They were each allowed to pick one thing and Mila picked a choker and Nellie picked a tiara.
Even though Mila and Kira go to different schools and don't see each other much these days, we still have a standing sleepover the first Saturday of the month. It's nice to have it consistent on the calendar and the girls LOVE it. They truly have a special bond. Next month we are adding the little girls (Nellie and Siena) in so the parents will each have a (free) date night every other month!
Mila is such a little social butterfly, I have to let her know that we can't go to every birthday party she gets invited to...we would go broke buying all of those birthday presents! Still, between the two girls, it seems we had a party every weekend in December.
Mila's Kindergarten class had a Christmas performance at the church this year, which is new for Mila. Usually it's held on the school campus but this year it was at night, at the church. Mila had so much fun practicing for the performance and taking a field trip to the church the day before.
She was so excited to dress up in her Christmas best (thanks Nana & Papa!) and have her hair curled for the big night.
She absolutely adores her teacher, Mrs. Johnsen, and I must say, I have to agree. She's so sweet, patient and kind, but also has so many "real" moments that help her to be relatable as well. We are so lucky that she sends an email every. single. day. after school letting us know what they did at school that day. It's so nice to know what's going on since I only get about a 1-2 sentence recap from Mila!
So many of the girls in her preschool class moved over to the Kindergarten class so she really didn't have much of a transition at all. I am thinking that next year, for 1st grade, will be more of one, but I don't anticipate it being a problem for her.
One of the moms in the class through a Christmas Cookie Party for all of the Kindergarten Girls right before school was out and I am so glad we went. It was nice to meet all of the other moms and meet a lot of the girls I didn't know yet. It was a great party; definitely one I would be interested in throwing in the future!
Nellie had been talking about her birthday party for months now; she was so excited to have her "best friends" (Mila, Ariah, Kayleigh and Alyssa) over to celebrate. Every time I asked her what kind of party she wanted, she never hesitated in asking for a Wonder Woman party. I find this hysterical because it's SO Nellie but, also, we have never watched any Superhero show, let alone Wonder Woman! She must be learning about it from school, but she's still so obsessed.
Her big present from us was to go see Disney On Ice; I wasn't sure how they would like it because we haven't seen any kind of live performance this this with them before but they both had a blast. They loved the ice skating and the stories and, of course, the snacks. I wasn't sure what to expect, either, but I must say, it was a great performance and we would definitely go again.
Nellie also had a Christmas performance at school but she had a little something extra. She's been taking a dance class at school on Wednesdays and we found out shortly before the program she would be performing with her dance class! I wasn't sure what to expect, and I really didn't think she would do it, but she did amazing! It was SO adorable and she nailed it!! We are so proud of her.
We had a low key Christmas this year, exactly how I liked it. Nana and Papa came over on Christmas Eve and we hung out for the afternoon and the had dinner together and opened presents. We are so thankful that they spend their Christmas out here, not only to see us, but also to help with the girls when they are out for Winter Break.
Our family of four celebrated Christmas morning after Santa came and then we drove to Palmdale to see Grandma, Grandpa, Tio, Great Grandpa and Pop.
It's been a while since we have all been together and it was so great to spend time together. We were even able to snap and amazing Christmas picture!
Mila was DYING to get an "Alexa" this year and, low and behold, Santa brought her one. They have had endless amounts of fun talking to her, asking her for jokes, getting her to play music, listening to stories and so much more. But their favorite thing was once they figured out that Alexa will repeat whatever you say if she doesn't know what it is. For example, "Alexa, play poo poo shark"...."I'm sorry, I don't know what poo poo shark is;" and they they will fall on the floor laughing and repeat this about 245 more times. Thanks Santa :)
Robert and I attended our fair share of parties in December as well and I know we are both glad the month is over; we're too old for this! In addition to each of our work holiday parties, we had dinner and a cruise around Huntington Harbor with the Charlands to look at Christmas lights...
Father Pat's annual Christmas party...
A wine party...
And an early New Year's party with our best friends...
By the time New Year's Eve rolled around we were all exhausted but somehow managed to stay up for the East Coast's New Year's celebration, where we cheers'd with apple cider and called it a night at 9:30pm.
I'll leave you with this amazing video and a glimpse into what it's like to be the daughters of two police officers (or maybe what it's like to be the fathers of two daughters?!). At least they're able to have fun with it for now!
Things we're looking forward to next month: school starting back up again, the start of Mila's club soccer and a staycation with the Charlands in South County.
