I'll be home for Christmas

We left on Christmas day to celebrate the holidays in Omaha, Nebraska. After the agonizing deep freeze we had in Edmonton earlier in the month of December, we were greatly looking forward to Nebraska. Well that was quickly shot down when we arrived to two feet of snow! My parents were snowed in and couldn't even make it to the airport to pick us up. Thank goodness Mary Jo's good friend, Mindy, was able to get out and make it to the airport! Phew!! Actually the crappy weather turned out to be a great thing. We were able to spend some time with Aunt Carol and Uncle Larry. They were so happy to be able to see Cora. :) Here are some pictures of our arrival and Christmas morning on Pierce.

Grandma Jo met us at the airport. For it being 11pm, Cora was in a GREAT mood. :)

Cora getting all kinds of snuggles from Aunt Jean.

The doggies, particularly Georgie, needed some extra lovin' from MJ and Carol. Cora and Charles, the white dog, got along unbelievably well.

Cora quickly spotted Nemo and proceeded to squeal and chase him around the house the rest of the week. She couldn't be more delighted with all her furred friends. 3 dogs and 1 cat at Jean and MJ's and 1 dog and 1 cat at my parents.

Cora opening her gift from Aunt Carol and Uncle Larry.

This Chick was hilarious. It plays "If You're Happy and You Know It" all while jumping around and flapping its wings. I love the look on Cora's face. Check out her furrowed eyebrows. Priceless! It also makes me laugh that the Chick is blurry because it was jumping around like crazy. Cora's eyes lit up when she realized we brought it all the way back to Edmonton. She really loves this thing.

One of many things that we can always count on from Grandma Jo is crazy hats to wear. She has always had a long standing tradition of wearing fun hats around. Don't you love Cora and Lee in their hats??

By lunch time, my parents were able to get out of their drive way. We headed over there to spend the rest of the weekend with them before Dad had to leave for work on Tuesday. Cora opened more presents, Dad and I stayed up late making lots of pies and cakes, we headed to the Omaha Zoo, and just relaxed. Lee and I even got to sneak away for a date!! It was our second date since Cora was born. We had a great time. We went to Roja for dinner and then saw Sherlock Holmes. Great movie by the way. Here are some pictures of Cora in Gretna and my favorite place, the zoo.

Cora opening 101 Dalmatians.

Cora playing with Grandma and Grandpa B.

Cora and I on the swing bridge in the jungle. She was clenching on pretty tight, but she did think it was neat.

Grandma Jo, Aunt Carol, Cora and me taking in the beautiful scenery.

Lee, Cora and me standing under a waterfall.

Blondie liked the scarlet macaws.

Grandma Jo, Aunt Carol, Cora and myself

Checking out the pygmy hippos.

The butterflies kept landing on us in the butterfly building. So neat! I love this building.

Watching the penguins. I love the silhouette of her little head in this picture.

Cora really enjoyed the aquarium.

She really enjoyed looking for the invertebrates.

Grandma B and Cora

We took a short break for a quick lunchtime snack. Cora wanted to share her gummy crackers with Grandpa B who was a happy recipient.


Grandpa B, Grandma B, and Cora posing with the gorillas.

Riding on Daddy's shoulders through the Desert Dome.


Lee showing Cora Cape Thick Knees.

Family photo op in the dome.

Cora loved trying to catch the little minnows.

She thinks she is pretty cool walking around.

A great photo of Lee and his mama.

Happy Birthday (Again) Sweet Cora!

Yummy confetti cake!

Cora and Aunt Anne

Oh boy! Another dog. She wanted to be next to Gar constantly.

This photo makes me laugh every time I see it. What was supposed to be a cute photo op ended up being an action shot of an escaping baby over the dog.

Another funny picture that I laugh at. Cora was so hyper and jumping up and down in her crib. Crazy Baby.

I think we can all see from this photo who Cora looks like.

Harassing Gar again. He was a trooper.

Playing in Mya's old bouncy chair while brushing her teeth.

I think I am going to have a part 2 to this entry or else it is going to go on forever. Stay tuned.

All I Want For Christmas

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas are lots of hugs, kisses, and of course, TOYS!
Love,
Cora

Cora on Christmas Eve in front of the tree. Cutie Patootie. :)

She is such a daredevil.

Cora loves playing peek-a-boo in the curtains.

Look at the pure excitement in her face. I LOVE her!!

