Chelsea's First Dance Performance!!!

 The real video is on Facebook. I will try to get it up here eventually. In the meantime, here are some cute photos to tease your appetite!

Adventures in Parenthood

 I'm ready for my close-up!

 Here they are enjoying the bubble maker that they got for Christmas. Bubbles and kids are such a great combination. You can never go wrong.

 Brie loves bath time. As soon as I turn on the water, she comes running. But she's almost always finished before her sister. What does she do in the meantime?

 She finds a pair of boots, puts them on backward, and walks around the house! (nearly naked) 

Notice the carpet shampooer. The previous night we had a run-in with poo in the tub. Not pretty. We cleaned up the culprit and her sister and didn't pay much attention to them as we cleaned the tub and toys. You can probably guess where this is going. There was more poo that appeared on the bedroom floor while we weren't looking. It was messy. I'll spare you the details. Hooray for adventures in parenthood! (and maybe blackmail stories for later, bwah ha ha!!!)

 She came back in to visit Chelsea. She always wants to get back in the tub, but once she's out, she's out for the night. There's no jumping in and out of the tub here. This photo is also showcasing Chelsea's angry face. I think she didn't appreciate me taking MORE pictures. Oh well. This face is Chelsea's newest expression. I think it's adorable, but annoying at the same time.

This girl and footwear. They have a thing together. =)

Starting out the New Year

My cutie Brie handing me a shoe. You notice she's got several shoes that she is carrying around as well. She has discovered the joys of putting on shoes, and thinks she's pretty hot stuff walking around in Chelsea's shoes or boots. She gets a kick out of Auntie Jennifer's boots as well, but she needs help to walk in them being as they go all the way up to her hips!

What a funny way to watch TV.

Well that makes it a little easier to see, doesn't it. 

Chelsea has decided she likes to get into this position and flip her legs forward and off the couch. She calls it a somersault. She gets very frustrated if she ends up going sideways instead of straight off. I probably shouldn't let her do this, but I do. What if she ends up being a gymnast some day? This could be the start of her future Olympic career....ok so that's a stretch, I know.

My wrinkle-nosed little one. She's turning into such a ham! She's discovered what cameras are for I think. She'll give us these big cheesy grins and throw her head back, or crinkle up her nose and stick it out at us. It's adorable. I remember when Chelsea used to do things like that. Now Chels just asks me to put the camera away. (Not a chance, sweetheart, hehe)

 

Did I mention Brie's LOVE for her toothbrush? She even brings it to me and opens her mouth nicely while I brush her few teeth, just like her big sister does. (Chelsea brushes her own teeth, but then brings it to one of us for a double check. That way we know her teeth have all at least been cleaned a little) Brie also loves to have her hands washed in the sink. She's not tall enough to do it herself yet, but she has a blast getting me wet while I help her wash. 

You can also see the bubble blower that I mentioned in a previous post sitting there by the sink. It makes bath time exciting, that's for sure!

No, she's definitely not camera-shy yet! You can't see too well, but this was just this morning: I put little pigtails in her hair. I missed some hair on her left there, and you can't really see them from this angle and lighting, but it was really cute. She looks like such a little girl with her hair in piggies. My baby isn't a baby anymore.

You can see how red her little eye bags are too. She's teething again, more, still. She slept in till 9:30 today and only made it till 11:30 before going down for a two-hour nap. Poor kid. Teething is such a long and painful process for her. She's working on her 12th tooth right now. Hopefully more are coming in at the same time.

You can see one of her piggies a little better from this angle. They didn't last long. She pulled one out right away. I put it back and showed her herself in the mirror. She liked that a lot. They lasted a few more minutes this time before she pulled one out. Then she brought the ponytail holder to me and wanted me to put it back in. After awhile she took it out, but put the ponytail holder on top of her head and thought she was pretty hot stuff. Love it.

Chelsea's First Ice Skating Extravaganza!

I'm helping Chels strap on her very first pair of skates! They are rented, but free of charge! We had to take advantage of the annual Christmas Vacation Free-Skate, even if we were the only ones here to do it!

I was SO nervous about putting Chelsea on the ice. She's not the most graceful of people with just her feet, let alone shoes, let along skates...on ICE! But my fears were put to rest. She had a blast and Daddy kept her very safe and free of falls.

I was happy to man the camera and leave the skating to these two. I'm not so graceful on skates and I would NOT have been helpful in trying to teach Chelsea how to skate. I probably would have been detrimental to her safety. But, like I said, she loved every minute of it. She took many breaks, but only for a minute or two before wanting to get back out on the ice. And whoever thought of the idea of those little metal thingies for the little ones to hold on to is my hero. It helped her SO much to have that security, not to mention Daddy's arms there to catch her and help her stay steady.

I didn't even have to ask for this pose. She did it all on her own. I'm glad the camera was handy! She wanted to hang around for a bit after the free-skate was over. Why, you ask? Well to watch the Zamboni, of course!

