Christmas Day

Finally, I'm getting around to finishing up Christmas posts, only a couple of weeks late!  Our Christmas this year was very memorable and I think we can all say that we hope to never have another one like it!

A couple of days before Christmas there were weather advisories issued saying that there could be bad weather on Christmas morning.  About the time we went to bed Christmas Eve the rain was already starting and at times it was pouring down.  Kylie woke up a little before 6 hollering about the "booms" (thunder).  I tried to convince her to go back to sleep, but then when she asked to get up and see Maw and Paw, I decided we might as well get out of bed.  Maw and Paw already had the turkey cooking and getting things ready for lunch. It was dark, rainy, and lots of lightning.    

We started opening presents and expected Kylie to just tear into them, but she took her time and wanted to play with each toy before opening a new one.  It took a very long time to finally get all the presents opened.

Watching Paw open his present~notice the reindeer is laying on the floor with her .   The reindeer was her favorite gift from Santa and he goes everywhere with us.  When she saw him on Christmas morning, she grabbed him and hollered "Mines?" over and over and over again, she was so excited that Santa brought her a deer just like she had asked for!

Paw needed help

Santa left her a note

A stroller!

A baby bed!!

After opening most of the presents, we took a break to do a few things in the kitchen.  My mom's phone then had an alert about a tornado warning.  I checked radar and we were right at the bottom tip of the warning and of the storm, so we weren't too concerned about it.  My dad mentioned that if the weather got bad to go to their closet.  Not long after that, the weather seemed to get better, wasn't near as dark, and looked like things had passed over us.  Another alert sounded that the tornado warning had been extended and then the power went out for good, before that it had been blinking.

Chad, Kylie, and I were in the living room, talking and looking outside.  It seemed like all of a sudden the wind had gotten really strong and it was getting loud.  A chair flew off the back porch and Kylie hollered "Uh-oh chair fell down".  We still weren't realizing what was happening, and it was all happening so fast to really process it.  As I was looking outside and wondering just how much harder the wind could actually blow, the rain was already sideways, a big limb hit the window right behind Chad's head.  I then grabbed Kylie and ran as fast as I could to my parent's closet, didn't even have time to think, I just knew I needed to get her somewhere safe.  Everyone was right behind us (luckily they have a big closet and the presents had already been cleared out!).  It was dark, but someone was able to grab a flashlight so Kylie was perfectly happy playing with the flashlight while we waited until it was safe.  

Kylie was never scared, she didn't have any idea what was going on.  I don't think we were even that scared at the time, I think it was after the fact that was more scary, when we actually realized a tornado had come thru.  As it was happening, it all happened so fast, we didn't really have time to be scared. 

We eventually ventured out of the closet.  I then thought about her brand new car that was on the front porch and ran to go check on it.  Surprisingly it was still there and didn't appear to even be touched, luckily the tornado came thru the back and the front didn't have much damage and as strong of wind.  My parents house was fine, a seal broke on a window and a torn screen, but to the actual house, that was it.  There were a lot of things broken around the yard and everything was blown around, lots of limbs down, some big limbs, and even the top of a tree.  The roof off an old barn was gone and a lot of the things inside were scattered about, like my brothers old tricycle.  There was also a broken window and some damage to the roof of another building on their property.

After the storm pics will be in the next post, this post was already long enough!

Moody Gardens~Festival of Lights

After a busy day, we decided it was time to check into our hotel and hopefully get a nap before going back to Moody Gardens for the Festival of Lights!  Our room had a balcony with a great view of the ocean, too bad the weather was so yucky so we couldn't really enjoy it.

I tried and tried to get her to look at the camera, but she was too fascinated with the buttons on her dress, so this is the best picture we got.

When we got back to Moody Gardens, I went to get the stroller out of the back while Chad got Kylie out of her carseat.  The lights involved a lot of walking and she is just too heavy to carry for long distances anymore.  I unlocked the tailgate, tried to open it and nothing happened, I locked and unlocked it several times and still nothing (did I mention a lot of things went wrong on this trip????).  The handle would lift up, but it wouldn't open the tailgate and the cover I have doesn't have a lock on top, so there was no getting in it unless the tailgate would open.  

Chad said we would just rent a stroller and worry about getting it open later. We got lucky and when we were asking about where to rent a stroller, a lady was standing there and told us we could have the one she had been using!

Finger pointing and ready to go!

Pictures don't do it justice, it was so pretty.

