Mimi comes to visit

Last week we were so excited to have our very first visitor since we moved to Virginia. My mom came out for seven days, and we had a blast! Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures, but we enjoyed our time with plenty of shopping, a trip to the temple, visiting some memorials, and generally enjoying each other's company.

My mom wasn't too excited when I told her the weather would be warm, and it ended up being quite chilly for many of the days. (Even Bria's hat was necessary.)
On the nicest day of the week, we did enjoy walking around DC (it was 65 degrees!). We took my mom to our favorite restaurant, Founding Farmers:

Bria loved the new outfit her Mimi bought her, and probably more than that, Bria enjoyed the chocolate milk Mimi likes to drink for breakfast.

Thanks for coming, Mom! We had so much fun and can't wait to see you again!

starlet

Whenever the camera comes out, Bria immediately smiles and says "cheese!" which actually sounds much more like "keys!"
She loves to ham it up for the camera, which is good, because I love to take pictures of this little girl.

White Girls Can't Jump

This video demonstrates two things:

1) Bria's ability (or lack thereof) to jump

2) My ability (or lack thereof) to properly dress my child, as evidenced by her too-short overalls and her "monster hair" (created by wearing pigtails the day before).

Natural

Bria is inherently nurturing, which I love to see. She loves to hold her doll and gently pat her on the back and then put her to bed, cover her with a blanket, and say "night-night." I haven't ever taught her these things-- it comes naturally to her. Even tonight, I gave her a towel to wipe up some water she spilled, and the next thing I knew, she had balled up the towel, was rocking it and patting it, then she put it to bed in her kitchen chair and said "night-night."
Bria loved our Christmas nativity (particularly Mary and Jesus) and would frequently put each piece to bed by putting it face down on the carpet.

I knew she was going to be pretty sad when we put the nativity away, so I had her help me. As we put it into the box, I had her give each piece a hug and a kiss and say bye-bye. She closed her eyes and lovingly rocked Joseph, Mary, the shepherd, baby Jesus, the angel, and each wise man and bid them farewell as I packed them away. She still asks for Shees (Jesus) and May-ey (Mary) every day, and will often go to the closet and point, saying "tee-ee?" (nativity). But then I remind her how we said bye-bye, and they went away until next Christmas, and that answer seems to satisfy her.

Christmas Rundown

We had a great little Christmas this year at home, just the three of us. Bria didn't really get what was going on, but rather enjoyed opening presents. We spent the day relaxing, and then went to Marc and Jenn's house for a delicious dinner. We were really happy to have two of Sam's brothers close by on Christmas. It is always so fun to hang out with Marc's and Matt's families-- especially because Marc's kids entertain and watch Bria the whole time, so Sam and I just relax and feel like real human adults. It's amazing.

Bria got some new clothes, and immediately tried them on:
Bria enjoyed my new All-Clad stir-fry pan:
Bria watched her new Elmo's World DVD from this comfy vegetable steamer:

Bria was our beautiful ballerina in the tutu I made her (now she won't wear it on her waist, but only on her head, and she runs around calling "tutu! tutu! tutu!"):
Bria got to eat with her cousin Mallory at the little kids' table for Christmas dinner: