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Our Christmas visitors were flying to see us, so the girls decided to make their own plane to go for a flight as well. Of course, there are lots of passengers on the plane.

As always, G'Mom and Grampa arrived with lots and lots of new books to read.

Even though the girls made Christmas cookies with Grams, Molly insisted we make some at home too. She wanted to decorate them with icing, which she proved to be very good at.

I may have had just as much fun decorating!

Leah has heard Molly singing Gloria so many times that she knows it now too. So when the carol was sung at our Christmas Eve service, Leah knew just what to sing.

Per tradition, we opened one gift on Christmas Eve. The girls got these fancy snow boots from Grammy, which came in handy since it snowed on Christmas Eve.

I think the boots go very well with Molly's smocked dress.

The girls had fun tracking Santa as he circled the globe on G'Mom's iPhone.

The girls were excited to pick out the perfect cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. They were also thrilled to finally wear the Christmas nightgowns I made for them.

Editor's note: The title of this post was inspired by the song Christmas Is Coming on Laurie Berkner's new Christmas album. We are huge fans of Laurie Berkner and her new album does not disappoint!

We had a bunch of family up our way to celebrate Leah's 3rd birthday. For the first time, JJ got to join the fun at our house.

The girls had to show off their dance moves. Well, Molly and Emmie did. Leah sometimes danced, but sometimes told the other two that they were being silly.

Since Emmie was sleeping over, I made the girls matching nightgowns that coordinated perfectly with the party weekend.

JJ, sporting his snazzy Strawberry Shortcake glasses.

We don't have any babies on Chad's side of the family right now, but JJ was happy to serve as a surrogate grandbaby for Grams for a few minutes.

Aunt Caroline is hilarious.

Leah was kind enough to show JJ the fun of playing with Minnie Mouse. He got the idea pretty quickly.

JJ said hi to me, but seemed to be more interested in the camera and the uncle behind it.

Three cute cousins, ready for church, all wearing dresses made by G'Mom.

Molly showed off her reading skills several times to our visitors.

There are a lot more pictures from the weekend on Flickr. Go check them out!

What were the girls up to, you ask? My parents graciously offered to come stay with them while we were in the Bahamas. They had as much fun as we did!

They went to several different playgrounds…

Checked out the new Mr. Potato Head exhibit at Port Discovery…

Then spent an hour in the Wonders of Water exhibit.

Playing at the pool was another "must do" activity. They went twice over the weekend.

G'Mom worked her pool magic and Leah was finally willing to swim a bit all by herself!

And they popped in for a quick visit with Grams and Pop.

The girls did great without us for 5 days, with no tears or sadness about being apart for longer than ever before. That said, they were very excited to see us when we walked in the door. And we were just as excited to see them.

You can see more pictures from their days of fun here on Flickr. Thanks again G'Mom and Grampa for watching the girls. They loved every minute of it!

Since my sister is 9 months pregnant, my parents offered to bring my niece up for Molly's party. Emmie and Molly loved having a sleepover three nights in a row! The girls had to test the air mattress out shortly after it was inflated.

Of course, a new bed requires a little bounce.

After a fun party, it's nice to relax and read with Grampa.

Molly was of course excited to open up all her new toys and play with them, but she wasn't the only one. Emmie and G'Mom had to try them out as well.

With no desire to fix a meal after a busy day, we decided to get Chinese take-out. When Chad started using chopsticks, the girls all wanted to join in. Molly's been using chopsticks (with the help of a chopsticks holder) for some time, but this was the first time for Emmie and Leah.

After church on Sunday, Molly opened more presents. This time, they were all from G'Mom and Grampa, including this dress G'Mom made.

While Molly opened her presents, she was watched by an onlooker (Leah) who is apparently worried about rain and a member of the paparrazi (Emmie) who took lots of pictures.

All smiles for a fun weekend!

While at the aquarium, Molly started talking to the fish. Then Emmie joined in.

Our last morning in Gatlinburg a few of us headed to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. It was literally down the hill from our lodge, so we decided to check it out. Molly and this fish appear to be seeing eye to eye.

Emmie and Leah enjoyed watching the seahorses.

