Our Little Princess

Snow, Snow & MORE Snow!!!

During the past several weeks, we have been buried in snow!  In the 30 years that I have lived here, I don’t recall ever seeing so much snow fall in one season, let alone in a few weeks. It just started melting yesterday (which is nice for getting around town), however before it stopped we had at least 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow on the ground. We even had snow falling on Christmas morning which was really fun. 

Abi and Sadie were very excited to get outside and play in the snow!

Sadie running “hot laps” in the backyard

Daddy, Abi & Sadie playing in the snow

Grandma & Abi building a snowman

Daddy & Abi posing with Mr. Snowman

Merry Christmas!

We started the day opening our stocking gifts from Santa, took a break for some breakfast & then continued with opening presents. Once we had finished round one, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for round two. Abi had a great time - if she wasn’t opening one of her presents, she was trying to “help” someone with their present.

We had a very blessed Christmas holiday. Thank you to everyone who made it so special!

Abi’s first peek at all the presents left by Santa

Santa’s big gift this year was a new bike!

Checking out how much Santa and the reindeers ate last night…

Sadie got to open the first gift on Christmas morning

and then the fun began…

Helping Grandpa unwrap his present

Abi modeling her new robe and slippers

Giving a ride to ‘Fancy Nancy’ in her new bike

Opening Up Princess Clothes on Christmas

Abi playing dress up with her new Princess clothes

Abi & her new doll (Hopefully she will continue to be just as helpful when our little guy is born!)

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas Eve this year celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa and preparing for the arrival of Santa. 

 

Watching the excitement on Abi’s face brought back fond memories of Christmas mornings when I was a kid.  Growing up, my parents had a rule that we could not wake them up until 8 a.m. to open presents.  My brother, Mike and I would wake up early – often around 6 – and quietly sit in bed and play the card game, War, until the clock struck 8.  As soon as it did, we would run into my parent’s room to wake them up.  We were SO excited – just waiting to find out what Santa had brought us!  Though I still enjoy the holidays, my favorite gift is to simply watch Abi experience the anticipation and excitement as I once did.

 

Very excited about her new Dora DVD!

Grandma, Grandpa & Abi 

We left Santa some homemade cookies & milk and left the reindeers a carrot to chew on!

…and now it is off to bed!

All Dressed Up & Ready To See Santa Claus

Today we braved the elements (snow) and headed out for a visit and picture with Santa Claus. Abi was very excited and got all dressed up for the big occasion. We stood in line for quite some time but it did not seem to bother her at all - she just wanted to see Santa. Once again, I was a bit worried that she would be scared when she saw Santa but she hopped right up on his lap and told him that she wanted "princess toys". We got a great picture too! Josh and I discovered that if we tell Abi to say "I love chocolate" (as opposed to saying "cheese") when we are taking her picture, we can get a pretty good smile. Santa's helper adopted this tactic and it worked great. Here are some cute pictures of her before we headed out:

More Christmas Festivities...

We have been busy preparing for Christmas and Abi is SO excited for Santa this year! Her favorite activity is opening the advent calendar everyday. Here are some pictures of us decorating gingerbread houses, picking out our Christmas tree and decorating the tree -

We headed over to the Worsley's house for an afternoon of fun - Gingerbread House Decorating with Abi's friends, Regen, Claire and Kelsey:

Carefully placing on each piece of candy

I am not sure where most of the candy ended up...on the gingerbread house or in Abi's mouth!

The final result!

The girls and their houses

-Picking Out the Perfect Tree-

Abi's not sure about this...it's pretty cold out here!

We found it!!

-Trimming the Tree-

Abi took care of decorating the bottom half of the tree

Grandma helping Abi put on an ornament

Santa Train

This year we started our Christmas festivities by taking the Santa Train with a group of our friends. It is a short train ride (from North Bend to Snoqualmie) to visit with Santa Claus. This was Abi's first encounter with Santa (this year) and it went really well, despite my fear that she would be scared. She sat on his lap and even talked to him about her wish for "Do-Do-Dora toys". Here are some pictures from our adventure:

Keeping busy while waiting for the arrival of the Santa Train

Best Buddies

Trying on Stacey's hat

Colby, Abi & Kelsey

Colby, Claire, Abi & Kelsey

Taking care of some serious business...

The Whole Crew

The Perfect Exchange

Yesterday Abi woke up with a fever and did not feel good throughout the day, complaining of an upset stomach. I was worried that she might have the flu again but today it appears that it may be a cold. Last night she woke up several times including one time at 2 a.m. which resulted in a half hour of cuddling in her rocking chair (something she doesn't do unless she is sick). I put her back down to sleep and she was quiet for about 10-15 minutes until I heard her moving around again. My first thought was "oh, man - not again...".

Then I heard Abi's little voice from her room: "Good night, Mommy".

"Good night, sweetheart", I called out.

Then I heard, "I love you".

"I love you, too", I responded.

After our brief conversation, she slept soundly through the rest of the night. Abi doesn't regularly say "I love you" without prompting, so I couldn't imagine a more perfect exchange. It is amazing how something as simple as a few words can change a person's entire demeanor. It put a smile on my face and made me completely forget how tired and crabby I was. I guess it is those little things in life that make all the hard work worth it.

Trip to Arizona

Several weeks ago, Abi and I took a trip to Arizona to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great trip and the weather was perfect - about 80-85 degrees. I figured I needed one last hurrah before our little one is born and life gets a bit crazy with our new addition around the Doehne house. Our trip ended up being a very relaxing and fun!

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for a great time....

Watching 'Dancing with the Stars' with Grandpa

Playing with Grandma and Grandpa's neighbor, Gabi
(although Abi nicknamed her "Gabi Gabi")

Making cookies with Grandma

-Pheonix Children's Museum-
Going grocery shopping...

Checking out and paying for our groceries

Making some pizza

...and spaghetti

Now it is time for dessert...

Yummy!

Planting some flowers in the garden

Just a cute picture

Onto the cars and trucks section...

..."Grandpa, where are we going now?"

Having fun painting!

Playing dress up at Cabella's

-Fun In The Fountains-

-Fun in the Pool-

Abi LOVED the noodle!

Just loungin' around!

As opposed to our last visit to Arizona, Abi actually liked the golf cart this time

and we took several rides around the block with Grandpa.

-Trip to the Pheonix Zoo-