Alex's First Christmas

Here are just a few cute pictures from Alex's first Christmas. I have to say, she is a very beautiful baby :) How this year has flown by so quickly! I can't believe she is going to be a year soon!

Christmas!!!

Christmas Morning/day was so much fun this year. Lily now being at an age where she understands and enjoys the season has been a such a blast! We spent the night over at my mom's house Christmas Eve so that we could spend Christmas morning with the rest of the family and so that they could all watch the girls open up their gifts. Lily stayed up Christmas Eve night until after 10:00pm. Then auntie Mel carried her upstairs to sleep in bed with her (Mel the next morning told us that she didn't sleep a wink because Lilyana kept kicking her and snoring sooo loud! haha! She takes after her dad!) The rest of the adults stayed up a little later to finish stuffing the stockings. Alex let us sleep in until almost 8:00 the next morning. We were all so exhausted and I would have went back to sleep if she would have let me! Mel and Lily woke up soon after. Mel said that as soon as Lily opened her eyes she whispered excitedly, "It's Christmas!" What a cutie! Once everyone was downstairs, we all went into the family room and took turns opening presents. Lily was so excited about everything. Her favorite part was ripping off the paper. She had to make sure every little piece was torn from the gift before she would look at it. Every time she would unwrap a gift, she would say, "It's my favorite!" Alex lost interest in unwrapping after a couple of presents. She loved getting into everyone else's stuff and playing with the wrapping paper. After we had all opened our presents, Grandpa Cordova got a call on his cell phone from Santa Claus. That got Lily's attention right away. She kept trying to grab the phone away. Santa told Grandpa that he left a gift downstairs for Lily. Lily's face lit up and her eyes got so huge when Grandpa told her what Santa said. We all went downstairs and Lily all but flipped out when she found a brand new pink kitchen for her to play with along with a letter from Santa. Lily wasted no time opening up the cabinets and getting out all her new dishes and food and pretending to cook for everyone. After letting her play with her new kitchen for a little while, Michael and I took the girls home to have our own family Christmas and open the rest of our presents. I thought Lily might be burnt out, but truth told she couldn't wait to get her hands on the rest of her loot. I have never seen a child go through presents so fast! Michael was happy with all of his new Raiders apparel and I was extremely happy when Michael surprised me with my scrapbooking table! I can't wait to get started! It was no surprise that both of the girls fell asleep shortly after. After waking, we all packed everyone back up and drove back over to my mom's house for Christmas dinner where we were joined with more friends and family. Lily kept sneaking into the dessert pies and stealing the pie servers and licking them. Little stinker! At the end of the night, the girls were so exhausted they were out cold! This Christmas truly was fabulous and all I dreamed it would be. I only wish that it would have been possible to be together we all of our family. We really missed them all this year. We hope that everyone had a great Christmas as well and I am really looking forward to the start of a new year and all of its wonderful possibilities!

Christmas Eve at the Cordova's

Christmas Eve was a blast. We went over to my mom's house like we do every year and had a great dinner. My mom is the best cook so we are so lucky to get to eat some delicious food. This year, she made homemade lasagna with cheesy garlic bread. It was so yummy. Alex enjoyed it so much that we had to give her a bath! She was covered! It was even in her hair! Earlier that day Lily and I had made a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" brownie cake. When I explained to Lily that Christmas was Jesus' birthday, she insisted that we make a birthday cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to Him. So after dinner, we sang the birthday song, Lily excitedly blew out the candles, and then we got to eat some fabulous tasting brownies. After dessert, we each got to open up our Christmas jammies and one present. Lily was thrilled and wasted no time ripping apart the paper. She was so excited to get Dora jammies! She also got a camera from Uncle Wayne and Aunt Julia and some more jammies for Auntie Bridget and Uncle Teddy (they surprised us with a visit.) Alex got a Potato Head from Wayne and Julie and a cute coverall outifit from Bridget and Teddy. Then we played some games (we adults stayed up 'til the wee hours of the morning.) Michael, I, and the girls spent the night over at my parents house, so that we could share Christmas morning together. It was a very fun night. I love being together with my family and friends!

Christmas Eve Family Photos

Here are some cute pictures we took of the family before we went over to my mom's house for our Christmas Eve get together. It was very hard to get some decent ones, but we managed! :) I love how adorable my girls are and how handsome my husband is! I am a very blessed and lucky girl to have them all in my life!

