One of the things I noticed today is just how purposeful my girl has become.  She has always been like that, but it is so fun to see how she carries herself with such confidence and energy… I just love how she strides toward whatever peaks her curiousity.

And here’s a great gallery of all the fun she had!

We hosted a slumber party for our friends (and Lil’s) at our place, with a kid’s “pre-party”.  We made our own noisemakers by covering empty water bottles with tissue confetti (yay, Gluesticks, says Lil), and filling them with dried beans, pasta and rice… and when everyone woke up the next day, we had yummy French Toast for New Year’s morning brunch.  Here’s a gallery of some great shots of Lil and her friends Lydia, Vivian, Hattie and Henry.

Lil thought that Santa did pretty well, and it was clear she’d been VERY good!

Lil received a beautiful table from Gramma and Grampa!

And a high chair and new baby doll from Santa!

She got new cooking stuff from Scott and Jenn… and she LOVES her new condiments… ketchup being her fave, of course…

Grampa got a Giant’s Pillow Pet (and Lil learned to say, “GOOO GIANTS!”

She really enjoyed ripping open all the presents…

Especially her dress up clothes and tiara from Scott and Jenn!

Lil even got the traditional scratch off cards (a White Family tradition for Christmas… a dollar and a dream, people!)… and she took to that like a duck to water.  She LOVES coins, always wanting to carry around “my monies”…  by the way, she won $2!  College fund!

Uncle Bob and Auntie Cindy got her an Aquadoodle, which she LOVES.

One thing that struck me as I was saving all the pictures from this year was how incredible the growth and development has been with Lil since last Christmas… check it out…

Because Lil thinks they are the reason for the season.

She also thinks it’s about sticking stickers onto “Aunt” Pat’s nose… (hopefully, by this year, Lil will get the difference between Aunt and Uncle!)

She was very into the season of giving, starting with opening a gift on Simon’s behalf on Christmas Eve…

Auntie Sue also helped with gift-giving for Simon.

And of course Christmas Eve is about being surprised… Auntie Jenny (aka, “My Jenny” was glad to help out…

Christmas Eve is also about your teddy bear coming to life and talking, courtesy of your “Aunt” Scott.

And Christmas Eve is of course about Gramma’s house and everyone gathering there to have fun, eat and kick off the official holiday!

And later than night, we went home to get Lil in bed so Santa could come… Steve and I took a peek late at night to make sure he came… and DID HE EVER.

After we were done, she took her toy dog for a walk around the Christmas tree…

And then kicked back and relaxed with her real one!

This toy keeps Lil busy for an hour at a time… most recently on a freezing cold Saturday morning when all Mom wanted to do was curl up with a hot cup of coffee and all dad wanted to do was sleep.

It’s great to have something that keeps her this engaged… we just head into our little family room (aka, the room where all of Lil’s toys get piled up in order to keep the rest of the house can look decent) and put her to work on the coffee table:

Once she finishes a picture, wow!  Is she proud of herself… “Look, mommy! Looka what I maaaade!”

Then, pitter patter of bare feet while she runs off to the kitchen to show Steve… “Daddyyyyy!  Looka!  Looka mee!  Looka what I maaade!”

It really is the best to see “work hard” and concentrate on doing something and then be so proud of the result.

Aimee’s idea: Steve should cut down our family Christmas tree, kicking off a Griswald-like family Christmas in our new home.

Steve’s idea: Let’s just be like the city-folk we really are in our hearts, and go to the pre-cut stand and grab one that doesn’t look to dead yet.

Sigh.

GPS directed us to Jone’s Tree Farm, where pre-cut trees are available.  But once we got their, the lure of the “free saw” was just too much for my husband to bear… and… off we went into the woods!

And deeper still…

Until we found it… rising up from the ground like a vision in pine needles and bark… I nearly cried — like a sap.  Hardy har-har… And then my knight pulled out his rusty jagged sword and said — “Don’t cry fair Christmas lady and lovely curly cherub… I shall cutteth that tree down and bring it to yonder homestead.”  Or really, what he said was, “You sure you want this one? ‘Cause I’m not doing this shit twice.”

So Lil and I sat back and watched while my very own Clark Griswald got on his knees and hacked away at that trunk like his life depended on it.

TIMBER!!

As soon as it fell, Lil jumped up from her perch and screamed, “YOU DID IT, DADDY!  GOOD JOB!”  … To which I said, “And THAT is why you cut your own family Christmas tree, honey.”

Steve heaved that thing over his shoulder and carried it out of the woods… while Lil stopped at this tiny tree and said, “Daddy, I cut this one myselfie!, okay?!”

Maybe next year.  2 is a little young for a saw.

My dad grabs a handful of treats to bring to Gia, and Lil loves to dole them out one by one.

Safe to say Gia likes Lil, too!

Even Gramma got in on the act!

Thank you Donna and Carmen for being so good to Lil and letting her come visit Gia so often!