Christmas & Swimming

Merry Christmas to All! Yes, I know it is late but somehow time slipped away from me. Christmas Eve was bad weather so we went to my mom & dad's house early to celebrate. Josey loved ripping the wrapping paper off her gifts! She was the perfect age to get opening gifts. She did get sick of sitting still. Christmas Day, we celebrated Christmas as a family. Josey loved all her gifts. Here is a picture of Josey with everything she got: magnetic alphabet, magnetic barn with animals, tutu pajamas, 2009 official coin set (ok so maybe she wasn't ecstatic about this), doll stroller, and babydoll. This is Josey sitting on her trampoline she got from Grandma & Grandpa. She figured this out right away and LOVES to jump on it. I had to remove the big down blanket around it b/c she wouldn't jump with it there. What a turkey! She has quite the personality.

Josey & her babydoll, Ruby. She carries her doll everywhere. She give her hugs, kisses, and pats on the back all the time. You'll have to watch the video at the end of this entry b/c it shows you how much she absolutely loves dolls! I was never a doll person growing up but I am so glad she enjoys them. Josey's face lights up every time you show her Ruby.

I forgot to mention that Ruby came with a pacifier which is supposed to be velcroed (sp?) to her wrist. Let's just say that Josey has it more than Ruby :) She's constantly chewing on the paci. Doesn't surprise me though, we are working on getting two more teeth in on the bottom!

We decided to try spaghetti. Brian doesn't care for spaghetti so Josey and I had a little the other day. One of our neighbors gave us a jar of homemade sauce for Christmas. It was excellent so I think I'll just have to ask his recipe :) Josey loved it and you can tell from the picture!

Brian had a great idea on Saturday to go swimming at the local hotel here in Kasson. We were going to go on Saturday but when I got to the hotel there were quite a few people in the pool so we postponed our trip. We found out that checkout time was 11am so we decided to go after that hoping most people would be gone. There were quite a few adults in the hottub but only 3 older kids in the swimming pool. Let me tell you...I was surprised at how cool the pool was when we got in. Josey was shivering at first. I don't remember them being that cold when I was a kid but maybe I just didn't care :) Josey wasn't too keen on the idea of swimming when we got into the water but warmed up to the idea quickly. Here's a picture of Josey in her blowup boat we had for her. She loved to lean over the side and splash in the water. Brian played motorboat with her several times and she loved every minute of it.

Here's Josey waiting for Brian to get her toy blown up so we could go into the pool. Isn't her little butt the cutest?!?! You can't see it but on the front of her suit are bigger flowers that match the ones on her butt. Believe it or not, some lady still called her a little boy! Seriously people!

Josey swimming without her floatie toy. She wasn't too sure what to think when we wasn't in her floatie toy. She did start to kick her legs when we were swimming. We definitely had a blast. I'm so glad that my husband isn't embarrassed to spend family time/play with his daughter out in public.

Here's the video of Josey getting to hold her babydoll for the first time after we got it out of the box. Tell me this doesn't just melt your heart :)

May you all have a very safe and happy New Year! Ours will be very quiet since I have to work both New Years Eve & Day.