On the 8th Day of Christmas...

We celebrated Christmas at Papa Rob's!

Dear Abigail,

On Friday, Daddy finally made it in town! Hooray!!! And, we had our first Christmas of the weekend to attend at Papa Rob's house. When we pulled up you said "Do I like these dogs?" and I said 'yes" but you didn't believe me. But we walked in and you said "I do like these dogs!". I'm glad because no way was Papa Rob and Gramma putting those dogs up!

You immediately wanted to go up to the work out room and play and weren't the least bit concerned about the TON of food we had everywhere. Soon enough, your cousins arrived (JM, CL and Em) and they, too, joined you up in the workout room...

Miss Ida and Mr. Ron joined us and brought Madison (hooray!!) and Uncle Charlie showed up, too. We ate and ate and ate (well, you kiddos didn't!) and talked and talked and talked and then Papa Rob announced it was present time! First though, you had to go through all your goodies in your stocking!!

To which you found M&Ms!!! And then onto presents... Of course, Papa Rob was bribing all the grandbabies, making you give out your kisses if you wanted a present!

I'm not sure if it was pure excitement, or straight up accident, but you opened it...

And immediately dropped it... Look at your Daddy's expression! Don't worry, this thing was made to withstand 3 year olds! It's a Figit. Or a Wigit. Or something like that. Anyway, it talks to you and dances with you and tells you jokes. You loved it and call it "my friend." It's real name is Sarafina, which is appropriate, considering your BFF is Sarah, you know.

There were lots of fun presents handed out and everyone enjoyed playing with them...

We played and played some more, but eventually became wiped out and headed home to try for a good nights rest. Unfortunately, someone thought it would be okay to give you a piece of chocolate from your stocking right before bed (uh hmmmm Pic-pic perhaps???). We finally got you settled down and we weren't far behind you!

You loved your friend that Papa Rob and Gramma got you. You even got to sleep with it! And Simba, too. And Baby Kate. And Lamby. And The Owl. And of course, Lovey. Oh, and Baby Mimi. And Baby Coconut. Yes, it took forever to get you settled in bed...

Love you crazy girl!

On the 7th Day of Christmas

You pumped it up with your BFF!!

Dear Abigail,

On Thursday, Mimi had some 'things' she needed to so, and by things I think she meant 'take a break' but I don't blame her. While she was out and about, me you and Kate hung out in our jammies all morning, while we waited on your BFF to get off work. We waited what seemed like forever, but it was worth the wait. It was a pretty yucky, rainy day, so we had to think of something to do that would be fun, burn some energy, and be fun, so what about Pump it Up! Munford has it's own little pump it up and it was perfect! There was hardly anyone there so we basically had the place to ourselves, and we took full advantage!

You kept saying you wanted to race but you wouldn't wait on us to get to our spot!!

To say the least, this wore us out, more me and Sarah than anyone! We took a break and played a few games, particularly a alligator stomping game, which we dominated. You then played basketball, and, well, we've got some work to do before we turn you into a Lady Vol, but we've got time. We played ski ball, and only threw one ball off the table and then it was air hockey time. You played for a bit, but got quickly bored, so I took over. Sarah and I battled it out, but got so exhausted that we ended up quitting before it was over!!! Who knew air hockey was more exhausting than a jumpy house :)

A little more pumping it up and we headed home to get some dinner, pizza that is! And, little Sarah (your cousin) and Em were spending the night at Mimi's with you. Not me. I knew better and took Kate to Sarah's with me! You had fun with your cousins and Mimi assured me you were in bed super early. Apparently that wasn't the same for Sarah and Em, but that's what girls do when they are that age right. And besides, it's Christmas Niki!

I don't feel too bad eating all those sweets yesterday since I am confident we burned it all off today!!! And had fun doing it. But we always do with your bff!

On the 6th Day of Christmas...

We had a baking day!!!

Dear Abigail,

We have all been waiting for this day. On Wednesday, all those crazy cousins from the other night came over to Mimi's to help bake and make all kinds of sweets for Christmas. We learned from last year that you kiddos don't have the patience to let the cookies cool, so we went ahead (or rather Ash-ash went ahead) and made the cookies the night before. So first things first, we had to decorate cookies! Boy, did you kiddos get into it, and boy did you kiddos get into that sugar! I have never seen you eat as much sugar as you did today. You were literally spooning out icing, eating mouthful after mouthful. Not to mention your Uncle Bubba thought it would be funny to hand feed you M&Ms, since Mommy told you you were not allowed to get any more. It's Christmas Niki. That was the saying of the week. Anyway, I'll let the pictures speak the words...

Here's you getting started...

Sydney concentrating really hard...

OCD Hayden doing his thing...

