Opy

So Riley got this dress from GG. I don't know how GG does it, but every year she seems to buy something that Riley really wanted. We had, just a week before this, had a big meltdown in the store as I refused to buy her this dress. I had just bought her her Christmas dress. She made her choice, and that was it. Riley was so thrilled when she opened this. She disappeared for a while, then came down with it on and these beautiful princess shoes. She came over to me and said, "Look, Mom, I look just like that woman you like, Opy."

Jason and I were stumped and had no idea what she was talking about. "You know, Mom, that show you like; I look just like the woman on it, Opy."

Jason finally asked her if she meant Oprah. With great annoyance and exasperation she said, "Yeeeesssss."

I don't know why I couldn't figure that out. Silly mommy...

Christmas 2008

As much as we missed being able to be with any family this Christmas, I must say it was a lot of fun starting some of our own traditions also. We started it off with a Christmas Eve church service. It was so nice. At the end of the service everyone stood around in the dark holding a candle up. Riley proudly pronounced, in the middle of prayer of course, "Look, Mommy, I didn't even light you on fire!" That night I pulled out some special Christmas books I had bought and we read stories. We opened up two special gifts, had a yummy dinner of clam chowder, crackers and cheese. Riley laid out her cookies she baked for Santa and put out some "magic" reindeer food for Santa's reindeer. Really, they do a lot of the hard work, too, so why not? Plus, Riley was most excited about feeding the deer more so than Santa!

Then Jason and I's work was just beginning. We had many toys to put together, batteries to get loaded, stockings to get ready, you name it. Riley really enjoyed her presents this year, so opening them was an all-day event. She wanted to play with each one after opening it. We were begging her at the end of the day to finish. It was a very quiet, relaxing day. We had a great dinner of prime rib, seafood, a baked potato bar for Riley, and way too many other things!

I put a photo album on the side, so go check it out. I loaded a new Picasa and, ever since, have had trouble loading in photo albums on. I finally figured it all out tonight, so hopefully I'm back up and running. Jeesh!