Boots!

Allie got a package from Grandma and Grandpa Meldrum and inside were these awesome pink boots!  They have been her shoe of choice since we got them and I love it because she can put them on and off all by herself.  Allie is a shoe girl and changes her shoes multiple times a day.  The other day I found her sitting in a pile of our shoes trying them on for a good 10 min all by herself.  

Cookie Time

Allie loves to cook!  Whenever I am in the kitchen she is right there along beside me, asking to sit on the counter so she can see everything.  She knows exactly what she can and cannot touch and what is yummy.  When I have something on the stove, she will say, "That's hot, don't touch!"  She also loves to stir and pour ingredients, and most of the time they actually end up in the bowl.  On this day we were making Chocolate Oatmeal bars and she thought the chocolate filling was delicious, and I don't blame her.  Yummy!

3..2..1.. Blastoff!

In January, Lane, Mike's old roommate from college, came down to Houston to interview for a residency.  He was here over a weekend, so we went to NASA Johnson Space Center to go to outer space.  While it is not quite the NASA in Port Canaveral, we did get to see where the astronauts train and some old rockets.  We really enjoyed ourselves there, although I think Allie's favorite thing was the choo-choo train ride around the property.

 This is where the astronauts train before they leave on missions

This was the Saturn Rocket which was created but never used.  It is HUGE! It is sad to see so much money and technology go to waste.  There was also a lot of interesting facts and the museum, but an almost-2 year old isn't really into that sort of stuff.  She did really well anyway and we had lots of fun!

Just to brighten your day

I was going through our Christmas photos and found this one of Allie.  She really is such a joy in our lives and makes us smile every day.

Some little Allie-isms this week:
-While she was on the couch next to me the other morning she went up to my belly, put her little fists on it and went "knock-knock" on my belly.  She is always talking about the baby in mommy's tummy whenever she is near my tummy.
-We were reading an Elmo counting book and she was doing really well counting by herself and I asked her what comes after 7 and she said, enthusiastically, Breakfast!

Christmas in Houston

This year Mike had to work on Christmas Eve, so the whole Meldrum clan came out to Houston for Christmas!

As per Meldrum tradition, everyone has to close their eyes while the bell is ringing and the bell ringer puts their presents under the Christmas tree.  

Mike's Dad's birthday is on Christmas Eve, so we celebrated with some hot dogs, potato salad and cake.  Allie was really helpful opening his presents.

 Christmas morning was a lot of fun with Allie this year.  She was all smiles and sat on everyone's lap to help them open their presents.  I think our morning lasted 2 hours because she was the one who opened each present.

Allie got a baby stroller and high chair, Elmo slippers, tea party set, books, PJs.

 We also got to go to only 1 hour of church the next day and enjoyed our time with family.  We loved having family here for Christmas and having Allie old enough to somewhat understand Christmas.