Claire's First Christmas - Part 3

Our trip to Tulsa for Claire's first Christmas began with an overnight stay at my cousins' house in Dallas - halfway to Tulsa. We had a great time, Jon, Becky and Evan! You are excellent hosts! Thanks for having us!

Aunt Cheryl and Cousin Keaton came over for Sunday brunch. It was so much fun getting to introduce everyone to Claire.

Cousin Becky, Aunt Cheryl, Claire and Mommy Showing off Peggy Sue to Aunt Cheryl

Due to Steve's work schedule and Uncle Matt and Aunt Randi's schedule, we celebrated Christmas on Monday, December 21st. We had a great time!!!

Claire with some of her presents Analise and Claire ready to open presents. Let the madness begin!

Claire believes in the "slow and easy" approach - one little piece of paper at a time.

One of Analise's favorite gifts - a Cinderella ball gown, complete with crown, beads, bracelets...

and, of course, "glass" slippers!

Poor Maggie! As soon as all of the presents had been passed out, she hid under the tree for the remainder of the day.

Our first Christmas as a family of three - How sweet it is!

One of Claire's favorite gifts was a giant Minnie Mouse. She has a small one that she takes with her everywhere. So when she saw the big Minnie, Claire knew who she was immediately! Too cute!

On Tuesday, December 22nd, MiMi had to work. So Mommy, Daddy, Claire, Uncle Matt and Aunt Randi headed out to find Santa Claus.

Waiting in line to meet Santa...

In the big guy's arms at last!

Walking back to the car after meeting Santa, Claire kept hiding her eyes under her hat. We don't know why she did it, but we found it funny and took her picture.

Early Wednesday morning, December 23rd, Steve had to fly out to go back to work. He was supposed to fly back in on the evening flight on Christmas Eve. But on Christmas Eve, the infamous Oklahoma Snow Blizzard of 2009 hit. We were snowed in, and he was snowed out. The Tulsa Airport shut down, and he couldn't get back.

Here are some pics of the snow from my parents' back patio.

Christmas Morning - Claire playing with her new laptop. She loves it!

Having breakfast with MiMi

Apple Strawberry Banana = yummy!

The Tulsa Airport finally opened back up on Saturday! Steve flew in early Saturday afternoon, and we drove the eight hours back home, arriving just before midnight.

Playing with Aunt Randi Saturday morning

Breakfast with Aunt Randi

We had a wonderful Christmas! Christmas with Claire was truly magical! I know that it will be even more so in the years to come.

Claire turned seven-months-old last Tuesday. I will do her monthly update next week. She has a doctor's appointment on Monday to complete this round of vaccinations. (They split it up this time since they gave her a flu shot and the H1N1 last month.)

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Claire's First Christmas - Part 2

Claire visited Santa Claus today! So much fun!!!
Claire is also seven-months-old today. Her monthly update will follow later - probably over the weekend once we get back home.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Claire's First Christmas - Part 1

Steve and I have been so excited about Christmas this year! As is usual for us, we started Christmas shopping in the summer and started wrapping gifts as we purchased them. So when we decided to decorate the house early this year, the tree was already overflowing with presents. We took these pictures during the first week of November.

Our beautiful girl

She loves the tree, especially since it's covered with silver balls, allowing her to see her reflection in all of them. She likes to lean forward and back so that her face changes shape in them. It's a little like looking into a Fun House mirror. It totally cracks her up!
My beautiful family!!! God is SO good to me!!!

Due to Steve's work schedule, we had our celebration rather early this year, on December 15th. I took these pictures on December 14th.

Eyeing the presents...

very interested in the presents...

looking up to realize Mommy is watching...

upset about having to wait until tomorrow because Daddy isn't home yet

stops crying the instant Maggie comes over to find out why she's crying

It's finally Christmas!!! (She's checking her gorgeous self out in the silver ball.)

Aren't these pretty?

and tasty too!

We let Maggie go first so that she could play while the rest of us opened our gifts. Here's Maggie with her stocking.

Among other things, Maggie received a stuffed cupcake that has a squeaker inside. She loves it!

Claire got to open her stocking next.

Inside Claire's stocking were a Cheerio's container (for future use), a stuffed mouse (which she is holding on her lap in this picture - again, Steve and I named her toy for her - the mouse is named Peggy Sue) and two books. Daddy is reading one of them to her.

Tossing Peggy Sue aside to grab the next big box headed her way. Oh this is fun!

Look at this big box and the big bow!

Checking out her new ball drop toy, or as Pops would say, she's "studying" it.

After watching two balls drop, she figured it out and can play by herself. She loves it!

Claire's gift from her daddy was the sweetest ever - a baby ring from James Avery! She will treasure this first Christmas gift forever! So beautiful!

One of Claire's gifts to her mommy was a Teething Bling necklace. We both love it!

After a nap, Claire awoke to one more gift...

She loves unwrapping presents!

Ooh! A sensory block! What fun!

Our Norton Family Christmas was spectacular this year! We are so very blessed to have Claire in our lives! She made it so much more fun!

We leave Saturday for Tulsa to spend Christmas at MiMi's and PopPop's. It's going to be a great week filled with family, friends, food, music and presents!

Merry Christmas!!!

Playtime

Claire is changing so much so quickly these days. She babbles almost non-stop and has started saying "Da-Da." She has also become extremely mobile. She "crawls" now. Her form isn't quite perfected just yet, but she can manage to get from point A to point B moving foward on her hands and knees fairly quickly, especially if there's a remote, a cell phone or one of Maggie's toys in her sight. She's keeping me very busy these days, and I wouldn't change a second of it!

Claire has been discovering her toys for quite some time, but now she actually plays with them. Here are some pics of her enjoying a few of her favorites.

her photo book with pics of family

looking at Mommy and Daddystaring at Grandpa and Grandma

Claire loves her dolly. Steven and I have taken the liberty of naming her. We call her Phoebe.

my happy girl

the playmat is still a favorite and don't forget about the chime garden

Blocks rock!

We don't let Claire watch TV. However, I grew up watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, so I thought it would be fun to share it with her. It's only 15 minutes long. She LOVED it! The simple graphics, the rhyming and the singing were perfect for capturing her attention. A tradition has been passed on.