with honors!



Family shot after the ceremony....this would be why Lexa looks so thrilled.



Unfortunately that is all for the actual graduation pictures....as Mommy said, better photo editing software would do wonders for these images. For now however, you are stuck looking at pictures of the rest of the weekend.

Mommy's little angel checking out the snow



Lexa and Jacer each got to open a present from Erin. Mommy was getting ready to show Lexa how to do it when Miss Bean started tearing into hers.





Mommy had her first Cabela's experience. Not sure if it will be her last one or not. Probably, most definitely, for sure her last visit at Christmas time. She just can't get past the animal heads hung strategically around with Happy Holiday tunes playing in the background.

Anywho, here is Lexa and Erin during the experience.



And Jacer posing in front of some stuffed thing.



After Cabela's, Jace was able to hit the mall and do the jumpy thing that he did over the summer.



He didn't get quite as much hangtime as in his first go-round. He was probably still weak from hanging out amidst dead hunted animals beforehand.



Rita came bearing gifts as usual. Jace REALLY gets the whole gift thing this year and was more than thrilled.



Probably the best part of the weekend. Everyone stood in line FOR OVER AN HOUR...for this photo.



Yep, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is an elf blocking Mommy's shot of Jace and Santa. Who knew that if you turned down their offer of a $45 photo package it would irk them. Apparently it does. So, after standing in line for OVER AN HOUR, Jacer sat on Santa's lap for 3.2 seconds and MOMMY HAS NO PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF. This is very upsetting to her, as you may have noticed by the abundance of caps she is using.

Moving on....

Jace and Daddy at the T-Rex restaurant. And just because Mommy wants to see it in print...Daddy ate the Gigantosaurus Burger.




Jace and Grandpa with a dinosaur at the restaurant. Of course they tried to sell Mommy a picture of this too. What is up with that?



Erin and Jace at the restaurant.




And finally, because Mommy really has no ending point, a picture of Daddy and Lexa. Totally random but this is the end.



Goodbye.