A Very Merry Christmas

Finally the big day is here! I LOVE Christmas and I think I was the most excited. I woke up a little after 6am and could not fall back asleep, I was so excited. I was about to go downstairs and start banging pots and pans together when Lily finally woke up about 7:20. When we got downstairs this is what we found:

Santa left a Princess bike, helmet and filled our stockings!!!!

Testing out the bell.

Trying it out.

We also found that none of the snow had melted!!!!

(In fact, it is 7:30 pm now and we still have a huge patch of snow in the backyard which will most likely survive the night and still be there tomorrow!)

My first ever official white Christmas.

Back inside, Lily went through her stocking. She was adorable commenting on everything she pulled out. She got a lot of little Disney Princess dolls, necklaces, rings, nail polish, mirror, brush, barrettes, balls, binoculars, cards, a kaleidoscope, pom poms, stickers, note pads, a princess wallet and little pet shop puppies.

When she got out the wallet, she opened it and said "There's no money in here!"

When she found Princess Jasmine she asked where Aladdin was and I said I didn't think there was an Aladdin and she said, "Well that is a bummer!"

She was cracking us up!

When she discovered the notebooks she said she needed crayons, but couldn't find any so she got out her binoculars to look for crayons. Silly silly girl.

After the stockings all she wanted was to open her "mirror" from Grandma and Grandpa -- she meant her new vanity. I tried my hardest to get her interested in all the new presents under the tree, but all she wanted was the "mirror." So Chip and I gave in and he started to assemble it (I didn't get a good photo of that). To save on time, I started doing my makeup and getting ready since we had a brunch reservation. Lily was getting impatient waiting for Daddy to assemble her toy, so I got her to open a present. A wooden make-up set, so she could do her makeup with me (I am not ready to give her real play makeup yet).

Here she is painting her toe nails. :)

Then she wanted to open the tool set she got last night so she could work like Daddy. She is pretty good too -- I didn't even have to tell her how to use any of the tools.

A picture of the snow in the backyard with our tree in the foreground. :)

Yeah, the vanity is ready!!

She LOVES it!

Then we actually got to open our presents!!

Lily already opened that Strawberry Shortcake doll from us and I can see in the background of the picture she also got a light doodle board and a big tea party princess rug.

Chip filming nearly every second. That camcorder will be retiring soon since my parents got me a new Flip Mino HD camera for Christmas!

It's Sleeping Beauty! She also got Cinderella and Prince Charming. A Ken doll we are substituting for Sleeping Beauty's prince and each Princess got their our horse!

A whole bunch of Little Mr and Little Miss books!

Opening Prince Charming.

Opening her big gift from us, her puppy!

Love at first sight.

You can program the puppy to know her name. It sings songs and grows! Scary robot puppy. :)

Chip got a PS3

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Just so I remember -- Lily also got Snow White on DVD and Horton Hears a Who; a magnetic puzzle map (which she swears is not for her); more tools from us; Hi Ho Cherry O game; A talking Tigger mask; Mickey's Mouse Ke Tag game; magic toaster; princess walkie talkies; princess bouncer ball; and a little Elmo's world playset. I got lots of bras (but I asked for new bras), bike shorts for spin class, adidas shoes, lotion, Bon Jovi CD, Pearl Jam DVD, lotions, wonder hanger; Guns N Roses book, Kathy Griffin Book, Michael Jackson book and an external hard drive for all my pictures and new flip videos! Chip got 4 video games, an Human Body Anatomy book, "Don't Spill Your Guts" game; "Skeleton in the Closet" game (I was going with a medical school theme) and a desk dock for his iphone. It was a GREAT morning.

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Quick playtime in the snow before we have to get dressed.

My parents took us to a very nice brunch at the Gaylord Texan hotel.

Lily LOVED drinking water from her flute!

It was so cute.

The ballroom was beautiful and all the food was kind of overwhelming!

The kids buffet area -- see how low the table is. They had Pb & J, chicken strips, pizza, pudding, cereal, cookies, cupcakes, jello, mac-n-cheese, . . . it rocked.

At the entrance/exit to the brunch.

I think Lily's favorite part of the day was riding the escalators with Grandpa! Honestly, I am not sure when she has rode an escalator before since we have strollers or carry her.

After brunch we headed over to see ICE! at the hotel which is a huge display of ice sculptures of Who-ville and the Grinch.

It is 9 degrees inside ICE! so they provide everyone with parkas.

Lily looked SO cute in her little parka.

Seriously, it is all made of ice. Amazing.

Lily was tired and a little out of it since it was approaching her normal nap time and it had already been a pretty eventful day!!

Inside an igloo!

With the Grinch.

Again, all ice!!!

Lily going down the ice slide. I know it is blurry, but she did it and she looked so cute, so I wanted to remember it.

Grandpa going down the ice slide. I changed the setting on the camera and it worked much better. Too bad Lily didn't want to go again.

More ice.

The Grinch's heart grows.

She is cute when she is freezing and has rosy cheeks.

At the end they had a nativity scene made of ice.

Chip went to drop all the big coats off at the car so we could walk around and explore the hotel. While we waiting for him to return, Lily and Grandpa rode the esculators some more!

A Texas Santa

Me in a sleigh!

They had this great photo opportunity, but Lily was so tired and no one else wanted to get in with me, so I got in for the photo!! :) Maybe it will be our Christmas card next year.

I wanted Lily to sleep the whole ride home (it was 29 miles away), but she didn't fall asleep until we were almost back. Grandpa, however, slept most the way! :)