A Minnesota Christmas

We've had quite the week and a day! We spent 4 days with the Seifert side and 4 days with the Udey side for Christmas! Emma was such a trooper and I got a TON of pictures. 

Emma sporting her sunglasses minutes before heading out the door.

What a model.

 First stop, my parent's house! Emma loved every minute of the attention she got here, either from one of my family members or the 2 dogs!

Trying to grab GiGi's tongue.

We were pretty surprised that Emma pounding on the piano
sounded pretty good. 

I think Auntie Abby loves this little girl sooo much!

Auntie NiNi (Nina) and Cousin WyWy (Wyatt)

Wyatt wasn't feeling the best over Christmas. 

But we LOVED seeing him for the amount of time we could!

Spending some time with Daddy!

Cuties!

 Last Thanksgiving, Jay took up knitting with the girls.... just for the day. This time he helped Abby make a fleece blanket. It turned out amazing! 

As much as my mom loves her job, it's tough when it takes her away from seeing the people she loves the most. She is the worship leader for the church back home and therefore had to be at church for the Christmas Eve and Christmas morning service. We were all too tired Christmas Eve to get ready and go to church.... But, Christmas morning we waited for my mom to leave and all rushed around to get ready. She was pleasantly surprised to see all of us at church. We figured if she had to be there and would rather be home with us, the least we could do was go where she was! 

Grandpa putting on Emma's shoes before we headed off to church. 

Sneaking a little time with GiGi during the church service. 

Uncle Joel reading Emma her new book Christmas night!

What a cutie!!!!!!

Off to the Udey's! Emma even wore a dress the whole way over. She was so excited to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house! 

Her new thing is coming up to you and
squeezing/hugging your legs until you pick her up.

Say, "Cheese!"

Opening presents. 

Full of smiles when there is food around. 

Spending some time with Grandma. 

Her cute new tutu that Grandma made her for Christmas. 

Horsy rides.

Helping Grandma cook while Mommy & Daddy got out of the house together. 

At both places, the kitchen has linoleum floors, Emma and her knees were not a fan. So, she learned how to bear crawl. She normally wasn't screaming while doing it, just so happens when I wanted to take a video she went a little crazy. :)

Hmmm.... 

...yep I'm super cool!

The best way Emma was kept content was with the wagon!!!! I had to limit the pictures I put up of her in the wagon. There were so many!

Getting her friends to take with her.

 Grandma, Grandpa, and Daddy all took turns carting her around. She loved this wagon. 

Last, Emma's, at the moment, 2 favorite toys from Christmas. Of course, they have to be the ones that are the loudest and take batteries. But, it's worth it.

A book Grandpa Udey picked out for her. 

And, my parent's neighbor, Mary brought gifts over for all of us. Emma is in love with this animal named Beatrice. She's already gone to Best Buy, Hy-Vee, and even out to eat at the Noodles and Company with us. I think it might be her new pal. 

Goofy Goofy

Tried to capture the cute outfit!

"Yes, Mother?" 

"MMMMM, graham crackers."

Cheering in her high chair again.

You'd think she's tired..... 

.....just being silly!

Reading & Reindeer

Another walking video! She's getting much better, but it's a little hard to catch on camera.

Start off with a cute, cute smile.

Sleeping beauty.

A new stuffed animal to carry around. Thanks Aunt Shelba!

A good friend, Kristi, from church stopped by with her daughter Mayleigh (MJ). Emma and MJ played so well together. Of course, Emma's favorite playmate is Auntie Cara. Cara has much more energy than I do, so she does the airplane rides. :)

Constantly standing up.

Emma was being so giggly!!!! I got a little of it on video!

This past Thursday, I was let out of the house alone!!! A new friend, Melissa, had a birthday and a few of us ladies went to Biaggi's for dinner. It was amazing to get out, not worry about getting home, and know that Emma was safe and sound with her daddy. We had a little gift exchange and I believe I got the most amazing present. Emma LOVES this blowup reindeer!

It was the first toy she went for after getting up from her nap.

 Emma has learned to take ALL her books off of her bookshelf. 

She loves reading, even the Bible. What a scholar or..... drummer? A wonderfully, amazing friend from college, Stephy B, dropped off some Christmas treats. Emma loves the tin she brought them over in. I had to take the treats out after Emma decided to dump them all over the couch. :)

Emma seems to do something strangely new every day. Lately, she has been beating her chest like an ape. I know, weird. Some days she does it with both hands and it's simply hilarious. 

And, I'll leave you with a smile.