Because my dad just might disown me if I don't update...

9:26 AM Posted In , , , , 8 Comments »
I got a phone call from my dad a couple of days ago and it wasn't pretty. I knew I hadn't updated my blog in over a week but I had no idea my family would be getting all huffy about it :)

So anyway, this is for you dad! I have a lot of pictures from the month of December but we'll just start with Christmas Eve...


We had a really mellow holiday this year. Nguyen's parents as well as my mom and her boyfriend came over to eat some yummy Cioppino with us for Christmas Eve. After we were good and stuffed, we let the kids open up gifts from G-ma. They were pretty happy about that.



Gabby got a new baby doll that she absolutely adores. She wouldn't stop hugging, kissing, and singing to her.

Mom did great with Nguyen's gifts too which is really saying something. He isn't the easiest person to shop for!

I attempted a group shot with Nguyen's parents and the kids...
it turned out awesome.


A new tea set for the princess!

Cameron was in awe when he opened up this HUGE stuffed puppy dog. He LOVES stuffed animals and very rarely leaves home without one of his "babies."
He named this guy Simon and sleeps with him every night.

Later that night, we made sure to leave some reindeer food outside. I told Cameron to sprinkle it along the sidewalk but he opted for the "dump out" method instead.



"Do you think they'll smell it?"

We couldn't forget to leave out some cookies and milk for Santa, but first I wanted to get a cute pic of the kids in front of the fireplace.
You can see how well that turned out...


"Wait...are those cookies?"





So I said "forget it" and we went with a nice pic of Cam instead.



"Here Mom!"


The kids (and Nguyen) went to sleep fairly early that night while one lonely elf prepared for the big day. That elf was so tired and not feeling very well AT ALL after all was said and done around 1:30am. But the kids were happy and ECSTATIC to see that Santa had been in our house and even left some snowy footprints all over our living room floor so it was totally worth it!
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Gabby actually slept in a bit that morning and Cameron was eager to start tearing through his gifts so we gave him the go ahead.


Do you think he likes legos?

Gabby finally joined us about twenty minutes later and was in a state of confusion at the sight of Cameron in all of his giddy glory.

But eventually, she snapped out of it. She knew what she needed to do.

Like eat some paper.

Eventually, Cameron was so hyper, he couldn't control himself.
He was high on Christmas spirit!



This was taken later that evening, but as you can see, the spirit hadn't yet worn off.




Gabby decided she was going to calm him down.

But her plan didn't work so well...

That's all I have from Christmas Eve and Christmas day but I PROMISE I will update more about the happenings in December later this week!
You all know Nguyen got me an iPhone for Christmas right?
I haven't opened my laptop since Christmas day which is downright unheard of for me! But seriously, more soon...
We hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!

Excuse the interruption...

8:51 PM Posted In , , , 8 Comments »
I know you're all just loving my "thankful from A to Z" posts but this is too cute and I really don't feel like waiting until "S" to say I am thankful for Santa so...
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Haha. I really TRULY thought this year would be the year Gabby would scream her head off at the sight of Santa (and forgive me but I was almost looking forward to a picture like that) but she surprised me.

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We were at the mall the other day and I had no idea Santa had already set up shop but alas, he had. I thought there was no better time to take pictures since there was absolutely NO line. I only wish Cameron would have been dressed up a little more. Aw well.

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We walked up and the friendly picture-taker-girls greeted us and began discussing package options. Just as they started their schpeal, I see Cameron walk right up to Jolly Ole St. Nick and hop right up on his lap. Apparently he had things he needed to bring to Santa's attention and there was no time to waste. He was too funny. After I chose the cheapest package they offered, I walked Gabby over and introduced her to the guy with the funny beard. To my surprise, she lunged for him and that was that. Cameron told me later that he asked Santa for a "transporter truck with lots of little cars on it." I think Santa can handle that request ;)

Faulty Christmas

10:26 AM Posted In , , , 10 Comments »
This past weekend, we hosted "Faulty Christmas" (my husband made up that name) Basically, everyone had to bring a "faulty" gift. The winner of the faultiest gift would win a cash prize.
It was also a big UFC night so everyone was watching the fight as well.
Gabby charming Joe.


Everyone watching the fight.


For whatever reason, whenever people come over to our house, Cameron thinks it's our guests' job to rub his back...and they ALWAYS oblige.


More fight-watching


Cameron conning our guests into reading him books...


After the fight, it was time for the gift unveiling. For whatever reason, I let the guys handle this and so they elected ONE person to open ALL of the gifts. Where's the fun in that?! Oh well, Mike did a great job of being excited by all of the lovely gifts!


Another rule was that if anyone in the crowd "wanted" the gift, it was no longer deemed "Faulty" therefore, the gift was then disqualified.

Wouldn't you know there was a girl there who was THRILLED over this Michael Phelps calendar?! I guess it wasn't faulty enough.


Night Crawlers?



Feminine Douche?




HD Night Vision Glasses?





Enema? (Someone took this)



Depends


This looks interesting...



a 4x4 anyone? Yes, someone took it. Not faulty.


A humping Chihuahua?




The onlookers...

There were a couple of gifts that I couldn't share on here...
Here is a pic of Vera admiring one of them. I made sure my camera wasn't too focused
on the gift :)


How about a child's DO-RAG? Cameron enjoyed it.


We had so much fun with all of the gifts. It ended up that no one "won." We couldn't decide which gift was the worst, so we declared everyone a winner.
After the gift exchange, the boys did a little bit of this...




Somehow, someway, Cameron lasted the ENTIRE night. We know that when we host parties like this, there is no way he is going to bed without a fight, so usually he just crashes on the floor somewhere. Not this night. Everyone started dispursing around 1:45 am and Cameron was awake to walk them all to the door. But as soon as our guests were gone, Cam was too. He slept in until about 10:00 the next morning, thank goodness.
It was a really fun party. I am sure my housekeepers had great fun with all of the interesting things they found strewn about on Monday.
I know I was chuckling when I stepped in a wet spot on my carpet only to later figure out some douche had leaked out of one of the gift bags. Fun stuff.
Can't wait for next year!
:)