Christmas in Indianapolis...

... Or "I'm dreaming of a Wet Christmas."

While the rest of the midwest was being buried until feet of snow in a huge blizzard that shut down the interstates in Oklahoma, we were enjoying temperatures in the low 50's and lots and lots of rain. But that didn't stop us from having a completely magical holiday. We started yesterday off with a trip to Lilly to see Santa one last time and make sure he knew what Hazel wanted. For the past few weeks, she has been telling anyone who would listen that she wanted a pink leopard for Christmas. Apparently, Elise told Hazel that she would like a brown monkey, so Hazel went ahead and told Santa that. We spent Christmas Eve night in Lawrenceville at Grammy Burton's annual Christmas Eve party. We had fun meeting our new cousin, Mac and playing with Uncle Brian's dachsund, Joxer. We drove home after the party, and got home around midnight.

This morning, we woke up to find that Santa had not disappointed us. Upon arriving downstairs, we found a pink leopard and a brown monkey, along with a new play kitchen for Hazel and a music table for Elise. Hazel noticed the leopard first thing, and we were wondering how long it would take for her to realize that the leopard was sitting on top of a new play kitchen. Once she did realize it, she had a great time making dinner, baking cookies, and serving us lemonade.

Here are a few pictures from the morning madness.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! It has been an exciting one out here in Indianapolis, what with an official two year-old running around and her adorable little sister. It all started out on Tuesday when the girls decorated the house for Halloween and we carved some pumpkins, and it peaked tonight with some trick or treating. So, for all the interested parties, some pictures:

Hazel's first attempt at a pumpkin

And her try at a squishier version

But Daddy ended up doing most of the dirty work

Our final creations

And the pumpkins in their natural habitat

Megan getting into the spirit

Tinkerbell getting antsy to get out the door

"C'mon daddy! It's empty! Let's go fill it up!"

Hazel's first KitKat. She liked it very much (but she didn't blink for the next 45 minutes)

Hazel and Elise had a great Halloween!

Visiting the Great Grandparents

Yesterday, I took both the girls down to Southern Illinois to visit Grammy and spend some time with her. She said that she had raked her leaves up into a pile for Hazel to jump in and she needed to get her fix of holding Elise. When I asked Hazel what we were going to do at Grammy's, her response sounded suspiciously like "Dump Elise" but I think she meant "Jump in the leaves."

Once we got to Grammy's, however, we found that her lawncare man had come and mulched all the leaves, so we went over to Great-Grandma and Grandpa White's to visit them. They hadn't met Elise yet, and their nursing home is right next door to the Dairy Dee, so Hazel could get some ice cream after our visit.

Here are some pictures of the introductions.

Grandpa, Elise.

Elise, Grandpa.

Grandma, Elise.

Elise, Grandma.

Hazel's 2 Years Old!

Last Friday was Hazel's 2nd birthday! She had a small family party with Mom, Dad, and Elise, and also invited Grammy and the Patterson cousins for dinner and cupcakes. She had her favorite meal, "belly-buttons" (tortellini) and garlic bread with fruit punch. And for dessert: Pixie Cupcakes! She had a great time and the only one who was unhappy was Audrey, who thought Hazel wasn't opening her gifts fast enough and was keen to help. Here are a few pictures of the celebration.

Daddy bought these awesome balloons for decoration.

Mommy made these awesome Pixie Cupcakes with chocolate wings.

Mommy was pretty proud of herself.

Presents!

Hazel gearing up for her party by watching Tinkerbell.

Yum! Belly-buttons for dinner!

Two candles!

Edible pixie wings!

Hazel had lots of helpers when opening her presents.

But it didn't take long for her to figure out how to do it herself.

She even had lots of helpers when playing with her new toys.

Birthday explosion!

Aunt Stephanie sent these princess toys. Hazel loves playing with "Sweepy Booty" and "Frienderella."

Even Daddy wants in on the new toy action!

Trip to the Corn Maze

This afternoon, the McCain family decided to get into the autumn spirit and head out to the Heartland Apple Festival. There were apples, bouncy houses, and a corn maze.

Hazel is excited to wear her new t-shirt out to the Apple Festival.

The ladies are pretty excited about the corn maze!

Somehow, we managed to find corn in Indiana!

The ladies taking a stroll through the corn.

Hazel checking out the surroundings.

...And discovering that corn has "hair."

It took us a while with this navigator.

Elise had a personal escort, and pretty sweet ride.