We had take out lasagna on paper plates and spent our time cooking appetizers and deserts, which is what we really like anyway, and you know what, it was ok. We are a pretty blessed (and cute when we try to be!) 
Mom and Dad spent the night and watched Emmy with Santa. She was a tad overwhelmed. I think she was confused why we were all sitting there waiting for her to do something and videoing her and why GiGi and Pops were there too. There was no jumping up and down, but she was impressed that he ate the cookies she left out for him and Rudolph. Poor Beckett pretty much slept through Christmas and woke up late to check out his haul. 
Mom and Dad spent the night and watched Emmy with Santa. She was a tad overwhelmed. I think she was confused why we were all sitting there waiting for her to do something and videoing her and why GiGi and Pops were there too. There was no jumping up and down, but she was impressed that he ate the cookies she left out for him and Rudolph. Poor Beckett pretty much slept through Christmas and woke up late to check out his haul. 
The next day we had an out-of-control Vacek Christmas (or Christmas as normal) at Megan and Keiths. The kids went nuts and opened all their gifts and the adults lagged a little. (Megan still has two unopened ones at her house two weeks later!) Emmy might have had more fun passing out gifts than actually opening them. She loves to organize and that was right up her alley. 
One of the best things about Christmas this year was Emmy learning all the Christmas songs. She had the BEST time learning them all and couldn't get enough of them on the radio. She still wants to listen to them now. We're having to do a slow phase out. These are two of her favorites.
I am pooped, and I'm hoping that after all the holidays and coming out of the "first 3 month tunnel " that a new baby brings, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. Get ready new Year, I'm coming!
Our new favorite thing at the zoo to do is feed the giraffes. Emmy is actually a "Frequent Feeder" card holder. This is Miles. His tounge is purple because it's sunburned from eating leaves. She'll tell you this too. There was absoulutely no one at the zoo, so we had Miles to ourselves for a while. 
Even though we were running zone defense with three adults and five kids, it WEARS YOU OUT! Pushing a sit and stand stroller doesn't help.We managed to see the big guys, chimps, elephants, giraffes, and of course the lions. These are "Scary lion faces." 
After our quick trip to see only the coolest animals, we snuck on the train for a quick and chilly ride. The girls decided they needed to scream "All Aboard!" for the majority of the trip. Thank goodness that all ten people at the zoo that day were probably actually all on the train. 
Becks was pretty happy for his first Choo Choo ride as well. I'm sure there are MANY MANY more in our future. 
We were planning a nice lunch to Ruggles, but were so frigid and tired after all that we surrendered to Chick-fil-a. Oh Chick-Fil-A. If I could have just a quarter of the money I've spent there in the last three months...
This year I was hoping that Emmy would be more into it. (I know I make that statement a lot) and.... she wasn't. (that one too) Even with a table full of sugar and icing and event M&Ms she just didn't care. See the excitement here.
I think I'm raising and Engineer. Order and arangement are MUCH more fun to her than coloring or decorating. Oh well! Caroline had fun and at we made at least 2 cookies for Santa, which is what we came for, and I MIGHT have eaten a few cookies. Just a few. 
Emmy also moved to a new ballet class with a little more structure. She's loving it. She is the first one to RUN into the class when Ms. Cathy gets there and changes her shoes as fast as she can to get back into class for tap. Now she still does a fair amount of sliding across her floor on the butt, but at least we're moving in the right direction. For Christmas, they prepared a reindeer dance for us. Emmy was a LOT more into it this time. Maybe by the recital she'll be doing some real moves!
We thought the game would be the hard part, but the kids were surprisingly good! They all sported their Team SuSu shirts. 
I would like to say that it was a good night but that would be a GIGANTIC lie. Between the two kids someone woke up every hour. I seriously considered just packing up our crap and leaving San Antonio at 2 in the morning. It didn't fare much better in the other room. That left for a bunch of slightly (er really!) pissy adults, but somehow happy, energetic (gr!) kids. We managed to squeeze in one gigantic cinnamon roll at LuLus before heading home. The most amazing thing about that thing is that it was actually good! I will not tell you how much I ate of it =) 
After the performance, we celebrated at Christmas on Bethlehemn Blvd, our Church's Christmas festival. There was snow, face painting, arts and crafts, and plenty for the kids to to. For two kids in Texas holding snowballs, you'd think we would get a litte more emotion, no?
Emmy threw a snowball or two and then was done. Beckett wasn't so sure about it, but we got a cute pic, which we all know is the most important thing anyway.
After the festival (Yes there was more) we celebrated with cookie cake and cousins at the "Play Place" as Emmy calls it. 
Check out this high irresponsible looking video of Emmy and her "candle" as we sang Happy Birthday.
Beckett (as usual) really didn't want his picture taken. We managed to get one shot. Blake likes to call this his Steve Jobs pic. 
