Christmas 2011



Christmas Eve for the Fishers (Dec. 21) reading "The Night Before Christmas" and the "Nativity Story" 

Christmas 2011 was a memorable one for us! It was Lindsay's 2nd Christmas, and she seemed to really enjoy it and pick up on certain elements of it. We had officially been in our new place for seven days before we celebrated Christmas at our house before we went to Bakersfield, and it was fun to create new memories in our new place. One of the things I always wanted since Jarrett and I got married were stockings with names embroidered... with the addition of Madison, our family is complete and I ordered us our very own set! Thanks Honey for my gift... and for making my dreams come true ;)

Here it is... Christmas morning, and it was a sunny, 65 degrees. Ah, Malibu.

 Daddy on duty for putting together the present... Lindsay got a doll house!

Later in the day we drove to Bakersfield to celebrate our niece Katarina's 2nd birthday and Christmas with Nonna & Grandpa Jerry. Here is Lindsay getting some lap time with Nonna...

Auntie Katie & the birthday girl, Katarina, (real birthday Dec. 23rd) in her pretty red dress!

She loved her Minnie Mouse ice cream cake and dug right in!!

While in Bakersfield we went to visit the California Living Museum to see the Holiday Lights... Jarrett and I did this a few years back, and said we would take our kids back when we came into town someday. It was a chilly 45 degrees, and as soon as Lindsay got out of our toasty car she said, "Burr Cold!!"

My handsome husband...

Maddie was the coziest of us all...

Under her coat she was saying "Whoa!!"

We were there a total of 45 minutes, which was more than enough time and escaped going on the rickety carousel by walking the other way so she couldn't see it.

One of the light displays... Lindsay pointed and said "Pink lights!!"

Next we spent Christmas at my Mom's new house and made some great memories. Here is Uncle Matt playing Santa and passing out the gifts... Lindsay was gladly helping him out!

Our little ham, hammin' it up... I told her to say "Cheese!"

Lindsay: "So, uh, Uncle Matt, you need some help opening that present?"

Auntie Annie helping Lindsay open her gift: a cute pair of mittens and hat!

Grammie and Lindsay playing with Christmas toys...

On Christmas day we went over to my Dad's house and opened gift and ate Chili Verde! Lindsay was a pro at opening presents by then, and tore into her kitchen stuff Papa got her. She loved the mixer, coffee pot and toaster appliances... she knew exactly what to do with them!

Auntie Annie & her boyfriend Alex opening gifts and trying not to be hit by flying appliances.

Another fun gift Lulu got from Papa was a book from Hallmark and a stuff dog named Jingle that barked as you read certain words. She giggled and thought it was pretty cute!

Yum! Fake food for the kitchen!

The best gift of all this Christmas was getting to spend it with the ones we love! It is so much fun getting to watch your child's excitement for the season and so precious to be able to share why we celebrate. This year Lindsay was familiar with the Nativity story, and could point out Baby Jesus, but I am so looking forward to watching her (and Madison) with each year that passes realize the most wonderful gift to all mankind was God's precious Son, Jesus. The Fisher's wish you and your loved ones a blessed New Year!!

34 Weeks and Counting...

Whew! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of excitement here at the Fisher household! We found out the second week of December that we were able to move into a four bedroom apartment on the Drescher side of campus aka "newer side", and the timing couldn't be better with Madison on her way in 6 weeks. So we spent the past week packing, painting and moving our stuff across campus. We are so grateful for all the folks Jarrett works with who helped us move, along with Papa and Grammy who both came to help with the childcare and painting. We are officially "in", and I will post pictures after Christmas when I can get the rest of my stuff hung and Maddie's room finished. We are LOVING the extra space, ocean views (wow!!) and more than two drawers in the kitchen...LOL.

This is our Madison, at 30 weeks. I have another ultrasound at 36 weeks, and it is my final one until she is born. Between the holidays and moving, I think this pregnancy has gone by so fast. Here are a few fun details I am learning about our soon-to-be new addition:
*Madison and Lindsay both wake up around 7am... if I don't hear Lulu talking in her crib on the monitor, I will feel Maddie squirming around! I hope it will last...LOL.
*Maddie's favorite time to let us know she hears us is when I read a story to Lindsay. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is, she likes to listen in and push her big sis over to get in better hearing range.
*Sweet Tooth...I have been craving pancakes like crazy- or basically anything I can drench in butter and maple syrup.
*Small and Low...Most of my family and friends comment on how the Madison bump looks smaller (to me it just looks big) than when I was pregnant with Lindsay, and definitely lower. Gotta do some serious ab work after she is born to tighten up those muscles!!
* Madison is nearly 5 pounds this week, and almost 18 inches long! Growing girl!

Can't wait to meet you sweet Madison!!

Holiday Fun

My mind has been all over the place lately, and I am kicking myself for leaving my memory card in my computer while we went to Bakersfield for Thanksgiving, Madison's Baby Shower and Carol's Birthday party. Seriously, I can only blame it on pregnant brain. I even went as far as to bring the battery charger for the camera just in case. Grrr. Anyways, luckily, my sister took a few pictures of the baby shower with Great Grandpa Joe's camera, and I am hoping to get those around Christmas. I will be doing a backlog of posts in December...

On another note, I love the holidays! We decorated when we got back into town, and we are delighted that our eldest daughter shares our festive spirit. She loves to dance to the snow globes, and is excited to show guest "Baby Jesus" in the nativity. I was feeling the holiday baking spirit, and made Mississippi Mud Cookies with the leftover marshmallows from some my candied sweet potatoes. They were a hit in our house, and I will probably make them for any cookie exchanges I go to this season.

 "Back Away from the Cookie MOM!!"