O Christmas Tree

I have finally finished wrapping all the presents and have placed them all underneath the tree! It looks like our tree threw up presents (lovely, huh:)) Lily is so excited about all the presents and her impulsiveness has resulted in a few holy and torn presents. Oh, to be that age again and to have that "I can't wait!" feeling! I do have that feeling, only it comes in a different way now. I can't wait for the girls to open their gifts on Christmas and I am looking forward to seeing the excitement on their faces. Christmas was so much fun when i was a kid, but I have to say that it is so much more fun when you are a parent! We bought the girls a kitchen this year as their big gift from Santa (more for Lily.) I just know Lily is going to LOOOVE it and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees it! It is so cute and I know she will enjoy playing with it (she better anyway!)

We also wanted to take this opportunity to let everyone know how grateful we are to know you and to have you share in apart of our lives. We love our family and friends dearly and we wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a safe and wonderful New Year! May it be full of hope and possibilities! Love to everyone!

More Snow. . .

The weather has been so cold and full of snow! We have loved it. (I mostly love it when I get to enjoy tf from INSIDE the house :) Lily has loved being able to play in the snow and this time Daddy joined her in the fun!

Snow Bunny
Daddy and LilyLily catching snowflakes

Lily and Alexis

Lily begging Daddy to lift her up to the bars.

(These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago.)

Special Delivery!

It is so true that kids have more fun playing with the cardboard box then the stuff that came in the cardboard box. Lily and Alex had a blast climbing in and out of this box until it finally burst at the seams!

Kiss Your WHAT?!?

In the morning at breakfast. Lily is sitting at the table. I am in the living room sitting on the couch folding laundry.

Lily: (whining) "Owie, owie, I got an owie, Mommy!"

Me: "Oh, what happened? Are you okay?"

Lily: (still whining) "Owie, Mommy, kiss it! Kiss it!"

Me: "Okay, come here and I will kiss it better."

Lily: (now running to me) "Kiss it mommy, kiss my butt! Kiss my butt!"

Me: (errrrrr. . .) "How about I blow it a kiss?"

Lily: (butt towards me and sticking in my face) "No, Mommy, kiss it!"

Me: (errrr. . .what choice did I have?) "Muah." (right on the toosh)

Lily: (now going back to finish her breakfast) "Thank you, Mommy, for kissing my butt."

Me: "Your welcome." (at least she was polite! :) )

Santa's Little Elf

I found these pictures of Alex taken about a month ago. I remember being was so excited that she actually left the hat on that I had to snap these photos right away! Alex truly is the most happiest child I have ever met before. She is so funny, so cute, and such a joy to be around! She loves screaming when she is excited and her squeals of delight can be heard throughout the neighborhood! She is always smiling or laughing and I love it! It makes me feel so warm and gushy inside (as cheesy as that sounds.) It is true, though, seeing her smile is one of my most favorite things in the world and it is such a wonderful reminder of all the things I have to be grateful for this holiday season! I love you my Alex!

Christmas Candids

Trying to set Lily up to take pictures can be very frustrating and draining. I was trying to get a cute picture of her for a project. She has this habit of smiling either REALLY cheesey or smiling without looking at me. I looked at these later and thought they were funny :) Gotta love these candid shots!!!

And the Winner is. . .

Sure,she looks a little stiff, but hey, she's smiling and looking at the same time! Couldn't have asked for more than that!

Parade of Lights

Saturday my friend Bridget invited us up to Denver to watch the Parade of Lights. I thought it was a very festive idea and it would totally be fun to take the girls up there. I knew they would love it and Lily is finally old enough to be able to really enjoy this kind of stuff. So, I invited my sister and she brought some of her friends and we all made the hour drive up to Denver. There were sooo many people there and finding an actual place where we could see was tough, but we found a spot that worked. The floats were so awesome and so bright. Alex and Lily were both mesmerized by all the colors and music. Lily loved the marching bands. She had the best seat in the house being passed from shoulders to shoulders. Auntie Bridget's shoulders, of course, were the best! Then when Santa came, Lily just couldn't believe her eyes! She just sat there frozen with her mouth hanging open! It was so cute and funny! You would have thought that she had just witnessed a miracle! After the parade, we went to dinner where Alex fell out of the high chair and landed on her face on the pavement. Luckily, she came away with only a minor scrape on her forehead, but I came away feeling like the worst mother in the world! I swear I only glanced away for a second! All in all, it was a very good night and I am glad that I was able to share the Christmas festivities with my children!

Pictures from the parade:

Lilyana and Teddy

Best seat in the house!

Mommy and Alex

Float

We are so cool!

Backwards carouselCarrie, Alex and Auntie Mel
Santa Clause!!!
Lily's stunned and amazed face!

Mel and Danielle

Lily loves her Bridget and Teddy

Katie, Lee and Alex
Alex before the fall

Me!!!