Santa fully delivered for Cora. Our little family of three had a very special Christmas morning. It was so much fun watching Cora open her gifts and play with her toys. I think she was a bit overwhelmed with the hordes of gifts between her birthday and Christmas. The greatest part is she still plays with everything. :) Lee and I had been ordering books through Scholastic for the last couple months. She loves books, so we let her have them as soon as they came. We decided that we would just wrap her books so she could get some "practice" before she got to the toys she hadn't seen. This great idea turned out to be a huge mistake. As soon as she opened the books and recognized them, she pushed them to the corner of the room and wouldn't put them down. Oops. We ended up having to take them away just so she would finish opening presents. The next thing she opened was the coolest ladybug that she can ride. She loved it!! Just look at her face when she sits on it (around 55 second mark). I could watch this video a thousand times. Her face was priceless. She literally sat on the ladybug the rest of the morning. She sat on it while she opened her presents and played with her brand new toys. Everything she does makes me smile.

One of her books that she wouldn't put down. I adore her morning bed head.

Daddy and Cora

All smiles on her ladybug.

Opening our Jeffers' family present. Settlers of Cataan!! Woot!!

Still sitting on her ladybug while playing with her new toy from Grandpa and Grandma B.

I just think this picture is irresistible.

O Tannenbaum

We decided to get a Christmas tree the week of Christmas. We had a heck of a time finding a place that weren't sold out of trees. Once we found the trees, almost all the tree stands in the entire city were sold out!! Ack! We finally found a tree stand after running around for 2 hours, grabbed our tree, and came home to get it set up. Because we waited so long for the tree, we weren't expecting a great looking tree. The trees were pretty picked over. As the branches came down, we realized we ended up with probably the best looking tree we've ever had. It was beautiful. Here are some photos of Cora's first time decorating a tree. I think she'll be more excited about it next year. Lee and I had fun though.

Cora helping hang the lights.

Hanging the first ornament on the tree.

Didn't she do a good job with that ornament?

Helping Daddy hang more ornaments.

What is making Cora so happy?

It's her Elmo as the tree topper! He didn't stay up there though. :)

More Birthdays!!

Wow, this blog is so overdue. I am still talking about Cora's birthday! Eeek! We we're gone over from Christmas day until Jan 4 and the pictures will follow this entry. :)

Cora had two more birthdays since the I posted the entry about her little party. She had a little party at daycare and Lee and I had a small celebration on her actual birthday. I'll start with daycare.

I was shocked to see just how much Cora has developed and grown since starting daycare. I often spend a few minutes playing with her when I pick her up, but I rarely watch her interact with others there. Turns out she is kind of a Queen Bee. She is no longer the youngest, but she isn't of "walking" status yet either. However, you'd think she has been there for years and it was HER turf. I got there about 15 minutes before they brought the food cart in loaded with bananas and a birthday cake. As soon as Cora saw the food cart, she was yelling and chasing Nahid and Azar (her caretakers) around. She then crawled over to the table and started crawling into her chair. The other kids could care less that afternoon snacks had just arrived. They all went right along playing. Nahid and Azar were laughing and saying how much she loves her food. Boy, are they right! As the food was cut up, the other kids patiently waited for their food. Not Cora. She was putting her feet up on the table and growling. Nahid kept telling her to take her feet off the table. She would put her foot on the ground and 5 seconds later try with the other foot. Let me add, she wasn't being naughty at all. She was just demanding because she loves food. All food. It was a grand little party and Cora loved her cake and bananas. She was the first to the table and the last to leave, and she ate every last crumb. The only babe to finish her snack. :)

Cora's Birthday outfit. Stylin' gal.

Aren't babies sitting at mini tables the cutest thing you've ever seen? Both the boys are a few months older than Cora.

Feet on the table and grumbling under her breath. That's our girl. :)

Singing Happy Birthday to Cora.

The lucky babies got their chocolate cake before their bananas. This was a big treat!

Lee and I had a quiet little celebration for Cora's birthday. It was a really busy day cleaning up our last rental property, so we decided to take the Belle out to eat. We went to a favorite restaurant here in Edmonton, Asian Village. Asian Village has tremendous East Indian food. Lucky for Cora, they even had the chocolate fountain running! After dinner, we headed back home to open a few more gifts and head to bed. It was a lovely evening.

Cora riding her rocking horse. She didn't want to get off to open her presents. She had no idea what she was in for.

So determined to get into the box.

Despite all the fun, she was tuckered out after her long day.

Cora and Zambi the baby elephant that Daddy and Mommy got her.

Cora giving Baby Stella kisses. She got Stella from Grandma Jo, a bathtub for Stella from Aunt Anne, and a cradle for Stella from Aunt Jean.