My niece...is CRAZY

And I LOVE that about her...we are not sure what happened here, but it looks suspiciously like a mass casualty.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve 2009

My parents were able to spend Christmas with us in Nashville this year. They braved our contemporary Christmas Eve service (usually they attend a very conservative Catholic Mass). The girls loved the service and danced the entire time. Then we came home and made homemade pizzas! 

Nana, Josie, Wendy, and Pap-Pap

Nana, Josie, Wendy, and Jason

Sophie and Josie

Katie, Zoe, Sophie, and Adam

Opryland at Christmas Time

My parents were here for a week and one of the adventures we took them on was a trip to Opryland. Opryland at Christmas time (at the risk of sounding VERY cheesy) is magical. I love to go and look at all the decorations. So we braved it with not one but TWO 2 year olds! They loved it. 

After walking around Opryland, going for a boat ride, eating lunch, and narrowly avoiding a Santa encounter Sophie was pretty much tapped out. She was LOSING her mind and insisted she was going to take off her shirt. I did not choose to fight this battle and let her walk around topless, outside, in December. We got a few strange looks, but for those who had experienced 2 year olds more recently, we got the knowing nod. NOT worth the battle. If you can't go topless when you are 2, when can you? Right?  

Josie, on the other hand, was quite concerned about Sophie's near nakedness and kept yelling at her to get dressed. She did...eventually.

Nothing Screams Christmas Like a Visit to..

The police academy??? Oh yeah...Jason took all of us (including the 2 year olds) on a tour of the Police Academy...including a visit to the K9 kennels. It was actually very interesting and everyone was so nice to us! We like to keep things interesting around here. Our family is a free standing career day (a teacher, a pilot, a nurse practitioner, and a police officer).

Captain and Josie

The shed where they practice clearing a house (or something official like that)

Captain and JoZ

Christmas 2009-Professional Style

Big kudos to daddy who braved a professional photo shoot with a 2 year old SOLO (I was at work).

Ms. Debbie's Snow Bunny

I could try to explain how wonderful Ms. Debbie is...but about the only thing I can say is that she is a SAINT. Ms. Debbie has a day-care in her home that Sophie has been going to a couple of days a week to give her more time with other children. Adam had been staying home with her whenever I worked, but we decided that she really needed some regular contact (other than church) with other children. My friend LeighAnn hooked us up with Ms. Debbie. Sophie loves her. She is truly amazing and I am so grateful for her. She managed to capture one of my favorite pictures of Sophie during their Christmas party AND made it into an ornament for the tree.