Maryland 3

The day before we came home, we took Brielle to Baltimore. We went to Hard Rock Cafe and the National Aquarium, which are both right on the Chesapeake Bay.

Brielle at the Hard Rock Cafe...holding the shirt she picked out to send to Danielle!

Mary & Joseph hit the road!

I found Brielle's Barbie car (that Aunt Nat gave her) like this on Christmas morning...apparently Mary and Joseph have found a new way to travel! What a crack up!

Christmas with Nana and Bopa!

She wanted this dress and jewelry case from the movie 'Enchanted'...we went to see this movie over the holidays and she loved it! In fact, we all loved it (including Chris).
Brielle calls this her 'married dress', it is so funny! Lately she has been pretending to be a mom with kids a lot and she talks about her husband all the time! One day I asked her who her husband was and she said "Oh, his name is Mickey" So, there you have it...apparently Brielle is married to Mickey Mouse!

I am not really sure what happened but I did not take any pictures at our house on Christmas morning! We took lots of video but not a single picture! I'll have Brielle pose with some of her presents tomorrow...however she may have gotten more presents at my parents house then she did at home. My dad is absolutely smitten with this little girl! He plays with her for hours...she especially loves it when he is Donald Duck (because he talks like him and everything) and he even watches TV with her (her choice of the channel). Sometimes he will stop by our house because he has not had enough "brielle time" and he'll quickly say 'hi' to me and Chris...then spend the rest of the time having a Tea party or something...then he says goodbye to us and leaves...obviously he is not coming over to see us. Anyway, I think you get the idea...he loves her! What does this have to do with Christmas? Well, my mom had already done all her Christmas shopping and she'd bought Brielle a bunch of things....then 5 or 6 days before Christmas I got a call from my dad and he told me that he wanted to take Brielle to the Disney store at the mall (which had just opened a week or two earlier...Brielle had been VERY EAGERLY anticipating the opening, she must have asked me a million times if it was open yet), he wanted to get an idea of what to get her for Christmas. I thought he was nuts...he wanted to take a 3 year old (that already has him wrapped around her finger) to the mall (where seven million other people were doing their last minute shopping) to a store where she wants EVERYTHING! She had a wonderful time on their shopping trip and when I picked her up she kept telling me that she needed to go back to the "mickey store" to get some clothes for Bopa...I don't think so! My mom went with him to the "mickey store" to supervise (ie. make sure he did not buy everything), but in the end she was spoiled and Bopa bought lots of her 'wishes'...she was truly a princess....good think she is so cute and sweet, it would not be nearly as much fun to spiol her if she was bratty!

Baby's First Christmas

Ooohhh, This is fun! Nana and Bopa gave baby Dean a rocking horse for Christmas...I'm not sure who liked it more, Dean or Brielle!

Baby Dean was exhausted after opening presents at home with Brielle and then again at Nana and Bopa's. He was perfect...as always...I am SO spoiled because he is such a good baby!

Christmas Jammies!

Look at these smiles! Baby Dean LOVES to smile, I have NEVER seen a baby that smiles as much as he does...all someone has to do is look at him and he starts smiling...and we're not just talking about a little lift of the corners of his mouth, we are talking a huge grin! I love it!

A little elf left Christmas Jammie's on Christmas eve! They looked SO adorable! I love matching/coordinated clothes!

Christmas Eve

Jackson, Baby Jane and Brielle
Brielle and Jackson

Christmas eve has always been one of my favorite things about the holidays, we always have a big dinner with my Gledhill cousins! My mom did an amazing job...everything was perfect from the food to the tables! We also had an amazing 'program,' which featured my extremely talented cousins and a friend....and of course a little rendition of 'Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer' courtesy of Brielle! Last but not least, it would not be Christmas without the Christmas pageant (unfortunately we lost the other two kids to the flu)...our pageant featured Mary, Joseph, baby doll Jesus and the Star!

Christmas Sunday!

I'm really behind...so I'm just going to post lots of pictures from the holidays. Brielle and Dean looked adorable in their Christmas clothes! You can't see them very well but baby Dean had the cutest little penny loafers on!