My Very First Gingerbread House

Before Christmas, Adriana and Rob decided to tackle making Gingerbread Houses. I bought the premade ones because, let's face it, I am not crafty and actually building the house seemed a little out of my league.

One night when I was out, they decided to make them. We had heard stories about how hard the pre made ones were, the frosting was awful and it would be a disaster. I must confess, it is kind of the reason I made it a daddy/daughter event. But jokes on me, because they made them and had a great time. Adriana did her own, all by herself. Rob put on the frosting and she decorated it on her own. It turned out great. Very uniform and symmetrical. Our little perfectionist.

Skating....Winter Wonterland Lights

Adriana and Monica

This Christmas we took Adriana ice skating for the first time. There are a couple of synthetic ice rinks around Highlands Ranch and I was told they are easier for first timers and little kids. Since Rob nor I have never ice skated, we thought that would be safer for us. We also brought along Monica, one of our wonderful friends (not to mention one of Adriana's favorite people) with us.

Well, we got to the rink and it was definitely fake. It was a bunch of weird plastic boards stuck together. I guess I should have maybe done some more research. Monica and I scrambled to find another place but Rob decided it was too late to run around and that we were skate there.

We made the best of it. When I say we ice skated, I use that term very loosely. We were not on ice and it was hard to actually skate. But Adriana had an absolute blast! She loved it. Had someone holding her up the entire time (mostly Monica, all she wanted was Monica) and fell a few times but she loved it.

After we were done "skating", we took ourselves to the Winter Wonderland at the Wildlife Experience. We had never been, and since we loved Zoo Lights so much, we thought it would be great!

Great is not a word I would use. There was a trail of lights to follow, which were good. And Santa's village made of little sheds with Elves inside working. All Adriana wanted to do was go in the sheds but since they had a plastic clear door on all of them, she couldn't. They had live reindeer, which were in a pen that was about 10 x 10. It was a little sad to watch.

Adriana had a great time but we decided maybe to stick to Zoo Lights. Lessons learned.

Christmas Tree, Zoo Lights

Going inside the Hippo, she talked about walking out his bum the whole night...

May the Force be with You! This Elephant light led our way through Zoo.

Decorating Tree

Like clockwork, the tree and Christmas decorations were up the day after Thanksgiving. Adriana had a lot of fun putting all the ornaments on the tree with Daddy.

We also took our annual trip to Zoo Lights. It was about 30 degrees which is about 30 degrees warmer than any other year we have gone. So while it was cold, Rob and I felt like it was springtime. This year, because it wasn't so cold, they were running the Train and Carousel so Ade had a blast. The lights are amazing. We got to see some animals. It was a great night!

Yo Gabba Gabba Live

The whole gang!

Muno!

It's Tooty!

Story time!

Backside picture of hugging DJ Lance Rock

I can't believe I didn't get this posted sooner. It happened to be the best night of Adriana's life. Thus far...

In November, the TV show Yo Gabba Gabba came live to Denver. Adriana has a friend whose dad works on the show so we were able to go to a backstage party after the show. She was so excited to go, although I am betting she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to. When they came out on stage, she was excited, but really only cared about the nets of balloons she saw on the ceiling. She was pretty reserved through the entire show, but did get up to dance with me a few times.

After the show we met up with her friends and went to the backstage party. Our understanding was that we got to stand in line and get a quick picture with all the characters. Adriana was Foofa for Halloween and all she wanted to do was give Foofa and DJ Lance Rock a hug. I wasn't sure this was going to happen so I just smiled and hoped she was happy with getting her picture taken.

Well, the night couldn't have been better. We were sitting on the ledge and up came Muno, Tooty and Plex. She was so excited. Tooty came over and rubbed her face. We were able to give the other 2 high fives. And this was just the beginning of the excitement. Once we took a picture with all the characters, Adriana got to hug all of them. It was a dream come true.

