Merry Christmas!

Our local fire department has a large model train garden on display at the fire station every year in December.  We headed over and enjoyed admiring the trains and figurines:

Christmas has been a great time of year for us.  We have especially loved having Nate home from work all week.  Also, we are grateful that Snoopy is his normal self again, after recovering from his herniated disc.  

Santa was a little bit too generous this year.  The funny part is that after Karina opened up her first present (a play kitchen), she didn't want to open up any more presents.  She just wanted to play with her kitchen.  Nothing else was interesting to her.  Complete with a microwave, oven, and phone that make noises, a stovetop that has different lights and sounds for both frying and boiling, undercabinet lighting, and lots of gear, Karina was definitely in love.  Thanks Mormor and Morfar. 

At some point she realized that opening presents is tons of fun and Karina began opening each present individually, unwrapping everyone's presents for them.  This was a tedious process as her little hands are slow to remove the wrapping paper and because we played with/read/admired everything once it was opened and before moving on to the next present.  Anyway, we never finished opening presents of Christmas day and it wasn't until late in the afternoon on the 26th that we were officially done.  

Much to Karina's chagrin, Lydia was allowed to unwrap one of her own presents.  Lydia, of course, tried to put the paper in her mouth once she finally tore off a piece. 

Both girls on their new phones:

Nate had the cute idea to get pictures of the girls in a box filled with wrapping paper.  I think they enjoyed the idea.

With Nate home, no major home projects going on, stores closed, etc, we decided this was a great time for potty training. Unlike previous attempts (months ago) where she would pee in her panties 2 minutes after 'trying' to pee on the potty, this attempt has been painless, easy, and awesome.  Karina is definitely ready, and she has surprised us multiple times by taking a trip to the bathroom and finishing up in there without us even knowing she was gone.  So far, yay for Karina.  I think we could have potty trained her earlier, but with a house move, a new sister, and constant house renovations, it was too stressful for everyone to bother.