Mid-December, as we were thinking of solidifying our Christmas holiday travel plans, my doctors made that decision for us! Due to various pregnancy concerns/conditions, my OB doctors decided to keep us near home in Chicagoland for Christmas. So with no Iowa/far northwestern Illinois travel plans, we had to make the best of our little Christmas at our place.
mommy, daddy, Alicia, and Tanner in front of our tree Christmas eve
We attended a nice Christmas eve mass early in the afternoon, and came home to make our own yummy grill out meal. We enjoyed a non-traditional Christmas meal of steak and salmon on the grill, yes, Drew braved the chilly weather, but it was totally worth it, I think! :) After our meal, we logged into the computer and got on a webcast and partook in the Kluesner-side Christmas eve festivities from Iowa. It worked out pretty cool, Alicia was super excited to see everyone on the computer and the tv screen and she sang lots of songs for them for entertainment. To make it even more fun for Grandma Karen and Grandpa Mike, their elves, aka Uncle Dan and Aunt Ann (Auntie Up) made a trip into Chicagoland a few days before Christmas to drop off some holiday cheer. So Alicia loved opening up the grandparent's gifts while they all watched via webcast!
A few days after Christmas, Grandma Kloss came in to visit with Aunt Mary Ann and Uncle Billy. We had a nice little Christmas at home here, with some good food and family time. Of course, a favorite for Alicia was a cool little Leapfrog Scribble and Write learning game from Aunt Mary and Uncle Billy for Christmas. She really knows her alphabet, but this game helps her write them the right way, so she had a ton of fun showing her skills off to them :)
Look, it's one of Santa's elves.. oh wait, it's Tanner trying to sneak open the gifts and pull off his favorite ribbon bows.
Alicia participating in the holiday webcast with Kluesner family at Grandpa Mike and Grandma Karen's house
Later that night, we made our special Santa gingerbread cookies and prepared our letter for Santa. Here's some pictures from our Christmas morning at home where Alicia opened up her presents and special delivery from Santa. She got some princess toys, a castle, a SuperWhy computer game, along with some other goodies.
Also, a special gift from mommy and daddy was a doll house that used to be Grandma Karen's and Auntie Up's when they were little girls. It is a pretty special gift for Alicia to play with and keep in our family. However, it is a big undertaking for mommy and daddy, as we have had to do some refinishing to it and make it a bit more modern, like any old house renovation project ;-) We will have to post progress pictures specifically another day for how the house is coming along. For now, Alicia is able to play with the house in its current state, but it definitely needs some finishing.
Christmas cutie
Look, it's one of Santa's elves.. oh wait, it's Tanner trying to sneak open the gifts and pull off his favorite ribbon bows.