At this time, we had got to see all the characters except for DJ Lance. She seemed ok and we were getting ready to leave and low and behold, out comes DJ Lance. He was doing story time. There were lots of kids gathered and we were at the back. There was a little boy next to us that wanted to go sit up front but was too scared, but my brave little girl lead the pack, the little boy followed and they walked right up front and sat down. Afterwards she was able to give him a hug. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of it and most of our pictures are blurry. Being parents of the year, we forgot our camera and had to use our phones.

It was a magical night and she had a blast!

As great as it was, for her first "concert" experience and getting to go back stage, we may have set the bar a tad bit high. She now asks, pretty regularly, when she is going to meet Wubbzey, Dora, Aerial, etc. Because why wouldn't you? She got to meet Yo Gabba Gabba and they are on TV. Why not all TV characters?

Is it really winter?

So up until Christmas, I think it snowed in Denver once. And when I say snowed, I use that term lightly. It dusted the lawns. We had 70 degree days in November. Normally by that time we have a few snow days and a big snow. But not this year.

So if you are 3, it is a happy and sad time. Happy because you get to go to the park in December and don't have to wear a coat. Sad because a certain 3 year old has been waiting to make snowmen in the yard. So during our 1 dusting, Rob got her dressed, took her out, and quickly gathered up enough snow to make a snowman family. I honestly don't know how he did it, with the limited amount he had to work with. I guess I will call it a snowman miracle...

Visiting Santa

Yes, a little late posting but better late than never right?

I call this a success because, although she is not smiling, she is not screaming and actually sat on his lap.

She wasn't happy at the time but afterwards couldn't stop talking about it. Mission accomplished!

Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthday, New Babies are born

So it has been quite a last few months. Not only have we had the normal craziness that evolves around this time, but this year seemed far more crazy. Oddly Rob and I gave up on trying to be normal and actually going out and going to Christmas parties. Too much effort to find time, a babysitter and a dress. Yes, we got lazy this year.

It started in November when our annual Pre Thanksgiving dinner with friends turned into a dinner for 20. We had an absolute blast with some great friends and their kiddos. We loved every minute of it. After that we hosted Thanksgiving (which we never do) for my mom and grandparents. It was nice and low key. But after making 2 Thanksgiving day feasts in the span of 6 days, we were already over the holidays.

So then comes Christmas. Which is such a great time of year. We have so much fun with Adriana and she really truly loved the whole Santa thing and Elf on the Shelf. Furley, the elf, was her favorite part of the day. She would wake up and look for him to see where he was and what he put in her Christmas counter downer. I am not sure he kept her from not being naughty....but we are working on it. She is really at an age where it is all so fun. The traditions are being set. In addition to Furley, we did our annual Zoo Lights trip which is a favorite of Ade's and mine. We went ice skating with her for the first time (which I use the term Ice loosely but that will be another post) and spent a lot of time with family and friends. Xmas Eve we had family over and made cookies for Santa.

Adriana had her first Christmas program at school, a Birthday Party for Jesus. She decided not to sing any of the songs (despite the fact she has been singing them to me for the past month. It wasn't for a lack of knowing all the words), but she did the motions and was very proud of herself afterwards. I am not going to lie, I teared up and was so emotional. I loved every minute of it and can't wait for all the things that come with her going to school and growing up (just don't let it happen too quickly)

And after all this, Adriana turned 3 on the 29th. I feel she has been 3, or 12, for quite a while so while it was bittersweet for her to get older, it seemed like it was time. We had a big party for her at Monkey Bizness and she loved every minute of it. I am pretty sure from the minute she woke up on her 3rd birthday, she has been talking non stop about being 4. No time to enjoy, we are moving on. Again, way too quickly for me.

We did lots of fun things and I will post pics soon. We also welcomed additions to both sides of the family. Rob's brother and his wife welcomed Michael Alexander on December 5th and my brother Chad and his wife Tara welcomed Lena Marie on December 21st. Nothing makes the holidays better than babies. And nothing makes me happier than shopping for them. :)

So we got through the holidays virtually unscathed and had a really happy time. I will get better and get pictures posted soon. Happy New Year to everyone! May 2011 bring much peace, love and happiness to you all.