At the end of the tunnel...

I hope I don't jinx myself just by saying this, but I think that I can see the light.  Over the past week, one of the three of us has had just about every sick-like symptom imaginable.  Between, a stomach bug and a winter cold, we have been under the weather to say the least.  I accomplished more today in a couple of hours than I did over the span of an entire week, and I have to say it feels good! 

But, before all of us got sick there was Santa, there was Christmas, and there was snow.  Here are a few of the highlights from Lily's second Christmas.

We went to the mall a few days before Christmas to meet the big guy for the first time since we skipped this visit last year.  And to our surprise, we got this!

We were able to spend Christmas Eve with my whole family.  We enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by my mom and finished it off with red velvet pound cake in honor of Aunt Christi's birthday.  Lily spent most of her time during the gift-opening playing with Grammy's eyeglass case, but one of the best parts of the night came at the very end when Carson was "chasing" Lily through the play tunnel.  This had her cackling to no end and topped any game of chase we have ever played. 







Santa made a stop at the house for Miss Lily. She first went for her new sneakers, but then decided to give her new horse a try.

"Oops, wrong way!"



"Okay, now I got it!"



We spent Christmas Day over at Pop and Sush's house with everyone.  There was no shortage of laughs, good food, or thoughtful gifts.  All of family pups were present as well, and Lily has a particular fondness to Zeus, Aunt Laura and Uncle Dan's pug. 

Then there was snow!  It was a little too deep for Lily to navigate on her own without falling, but she enjoyed picking it up with her hands and making her first snow angel.

We rang in the New Year together at home and toasted with a glass of 7Up.  So, if you are wondering what is on the top of my wish list for 2011..it's H-E-A-L-T-H!

O Christmas Tree

Yes, I do realize that Christmas is over, but I just got a picture from my sister-in-law in Wilmington that was too good not to share. "O Christmas Tree" became a quick favorite the day we were picking out our tree this year. While Tim was getting the tree loaded on top of the car, I was trying to entertain Lily. I started singing "O Christmas Tree" to her, and since I don't know the words to the song, I just kept singing the same line over and over. It got a smile from her every time! Lily is usually rather serious when the cameras come out, but we were able to distract her by singing "O Christmas Tree" and catch a sweet smile from her in front of the tree.

Oh, Lily's other favorite carol would be "Jingle Bells". We are still singing it regularly around the house and in the car. It seems to instantly calm her down. Go figure?