I was 6 months pregnant and baby Erin was in the head-up position and very, very active. We had just gotten confirmation that she was indeed a girl because I had to have a sonogram of my kidneys. That sweet sonogram tech asked me if I knew what I was having and I told her we had been told by my doctor's technician that she was "pretty sure" it was a girl. Right then she moved the scanner over a bit and said "Well let's just take a quick peek". Then I hear "OH yeah, it's a girl and she's NOT shy!" Can't wait to tell Erin that story. : )
Olivia was missing a lot of teeth this time last year! On December 20th, 2006 she had her tonsils taken out. So, in this picture she's still recovering from the surgery. But, she found the energy to open up all of her presents and even play with some of them. We spent last Christmas in Texas, and this picture was taken at our house on Christmas Day after she spent the first part of the day with her mom.
And here's Tony a year ago, wrapping Olivia's pony. It's a good thing he was willing to take on the task. I remember it proved to be quite a headache. They just don't make a roll of paper the right size for such a huge box!
And these are the pictures from this Christmas. What a difference a year makes. Olivia has all of her teeth and she has been as healthy as a horse.
And then there's Erin. Thankfully, she's the only one of us that has gained 15 pounds in the past 12 months. She's just as active as she was a year ago, but I find that she's a lot harder to confine.
And here begins Christmas Eve. Those feet up there belong to James. He was in the attic looking for something for Nana. Below is Olivia asking if she can get up there so that she can look for Kaylyn's American Girl Dolls. (Olivia doesn't know it yet, but Nana Claus has 2 brand new AG Dolls for Olivia)
Which leads me to the picture below. Nana is putting the finishing touches on one last gift. It takes a lot of time to wrap for Santa. And we're not talking the store bought bows that come 50 to a bag. No, these bows hand tied with ribbon- all sorts of fancy ribbons and decorations. More of that later.
And, here are the gifts. Not sure exactly how many, but let's just say it's more than enough. This is Nana's bathroom. It's filled with all of Santa's loot. The picture below is of the vanity- there's a sink under there somewhere. 
And this would be the bathtub- Minnie is sitting in the tub.
And below we have Nana's shower, filled with even more presents.
This is the family room where Santa will soon leave all of the presents. That tree is real, and from what I hear it's smaller than the trees in years past. James created scaffolding to decorate the top, and they used three 12ft ladders. Yikes!! I'd like to say it was beautiful, but beautiful couldn't begin to describe it and all of the other decorations. Nana and company made everything beautiful.
This is the beginning of Santa's work...
This is the empty bathroom where Santa stored all of those presents.
Yes, this is the empty shower. 
Below, we were probably close to being finished doing Santa's work.
Finding the space for the presents is one thing. Arranging them is a whole other thing.
I had to include this one. The three gingerbread men- aren't they cute? Just one example of Nana's wrapping genuis.
Seven stockings line the fireplace. There will be eight next year!
Christmas Eve night...we weren't the only ones that were pooped. Olivia crashed on top of the pillows. She was so tired that the flash of the camera in the dark room didn't even phase her. And neither did me removing all of those pillows she's on top of. Sleep tight! Tomorrow is going to be a big day!!
Fast forward about 7 hours and it's Christmas morning. Olivia and Erin had to wait almost 2 hours to open gifts. Erin completely understood. And Olivia couldn't contain her excitement, but she waited very patiently. She had her eyes on one very curious looking box. She never really said anything about it, but we could tell she thought she knew what was in it. She opened that one first.
Papa and Jack hand out the presents...
Oh look, here's that gift Olivia has been eyeing...
Papa: "This one goes to OLIVIA!!"
Fast forward again, but this time about two seconds, and this is what you get. It's Olivia's first American Girl doll.
This is Erin and Olivia's cousin, Rhylie. She got a Hannah Montanna Wig because we hear she likes to dance to Hannah Montanna.
And...I couldn't resist putting it on Erin. We wonder if she'll ever have any hair!!
Erin opened a ton of gifts, but her most favorite thing of all was a red jingle bell that Nana used as decoration on one of Erin's gifts.
This barnyard got a lot of attention from Erin. I know she'll be excited to get to play with it. 
So, after over an hour of opening gifts, Olivia had, among other things, her American Girl dolls, and three different accessory sets for the AG dog, Coconut. But no Coconut. Then, Nicole, Tony's sister, found a box that belonged to Olivia. It was Coconut!! This is Coconut below.
Erin loved the candy in her stocking. And yes, Erin ate almost the entire stick. She cried when I took it away.
On Christmas morning Frankie and Cindy made breakfast. mmmmmm It was delicious. That's Uncle Frankie below. Erin loves him!
Oh Christmas night Nana and Papa have dinner for about 40 of their closest friends and family. Prime rib, creamed spinach, creamed corn, and Cindy's cheesy potato dish. Again, delicious!!
This is Luke, Erin and Olivia's second cousin. Little Santa was just adorable! He's three weeks younger than Erin and he shakes his head no if you ask him a question. Too cute, this little guy!!
This is Kaylyn, Olivia and Erin's cousin. She got the coolest camera. It's some sort of special camera called a Holga that takes cool pictures with special lense slides. Check it out here. http://www.whitestripes.com/lomography/lomography.html
This is Ava, Nicole's daughter, which makes her Olivia and Erin's cousin. She loves her Crocs. She hugged all over her Uncle Tony as soon as she saw him and by the time we left, I had her snuggled up in my lap. Again, another adorable cousin. 
This is Jack, Nicole's youngest boy. He and Olivia are buddies. He taught Olivia how to ride her Razor scooter when we were there in July. 
And this is Nicole, Tony's sister. 
And last but not least, this is the view from one of the bedrooms. How I would love to wake up to an ocean view each morning! 
Another ocean view from Nana and Papa's house. 
Now we're all home...and all of us except Tony are sick. Olivia has bronchitis, Erin has an upper respiratory infection and me, I'm just achy. So, sorry it's taken me so long to get these pictures up. We had a great time in California and we hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas as well. 
