Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from the Hepper family! It's Christmas day and we've just finished unwrapping a mountain of presents from Santa and family members, and eaten ourselves sick with a big Christmas breakfast. Now the snow is coming down and we're relaxing by the fire, watching a white Christmas unfold. The kids have tuckered themselves out after a fury of unwrapping and oohing and aahing over all the gifts they received. Here are some highlights...

Sophia and Caroline got IDENTICAL of everything. This was absolutely crucial as the girls have already started comparing belongings and will shriek with horror if one girl has something the other does not. Among (lots of) other things, each girl got an American Girl Itty Bitty Baby, a baby cradle complete with bedding made long ago by Marmee's mom, Great Grandma Sinkele, a toy vacuum cleaner and Lily Pulitzer plate and utensil sets. My personal favorite toy is the vacuum of course :) Landon got more Star War figures and accessories than I can even begin to name as well as lots of Leapster games and books.

All of those gifts don't include the fantastic stash that Caroline received from the Hepper side of the family. Our little Christmas girl got tons of great new clothes, a Radio Flyer bumper car, a music set, and more!

And as if all of these presents weren't enough, Santa decided that Christmas was the perfect time for Caroline to get her molars! She's got 4 breaking through at the moment, with swollen gums indicating more on the way. Luckily, Caroline has always been a non-eventful teether, so these new arrivals aren't really cramping her style.

Caroline is lucky to have such doting family members on both sides. We had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a few more days of relaxation, good food, and family before we head back home to Richmond. Here are TONS of pictures of our Christmas....

All dressed up and ready for church on Christmas Eve.

Dueling vacuums...

Helping Daddy unwrap a gift.

Happy Christmas girl!

The "twins" eating breakfast with their new hats and plate sets.

The girls "baking" in the kitchen with Play-Doh.

Marmee's girls before church.

Dinner with Santa

Last night we concluded all of our pre-Christmas events with the grand finale: dinner with Santa! We went to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden to enjoy a wonderful seated dinner with our good friends the Benjamins and the Kinards and of course, Santa! The big man showed up about halfway through the dinner and took his seat on a stage, ready for the little ones to come and sit in his lap for a picture. Caroline eyed Santa warily from her highchair but stayed calm for the moment.

After dinner, we got in line for our turn with Santa. Caroline got to go first out of her friends, but I'm afraid she didn't set a very good example. She looked very uneasy when I sat in Santa's lap with her in my arms. As soon as I attempted the hand-off to Santa, the tears set in and Caroline squirmed with all her might to get free. She was quickly set down, handed a candy cane, and ushered off the stage. Of course, by the time we got back to our table, she was perfectly fine.

Soon after we bundled up and headed outside to wander through the botanical gardens and see all the beautiful lights and displays. Even though it was chilly, we had a fantastic time with our friends and are so glad we squeezed in one last event before the "big one" this weekend!
Tomorrow we're headed to Atlanta for the holiday. Stay tuned to see and hear about Caroline's 2nd Christmas!

All dressed up and ready to go to dinner!

With Daddy at our table...watching Santa on the stage.

Attempting the Santa picture...

The hand-off...

Mission: failed!

Wandering through the veggie patch, checking out the carrots and squash...

Looking out of the tree house at all the lights in the garden.

Winter Wonderland

Last night we took a family trip downtown to the James Center to walk in a winter wonderland full of reindeer and Christmas delights. The weather was perfect for the outing - it was 35 degrees - downright balmy compared to the temps we've had lately.
Our timing was perfect. We got there right after dark but before the crowds got too bad. We spent a long time wandering through the 50+ lighted reindeer (complete with a Rudolph sighting!), stood in awe under the enormous Christmas tree, and then headed inside the James Center lobby to check out more decorations. Caroline had a great time toddling around in her 5 layers, oohing and ahhing over everything she saw.
On the way home, we took the long route so we could scope out all the Christmas lights and decorations along the way. What a fun night!

My pictures didn't turn out so well - I couldn't figure out which type of flash worked best with all the lights. Here are some of the best ones we got...

Enormous (and beautiful) tree.

Winter wonderland

Mailbox to the North Pole

Tiny tot next to enormous tree

"Let me go, Mom! I want to check out all the decorations!"