 

Yes, I was walking on the ice with no skates to get this video, but you won't tell, will you?

Round 3 of 3: Christmas Day with the Heits

It's Christmas Day at last! We started out the day finding out what Santa brought to our house.

There were several cute things, including a doll for Brienna named Brianna! Santa knows Brie likes babies.

After that we headed over to the Heit's to hang out for the day. We all stayed in our pajamas except for Chelsea, who refused to stay in pajamas. Oh well. To each her own. I am always happy to stay in pajamas, personally. I would LIVE in them if propriety allowed.

Hey, this baby closed her eyes! They must stay open. OPEN I say! Brie kept trying to open the baby's eyes.

Uncle Chris wrote and published a book and gave it to Chelsea. We all took a time out to enjoy it. I think Daddy and Randy laughed much more than did Chelsea, and definitely more than Brie. Someday they will better appreciate the story.

And you'll notice Brie's attention is with her new toothbrush. That toothbrush hardly left her hand all day. She LOVES brushing her teeth. At Grandma Kelly's house she runs to the bathroom and takes out her toothbrush to chew on immediately upon finishing her food. It's quite the ordeal to get her to put it away. 

Grandpa and Randy. We had a nice, easygoing gift opening this year. It didn't even take five or six hours, like it has in previous years. There were not too many of us Heits home for the holidays this year. Just us and Randy and the Grandparents. Next year we are planning on having the whole lot of us home. I know lots of things could change in a year's time, but so far that is the plan and I'm pumped! Bring on the Heit siblings and spouses and babies and freshly returned missionary! We are excited to see everyone again!

Brie was trying SO hard to carry around this laundry soap, but it was SO heavy! Poor thing. She didn't get it very far.

Chelsea is modeling another handmade gift from Auntie Lois. Both Chels and Brie got capes! They are adorable and both girls love them!

 

The joy of bubbles! We got a cute bubble blower that you stick in the shower and it showers bubbles down on you. The girls couldn't wait until bath time to try out the bubbles. The floors got a little slippery however. Brie falls a few times in the video, but no worries. She was distracted enough that she wasn't hurt or upset. Grandma did save the day though and put out some rugs and blankets on the floor. Then we continued the bubble fun for a little while longer. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Round 2 of 3: Christmas Eve with the Kellys

So far all of us still fit comfortably around this nice extendable table. The only ones you can't see are me and then little Gatlyn between Kinda and Jennifer. There are 18 of us, if you are not interested in counting little teeny faces.

I was there! I had to take a picture of myself, (and Auntie Beth who was upstairs when I took smaller group photos around the table.) but I made it into at least one shot! (not that I mind being on the camera end)

Here is one of the two funnier family photos that didn't make the cut. Gotta love Chelsea's face and Daddy's face. Ha! Love it!

 

Now on to smaller family group shots. This is my cousin Kinda and her two boys Gavin and Gatlyn. (and a little Brie sneaking in on the side over there) We didn't try to get all 18 of us in one photo, though it would have been interesting to say the least.

My cousin Bryon, is wife Crystal, and their two girls Tyjah and Kyri.

My Aunt Pam, Uncle Ladell, and cousin Del towering above them. (Pam is my mom's sister for those unfamiliar with the genealogy)

We did a nice family shot of me and my sisters and parents, but it just felt like someone was missing. =)

So we added the rest of the Heits. I hadn't sat on my dad's lap for quite some time, and I'm pretty sure Rick had never sat on my mom's lap before. We are goofs.

It's nice to be able to make the little ones (and Daddy) pass out the prezzies instead of being the one passing them out. There are perks to being the grown up. hehe

Brie has been very interested in babies recently. She got several as gifts this year. Here she is having trouble holding three at once. She is SO cute taking care of her baby dolls. She cradles them and pats them on the back, and now she's putting them in high chairs and sticking bottles in their faces. (close to their mouths, but not usually in their mouths, hehe)

Chelsea really loves the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" book series. This one completed our collection. She had to take time out from opening in order to read it. She also got a stuffed mouse just like the one in the books. Too cute. He is currently wrapped in a baby blanket and sitting on the shelf next to the whole collection.

What is this strange contraption? It came wrapped with little marshmallows for some reason. And ALL the MEN (or we could call them boys, ha!) got one too...

Oh, now I see how this works. If you put the little marshmallows in the gun, you can pelt the rest of the family with marshmallows from anywhere in the room!

Oh yes, as you can see, we had quite the excitement for a little while. Get em, Grandpa!!!

Bryon is stopping to reload, and Gatlyn is taking advantage of stray ammo. We all had some stray ammo make it into our mouths. Brie made sure that I had my share. She stuffed several into my mouth as well as her own. Some of the ammo even made it to our house in our presents. I think there are STILL little marshmallows showing up at Grandma's! It was worth it though. Too fun!

Daddy and Chelsea teamed up. Merry Christmas Eve everyone!