Clara Lee, doing her thing!
Em, eating her thing!
Oh Emery had the tallest decorated cookie, at least until he crammed it in his mouth!
And yeah, here's Bubba hand feeding you M&Ms, as if you needed it...
And this is why we don't give you real knives...

Sarah's pretty little snowman...

After decorating the cookies, you kiddos needed to burn off some energy. We took a quick picture of all the cousins and sent y'all off to burn away.

Of course, that always leads to trouble, but you had to get the sugar out of you. Y'all played and played, inside and out. Emery decided to take a bath in a mud puddle - all boy, and we tried to get you all to eat lunch. Some were successful, others were still full on cookie and icing! While you played, the mommies made a few more goodies including brownies we thought we could cut to in shapes. That didn't work out for us, but that didn't stop you kiddos from decorating those!

Or eating them!

Eventually we were all baked out and everyone made their way home. It was a little too late to try a nap, and Mimi was watching you that nap while Mommy went out to dinner with Lynnie and Lizzy. She sent me a text at 6:30 and said you were out! Ha. You needed the rest, no doubt. And we'll be working off all those sweets for the next 6 months. That's one thing about our family, we love us some sweets! And baking day is a perfect tradition for this family! What a fun fun day. And what yummy bakers you all are!

Love you baker girl.

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

Our friends got strep throat.

Dear Abigail,

Oh man, I was so sad. On Tuesday, we were supposed to meet Mommy's good, good friend, Erin and her 3 little girls and hang out with them all day. We've had this planned since Kate's Sip n' See (so like November) and Mimi even had her doctor's appointment and errands to run scheduled for that day. It was going to be so much fun, catching up with my friend, watching you play with the girls, but on Monday afternoon, Miss Erin called from the doctor's office saying that poor Elizabeth had strep. She said we were more than welcome, but I quickly declined! The last thing I needed was any one of us getting strep, and she, of course, understood. I did tell her I was making her take a rain check though. So, with Mimi running errands, we were stuck at home by ourselves, oh and it was raining. Don't worry, at the last minute Ash-ash had a hair appointment she remembered so she brought Clara Lee over (and you, member you spent the night) that morning. So, me, you, Clara Lee and Kate. At Mimi's. It got interesting, no doubt. And no doubt the two of you are nothing but trouble! At one point you decided you needed to be a race car driver (i'm pretty sure because the outfit had M&Ms on them!) and Clara Lee needed to be an 'evil witch', although she looked rather precious vs the evil she was shooting for...

Oh, and yeah, you were jumping off of Mimi's couch, from the top. And then you two played Mommy and Baby, and then you were at a hotel, and then the hospital because CL was having a baby, which apparently was Punky, Mimi's cat. I was told to get out. I was important enough to stay in the delivery room...

You pulled every puzzle out and ate snacks and fought. A LOT. But you had tons of fun to make up for it. AND, we were able to get Mimi's house all straightened up by the time Ash-ash came to get CL and Mimi got home. Or at least all but the playroom. I think playrooms should stay messy for at least a day, right?

To make up for not getting to play at Ash-ash's house, she took you both home for the afternoon while Mommy visited with her friends The Bibbs. But somehow Ash-ash got the better end of the deal because you fell asleep at 3 and when I called at 6 to say I was minutes away she said you were still asleep!!!!! After my mini stroke, I told her to wake you up. I was counting on you going to bed early that night!!! We got home and had some dinner and, well, you didn't go to bed early, but finally by 8:30 you were asleep. It wasn't the day we had planned, but still just as fun! You are getting cousin overload this week, not to mention sweet overload, Mimi overload and sleep UNDER load!!! But "It's Christmas Niki", or at least that's what everyone keeps telling me :)

Love you crazy girl!

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

The Sawyers came to town!!!

Dear Abigail,

On Monday, we (you, me, Mimi and Kate) had the intentions of getting out early, running to Costcos, and heading back to Mimi's to relax before heading to Mammaws to see all our cousins. All that happened, minus the relaxing part! We got out early, but on our way to Mammaws I realized that Costco didn't open until 10, and it was 8:30! So, we helped Mammaw with a few things around the house and you played with Skipper, while he was in the cage of course. Finally we headed out, making a quick stop at Target, and made it to Costco just when it opened. Now, let me just tell you. I have never spent this much time in Costco! We did have 3 different people shopping (me, Mimi, and Mammaw) and 3 different shopping carts, but man alive, it just took forever. You did good for the majority of time, and even got a smoothie (one that Mom and Mammaw wouldn't dare drink because it was green!), but at the end, you had to potty, which meant you had to get out of the basket, which meant you were not getting back in, which meant you'd drive me crazy chasing you. We made it to the check out line, only to find you under someone else's cart being pushed through the line, loading the cart up with that person's food! Girl...