Eskimo scene in lobby

Cookie Exchange

Today Caroline and I went to a cookie exchange at a friend's house. The cookies we brought were Great-Grandma Sinkele's Austrian angel cookies - they are always a hit!

I had to wake Caroline from her nap to get to the party on time, but as soon as we got in the car and I told her the magic word "cookie", she perked right up and was ready to party! She spent lots of time downstairs playing with all her great friends, a lot of time snacking on goldfish, fruit, pretzels, and of course, cookies. A little cookie decorating, some "shopping" for cookies to take home, and some more play time with friends and we were partied out and ready to head home.

What a fun way to spend a cold and dreary winter's afternoon!


Double-fisting a cookie and a pretzel.


The cookie spread


Caroline and Hailey playing together.


Caught red-handed!


Decorating a cookie (but mostly just eating sprinkles)

Caroline's Holiday Season by the Numbers

Here's a breakdown of all the holiday happenings around the Hepper household as they pertain to Caroline:

0 - the number of visits we've made to Santa. Don't worry - we've got one planned for next Monday!

1- the number of presents Caroline has unwrapped prematurely - pretty good, huh?

2 - the number of trips we made to the post office to get all our packages mailed in time. Caroline was a gem during both trips, charming the cranky people in line with her adorable antics and winning smile.

3 - the number of Christmas trees we have in our house (one regular, 2 miniature) that Caroline has to say "goodnight" to before going to bed

5 - the number of ornaments Caroline has "altered", requiring glue gun repair

7 - the number of self-guided Christmas lights driving tours Caroline and I have taken in the last two weeks. Once Caroline sees one set of lights, it's "more, more, more" until we keep driving in search of others.

10 - the number of trips we've taken to Target in the last two weeks shopping for holiday supplies and gifts. I hate to admit this, but if I don't see a Target for a while, I won't be sad at all (and neither will Paul!).

At least 25 - the number of times we've watched the Elmo's World: Happy Holidays movie - I pretty much know every line by heart

45- the number of cookies we'll need to attend a cookie exchange later this week - fingers crossed we get some good ones in return!

85 - the number of Christmas cards starring Caroline mailed by us last week - hope you got yours!

115 - the number of chocolate dipped pretzel rods I made to give to our friends and neighbors

About 25 - the number of chocolate dipped pretzel rods Caroline has eaten since then (she only eats the chocolate part, of course)

Countless - the number of Christmas songs we've listened to since Thanksgiving. Caroline loves to dance to the music, although her dance moves resemble well-formed squats more than anything else.

That's about it! We've had a very merry holiday season so far and are looking forward to seeing the DeNiro side of the family for Christmas next week!

Caroline checking out the BIG box of goodies sent by the Grandparents Hepper!



Mmmmm...cookies!



I love Christmas!

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

With our outdoor lights already up and most of the indoor decorations out, we decided it was the perfect time to go out and get our family Christmas tree! We drove to the faraway land of Home Depot and scouted long and hard (about 5 minutes) for the perfect tree. With our new tree strapped to the roof of our car, we happily drove home. Caroline kept pointing at the sunroof and saying, "bah, bah" with a look of great concern on her face. She seemed to think we were unaware of the giant tree tied to the top of her car!

Once home, we snapped the tree into our trusty stand, strung it with lights and decorated it in no time. Caroline was semi-helpful. She thought the ornaments were balls though, and we had several close calls with ornaments getting tossed around the room. Mommy remembered to put the non breakable ornaments on the bottom of the tree since little hands like to explore anything within reach! After that we added our presents underneath, and our completed tree looked fantastic!

Caroline's favorite thing about the tree is the lights. Every time we turn them on, she says, "whoooaaaa!" It never gets old to hear her say it :)


I'm not too impressed with this selection, Daddy, but I guess this one will do...



What a pretty tree! And yes, that's a popsicle in my hand :)


Daddy and I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast next to our Christmas tree!

