Pre-Christmas Festivities

Merry Christmas from our family (minus the tiny one) to yours.  This picture was taken at the mall.  Next year, Crabtree Valley Mall, don't make people have to sign up hours in advance to stand in a "virtual line" to see Santa without telling anyone or having it posted on your website.  You destroyed the dreams of so many children this year.  But thank you, Mall Santa, for waving at my kids anyway.

 

Lily was watching The Nutcracker ballet with my family.  She really got into dancing along (a movie will be featured in a future post) and Ben got to be her partner, helping her with lifts and whatnot.  Here is Ben forcing me to do the same.  I look so thrilled, don't you think?

 

I COMMAND EVERYONE TO LOOK CLOSELY AT THIS PICTURE!  Whenever people tell me that Lily looks like me I say, "Thank you," but in my head I'm saying, "You're totally wrong and you just haven't seen my husband."  But here I give you mini-Heather.  It's a Christmas miracle!  Apparently she did get some of my genes!

 

Blurry but self-explanatory.  It's like the 4 year gap between them doesn't even exist.  And I love it about as much as I love them.

 

Nanni and Becca feeding the Chubby Cherub.  And the Chubby Cherub getting frustrated that the food wasn't coming quite fast enough.  Within the last week she's really picked up eating solids and she's a little speed eater now.  The little woman is serious about her food.

 

 

I feel like I'm either a failure of a parent or a really good one because my children have zero experience playing with electronics.  We don't have any video games at our house and they know that our computers and phone are off limits and that they aren't toys.  And it doesn't bug them because they haven't learned why they're so fascinating.

 

But the fun childless aunt and uncle who adore their nieces and nephews came into town with their iPad and iPhones and the kiddos are hooked!  I thought it would take them a while to figure out how to work things, but of course I was wrong.  Gotta love Becca and Preston.

 

And speaking of which......

 

Before Preston and Becca came into town I wanted to see if Lily and Skyler could remember their names:

 

Me: "Who's coming for Christmas? Aunt....."

Lily: "Becca!"

Me: "And Uncle Pres-"

Skyler: "-ident Monson!"

 

 

Preston agrees that this is a big step up from what Skyler used to call him: Uncle Becky.  And even though I never corrected Skyler, he doesn't often call Preston "Uncle President Monson" anymore.  Instead, he is now "Uncle Presents."  I don't feel like correcting that one either.  Maybe one day Skyler will call him Uncle Preston, but I hope that day doesn't come for a while.

 

Also, Lily is sort of a huge fan of Uncle Presents.  This is what she told me the other day before we went over to my parents' house to visit them:

 

Lily: "Can I have the nail polish?  I need to paint my nails."

Me: "Why do you need to paint your nails?"

Lily: "For Uncle Preston."