Santa Visits Our Ho Ho Home!

Christmas started out with Fruit Loops this year. Kaitlin wasn't feeling so hot, and well... I'll leave the story at that.

Before Fruit Loops, however, Kaitlin was excited to see all the gifts Santa brought for her! Most intriguing, of course, was the play kitchen he brought! Once she spotted it, it was all over. The play kitchen wins the prize for biggest distraction of the day. It even beat out the 23-pound turkey, the peanut butter cookies, and the 8-inches of snow that fell.

After breakfast and the Fruit Loops were cleaned up, Kaitlin started opening gifts. Needless to say, most of the gifts under the tree were for her. Here are some pictures of her opening gifts!

I must say that Christmas was fun this year with Kaitlin being able to unwrap her own gifts. I'm not sure she understood exactly what was happening, but she definitely enjoyed it. A big thanks to everyone who sent gifts and Christmas wishes our way! Happy New Year to everyone! :-)

Zoolights - 2007

'tis the season to be jolly.....

...and what could make ya more JOLLY than spending the evening at the Denver Zoo lit up with millions of lights in 20 degree weather? Last week we took Kaitlin to Zoolights!

Despite the freezing cold temperatures, we actually had a really great time! Kaitlin enjoyed spotting the lighted animals like giraffes and monkeys and elephants! We even got to see a man juggling fire!

Here are some pictures, enjoy! (if you click on the slideshow, there is a magnifying glass you can use!)

WinterWorld

On Dec 16th we took Kaitlin to WinterWorld. Its basically a winter/Christmas themed "house" like a haunted house, but without ghosts or goblins or anything haunted. Instead of witches and skeletons they have wrapped presents and Christmas trees. It's a happy, festive place with a great holiday theme.
Since this is a new attraction in Denver, we weren't sure what to expect. We hadn't heard any reviews, and they didn't have any pictures or any stories on their website. But, they had advertisements on RTD busses and the radio... and they even had a feature on the local news (that we didn't see). We thought it sounded like a fun place, something that we should definitely check out during the Christmas season.

I guess overall it wasn't terrible, but it definitely wasn't what we expected... and I think I was more disappointed than anything. I was hoping for more of a fun room for Kaitlin - somewhere she could run and play and enjoy the winter-themed decorations. Instead, it was a rushed tour guided by an "elf" who obviously did not want to be at work. It seemed very fabricated and unnatural. In retrospect, I'm thinking it may take them a couple years to get off the ground and get the funds required for a truly authentic "WinterWorld".

On the brightside, we got a picture of Kaitlin with Santa! She absolutely would not go near him on her own, so on our second try we "tricked" her into it. Once she was distracted, I walked backwards until we got to Santa's lap. She never knew we were sitting with Santa! I whispered into Santa's ear all the things Kaitlin would like to have for Christmas.... and one thing I would like to have as well. Cheers!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Here are a couple videos of Kaitlin decorating the Christmas tree!


PART ONE:


PART TWO:

Our Snow Baby

It's finally starting to feel like winter... it's been chilly and snowing on and off for the last couple weeks. Last weekend we took Kaitlin outside to play around in the snow.

Honestly, I thought she'd enjoy it more than she did, but it was hard for her to walk around and manuver in the snow. She was getting frustrated at falling so much and I'm sure her cold, wet jeans didn't help!

It really was cute, though. And, ever since that she's been saying "snow" all the time!

Unfortunately, Brandon has not had a chance to use his newly-acquired oversized snowblower yet! But, you can blame that on me... I told him I would be too embarrassed if he used it to plow snow that was less than 3 inches deep!

Not only is shoveling the snow good exercise for both of us, but it also gives Kaitlin a chance to be outiside and learn the ins and outs of snowmen, snow angels and snow forts.

And, really, what kid doesn't need that?

What's Next?

My baby is growing too fast!

This afternoon when I went in to get Kaitlin from her nap, her shirt was off! Kaitlin is learning to undress herself. Her skills were confirmed this evening when I asked her to take her shirt off before her bath - and she did!

I just can't believe how quickly time is passing! Soon she will be asking to dress herself and then she'll be tying her own shoes....

YAY for External Hard Drives!

So, I have tons of updates to get posted on here, but mid-week our desktop computer crashed! LUCKILY, about two months ago we backed up all of our pictures and files on our external hard drive so nothing was lost! (PHEW!) I had our computer repair man (Brandon) investigate the situation yesterday and it appears that both the power supply and the hard drive are toast.
Santa will be bringing a new desktop for Christmas as I appreciate the convenience of having multiple workstations... (not to mention Dell is having a great sale!)
I will get updates posted on here ASAP. I have pictures of Kaitlin playing in the snow, helping put up the Christmas tree, and our trip to Winterworld. So, please check back soon!

In the meantime, go back up your files! You never know what could happen!

One Heckuva Ordinary Week!

This has been a really tough week to blog about! Everything has been so ordinary and so routine!

~On Sunday, we spent the day Christmas shopping and watching the Broncos.

~On Monday, we had pizza for dinner.

~On Tuesday, we took Kaitlin in for her holiday photos and met Grandma and Grandpa Nincey for dinner.

~On Wednesday, Brandon watched Happy Feet with Kaitlin before her nap and later we went to the dog park for a walk.

~This morning Brandon took Kaitlin to the park to play on the equipment. She had macaroni and cheese for dinner.

~Tomorrow is Friday. We don't have any real plans yet except the same old ordinary routine things. I have to make a trip to the office in the morning and Brandon will be working his regular shift - 2pm to midnight.

~This weekend we are going to a surprise birthday party for a friend, putting up our Christmas tree, and we might try to squeeze in a trip to Zoolights depending on the weather. Of course, this time of year there is always Christmas shopping that needs to be done and we still need to take Kaitlin to see Santa.

Most people would say there's nothing wrong with having an "ordinary" week... I have to agree ~ even if it does make blogging hard! hahaha!


P.S. Big thanks to everyone for leaving gifts under our pretend tree! Keep them coming! :)

Leave us a gift!

Is anyone reading this blog? In the spirit of the season, let us know you're out there by leaving us a gift(or two)! Don't worry, it's just pretend! heehee...
(P.S. Check out the calendar on the wall!)