This aquarium had a long tunnel with a slow moving walkway that allowed you to go under the sea. The tunnel was small enough that you really felt like you were right next to the animals.

Molly and Leah wanted nothing to do with these guys, but Emmie was up for petting this horseshoe crab.

The aquarium was full of little tunnels you could crawl in to get up close and personal with the undersea life.

Our last stop was to see the penguins, up close and personal.

Since we won't see my family in December, we posed for our family Christmas photo Friday morning.

We then headed inside and exchanged gifts with G'Mom, Grampa, Uncle J, Aunt 'Chelle, and Emmie. Molly is shocked by these socks.

She was also very excited to get a Belle doll.

Chad sometimes sticks a little Lego man on his camera to give the girls something to focus on. After using it for the pictures, Leah wanted to play with it. Even after getting a bunch of Christmas presents, she kept coming back to playing with the Lego man.

I love this picture of Leah opening her ornament from Grampa.

Emmie had to check hers out from all angles.

After the gift giving had concluded, Leah took a minute to teach Grampa a bit about how to use the iPad.

We headed to Gatlinburg, TN to gather with the Batson extended family for Thanksgiving. We arrived on G'mom's birthday, so we had to celebrate. Here G'mom is receiving her fantastic birthday hat Aunt 'Chelle made for her.

The morning of Thanksgiving we hiked up a mountain to see a waterfall (and burn some calories before the feast!).

Molly got a lot of extra time with G'mom and Grampa since we allowed her to have "special" days with no naps.

The girls are still not fond of big or active dogs, but Max is neither of these. Max enjoyed sitting quietly on Dot's lap, and Leah thought that made him the perfect dog to pet.

The house we rented had a pool table, which was lots of fun for adult and child alike.

The Batson clan (well, almost all of us).

Our family was going in three different directions the morning of Leah's party. Chad played a tennis tournament that weekend, including an early morning match before the party. Uncle J tagged along to watch and be our event photographer.

At the same time, Molly had her first Fall ballet class. So, Aunt 'Chelle, Emmie and G'Mom took her. Here Molly is showing how she leaves class by demonstrating her curtsy.

That evening, G'Mom and Grampa watched all three girls so that the parents could have a night out. The girls enjoyed reading with Grampa before Leah went to bed.

A Sunday afternoon photo op.

Hold on girls!

While Molly was at preschool on Monday, the littlest girls had playtime at the playground.

The train is a good place to sit and talk it out with G'Mom.

Just Leah and her mom.

Emmie and Molly had fun helping G'Mom bake cookies. Though, all Molly really wanted to do was lick the spoon!

A good rainy day activity? Swimming, or swinging, in the hotel pool.

A told B, and B told C
“I'll meet you at the house
for Leah's party!”

“Whee!” said D to E F G
“Are you coming to see
the coconut tree?”

Chicka chicka boom boom!
Will there be enough room?
We'll find out when you RSVP!

When Leah consistently started choosing Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for a bedtime story, I knew it would be the perfect theme for her 2nd birthday. The party started with making Boom Boom shakers. It takes a lot of concentration to fill a shaker with beads.

The kids then sat for a reading of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and used their shakers to go boom boom!

To the surprise of many, I did not make the cake this time. Chad convinced me to focus on the rest of the party prep and have it made by Oh What a Cake. It was great decision and a great cake.

The basic story of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is about the alphabet climbing to the top of the coconut tree. So, naturally we had to have one present.

Thanks for inspiring silly ways to play with balloons, Uncle J!

Leah was so excited for the birthday song that she even sang it to herself!

To fully appreciate the taste of the cake, Leah thought it necessary to close her eyes. Though, when you do that you must open your mouth as wide as you can to make sure it gets in.

Who needs a fork? Icing, finger, tongue.

Then it was present time and the kids were definitely present.

Leah's very into baby dolls right now. This one came with a bottle, which was a big hit.

She also enjoyed reading a fun, new book.

And as a party favor, guests left with colorful alphabet cookies.

Skit skat skoodle doot.
Flip flop flee.
Thanks for coming
To Leah’s party!