Christmas and Big Girl Panties

We had a wonderful Christmas! Kya actually got to open presents three times! She is such a lucky girl to have both sets of grandparents so active in her life. We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church with my parents and brother, which the Christmas Eve service is my favorite service of the year. Kya was a bit more lively this year, and we were letting her "read" her books during the service. She screamed PIG right in the middle of our pastor's sermon and yes, we were sitting in the second row. Then, we went home and had fajitas courtesy of Jimmy Changa's. I have a rule - if someone else can make it better and for about the same amount as I would spend buying ingredients, I just get take out! It was nice because I got to spend the whole day with Kya and Eric instead of cooking! Then, Kya put out chocolate milk and cookies (which were the last package of pull apart cookies at Wal-Mart bought on Christmas Eve - we're good planners).

When Kya woke up, we read the Baby Jesus story (as Kya calls it), and then, we opened presents. Kya had the best time! She was so much better at opening presents, and when she was done with one, she would go back to the tree and say, "Another One!" She also "helped" Eric and I open all of our presents, especially if we weren't going fast enough. We had so much fun playing with our toys that morning minus Kya having a really bad cold that caused her to vomit (stupid mucus in the throat). She didn't let that phase her, though. Kya has gotten sick either on Christmas or New Year's the past two Christmases, so we were just thankful that she was not as sick as she had been in year's past. In the afternoon, we went to my parent's house where Kya racked up yet again and had a delicious meal prepared by my parents (I felt like a slacker getting take out, but it was so worth it! - I barely have time during the week to spend with Eric and Kya, so on my days off I try to soak it up!). On December 29th, we went to Eric's parents house in Montgomery, TX and opened even more presents and had another fabulous meal. Eric always tells his mom I hate her cooking - which he did I think the first or second time that I had ever eaten with his parents - but Sandy is a great cook, and prepared everything despite getting in late the night before! Kya's big gifts were (list from all 3 Christmases): a Little People's princess castle, a Nabi (Grams and Big Daddy), moobies (movies), stuffed animals (especially Sully and Mike from Monster's Inc. - Nan and Pop), gift cards, and lots of other things! I got a KindleFire, which I absolutely love. Overall, we are so blessed to have the great families that we do and to be able to spend the holidays with them!

Kya updates:
- I love how she pronounces words that have s followed by a consonant like Spot is pronounced Sfot.
- She still loves princesses and PINK. She calls Prince Charming, Prince Charms.
- She is still very bossy and stubborn, but at least I feel like she will not get pushed around. We are working on being more consistent with discipline - she responds much better to Eric than me.
- She just started wearing panties to school, and she refuses to wear diapers. I think she is finally ready!
- I love how in tune with emotions she is, the other day, I was sad about a family member on my dad's side passing away, and she looks at me, and says, "Mama, don't be sad."
- Her best friend at school is Isaac (or at least, she talks about him all the time), and she tells Eric and me that we are her best friends, too. She calls Eric "Da-Da Best Friend".
- She loves going to church and basking in all of the attention that is given to her. She loves being around people!
- She loves to sing and make up her own songs. Her teacher told me that when they watch movies, she still tries to sing along even if she doesn't know the words.
- She has started to be able to do puzzles by herself, which is amazing to me.
- She still loves to read! We read at least 5 books before she goes to bed. I hope she continues to love books as she gets older.