christmas extravaganza

the holidays blew right on by at a furious pace this year - some complain that the holidays drag on, but for me it's different. i took down the decorations this past weekend and felt deja vu like i had just put them up yesterday. i think that's what happens when you have a kiddo - time flies at an exponential pace, no matter how much you try to slow it down.

we had at least 5 or so holiday parties this year, including alexandra's daycare party. it's a marathon, people, not a sprint!!! here's a picture of the 3 partners of my new firm at our first firm function - they are as beautiful and fun in person as they appear in this picture.



here's ashley and i toasting the success of our new firm ... yeah, i know, we're dorks.



we had our second annual cookie exchange (aka "excuse to stuff our mouths with chocolate, drink wine, and pick apart the latest issue of us weekly" party). i love these action shots:



my friend casey noted that i am always behind the camera and never in any pictures so she grabbed this one of me. this one cracks me up (notwithstanding that i did not realize how unflattering this top is, ugh!) because (a) the holiday apron - enough said!, and (b) the fact that i am cheerfully posing with a glass of red wine, which is not my drink of choice (i'm a white wine girl, specifically riesling).


the actual holidays were very fun but very tiring with lots of travel. we got to see almost all of our family, with the exception of my sister who was on call at the hospital in boston for what i think is the 2nd or 3rd christmas in a row.

we spent christmas eve at my parents' house (aka mimi and poppy) in harrodsburg:


i wish i got a better picture of alexandra's hairclip - it's monogrammed (you know us southern girls, we LOVE ourselves anything with a monogram) with her initials. i'm starting to develop a **wee** obsession with her hair accessories....not good.

alexandra loved her mimi and poppy's cats - check out that beautiful grin!


we returned to louisville that night so we could enjoy christmas morning in our own home. we woke up alexandra that morning so she could open up some of her presents. notice i said "some" - she was awfully good this year so she had lots of presents and we did not have enough time to open them before we had to get back on the road. as she is still under 2, alexandra is still getting the hang for this opening presents thing - by next christmas, i'm sure she will be a pro.



though we got her a bunch of gifts, they were mostly small - we didn't go overboard because we knew she would get a ton of stuff from family and friends. our "big" purchase this year was the elmo encore live, which you can see in the next couple of pictures. oh....my....word - we have several elmos in our house but none quite this fancy. he sings...he dances...he tells jokes....this little monster does it all. thankfully, alexandra has not been obsessed with this latest and greatest version of elmo so ryan and i have not grown tired of him...yet.



i was so happy she loved the little xylophone we got for her - she's in a music class at daycare and just loves to dance. she also got a little guitar and piano from her grandparents - we could have our own little family rock band.


the bows and packaging still held some appeal for her this year - here she is getting tangled up in the ribbon from the sweet monogrammed pottery barn jewelry box her daddy gave her.


we tried so hard to get a picture of her smiling but truth be told, i think she was a little overwhelmed by all the gifts and commotion.


after opening gifts, we finished packing up the car and hit the road for western ky to visit ryan's family in paducah. we settled in for the 3 1/2 hour drive - i tried to arrange our trip around alexandra's nap so she would sleep during the last half of the trip. well, my sweet child had other plans - she NEVER slept!! i was preparing myself for the major toddler meltdown which i thought would inevitably follow, but she did pretty well all things considered. she did go down to sleep early that night and slept 15 hours straight, so i'd say she more than made up for her nap!

here's a picture i took at his grandmother's house, and it is probably one of my favorite pictures ever taken of my little girl (despite the terrible lighting and the flash which i had to use). it's selfish, but i think one of the main reasons i love this picture so much is because she looks so much like me! (after hearing she looks just like her father oh, i don't know, one million times, it's nice to see she bears some resemblance to her mommy, too!)


there was more gift opening that afternoon and elmo and friends continued to show their influence.


the next day, we got ready for christmas round #3 with ryan's mom and stepdad in southern illinois. here's alexandra playing us some tunes on her new sesame street piano (i heart this little dress she is wearing - my child is so better dressed than me, it is pathetic).



we had a great time with ryan's mom's side of the family, but i think my little one was done. the past three days of celebrating, traveling and odd sleeping hours finally hit her like a brick wall and she was d-o-n-e, done...as evidenced by her expression in this picture!


the next day we hit the dusty trail for louisville, with full bellies, happy hearts and a suv loaded to capacity with lots of new toys.

here's hoping all of you had a wonderful holiday season!