Christmas Day

We didn't wake up until 10 on Christmas, and it was much needed rest. Amelia woke us up by singing, "Happy Birthday Jesus!"

Amelia asked for a big box of toys for Christmas. So sneaky. Like asking a genie for more wishes... but Santa indulged. 

In the box, she got a doctor kit which, 5 months later, is still her favorite toy to play with. 

we took plenty of naps over the weekend, which made Christmas Day last all weekend. We were opening presents for 3 days, which was actually very fun and more savory. 

Although Christmas didn't go according to one plan we had, it was still my favorite Christmas yet. There is just something so fun about holidays and children. It's the best. 

Christmas Eve

Amelia woke up at 1 am on Christmas Eve with an extremely high fever of 104 that would not break. I had to rock her and keep cold wash cloths on her forehead all night. I have never seen her so miserable. Once 10:30 rolled around, I took her to the Instacare where Anthony met us. Her fever was down to 101 by the time we got there, but she refused to drink anything and had a horrible cough.

The doctor tested her for the flu (OUCH!) and she was positive. Luckily we caught it in time; she could prescribe Tamiflu. This whole thing probably could have been avoided if I had gotten us the flu shot. Honestly, I wasn't a believer in it. Every time I have gotten the flu shot, I have gotten the flu a couple days later. I know they say it won't give you the flu, it really makes me sick whatever it is. 

But I am a flue shot receiver from now on! I went straight to Walgreens on got myself a shot. Much too late of course.

We were supposed to go over to Anthony's cousin's house for dinner and games, but we couldn't risk their 5 kids getting the flu as well, so we had to fend our selves. We had no food at home, and had to get take out and go the store. Looks like a feast for kings, right? haha. We ordered Buffalo Wild Wings and Amelia had cereal with strawberries. it was the lamest Christmas Dinner ever. Luckily, she was starting to feel better and have more energy . 

We thought about postponing Christmas activities a few days, but with her starting to feel better, we decided to start the festivities. We read about Christ's birth in the Bible and explained how we will be a family forever. 

We then opened up our Christmas Jammies and annual ornaments. After that, Amelia and I were starting the feel really congested, so we took a shower and got some steam in our sinuses. We dressed in our new jammies, and then watched Frozen, ate clementines, and drank hot chocolate. 

We left cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. 

Amelia slept much better than night, but I was starting to feel much worse. 

Almost Christmas Time!

The weeks leading up to Christmas were full of excitement and magic. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love the true meaning of Christmas and the feeling that lingers in my heart the whole season. Holidays with children makes it just that much more special. Amelia kind of understood the meaning of Santa Claus and also understood that it was Jesus's birthday. On Christmas morning, even though she was horribly sick, she woke up singing "Happy Birthday to Jesus." 

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we headed downtown to see the huge Christmas Tree. I have decided that these trees look magical at night and far away. We went to the rockafellar Tree last year, and I just didn't appreciate it because it is just too huge and not lit... anyways, I know I am hard to please, but that's that. During this weekend, Chicago has a little Christmas market call the kriskringle Market, where a lot of Scandinavian shops set up around the tree and you can shop for unique gifts. Well, when we went it was a beautiful 50 degrees,so all of Chicago was also there. We got stuck in the middle for 15 minutes unable to move our stroller because there was too many people. It was CRAZY.

Since that experience didn't really work out, we headed to Millennium Park to hangout and shop for some more Christmas gifts. 

While I was in Utah for my dear friend, Dane's funeral, Anthony took Amelia to his work Christmas Party and I guess it was a huge hit and a lot of fun. Amelia got to pet a reindeer and sit on Santa's lap. She asked for a BIG box of toys, blocks, and a baby. She got a little tricky there with a big box of toys! haha. 

A cute outfit my aunt gave her for Christmas last year and it finally fit this year! So adorable. 

Her new thing is to play catch inside, but we have to wear sunglasses in order to play!

We also saw Santa at the mall. Not the best Santa, and it was a little confusing to her as to why she was seeing him twice. Next year we will stick to one. This guy also had the biggest, REAL belly that she barely fit on his lap.

For our friends and neighbor gifts, we made a weekend of decorating more than a hundred sugar cookies. I am not a fan of regular sugar cookies, but I found a recipe that sounded amazing... and luckily, it was the best rolled sugar cookie I have ever had! Definitely a new tradition. 

She also insisted on wearing this antlers on the daily. 

And this is the day before Christmas Eve... and telling sign of what was to come, since she literally NEVER cuddles with us.

a bit of this and that

We had a lot of down time between Halloween and Thanksgiving where we were stuck inside most days. I signed Amelia up for preschool, so we did that, and frequented the gym... and target. 

Amelia learned how to use glue and  it is her favorite thing to do. I cut up pieces of paper, and she goes to town for a good 45 minutes. 

One night she asked for a bowl of veggies for her movie snack. no arguing there. 

For Thanksgiving, I only took pictures of Food. Go me. 

We made 2 chocolate cream pies, 1 famous apple pie, and 113 equally famous rolls. 

On Black Friday, we went to see the movie Big Hero 6. It was a flop for this girl. She just wanted to run everywhere. 

 We also bought our first live tree. We have a huge fake tree, but our living room is too small in our current home, so we opted for a small tree.. which actually turned out to be a lot bigger than we thought.

This is how she goes camping. It is a regular occurance at our house to find her reading books or coloring her.

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A friend from Cornell, Lydia, came to visit and brought amelia this amazing game. It's called GoldieBlocks. Amelia loves it and it's educational. Win Win. 

Lake Geneva

On October 25, we had a unreasonably warm day and decided to head to Lake Geneva. It's a small town that is only an 30 minutes north of us in Wisconsin. It is the cutest town with adorably quaint mainstreet stores, with beautiful and enormous homes on the lake front properties. 

We headed down to the beach and played in the sand. This was a big step for Amelia. She had never voluntarily gotten dirty and played with sand. We are getting closer to that free spirited girl I know is in there. But she sure hates being dirty. haha.