Fairytale section of lights

Trying the slipper on

Loved this~Santa catching a wave ;)

One of Kylie's favorites, she loves trains!

Santa and his reindeer

After walking thru the lights, we went inside to see a 3D movie.  Kylie had never been in a theater before and we had no idea how she would act and were prepared to leave if we needed to.

Waiting to go in the theater

FAVORITE PICTURES~glasses on and ready for the movie to start!!

 During the previews, the music stopped, but the picture was still on, she kept saying "Mommy sing???".  I told her the music would be back on in just a minute, to be patient, she then decided to sing herself and very loudly started singing "La La La La" it was so funny!  Once the movie started, she sat there very quietly and watched the whole movie (it was a short one).  She kept her glasses on for about half the time and anytime the snow was falling, she kept reaching out to touch it, so cute!

Afterwards, I attempted again to get my tailgate open and still no luck.  At that time, I became a little bit worried, all of our stuff was back there, except for Kylie's extra clothes, but we couldn't get to her milk, mine or Chad's clothes, nothing we had packed for the trip.  We decided to make a trip to Walmart and buy a few things just to get us thru the night, um, yep, that was an experience in itself, not the best place to be late at night, but we had no choice.  It made me appreciate the Walmart near our house so much more, hope I never have to set foot in that other one again!

Osh Kosh, Christmas Parade, Santa Claus, and More

I can't remember if I've mentioned it or not, but we have an Elf on the Shelf this year.  He joined our family right after Thanksgiving and keeps a close eye on Kylie and then reports back to Santa Claus.  When I told Kylie about the elf and asked her what she wanted to name him she kept saying "Ewwww", well I wasn't having that name so I decided we could just name him next year!  Then Kylie started saying something and pointing at him, I finally told Chad it sounded like she was saying "Osh Kosh" and he agreed. So, our elf became Osh Kosh. A few days later, we were talking about Santa Claus and Kylie started saying what sounded like Osh Kosh once again, I finally realized that is how she says Santa Claus!  Isn't that just the cutest?!  I need to try to get it on video, though it's hard to record her saying what I want her to say!

Very patiently waiting for the parade to make it to where we were

 This past weekend, we went to a small Christmas Parade near us.  Kylie had so much fun and waved at pretty much everyone!  One cheerleader walked by and asked Kylie to give her five, which Kylie did, and then ALL the other cheerleaders had to come over to talk to her and give her five also, it was really sweet!  There was even a helicopter flying along with the parade and Kylie was thrilled about that.  I think we will make going to the parade an annual thing!

In the bigger picture you can actually see the pilot waving at everyone.

After the parade, we went to see Santa Claus.  For the past week, Kylie had been telling me no that she wasn't going to take her picture with Santa Claus.  Then after seeing her picture from last year she decided that she would sit on his knee.  She was very excited, up until it was almost our turn and then she changed her mind about it.  I think it was when she actually saw him that she chickened out.  You line up outside and then go inside his workshop for the picture.  Santa and Mrs. Claus are great, we went to the same place last year, and I'm sure we will keep going there for years to come.  They talked to her, but she wouldn't let us walk away.  Finally, Santa scooted over and told Chad to have a seat, so Kylie ended up sitting on Chad's knee next to Santa.  We tried and tried for a smile, but no luck.  She was puckering her lips up to keep from smiling, but at least she wasn't crying!  She was brave enough to tell Santa what she wants~a deer.  Yep, she's asking for a deer for Christmas!

After the picture, we went for lunch next door.  While we were eating, Santa came in~Kylie's face was priceless!  She stared at the floor and would occasionally look up to see where he was, it was pretty funny.  Thankfully he didn't acknowledge her, I think she would have freaked out if he had!

Saturday night we drove around our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights, she was so excited!!  She would holler "Oh, look, look, look" and then after she had looked at the house, she would point her finger and tell us "More" for us to move on to the next house.  It was so funny.

Cute look on her face

Christmas season has been so much fun this year, Kylie is at a great age for really enjoying the decorations and all the fun that goes along with it.  I can't wait to see her on Christmas morning, I'm not real sure if she actually realizes she will be getting presents, we've talked about it, but it's hard to know what she understands and doesn't.

Even more importantly, a cold front came thru last night and it's cold here today!  It's finally feeling like Christmas!  I was so tired of it being in the 80s and this close to Christmas, today is in the 40s, I'll enjoy it while it lasts!