Caroline's First Christmas

Whew! We made it through Caroline's first holiday season! I don't count New Years Eve for her since she goes to bed at 7pm and thus won't be enjoying any New Years festivities.
We spent Christmas in Nashville this year, with the Hepper clan. It was another packed house at Grandma and Grandpa Hepper's: Paul, me, and Caroline, Aunt Erin, Uncle Tate and Aunt Donna and great Grandpa Hepper and great Grandma Hepper . Also in attendance were the family dogs: Isabel, Frances, Lily, and Bailey. We enjoyed many nights of delicious food (mmm...peanut butter balls), good conversation and laughs ("Someone stole my shirt and pants!!"), and lots of Christmas cheer.
Caroline had a blast unwrapping her first Christmas gifts. Some of her booty includes a toy train from Marmee and Grampy, a Leap Frog Musical table from Grandma and Grandpa Hepper, and lots of adorable clothes (yay for the Lily Pulitzer dress Aunt Donna and Uncle Tate gave!).
Caroline had an especially good time during our Nashville visit. This was a really big week for her. Not only was she constantly surrounded by adoring fans who thought everything she did was spectacular, but she also made some really cool developmental leaps. Before we left Charlottesville, she had been army crawling for a few weeks, but she was generally slow and inefficient. Within days of arriving in Nashville, our little Sugarboo started cruising around at lightning speed, using a technique that involved some all fours crawling, some army crawling, and some "worm." Now she's a (speedy)lady on the move, with places to go and people to see. Look out world!
She also started going from lying down to sitting position. This development happened so fast, I'm not even sure when it occurred! When did our little bambina become such a "big" girl??
The only members of the Hepper household that maybe didn't have such a good time were the dogs. Poor Bailey was a little overwhelmed when not one, not two, but three dogs arrived to share her house. Isabel and Frances were on their worst behavior. Frances barked constantly at seemingly everything: a person walking outside, a car driving by, the other three dogs, or sometimes just the voices we think she hears in her head. Isabel was stand-offish, preferring to avoid the other dogs with the exception of a few times when she tangled with Bailey and the time when she nearly took poor Lily's head off for no reason. Lily was the best behaved of the bunch, although she did leave quite a few "presents" around the house for us to find. I'm sure Bailey is relieved to have her house back to normal.
All in all, Caroline's first Christmas was fantastic. We had a great time in Nashville visiting with the fam, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone again in January for Caroline's baptism.

Here are some of my favorite pics from the week.

Caroline and her adoring Grandparents.


Checking out the Christmas tree with Aunt Erin.


Caroline and Mommy in front of the Christmas tree before going to church.


Caroline unwrapping her musical table.


Caroline and her new choo choo train.


Caroline on the move!


Caroline on Daddy's shoulders, heading upstairs for a nap.

Holiday Happenings!

As Christmas approaches, there are lots of things going on around the Hepper household! We'll be in Nashville for Christmas this year, but I wanted to get the Christmas spirit going at our house too, so we've been listening to Christmas carols, decorating and we've gotten a tree. Caroline's first Christmas tree isn't the most grand tree you've ever seen, but it was all we had the space for. I'm also a little concerned as to how long the tree has been out of the ground. It looked all fresh and springy when it was at the lot, but as soon as we got it home, it started dropping needles like nobody's business and hasn't stopped since. At this rate, it will be a twig with ornaments by the time Christmas rolls around! It's a good thing I've got an excellent vacuum on hand to suck up all the stray needles. I've been using it so much (even MORE than usual, if those who know me can imagine) that Caroline doesn't even bat an eye anymore when I zoom by her with my trusty Shark.
Last week we went to the Darden Cold Call so Caroline could get her picture taken with Santa. I was worried she would burst into tears when placed in Santa's lap, but she was just fine. She didn't smile, but she didn't cry either, so it's a win in my book :)
Today we're baking Marmee's famous angel cookies for a cookie swap party tomorrow and this weekend we're getting together for our 2nd annual Darden Christmas bash. It should be lots of fun.
In other news, a few days before turning 6 months old, Caroline started to army crawl! It's very exciting to see her look of determination as she pulls herself toward something she wants. Sadly, it's often one of the dogs that she wants and the girls are way too fast and smart to stay put until Caroline gets to them! We also had to lower her crib matress because our crafty little girl has made several escape attempts lately. I'll post a video of her new moves later this week.
Here are some pictures: Caroline with the Darden Santa, her first Christmas tree, and Caroline checking out her "Baby's First Noel" ornament.