So I was feeling like there was really no reason to decorate for Christmas this year. Between plans to spend Christmas in Kansas and not hosting any holiday functions it seemed like kind of a waste of time to decorate for just Mark, Amelia and I. It isn't that I'm Scrooge I was just feeling lazy. My change of heart can be attributed to two events; (1) waking up the other Saturday to the most beautiful snow and (2) Mark was adamant that we would have Christmas decorations and so he told me that if I didn't feel up to it he would take care of it. There is nothing like Mark threatening to decorate to get me motivated!
Amelia seemed to enjoy picking out a Christmas tree and the first snow storm of the season. 
Then dad had to go and throw snowballs at her which she wasn't too sure about. He claims it was perfect snowball snow so how could he resist......
After bringing home the perfect tree it was time for Mark to get to work shoveling. It didn't take long for Amelia to realize what Mark was doing. She pointed to the garage and said "shovel" and insisted on going outside to help. Without Amelia and her pink beach toy I just don't know how Mark would have ever gotten it done.
Amelia seemed to enjoy picking out a Christmas tree and the first snow storm of the season. Then dad had to go and throw snowballs at her which she wasn't too sure about. He claims it was perfect snowball snow so how could he resist......After bringing home the perfect tree it was time for Mark to get to work shoveling. It didn't take long for Amelia to realize what Mark was doing. She pointed to the garage and said "shovel" and insisted on going outside to help. Without Amelia and her pink beach toy I just don't know how Mark would have ever gotten it done. Clearly, she was an enormous help.
Does anyone know how to get a toddler to wear gloves/mittens? She refuses and her poor little hands were frozen by the time we got inside.
And then there was her daycare's holiday show. Amelia's classroom "performed" to Alvin and the Chipmunk's "Christmas Don't be Late." Hilarious is all I can say to twelve two-year olds dressed in their Chipmunk style initial shirts "dancing" to a song on stage. Our shy little girl kind of hung in the back but danced the entire song with a huge smile on her face.
Amelia started off her special day by making cupcakes with Papa and JuJu.
Had JuJu gotten involved in the kitchen earlier I have a feeling that Amelia wouldn't have eaten her weight in raw batter. After feasting on raw eggs she went for a spin around the yard with dad and Poppy. After her exciting day of raw food and being tossed around I got my special time with her when she came to find me just in time to get sick all over the carpet...
This is proof of the spin Amelia took around the yard after filling up on raw eggs.
It is SO easy to waste away a good part of the day while enjoying my dad's yard and the Phoenix sun. As JuJu and Poppy drove in from Palm Desert the sunshine is old news to them.
Oh, Amelia was such a happy, 
happy girl feeling the sun on her face. Poor think had no idea she was going to have to go back to Chicago to face the Chicago winter.
Amelia loves to answer the question, "what does mama do when she goes to work?" To which she replies, "Mama architect, Mama work in high building, Papa architect." Amelia got to show off her design and building skills while building a gingerbread house with Papa.
Two of her favorites; bubbles and Auntie M.
Proof that I'm not depriving the baby of yummy and ample food.
GranAnn doesn't come to Chicago without a bag of goodies for Amelia so of course this trip was no exception.
Amelia had no clue what was going on but she was loving getting to play with henrywilliam, making duck sounds and saying "trick-or-treat." She had yet to learn what candy was so she really didn't know how good her life was about to get.
Luckily we followed our neighbors advice and took our three little ones out super early as sure enough the block got PACKED. Amelia was stuffed with candy, had a full pumpkin and it had gotten cold so our little girl was happy to get a daddy ride the rest of the way home. I was happy that she wasn't still running down the PACKED sidewalk getting plowed over by the "big" trick-or-treaters who had long forgotten manners.
The proud grandparents and their artist!
The school keep all the projects covered so they are a surprise for the parents on the night of the event. In addition to all of the kiddo's masterpieces the teachers did a "project." Each student was photographed and then participated in a question and answer session. 
Amelia showing 
We took advantage of the cool weather and hit the road to the country for apple picking.
It didn't take long for Amelia to get the hang of, "rip apples off tree." She rather enjoyed it.
This was when she was happily playing in the toddler play area. Next came a temper tantrum when mom and dad took her away from toy tractors and petting zoo.
Our little chef was a great help baking dad's birthday cake. She is still demanding, "finger, cake!"
As Mark and his dad share a birthday their birthday celebration isn't complete without a Tom/Mark celebration. Why of course Mark and Tom's birthday dinner would take place at a pizza place. Barnaby's is a long time Lang Family tradition.
Miss. Independent sure wanted Mama this week so we got to spend a lot of time snuggling in bed and on the couch together. 
If she wasn't getting sick or her Mama wasn't forcing liquids in her Amelia pretty much wanted to sleep and sleep she did. For some reason she HAD to take this particular book to bed with her for her nap. Looks like she takes after her dad and didn't make it too far before falling asleep.
By Thursday she had a pretty good case of cabin fever but whenever I tried to take her anywhere she got sick so we just hung at home. She tried to show me that she was well enough to go for a walk by putting her shoes on, grabbing her Pedialyte and demanding, "no sick, Mama walk." Apparantly she doesn't think getting dressed is a prerequiste for taking a walk.