NYE with the Niedzialeks

This year we had a pretty mellow New Year's Eve. The Niedzialeks came over with their daughter Charley and we had a little slumber party. We tried to get pictures of the girls but KK was a wild child that night and bouncing off the walls. Charley was making her "stink face" that her daddy taught her.

Then the girls played together in KK's (messy) room.

After the girls went to bed, the adults played games, lit sparklers, laughed a LOT and enjoyed adult beverages as we watched the ball drop. It was a great way to spend New Years Eve!

Merry Christmas

We had a very relaxing Christmas in the Sylvia household. KK decided to sleep in on Christmas morning, so we were all anxiously waiting for her to wake up. She finally did at about 7:30 a.m. I tried to take her to her stocking to see what Santa left but all she cared about was eating. She wanted her breakfast, and she wanted it right that second! So we fed her breakfast and waited..and waited...and waited! She finally signed "all done" and to the stockings we went. She really wasn't grasping the concept. She pulled a Dora doll out and a box of Dora bandaids and played with those. She didn't seem to care about the rest of her toys, so I went ahead and opened them for her. Of course, once she saw me opening her gifts, she wanted to play with them.

When it came to presents, again, she was too occupied with her stocking toys to care all that much about what she was opening. Mimi helped her open some of her presents and she eventually pulled some tissue paper out of the bag. I feel like she was more interested last year than she was this year. It seemed like she was just SO overwhelmed.

She loved her Dora backpack/blanket and refused to take it off. She also had a great time putting together Mrs. Potato Head that the Benedicts got her.

Once again, one of those "I never" statements bit me in the ass again because KK now owns a princess table and chairs. Santa found it on clearance and it was half the price of the Ikea table that I wanted so I decided to be frugal and go with the pink Tangled table and chair set. My mom also went NUTTY with the Dora stuff so it looks like Dora threw up in our house. I told her NO more Dora!!! I can't handle it! Ha ha. We got everything from blankets, to bandaids, to a bike, to bling (thanks Val!), to dolls, to socks, to gloves, to coloring books to big girl underwear and even a Dora Abby!!! Where does she find this stuff? HOLY DORA OVERLOAD! (Love you mom!)

It ended up being a unseasonably warm day in Phoenix and my thermometer read 72 degrees so we took full advantage of the warm weather and played outside. KK got sidewalk chalk in her stocking and when she wasn't eating it, she was coloring on our sidewalk.

(KK spent all day in her pjs cause that's how we roll. No fancy pants here)

We relaxed with some mimosas, watched some basketball and football and gobbled up yummy food! Such a great way to spend a holiday.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

I'm trying really hard to start (and keep) traditions. Ty and I both grew up with similar traditions, so it makes it easy to pass them down to KK.

A tradition we started last year was feeding the reindeer on Christmas Eve. This year we had KK feed the reindeer. Surprisingly, she got the hang of it.

After KK put the reindeer food in the front yard, she wrote a letter to Santa. We tried to explain to her that she needed to leave Santa some cookies and write him a nice letter. Instead, she ate the cookie. Oh well. Her letter was so cute though!! We then had her walk her letter over to the stockings and leave it on the ground for Santa to see.

We also attempted to make a gingerbread house. I found a kit in my box of decos and even though it was several years old, I decided to give it a whirl. The frosting was rock hard and the gingerbread smelled terrible, but we got creative, used some water and managed to put this together.

To finish off the night, we read Twas the Night Before Christmas that my dad and stepmom got for KK last year. She was actually very patient throughout the story and even sat in daddy's lap afterwards while he explained how/why Santa was coming.

Santa has some work to do tonight, so off to bed I go. Here is a sneak peak at her loot (Dora bike).

Train Park

My mom came in town for a surprise visit to spend Christmas with us!! I was SO excited!! We wanted to be home for the holidays but were sad that we didn't have any family in town so it was a pleasant surprise when my mom knocked on my door!

Friday morning we decided to take a trip to the train park. We attempted to go the night before to see the Christmas lights, but the place was super crowded and I don't do lines, especially with a fussy toddler, so we turned around and came home.

When we got to the train park the next morning we played on the playground.

KK played with Mimi too!

Then we decided to take a ride on the train. It was so much fun. KK was yelling "choo choo" and really enjoying the sites. I bet that place looked beautiful at night because you could see all the lights strung and all the decorations around the train route.

After we rode the train we played on the Carousel. I was surprised that KK wasn't scared. She did great and seemed to have lots of fun on it!

We had such a great day playing at the park.

Going Back to Cali

Once again, we took another quick trip back to Cali to visit with some friends and have Christmas with my grandma.

Since my grandma is 90, she's unable to travel, so we decided to try to squeeze in a quick trip so KK could hang with GG. GG got KK a nice scarf, hat and gloves set as well as a cute Dora purse!

While we were in the area, we got to see our friends Kyle and Val too! (Sorry, no pictures. I hardly took any this trip!)

On Saturday, we went to the light parade with the Benedicts.

Festive Lights

KK was showing off for Carson

Afterwards the kids got to meet Santa.

Carson was a good boy...