After Costco, we headed to drop Mammaw off (after a small panic of almost running out of gas - totally my fault) and then dropped our stuff off at Mimi's and got a little cleaned up just to head back to Mammaws. Why you ask, because the Sawyers were in from Houston AND it was Sarah's big 1-0 birthday! What a party we had! Everyone, and I mean everyone was there to celebrate. Even Jake, Lizzy's black lab. Whom you didn't care for. At least not at first. Let me just say, by the end of that night, you were chasing him around, giving him hugs, riding him like a horse. You loved you some Jake by the end of that night and even opened up to Skipper. And man alive did you play with your cousins. Let's see... Emily and John Michael, Sarah and Emery, Hayden, Sydney, and Gracie and Clara Lee. You kiddos played and played - inside, outside, a little bit of everywhere. At one point you were riding Mammaws reindeer that light up and then another time you were outside on the playground, by yourself, in the dark. That wasn't cool. And that wasn't the last time we caught you trying to escape outside... You're like Skipper - first chance to run outside and you do it! We ate chili and birthday cake and hung out for a really long time and then Ash-ash said you could spend the night at her house! A long day, but lots of fun and catching up with relatives. And not a single picture other than the one picture that Aunt G made me take to send to her which I never did!

Fun fun fun! And more to come!

On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

Papa Rob was in a Play!!

Dear Abigail,

Sunday morning we woke up and started some major duty packing. We were headed to Munford (i.e. Mimi's) for nine days - that's right - NINE days! We've got all kinds of stuff planned, but first on the list is to see a play that your very own Papa Rob starred in. For the last couple of years, Papa Rob has been involved in his church Christmas program, with last year being the main star. This year he had a pretty decent part, so I decided you didn't have to go to the nursery and could watch it with us. I was a little nervous about this because Daddy had to stay back at home and work all week, so it was just you, me and Kate. In other words, what was I thinking! I explained to you that this was kind of like a movie, to which you asked "Like where I will get popcorn". After explaining that no you will not get popcorn, but that you would get sweets afterwards, you said you'd be good and watch the show. Still why didn't I send you to the nursery? One word - Aunt G! Aunt G was there, so she held Kate the whole time while I sat by you, holding your feet down from kicking the chair in front of you, or keeping you from standing up on the chair, or keep you from talking every time you saw Papa Rob, asking "When's Papa Rob going to come sit by us?" Overall, you did do pretty good, considering it was at night, and you are 3 years old! You really liked it when the choir would sing and were waving your arms around every time. Finally I realized you were imitating the music director!

After the show we went to a little reception (where you got A LOT of sweet, thanks, again, to Aunt G!) and Papa Rob showed you and Kate off to all his friends. You and JM got a little hyper there at the end, so we decided to call it a wrap and head home, or rather our new home for the next 9 days at Mimi's house! Mimi was super excited to see you, and ready to get the festivities started at her house. Can't wait to see what unfolds!!!

Love love love little girl!

On the 2nd Day of Christmas...

You got meatballs!!

Dear Abigail,

Yes, yes, yes, I know meatballs isn't as exciting as a baby cousin, but today still had it's moments, and was tasty! After we woke up at Ellie's house and had breakfast with Nona and Papa and Ellie, we headed home to get ready for our own little Christmas party. Daddy and you learned to skate and played outside for a LONG time, and Mommy was able to get a lot done inside! We all got spiffed up and went to a fancy restaurant, but first, we had to make a pit stop at the hospital to meet your new cousin Christopher!

Next, we headed to Maggioano's, the most yummy Italian restaurant in Nashville. When we pulled up to it, you said "Look at this place Mom, it's beautiful"!! We talked and talked about how this was a big girl restaurant and not our typical Mexican gig and how we'd have our extra nice manners on tonight. And you did not disappoint. You were such a big girl. You read your menu and decided you wanted pasketti and meatballs. You also ordered a side salad, which I thought was just cute as can be :) Oh, and you LOVED you some calamari. You said "Do I like this Mom?" and Daddy said "It taste like chicken" so you tried it and said "I DO LIKE IT". And then your paskettie came. And one BIG meatball! You got a kick out of that for some reason. We ate and ate and ate, until I thought we were full, but apparently both you AND Daddy wanted dessert. I never turn down an opportunity to eat dessert with your Daddy! We all got our own special ice cream (yours vanilla, mine chocolate and Daddy's peppermint!) But, you came up with a great idea to share, so we did, and we ate and ate and ate! It was a delicious meal with a wonderful family!

After dinner, we headed home and started handing out presents from each other. You were very excited to FINALLY be opening presents from under our tree and got extra excited when you opened your '8 ball'! You let us know that Caroline has one of them, too and so does Toy Story!

