Christmas Eve and Christmas

 A few disclaimers to this post:

1. I think if you have read my blog very often, you know that I am "snap happy".  I take a bajillion pictures and don't know how to edit what I put up.....just to let you know, this is about a third of what I actually took.  So, now that you all know that I know that I have a sickness, lets move past it and try not to judge :)

2. I have officially hit the puffy, fat, ugly stage of pregnancy and I'm pretty depressed about it.  As much as I want to cry when I see these pictures of me, I know that it is important to document this time of my life, so I just take a deep breath and hit "upload".  Last week at my 34 week appt I was measuring over 40 weeks for a singleton pregnancy.  Lovely.  I also gained 5 lbs in one week.  I am retaining water and its not a pretty sight...just FYI.


CHRISTMAS EVE


Ok, on to exciting things!  On Christmas Eve morning we took the girls to see Santa at the mall.  It is Micah's family tradition to go to the mall every year on Christmas Eve so we thought we would join them.  Daci was so excited.  Unfortunately the Santa was pretty darn LAME!  He wouldn't even look at Daci, or ask her what she wanted for Christmas, or talk to her, or smile or say "Ho Ho Ho!"  Pretty lame.  Luckily, Daci didn't seem to mind :)

They had these cute cut outs you could take pictures in while we were waiting in line.

The mall pretty much wore me out and sent me into quite a few contractions so I came home and took a two hour nap and then woke up to make The Pedersen Family traditional Christmas Eve dinner.  I made homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, homemade gluten free breadsticks, and our delicious "slush".  We had Carly and Micah over for dinner and it was a lot of fun!

After dinner, we continued the Pedersen tradition with frosting sugar cookies for Santa.  Everyone was pretty worn out by then and both Daci and Rick weren't feeling well so we kinda just slopped on some frosting and called it good :)

Carly brought a yummy cookie and ice cream dish that she made...here are she and Micah enjoying it with some Oberweis Egg Nog

After dinner and cookies Carly and Micah left and we did our Christmas Eve presents with Daci.  She was SO excited to open up a present!

 She got PJ's, slippers, and a book

Lovin' her pj's and slippers

So excited about her book

Then she helped Rick and I open our presents.  My mom sent us our PJ's so we could still participate in that fun tradition.  This year she did SUU shirts (since almost everyone in our family either went to school there, or graduated from there) and basketball shorts.  I think she was mostly thinking of what I would fit into :)

We read Daci her book and then tucked her into her bed.  She was out like a light within a few minutes...it was a very busy and exhausting day! Later that night I snuck downstairs and snapped some pics of what Santa brought Daci :)

Santa brought her: puzzles, books, a My Little Pony Doll, a Princess Belle dress up dress, a Memory game, a Strawberry Shortcake purse, and a new stroller because hers was broken

CHRISTMAS MORNING


Daci woke up at 7am on Christmas morning. I, of course, had been up since 4:30am....I am not sleeping at all lately.  We told her that we think Santa came for her and she got so excited!  

Waiting at the top of the stairs

Seeing her loot from the stairs....so excited!

Rushing down the stairs to claim her prize

So many toys!  Which one should I grab first!?

She loved this My Little Pony baby doll that talks to her and calls her Mommy.  It hasn't left her side since this second.

After she looked at all her stuff from Santa we went to open presents by the tree.  We skyped with Rick's family while we opened the gifts from them. Daci got a Snow White dress up dress and a Princess Ariel doll from Yia Yia and Papou. They gave us our stroller and video monitor for the babies.  They gave me some sheets for my new bedspread I got for my birthday, and they gave Rick an indoor RC Helicopter.  Thanks Yia Yia and Papou!

Daci opening presents from Yia Yia and Papou, and Rick and I.  We gave her a remote control car, fridge phonics by Leap Frog and a Cinderella barbie.

Me opening a present from Rick...some Mac eyeshadow!

Daci gave Rick her present and was so excited for him to open it!

I framed a finger painting she did for him.  She is showing him her handprint in the middle of it.  She was so proud.

Awww :)

Rick's parents got him a little indoor helicopter and he LOVES it!  He has been flying it all day, every day :) 

Daci playing with her toys

In front of her treasures

She got a Strawberry Shortcake remote control car that she absolutely loves.  Rick was teaching her how to use it here.

Later in the afternoon we skyped with my family and we opened our gifts from them.  My parents got her the game Candy Land (which she LOVES playing!) and some awesome books.  They got Rick a Nordstrom gift card and me some fun clothes...can't wait til I can fit into them :)

Opening our mail from Daysha and Easton. They gave Daci some awesome Princess Ariel PJ's and some princess coloring pages, Daysha gave me a beautiful necklace and journal, and E gave Rick a cool Nike Chicago shirt and an iTunes gift card.

After we skyped with my fam, we headed over to Carly and Micah's house for dinner.  We did The Roberts traditional dinner: Ham with cherry sauce, funeral potatoes, and brussel sprouts. It was delicious!! We also exchanged our gifts with Carly and Micah.

Daci gave Leni her present...a little Minnie Doll.  I love this look on Eleni's face!

Micah got Rick personalized golf balls.  Rick loved them!

 I didn't get any pics of Carly and I exchanging gifts :(

Santa brought this awesome playhouse to Eleni and the girls had a blast playing in it all night!

And this is what the girls look like when they watch tv at Carly's house.  Oh they are so goofy!

Family pic.  Super sad about what I look like, cuz Daci and Rick look so cute!  Oh well....only a few more weeks :)

We had a wonderful Christmas! It was a lot of fun to have our own little Christmas with just our family!  We sure missed our families back home in Utah though. I can't believe how spoiled we were by our families and friends!  Thanks for the generosity!  We love you all!