KK was not so good...

After we saw santa, we watched a puppet show. Not gonna lie, it wasn't the best show ever, in fact, it was quite odd and scary. If you don't believe me, let me just tell you this. She had a "Tommy the Toilet" puppet that had toilet paper coming out of it's mouth. Gross.

It was a great trip but now we are back at home ready to celebrate Christmas with just the 3 of us.

Cookie Time

Daycare had a special treat for the kids last week. Each kid got to decorate a cookie with their parent. I thought about skipping it because I wasn't sure how I felt about the whole sweets thing, but I thought it could be a fun task for KK and I so we participated.

I, of course, forgot my camera, but captured a few pictures on my phone.

I wanted her to decorate the cookie and take it home (and throw it away) but the minute she accidently tasted the frosting, it was over. I couldn't be that parent who wouldn't let their kid eat the cookie, so I caved. Regretfully so.

It was all good until I told her it was time to go. Then I had THIS to deal with the entire commute home. Once again, this is EXACTLY why I don't let her eat sweets. She doesn't understand why she can't have more not to mention the fact that she was wired and wouldn't go to bed that night.

Holiday Portrait

KK's school had a photographer come and do holiday portraits. I wish I hadn't already ordered holiday cards because I totally would have used this picture. I cannot believe how great it turned out!! :)

After a little fun with Picnik...yes, it's snowing!

Zoo Lights

We attended Zoo Lights again this year. Last year KK didn't fully enjoy the experience, but this year she took it all in.

The Niedzialeks (Justin, Sara and Charley) and the Ghaemmaghamis (Vafa, Amanda and Naison) joined us. Try saying those last names 10 times fast. Shoot, try once! I have rad friends with even radder last names.

This picture says it all

Amanda brought the Radio Flyer so we strapped the kids in and wheeled it around the zoo. Best makeshift stroller ever!

We got to the area with the monkey lights and KK was very excited. She kept on saying "ooooh ooooh ahhh" and even when we tried to take a family picture she was pointing to the monkeys making "ooooh ahhhhs."

They had a neat light show too. KK sat on daddy's shoulders, Nais sat in the wagon and Charley enjoyed the show from her stroller.

Here is a video of it. It's pretty dark but in the middle you can see KK dancing to the music.

Amanda spoiled the kids by getting them glow sticks. KK and Nais were having a glow stick light war.

Before we left we hit up Sting Ray Bay. Despite my fear of sea creatures, I decided that I wanted to touch a sting ray. As one brushed against my hand I proceeded to scream like a little girl and ran away from the pool. KK wasn't such a wussy. Her and daddy patiently waited for the sting rays to come to them. (I might have shoved my arm into the tank chasing them because I lack patience).

After Sting Ray Bay, we took one more loop around the lights while the kids escaped the wagon...

...and then off we went because it was way past bed time.

Despite a minor meltdown when we passed by the polar bear plunge slide (I didn't let her ride it because there would be no end to the $3 rides), and refusal to stay put in the wagon, KK was pretty well behaved.

KK walking with her daddy. Absolute cuteness.

In other blogging news, Ty surprised me with an early Christmas gift, a subscription to my favorite website, Picnik! I use this site to upload photos and make collages for the blog. Now that I'm a "member" I'm able to use the premium features. I'm not quite ready to dive deep into Picnik, but I did play around a little bit. Check out what we all have to look forward to.

Fun with photos!

Thank you SO much Ty. It was exactly what I needed.

Ho Ho Toot

Over the weekend I put up Christmas decorations. Our stocking holder is a wooden santa, so I've been trying to teach KK how to say "ho ho ho" when she sees a santa. While in the bath tonight, KK was playing with the bubbles and put some on her face, and since it resembled a santa beard, I asked her to say "ho ho ho." I got a little more than a "ho ho ho," I got a "ho ho TOOT." Yup, that's right, KK let er rip in the bath tub tonight and I captured it on video! It's hard to see/hear in the video, but it was so loud that Ty yelled from the kitchen "was that a FART?!?!" I busted up laughing and asked her to "ho ho ho" again and as Ty walked into the bathroom, she let out another "ho ho TOOT."

I'm STILL laughing.

(I shot the video from my phone b/c the Flip was in the other room, so the quality isn't that great)

Date Night

I surprised Tyson with the ultimate date night last night. A sitter and tickets to the 49ers Monday Night Football game! It may not be the ultimate date night to everyone, but it sure is OUR ultimate date night. I got pretty good seats too, 8 rows back in the end zone.

During half time, Lifehouse performed. A game and concert in one. Bonus!

Lucky for us, the 49ers ended up kicking the Cards bootay and so we went home happy campers.

Fun with Friends

We met up with some of KK's friends at the Children's Museum on Saturday. I ended up getting a season pass because KK loves the place and it's very close to our house. Both Amanda and Billie ended up getting passes too so it will be a great place to meet up for play dates. We already have another play date planned in 2 weeks.

KK and Walker

KK and Maddy

KK and Nais

KK and Daddy

KK and Mommy

KK, Anthony and Tatum

KK having fun by herself