Twas the Weekend of Christmas...

... and all through our house, holiday fun was on tap for my toddler and spouse.

After two pre-Christmas Christmasses with the Sakraidas, 24 inches of snow, one overstuffed Holiday card tree, and literally dozens of viewings of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Christmas finally arrived.

On Christmas Eve, we decorated Gingerbread houses (okay, technically they were graham cracker houses). Just like she did with the Halloween cupcakes, Morgan spent more time decorating her face with chocolate than decorating her house. She was very happy with the finished product, though.

While Ariella and Andy prepped for Santa's visit, Lindsay took Morgan outside to play in the snow. By Thursday, the fluffy snow had become crunchy -- which made it tough to make a big snowman. But Morgan has very excited about the little one she and Lindsay made.

We all enjoyed Mexican Christmas Eve (another Sakraida family tradition). Then it was time for Morgan to put out her cookies for Santa. (Side note: since then, Morgan has called all cookies "Santa Cookies".)

For Morgan, another Christmas tradition is getting a cold right before the big day. But after a good night's sleep, she was very excited to see what Santa had left for her under the Christmas tree.

Morgan spent quite a while plucking all the fun stuff out of her stocking: coloring books, cars, a new toothbrush, a ball, and on and on.

Finally, it was time to dive into the pile of presents.

Morgan's "big" present from Santa was a kitchen set -- compete with "stainless steel" appliances (a.k.a. silver plastic), spice rack, backsplash, and a full set of pots and pans. With a setup like this, it's only a matter of time before she has her own show on the Food Network.

Morgan wasted no time fixing up her version of Christmas breakfast: pan-fried steak with sippy cup and a side of goldfish crackers. Yum.

Morgan was also VERY excited to open the Legos from Jenny and Jon. She screamed "Lego Lego Lego" for 5 minutes. Seriously.

Because of her cold, Christmas morning was a little overwhelming for Morgan. She took a couple breaks, but summoned up enough Christmas spirit to eventually get everything unwrapped. (That's our girl.)

By noon, it was time for a nap. While Morgan slept, Aunt Aimee, Uncle Russ, Henry and Alex arrived for more Christmas fun.

Aimee brought Morgan a Cabbage Patch Kid ("It's a girl!"). And, in an attempt to get back at Andy for all the noisy gifts he has bought for Henry and Alex over the year, she got Morgan a piano. (Revenge is sweet. And very loud.)

Ariella and Lindsay cooked up a great Christmas dinner -- turkey, stuffing, mashed potato, green bean casserole, and Morgan's favorite: sweet potato.

After dinner, everyone colored, played piano, and stuffed ourselves on cookies and cake before we all finally settled down for a long (and much needed) winter's nap.

Let It Snow x 3

It's not even Christmas yet, and Morgan has already been outside to play in the snow more times this year (3) than she did all of last year (1).

The first snowfall came a few weeks ago. "Snowfall" is actually being generous. It was really a "dusting". And it was ice, not snow. But that didn't stop Morgan from standing at the window and yelling "Snowman" until we took her out. (Note: At the time, Morgan was calling all snow a "snowman", even if it wasn't actually made into a human shape. She's figured out the difference now.)

Morgan wasn't quite sure how to react to the snow once she finally got outside. It was cold, hard to walk on, and not nearly as fun as it looks on "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".

Last weekend (12/19), a doozy of a storm rolled through South Jersey. By Saturday afternoon, we had about 8 inches. So we bundled up Morgan in her snow suit (courtesy of Fricke Family Hand-Me-Downs, Inc.) and took her outside.

Once again, Morgan wasn't too excited to walk around in the snow. But the fluffy snow gave us a great opportunity to pull her around the back yard on her sled.

By Sunday morning, we had about 24 inches of snow -- which is more snow than we've had in South Jersey in our first three winters here COMBINED.

The circular part of our driveway is buried somewhere beneath all the snow in the photo below. Needless to say, we haven't been using that part of the driveway this week.

24 inches is a lot of snow -- especially when you're only 29 inches tall.

Even after we dug a path out to the driveway, Morgan was still intimidated by the snow.

"HeY, DAd, yOu taKE cArE oF tHE sHOvelliNg. I'm gOIng insIde tO wAtcH RuDolPh aGAin. SeE yA laTEr."

Sakraida Christmas

On Friday, December 11th, Nanna Sheila and P-Pa Joe flew in from Utah for an early Christmas visit. On Saturday, we hosted the Sakraida gang -- including Lindsay, Jenny, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Mike and Great Grandma (aka G.G.) Marge for an afternoon of holiday fun.

Morgan debuted her holiday party dress and enjoyed some appetizers with the rest of the family.

When it was time for the Yankee swap, Morgan made sure everyone got a number to pick their gift. Andy was disappointed to learn that "Yankee Swap" couldn't mean trading A-Rod to the Japanese baseball league. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Mike and Diane sent gifts for Morgan... puzzles and a purse! Fun!

After opening gifts, there was still plenty of time to play with P-Pa Joe and pose for photos with "G.G."

On Sunday morning, it was time for part 2 of Sakraida Christmas. Morgan played "Santa's Helper" and delivered all the presents.

Last Christmas, Morgan was a present-opening novice. This year, she's a pro.

Morgan's favorite gift was the play cookie set from Nanna and P-Pa. She knew exactly what to do with them, too. She put them on the tray, frosted them, and then passed them to Mom to put in the over. She even walked around with the finished cookies and made sure everyone got one.

Speaking of cookies, another Sakraida Christmas tradition is making cookies. This year, the cookie-making extravaganza last from Sunday through Tuesday. In all, Ariella, Jenny, Lindsay and Sheila made 9 different kinds of cookies. However, that total was outdone by Morgan, who made at least 22 kinds of messes.

Long overdue Thanksgiving blog

At this point, our Thanksgiving leftovers are long gone. But it's never too late to post some photos from Turkey Day.

The day kicked off with our customary viewing of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Morgan was enthralled by the Rockettes.

Morgan has come a LONG way since her first Thanksgiving. (See photos here). Least of which is the fact that she eats a lot more stuff.

This year, Ariella's menu included:

Herb & Butter Roasted Turkey

Mashed Potato with Smoked Bacon Gouda

Haricot Verts

Sweet Potato Caserole

Herb & Cheddar Biscuits

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Again this year, it was just the two of us, Morgan, and Aunt Lindsay for dinner. But that didn't stop them from enjoying some stimulating dinner conversation.

On Friday night, we enjoyed another growing family tradition: the tree lighting ceremony in Haddonfield.

Morgan was excited to see Santa Claus. But she was even more excited to see all the dogs that people brought out to the ceremony.

On Saturday morning, Morgan's pal Cooper (who was in Jersey visiting his grandparents) came over for a play date. After chasing each other for 50+ laps around the dining room table, the two decided it was time for a Sippy Cup pitstop.

After a long nap, Morgan was surprised to see that we had set up the Christmas Tree in the living room. She shouted "Tree! Tree! Tree!" as we brought her down the stairs.

After helping out hanging the decorations, we treated Morgan to an early Christmas Present.

After an action-packed Thanksgiving weekend, Morgan relaxed with a quiet game of Hide & Seek. (She's still getting the hang of the hiding part.)