Merry Christmas from the Little Storm's!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! We've had the big Christmas morning here at the Storm house.....actually, it was quite a while ago with as early as this crowd likes to get up. Alison woke up a little before 6 this morning. Ashley got up with her, and about 10 minutes later, Grace came running into wake me up, "Daddy, get up!! Santa came and brought presents!! He ate all my cookies!!" Grace helped make cookies for Santa last night before church......she left him 5 (four from her since she's 4, and one from Alison since she's 1.......we may need smaller cookies when they're 9 and 6.....or at least a bigger glass of milk). Grace had a lot of fun tearing into the presents under the tree and she liked all her gifts! Alison didn't get into the opening too much...she liked the bits of paper from gifts already opened.....and then, she wanted to play with Grace's stuff and vice versa......I guess we should've switched the tags.

Here are some pictures - The first set is from Christmas with St. Louis on the 23rd, and the rest are from this morning.

The famous one sock on, one sock off for Alison.......Uncle Brian got this outfit for her for her birthday......
Alison's ready to open up a Christmas gift......

Alison looks up to the heavens to gather the strength to lift this big box.......
Grace holds up a Hello Kitty puzzle (a 100 pieces!!!) she rec'd for Christmas.......
Alison's Little People Jumbo Jet......rumor has it the first flight left 10 minutes late......
Grace holds up a new Christmas book!

Grace waiting as patiently as she can on Christmas morning.......

Grace opens up a set of new Dora PJ's......or in Spanish, La pajamas.....just kidding, I have no idea....
Alison takes a break to show off a big smile......
Grace holds up her new big girl hairbrush....not too many pictures of her with her eyes open this year apparently......
Alison's ready to finish up with some final presents......

Alison's First Birthday!

Alison turned one this past Saturday while we were in O'Fallon (St. Louis, to most of you) visiting with Grammi, Pop Pop, and U.B. (Uncle Brian) for Christmas. The year went by really quickly; we really can't believe it. She's changed so much, yet is still that same little person we brought from the hospital a year ago today. Amazing!! Here are a few pictures from Saturday. Merry Christmas to everyone and we'll have pictures of all the girls' different Christmases posted on here as we go.


Alison shows off a bottle of whole milk......she's off formula now! (I know Sam's Club was sad to see such a good customer leave, but they knew this day would come)

Daddy steals a kiss from his birthday sharer....doesn't she look thrilled?!

Big sister Grace tries to hold Alison back from tearing into the presents....
Alison decides she'll open this one first......(the little mark on her face was from the tantrum she threw in the car; she scracthed herself. It's not all cream cheese and caramel corn with these kids.)
Alison and mommy share a hug on the first birthday!
Grace encourages Alison during her present opening....
Alison gets some help from Grace opening up a box....
The girls opening presents together......awwwwwwwwww........
Alison didn't do so hot with her 6 month cupcake, so we wondered how this would go.....
"This one smells deeeeeeee-licious!"
"Hey, the chocolate frosting's the best part and I dropped it!!
Daddy tries to get a bite of frosting, but Alison wants him to go get his own.....
Stuffing the last few bits in.....she made the entire thing disappear.....it was pretty quick......
I've had that smile and eyes-glazed-over look before.........

It's time to get dressed up!

Alison got one of her first birthday presents in the mail this week! Ali's Great-Aunt Anne and Great-Uncle Bud sent her this really cute dress. Ashley took some pictures before church this morning -

Alison with a tip of the cap to the crowd.....

Relaxing against the recliner.....

The dress has little Scotties on the bottom to match her black shoes.....

Alison's still got the rosy cheeks and nose from her next tooth coming in......

Switching subjects - Grace was an angel in her Pre-K Sunday School Christmas concert this morning. She did a really good job this year learning the songs. I'll try to have some video up later today.

One year??? Are you kidding me with this????

Only 11 shopping days left until Christmas, but that means only 8 days until Alison's first birthday. It has gone so fast!!! Ashley took her to get some one year photos this morning from Portrait Innovations. We were happy with them since yesterday she went to the doctor with a double ear infection. (She weighed in at 18 lbs, 12 oz). Luckily the medicine kicked in and we got our happy little girl back. Here are the un-edited "proofs" from the session!


She's got her Christmas dress on for the shoot.....

"Who could get mad at this smile? Right? Daddy, put your hand down!"

Cute things come in small packages....

The Portrait......she's grown so much in a year!

Hands down, she's the cutest (almost) one year old I know!
"I can't believe they got me to sit still this long!"

Go Elf Yourself!

I've seen this on some different people's blogs and I thought it would be fun to do one with us.....

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1370172718

At the end of our dance, you have a chance to make your own....

Makes me want to go watch the movie Elf, use the word "ginormous,"and eat from the 4 major food groups - Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corns, and Syrup

Grace & Alison Celebrity Hot Tub

Grace wasn't feeling well today.......she had a viral infection in her eye which made it super red and she also had a slight fever. She spent the day at home with mommy catching up on cartoons and kids' movies. I must say I was a little jealous. (They still show the same Scooby-Doo cartoons from when I was a kid.....zoinks!) Anyway, as a treat tonight, we turned the garden tub into a giant bubble bath, hot tub style....the girls had a lot of fun with it!

This is Alison during a little excitement fit she was having.....
Grace smiles as Ali treads a little water.....

If you click on this picture to make it bigger you might be able to see how red Grace's left eye is....
Alison with the best toothy grin she can muster......
Big, big smile on this one.....
Alison practicing giving raspberries......

Busy Sunday

Yesterday may have been a Lazy Saturday, but today was a Busy Sunday. We had church and Sunday School this morning. And then, two parties this afternoon. One for our little friend Katelyn, who had her first birthday party today after it was postponed yesterday due to weather (Katelyn is exactly two weeks older than Alison). The girls both had a good time playing with the toys and the other kids (and the food was good, which always rates an A+ from me). Then after that, Grace's first baby sitter Kitty had a get-together for her younger daughter, Michaelyn, who graduated from cosmotology school this past week. Grace got to see some of her old buddies, and the first thing she did when she saw Kitty was show her a boo-boo. Just like old times!!

Alison is ready for a big day with a new outfit and new shiny black shoes!

The birthday girl, Katelyn, opens a present with help from the whole family!
Grace and Miss Kitty share a hug like the old days.....
Karleigh and Grace have known each other since Karleigh was a couple months old. It was crazy to see what little girls they have become....
Karleigh's older brother, Jaxon, reminds the girls who ruled the roost at daycare.....

Things to do in the house when you're bored

Some new berets to go with new Christmas outfits had Grace and Alison playing dress up together. Ashley took a few photos. We also have some photos to of the girls with the Christmas tree decorating today.

Grace playing the affectionate big sister.....
A slightly crazed-looking Alison picks out a book from the shelf....
"zee French, zay are fickle, mon cheri...."

Grace has some sort of devious plan formulated for her next timeout.....
Grace shows off a big smile while Alison shows off some martial arts skills......
Grace does a funky dance next to an ornament she put on the tree
"I think I'll take this one......."
"Whadda ya mean, there's a Bigfoot behind me?"

Alison picking out the next ornament to give to Grace......
Alison plays the Little (Elmo) Drummer Girl.....
"If I yank this part here, and then this part over here, I bet I can get the whole tree to fall on top of me faster than mommy can put the camera down" (No wanna-be toddlers were harmed during the making of this photograph)
"Merry Christmas everybody!"