 Some of my favorite gifts (both to get and give) are homemade ones. During the summer I began working on this project, and I finally finished it. It is a cupcake pan with little felt cupcakes and inside the pan is matching fabric for a color-match game. Lindsay is into her play kitchen and I thought it would be fun for her to 'bake' some cupcakes while practicing her colors (the teacher in me). I made two sets, one for Lindsay and Madison, already foreseeing sharing issues. I think Maddie will enjoy chewing on the cupcakes, but will later appreciate the idea. I got the idea from a crafty blog site, which of course, I can't remember.

 Here's the color matching part...

 Had to put my "Made by Mom" stamp on it...LOL

Picasso a-la Lindsay

We had an impromptu painting session today, and here is our very serious painter...



Now she's really getting creative....

 Love those sweet, messy hands...

The finished product... I think it was a success. No paint in the mouth, or on the carpet. Our neighbor, Pablo (no kidding) is turning two tomorrow, and I think we are going to give him the painting in the middle as a card.

21 Months

I am a little late posting, but whoa, has this girl been busy!! Our little lady has been growing and learning so much the past few weeks! Here are some of the fun things:

*Counting!! Today she counted to TWELVE all by herself, without any prompting from Jarrett or I. She has been counting to 5 lately, but blew us out of the water when she passed up 5 and went on to 12!!
*Colors... Each week Lindsay seems like she has been experimenting with trying out different colors. She will point to a color and say, "PINK" first, then try out "GRAY", "BLUE", "PURPLE", "YELLOW" (yay-yo) *my favorite* etc.. until she gets it right. She can get pink and gray with about 80% accuracy, and all the other colors less frequently.
*Words and Phrases... There are numerous words she has began saying the past few weeks. Here are some of our favorites: "Where'd he/she/it go?", "Let's go go", "Jesus Amen", "Nakie Bootie" (while getting her diaper changed), "What's that?", "ishes"= fishes,  "Pretty Dress/shoes/purse", etc...
*Recognizes things I cook with: Butter (says Yum!), Cheese, Milk, Eggs, Bread, Bacon (Nonnie would be proud) she calls out as I take it out of the fridge. Now that I am checking out my list, I do actually cook healthy stuff too, but I guess it is not as memorable.
*When we ask her what her name is, she will say "Lulu" and point to herself. This is big, because she thought her name was "You" up until recently...LOL. I cannot believe my baby is going to be TWO in a few short months.

When we decorated for Christmas last Monday evening, we had just begun setting up the tree when she went to bed. She was so excited when she woke up the next morning and saw our decorated tree! Jarrett carried her into the living room and she pointed and said "Whoa!!" and proceeded to say, "Mer Kiss-mas". No joke. She said Merry Christmas. Jarrett and I looked at each other and were like, "Did we just hear what we think we heard? Really? Did she actually say it?" It was so surprising because we haven't really been talking or reading about Christmas yet, and she's only seen a few Christmas trees or quick commercials on TV. She did say it, and why, for the life of me did I not get it on video?!? Oh well. She now refers to our tree as "Kiss-mas" and says, "Nigh Nigh Kiss-mas" when she goes to bed.
The photo above was from of our Christmas card photo shoot done by the fabulous Janae Royston (check out her blog link to the left) a sweet friend and SPB alum. Lindsay was not in her best mood, and despite the getting dark so fast and the temperament of the subjects, somehow, Janae was able to get some good shots in. Thank you so much!! I will post more throughout the month ;)

Disneyland

Last Tuesday we took Lindsay to Disneyland for the first time! My mom (Grammie) went with us, and we had a fabulous time, with beautiful weather and a Christmas decorated park. Since Madison will be so new on Lindsay's 2nd birthday, we thought a trip a little early would be fun!

Grammie & Lindsay rocking their shades

My Prince Charming... celebrating 7 years of marriage on Sunday... Whoo Hoo!!

 When we first got to the park, we saw Pluto, and she said "Puppy"! She sometimes watches Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse in the mornings, and recognized him immediately! She wasn't scared of him (which I think is because Daddy is holding her and she was feeling brave) and even smiled for a picture.

Hmmm.....Where to first?

 We were hungry when we got to the park, so we headed over to a cute BBQ restaurant in Frontierland. They had entertainment while we ate, and our dancing girl couldn't help but get out there and shake her bootie!

 The first ride we went on was Casey's Train, and she was making really silly faces...

 On the carousel... which the horse she was riding on went really high and scared her a bit. We were a little more careful about which rides we chose to take her on after that.

 Daddy and Lindsay on "It's a Small World". It was decorated for Christmas and was really sweet.

 I think the dark was making her a little sleepy... LOL. Tired tongue was out!

 Fast forward 14 years... teaching this girl to drive.. sniff sniff.

Lindsay saw Minnie Mouse while we were in line to go into her house. Maddie decided to crash the pic.

Minnie Mouse's house in Toontown

Minnie and Lindsay sharing a hug.

She was so excited to see Minnie!!

Daddy carrying a tired Lulu

Jungle Cruise! She LOVED all the animals..

Checking out the "ish" on Finding Nemo ride.

Family pic!!

The girls in front of the castle

 Here are some pictures of the park decorated for Christmas... the lights were beautiful and it was a great kick off to the holiday season!

We stayed until the Christmas Parade, and it was so cute! Lindsay loved the music and seeing the characters on the floats.

"Whoa Daddy!! Check that out!!"

Someone's getting tired....

 My favorite float was one of the last ones, and it was gorgeous, with a few of the princesses and princes dancing.

This was the last picture we took on our way back to our car from the shuttle. She was one tired kid, but had a wonderful time and was such the little lady all day. Thank you Mom for going with us, and for sharing those sweet memories! Love you!