the slc christensens..

Christmas Eve all of Tom's sibs came over and spent the night at his parents house. I don't know why, but my favorite part of Christmas is everyone under one roof. It was fun for Ainsley to have her cousins there.
We watched the Polar Express and Ainsley was entranced.. she hardly looked away. She's also enjoyed Rudolf and some other Christmas classics this year. It's so fun to see her starting to understand and get into the spirit of things. I can only imagine how fun next year will be!

Ainsley didn't sleep well that night. It could've been thoughts of Santa coming.. but I think it was more likely the fact that all the people under one roof means babies sleep in the same room as their parents, lol. She woke up for about a 2 hour period in the middle of the night and then we got her up about 2 hours before her normal wake time to open presents, so she was one zonked out tired girl.. in case you are wondering where all the estatic smiles are in the pictures below.. they are still in bed, lol.

My playgroup did a gift exchange with all the kids. It was really cute, Tatum read a special night before christmas and everytime she said 'right' or 'left' that's the direction they passed the presents. I think the older kids liked it a lot, but Ainsley did not understand why we kept giving her a present and then taking it away again.

I guess you can technically call it a 'haircut'. She had a little trim of her baby mullet, lol. The hair on the back of her head grows much faster than the rest of her hair, and it was getting to the point i could make a creepy old man pony tail at the nape of her neck. I decided the time had come. And if she was going to have a haircut, I wanted to make it a real one. :) I had an appointment with my friend and short hair guru Randilee, and decided to go ahead and make an appointment for Ains too.

Anyone who knows me, spends any time with me, or talks to me for any length of time knows about Kirty. :) I saw a cute card once that said 'So many of my favorite memories have you in them'. That's Kirty.
Kirsten "Kirty" Jenkins is my bff. We met as roommates in the fall of 2000. My fellow roomates (including Eve, who you will meet at in a post like this at a later date) and I helped Miss Shy get together with her hubby. :) One night we actually forced her, kicking and screaming into a coat, hat and shoes and locked her out of the apartment and wouldn't let her back in until she walked across the cul-de-sac and went to visit Dan. :) Trust me, it was for her own good. ;)

Kirty got married at the end of that school year and moved to SLC. When I graduated a couple years later and moved to SLC myself and got married we were able to start hanging out again. Pretty much since then we see each other at least once a week... and frequently more. I sat for her kids tons before I had Ainsley, and love them almost as though they were my own. One year while I was still struggling to get pregnant she had them send me a Mother's day card.. probably the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.And since I had Ainsley, Kirty has given her as much love as anyone she's actually related to, Ains often picks her over me.. lil stinker.
Awesome Kirty Fact
* She was one of 3 friends who actually jumped into the pool at my wedding in their dresses!! I love my friends! (Take note of the other two for future posts ;) love ya ladies!)Kirty is nuts! and I love it!
I don't know how people run errands without a Kirty. It makes life so much easier. We take turns going to places each other needs to go and then one of us stays in the car with the kiddies so the other can run inside. It's amazing how much easier it is to get stuff done! I recommend everyone gets a Kirty to run errands with. :)
I can't even begin to count the number of things she's done for me and how many times she's gone out of her way to help me. She's the best friend a girl could have. Thanks Dirty, you rock.

Ok, I'm a sap.. but this song always gets me weepy eyed, and makes me want to take all my presents to the Salvation Army or Toys for Tots.. we are so blessed.. i hope we can all remember that.. Christmas time makes me humble..

when the girl sing "the best time of the year, when everyone comes home.." that's what Christmas is to me.

This morning a storm blew through, after it had settled down a bit, I suited up Ains in her snow pants and coat and we went out to try them out for the first time. :)

Our early Christmas present from Tom's mom was a membership to the discovery gateway children's museum. We are so excited to be able to use this all winter while it is too cold to run around outside. We tried it out last weekend with the Jenkins kids.

Hallee and Ainsley loving the Ball Bee Hive



Besides the ball, Ainsley's favorite part is the water flow station. They have little balls they use to illustrate the different ways the water flow is effected. She loves watching those little balls.

and playing with the water, of course.


Mommy and Ains driving the farm truck to market


Cowgirl Ainsley

I am still in shock.. but yes, the car pictured above.. is MY car!! AH!! It is a 2006 metalic green 7-passenger Subaru Tribeca, and I utterly LOVE it. I honestly can't think of another car I'd rather have. We got such a screaming deal, I guess now is the time to buy, especially larger vehicles. Even though my little Tribeca fits nicely in my gargage, and I feel nothing like a bus driver while behind the wheel. :)

I so can't believe I got this car. I own a cute little SUV with 3 rows of seats.. sigh.. contentedness.. I don't really need the 3rd row yet.. and I will probably have it folded down most of the time to utilize the great cargo space, but I love that I have that option. Tonight we took the Jenkins kids and Ains to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum downtown (Thanks Kathryn!!) while their parents were at a basketball game. We met up with them afterwards and both of our entire families fit in it. :) YAY!

Anyway, I feel totally and utterly spoiled... oh, did I mention, I LOVE MY CAR!