You also loved the snow globe your baby sister gave to you. Snow globes are a big hit with you and it was only appropriate that she give you one with yours and her picture in it...
The matching outfits were a big hit (that is, yours and Kate's) and you were excited to read the book you gave to Kate, Lullabye, Lullabye, your fave as a baby. And you helped Kate open all her other presents, too.

Mommy and Daddy didn't do too bad either, with new bikes and a new tool box thing and I even got pj's for Christmas morning! You were very excited and wanted to sleep with your new 8 ball, and Simba, too. It was a great night, and a wonderful new tradition we've started by having our own little Christmas. Now it's time to prepare ourselves for a LONG trip to Mimi's!!!

Love you meatball!!

On the 1st Day of Christmas...

WE GOT CHRISTOPHER!!!

Dear Abigail,

Well, all week long we've been wondering if we were going to be able to celebrate Christmas this year with our Clark family. Aunt Amy and Uncle Martin and the kiddos are heading to England on Sunday until the new year, and, we're kind of doing a similar trip, except we're headed to Munford on Sunday. I'd say England and Munford are pretty similar, right? Anyway, so we're out of town the week of Christmas, the Ings are out, and Aunt Steph is major preggo with Christopher, and was due December 14th. We've known for awhile now about everyone going out of town so we planned ahead and decided we'd do our family Christmas on December 16th. Totally assuming Christopher would be here. And, unfortunately our house isn't ready, so Uncle Jaybee said we'd just do it at their house, because we all assumed Christopher would be here. Has anyone ever told you what happens when you assume??? Well, it makes for a hectic week. So C's not here, it's Wednesday, the party is supposed to be Friday and we don't know what to do. So, we just decide to just go with the flow, you know, last minute decide where 18 people are going to get together to eat/celebrate Christmas. SO - Friday comes and there is no Christopher, so we're having a party at Aunt Steph - yes, the one who was due 2 days ago. Of course, she calls that morning and says she's having contractions but not to really tell anyone because we just want to see what happens. Time goes by, the contractions slow up a bit as she moves around and prepares for a party at her house, and we arrive around 4:00. Within, oh, I'd say 20 minutes, I had NO DOUBT we were going to meet Christopher that night. Aunt Steph seemed calm and collect, as she always is, playing it down, just taking a knee when a contraction would come, or just sit down quietly, hoping no one was looking. Thankfully (and kind of unthankfully) the rest of the family was really late, so they didn't bug her too much, but once everyone got there, we immediately went straight to eating. Well, most of us did. About this time the contractions were 5 minutes apart and we were all getting a little concerned. We all kind of piece mealed our meal, between checking on Steph, checking on the kiddos, just getting things loaded in the car, etc. Finally, she called the doc and immediately got in the car. I wasn't in the car, but have been told they've never made it to that hospital in better time. Apparently Christopher wanted to join our family celebration. They arrived at the hospital and 45 minutes later, a beautiful baby boy was born!

Unfortunately, Aunt Steph didn't make in time for all the good drugs, but, as expected, she rocked it out (or rather him) with no problem. Meantime, we're all on pins and needles, waiting waiting waiting, thinking they'd get there, get her situated, maybe another couple hours, etc. We got a text from Uncle Jaybee that said "We made it" and 45 minutes later we got a text that said "He's here!" along with a picture!! To say the least, we were all in complete shock!!!

And, since we were all together, we decided to go ahead and open presents. Everyone was pretty pumped about their presents, but I have to say, you were the most excited BY FAR! Why you ask, because you got Simba. The one and only thing (other than a pretend Ellie that you mentioned once) that you asked for, and you got it!!!

You got some other super cool things too...

Like skates!!! Which you and Daddy tried out the next day...

And a really cool magnetic paper doll thing-a-ma-jig. And the Ing kiddos FINALLY got the Wii, after many many years of trying to convince their mean parents :)

I think they were a little excited, what do you think?

You had tons and tons and tons of fun playing with Ellie and Alexis and Caroline and I tried to put you two in the same bed, but that clearly wasn't going to work. Everyone but you, Ellie, Kate and Mommy went to visit baby Christopher (boo, right!) since it was such a late night, but don't worry. Ellie got up this morning and headed straight to see her little brother! She's quite the proud big sister, indeed. It was a rather different, rather quick, rather chaotic Clark Christmas, but at the end of the day, we did get to spend Christmas together!

And look, I even got Harrison and Spencer to hug each other (by offering up my phone for them to play with, but who cares!!!)
We're so excited to have a new baby in our family, especially a boy after all these girls lately!!! We owe baby Christopher a special thanks for holding out until we all were together (and maybe a little thanks to Aunt Steph, too!)

She may never speak to me for posting this, but just to have some evidence that she truly was in labor, and her 'coach' was right there supporting her!!

Merry Christmas Abs!!! We've got a lot more days of celebrating to go!