What, your grandma didn't give you a pony?

Sorry, she must not love you as much as Bella and Matea's grandma loves them. Maybe you can ask for a new grandma for Christmas next year.

No surprise, the girls got totally spoiled at Christmas. After opening a bunch of cool gifts from my mom, Uncle Ronnie brought in this pony. Bella went crazy, twirled around and shouted, "I just got what I've always wanted!". Her name is supposed to be Butterscotch but Bella keeps calling her Hopscotch. I call her a pain in the ass to store in my house but the girls are having a lot of fun with it.

Santa brought the girls a sand and water table for our new backyard and it seems to be a big hit already. They spent a few hours playing with it yesterday with only minimal fighting. We're still eating tamales that Steve and Bella made on Christmas Eve. She looked so sweet, concentrating so hard.

Did Grandma get me markers or makeup?

I totally thought of that Anna Nicole Smith video I saw of her 9 months pregnant, higher than a kite, with messy clown makeup when I saw these pics.

Look out Broadway, here she comes!

Thursday was Bella's Christmas program at school and she delivered and then some. Seriously, I think I'm going to charge the other parents to watch the show next year because they got to see quite a performance. The other kids were kind of just standing in a clump, mumbling the words. Not Bella. She added her own dance moves and sang her heart out. I laughed so hard, I had tears in my eyes and afterward all of the other parents told me she stole the show. On the way home I told Bella how proud I was and that she made everyone smile. She said, "I just wanted to make everyone like me." Awwwwwww.

Graham Cracker Houses

Grandpa and Grandma Cindy were visiting this weekend and I decided to put Grandpa's perfectionism into full swing by suggesting they make gingerbread houses (but from graham crackers-I'm far too cheap to buy the gingerbread house kits when I can spend half the money and have tons of graham crackers left over for snacks). Anyway, Grandpa seemed to have a lot of problems with his supplies-even though no one else did-which usually resulted in him eating the "defects". Grandma Cindy had a mild heart attack when she accidentally put a gummy bear in her mouth. Apparently, in addition to never making a gingerbread house before in her life, she's also never had a gummy bear and wasn't ready to do it this weekend. Bella was mostly concerned that she wasn't going to win the competition and literally worked on her house for almost two hours so she'd be guaranteed to win the prize.

You know I love handmade gifts...

and Bella's gift to us is no exception. She made this little candle at school with beans, glue, a dixie cup, and a tea light. She was really proud of her creation but mostly excited that I let her hold a lit candle for the picture. She kept saying, "Mommy, am I just a really big girl now that you're letting me hold this candle?".

To the Sleuther Scooters!

Bella's favorite tv show right now is "My Friends Tigger and Pooh". It's like an updated version of Winnie the Pooh with a girl named Darby. The whole group is call "The Super Sleuths" and they spend each episode following clues to figure out some kind of mystery. Of course, like any kids show, there are several catch phrases, one of them being "To the Sleuther Scooters!". Last night I was working in the office, Steve was in the shower, and Bella was apparently busy building her own scooter. She came in and asked me to help her figure out how to attach her tinker toy stick to the chair to complete her scooter. Then she said she was Darby and started "riding" the scooter. I'm always so impressed with her imagination. I just wish it didn't require so much of my involvement. Seriously, I spend half of my day pretending to deliver her baby, eating fake food, crawling like a kitty, etc.

Ugly to Cute in 60 seconds

Matea has the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) fake crying face. We usually see it when she gets reprimanded or when Bella's throwing a fit - the girl has to have some competition, right? And it usually turns right into a smile because we're laughing so hard, she can't keep it going.

She's really grown up so much in just the last month or so. Had her first big girl pig tails last week and learned to drink her milk from her cheerios bowl - that's a milestone, right? Ooooo, and she's been introduced to the naughty spot. Actually, made 3 trips there yesterday for biting and hitting. Such a sweet girl.

Bella's letter to Santa

Dear Santa,
I want flowers and a Dora doll. I want some flowers for Matea. And then some for Papa. Some that you need water for and some you need rocks for. I want some new doctor stuff. Some for Matea and some for me and then some for the whole family. I want a camera that you never have to use with the computer. And then a ring that I would let Matea put in her mouth.
To get to my home, go through the forest and then past the beach high up on the hill and then you drive on more parts of the road and then you'll be at my home.

Love, Bella

Back to the doctor

It seemed as though Bella was recovering well and then she developed a bad cough again over night on Monday. So, we headed back to the doctor yesterday and went in for another chest xray. Luckily, Bella was much more relaxed and calm this time because the xray two weeks ago was a nightmare. The results showed that the pneumonia is clearing up but isn't completely gone yet. So, we're just playing the waiting game, hoping it will clear up on it's own. We have to watch for a fever, decreased activity, irritability, etc. and then she'll go on a second round of antibiotics.

In the meantime, here are some super cute Christmas pics...