Christmas Pageant

And since I'm still posting Christmas stuff throughout the month of January, here's another!

About a week before Christmas, our church held its annual pageant. We were visiting my inlaws last year so Caleb didn't get to participate, but this time around he got to take part. He didn't have any lines or really have to do any acting, but we were proud of our little sheep anyway. :)

Since we weren't sure if Caleb and his friends would be able to sit still during the play, guess who also got to be in the pageant! Thankfully, I had a cow Halloween costume leftover from when I was in the fifth grade that still fits. 

One of Caleb's buddies decided the day of the play that he didn't really want to be a farm animal with us, but the other one, Bryan, snuggled right up beside the rest of us livestock on the stage. I absolutely love Bryan! He is the sweetest little boy! My favorite part of the play was when he kissed Caleb on the head a couple times. Since I was part of the production, I didn't have my camera in hand to snap the shot. Bryan's mom recorded the play though, and she took these pictures of the video for me since I didn't have any up close ones of Caleb in his costume. Thanks, Shari!

I tried a little to teach Caleb some of the songs the kids would be singing for the program. At the play practice, he just started counting since he didn't know the words. Maybe next year he'll be able to do a little more than just look like a cutie pie.

For those of you who were unable to attend, you may want to watch this video that Dave recorded:

Hadley was a good girl and sat through the whole play. Maybe next year she can be up there with the big kids!

Four generations

I've been eager to get a four generation photo of my grandma, my mom, Hadley, and me together since my baby girl was born. When Caleb turned one, we had a three generation one taken of him with Dave and Dave's dad, and I wanted a similiar one with her. Since I had a good coupon for The Picture People plus a special offer for being a frequent customer that had to be used by the end of December, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get some good shots. Here are a few of my favorites:

It was a bit hard to get a good photo of all four of us together. Since Hadley didn't know the photographer, the lady couldn't quite get her to hold a smile the way one of us could if we'd have been behind the camera. The photographer was also so focused on getting Hadley to smile that she didn't pay much attention to whether we were sitting up straight and smiling too. Here are a few examples:

 

I loved these shots of Hadley with her NaNa though!

 

 

Our photographer captured some beautiful photos of her with her "Great" Grandma Nora Ann too.

 

 

 

 

 

I even got one with my grandma. :)

And, of course, I needed some mommy/daughter pics!

 

 

While my plan was to just get the special offer and go home, I got suckered because they took so many wonderful photos and I ended up getting the CD. Trust me, when I say that I am not one to usually splurge when it comes to studio portraits; most of the time I can stick with the package deal on the coupon. Not this time! These individual shots of Hadley are what did me in!

 

 

 

 

While we were there, I also decided to have a few photos done of Hadley in one of my old dresses that Mom saved and gave me recently. How could I pass up a CD with these adorable pictures?

 

I love that you can see her first tooth in this one!
(And I think I can see a little bit of the second
one breaking through right beside it too.)

 

Are we done taking pictures yet?

 

 

Oh, how I love those chubby legs!

 

 

I'm so glad we did this!

Dinosaur Egg

Dec. 25th: One of the surprises Caleb found in his stocking at my parents' house was a dinosaur egg. Never having heard of such a thing before, it of course drew his attention, and he immediately wanted to see what it was all about. My mom found an empty oyster jar and, as the directions suggested, she filled it with water to help hatch the baby dinosaur.

A little disgruntled because nothing happened while he watched, Caleb kept eying the jar in expectation. To my surprise, the packaging said that it would take days before the dinosaur would finally be free of the egg. Toddlers don't like to wait on anything (well none of us do to be honest), so I thought this was going to be a disaster. After complaining just a little at first though, Caleb seemed to understand our explanation that it might take a while. We took the jar home and sat it on the counter in plain sight in case any activity happened.

Dec. 26th: We woke up to find the dinosaur "peeking" out. You can imagine Caleb's excitement. It was a major topic of conversation; everyone needed to know what was happening with the dinosaur egg.

Dec. 27th: The next day when we could actually see the dinosaur's face was even more thrilling. Of course we had to keep checking on its progress throughout the day. While it was a bit like watching grass grow, it was fun to see his joy, and I have to admit, I was a kind of excited too to see what that dino looked like too.

Dec. 28th: By the next day, we could see some of the body and one of the feet were popping through the side of the shell. I was so hoping that it would be completely out at this point because we were leaving for IL that same day. Caleb didn't seem concerned though and was satisfied that when we got back we'd get to see our dinosaur!

Sure enough, our baby dinosaur was sitting on the counter waiting to greet us when we got back. Caleb was asleep when we got home that night, but the next morning he was happy to find his prehistoric reptile had hatched and excitedly told my parents all about it when they came to visit that day.