The Nutcracker and Random Juliana

We went to the Nutcracker on Sunday and I learned that I am not a fan of ballet...soooo boring. I would have fallen asleep if not for Juliana bouncing from my lap to her seat and back the whole time. 

Since our trip to Disney, Juliana questions whether people or animals are real.  For example, on the Safari at Animal Kingdom - real animals; Splash Mountain - not real animals.  So this conversation a few minutes into the ballet didn't surprise me.

Juliana: Are those real people?
Me: Yes
Juliana: Why aren't they talking?
Me: In ballet they tell the story through the dance and the music
Juliana: Will those people be able to talk when they are done?
Me: Yes

Apparently she was concerned that the stage was filled with people who couldn't talk.

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Thursday night as I was returning her bath towel to the bathroom, Juliana screamed and started crying.  I went running back to her room where she was standing on her bed holding her left foot in the air.  I scooped her up and looked at her foot which was scraped along the side.  I asked her what happened and through the tears she was able to say: I was jumping on my bed like a monkey and hurt my foot (said with tears and great drama).  After she calmed down she told me she wasn't going to jump on the bed any more.

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I have a shoebox that holds all of the ornaments Juliana has made over the years as well as some unbreable ornaments.  I gave that box to Juliana when it was time to decorate the tree.  Every few minutes I would hear a comment like - this is the most beautifull ornament...and sure enough it would be one with a picture of her.

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She is getting very demanding recently, especially when I am feeding the boys or getting them dressed.  Apparently she is going through another jealous period.  Most of the time she really loves her brothers.

Christmas Day

We spent the afternoon with Scott's family: Nana and Papa, Sean, Amy, Jake, Sara, Erik, CJ, Kathy and Kara. The kids all received lots of presents. Juliana was still not feeling great, but made it through the afternoon.

Christmas Morning at Home

After Juliana was in bed Wedenesday night, we assembled the Santa presents for the morning. Scott assembled the work bench and I filled her stocking. When she came downstairs in the morning she was excited to see the work bench and find presents in her stocking. She spent quite some time with those surprises and we had to coax her into opening the presents from under the tree. Eventually everything was open and she was happy to play with her new things.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents, brother and sister-in-law. Juliana still isn't back to normal, so she rested on the couch while the rest of us enjoyed the yummy turkey dinner - it was much quieter without her at the dinner table.


After dinner and clean-up we started opening presents. Juliana received so many wonderful presents including a bouncy seat for her baby doll, cool school computer keyboard and games, and books and clothes. One of her presents was a rocket chair (Little Einsteins) that Unle Nick had to blow up for her.

The Horse

When the first Christmas present you open is bigger than you are, makes sound, moves and you can ride it...will the other presents pale in comparison? Leave it to Uncle Nick to buy something over-the-top. I have a feeling the kids will always look forward to seeing what's under the tree (or in this case in another room) from Uncle Nick and Aunt Becky.

Christmas Card Pictures Not Used

This year I really wanted to take Juliana's picture outside - she has an adorable coat and hat that look perfect over her Christmas dress. I should have learned my lesson 2 years ago when I tried to take a picture outside in early December. However, I thought we could take a quick picture and be done even though it was very cold. It was clear that Juliana was not going to be a willing participant as soon as we got outside - she had no interest in standing next to the Penguin and started complaining immediately that her hands were cold...it's not like I was wearing gloves.

There was no coaxing a pleasant expression for one good picture so we gave up and wandered around the house - looking for a Plan B. We ended up taking pictures of her on an old trunk and the one that we used in the Christmas card was good in the end (after bribing her to smile and look in the direction of the camera of course). Here are some of the pictures that we did not use.

They are Called Stockings

Cleaning

One of Juliana's most used Christmas presents has turned out to be the Little Tikes cleaning set - she loves to sweep with the broom and then empty the dustpan into the waste basket. She even did some dust mopping on Christmas day.