DuBay Family Christmas

About the only thing that tops the thrill and excitement of this time of year is quality time spent with family. We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family on Wednesday evening. My brother and SIL hosted at their home in Leawood. Linda has the most incredible knack for decorating (she owns her own interior decorating business if anyone would like to use her services!) and her house was just beautiful! I enjoyed snooping at all the details she put into each room and ooohed and aaawed over lots of her Christmas decor. I think one of my favorites were her wise men in the dining area. We ate a casual supper of yummy potato soup & taverns with fresh vegetables and a HUGE array of goodies before opening gifts.

Mom and I had taken Gabrielle to the new AG store opening weekend which was such a fun thing to get to do together as a 1st. Mema had given both the older granddaughters (Danielle now 19 & Paige 17) their first AG dolls so she wanted to do the same for Gabrielle. Gabrielle struggled some with her decision, but ultimately decided to settle on the My American Girl doll which is supposed to look the most similar to her. She was awesome about waiting patiently until Christmas to actually get the doll. She named her Kate Elizabeth and has quickly proven she will take excellent care of her.

Travis and I bought her the accessory kit to go with the outfit her doll came in.
$24 seems a wee bit steep for what comes in that teeny little box, but just take one look at that smile!

And little man, well ... he was overjoyed receiving a snuggie of his own. He looks ridiculously adorable in it. He lounges on the couch with it and takes it to bed with him during nap and nighttime.

I heart this picture of my oldest brother Brett and Paige.
I can only pray that Gabrielle will grow to have as close a relationship as these two do. I love seeing my brother dote on Paige and Paige continue to be his "little girl." She will be off to college in the Spring leaving B & L with an empty nest. Rest assured, there will be some tires beating the pavement :P

And this picture
Well, let's just say that I do believe these are about two of thee most handsome devils a girl could meet. Don't you agree? I love this kid (Tyler aka TJ) and admire beyond words the choices he has made to go against the flow of the teenage/college norm.
I would have loved nothing more than to have camped out in front of their fireplace and visited the night away enjoying a glass of wine however, my bestie from junior/senior high was making her annual trek from Austin to NW Iowa and stops each year to stay a night with us so we called the night young and headed home shortly before 10.

A Christmas Comic

Travis often times will cut out a comic from the Sunday's paper for me to read. I have a couple tucked away as they honestly hit home with our family dynamics. Christmas morning he hands me the following comic cut from Baby Blues:
Box 1
"Dear Santa"
Box 2
"Thank you for all the presents you brot me."
Box 3
"If my sister sends you reports about my behavyer again please remember they're all LIES!LIES!LIES!"
Box 4
"You shood espeshly ignore the video evidens."
"Your friend, (enter name) Dawson Matthew Hicks

A Sunday Celebration

This past Sunday my dear girlfriends hosted a baby shower in celebration of our sweet baby girl to be. They did such a bang up job with the decorations and food preparations. We feasted on mint oreo balls, moist mini cupcakes, chocolate dipped strawberries, delic' ice cream punch amongst other yummy finger foods.

Ms. Emily Cowden's 1st diaper cake ... isn't it adorable?

Pink Gerber Daisies from Rene'

Me with my #1
She is so excited to have her baby sister join our family

What this girl can't live without - Hostess powdered donettes (and moo juice, OJ, Dr. Pepper, cereal and ice cream .... but those donuts are a vice!)

The stinkin' cutest sweater from my neice Paige.
I am seeing this paired with a cute pair of jeggings or denim of some sorts :P
So with little more than two weeks until our official due date I am feeling great with no complaints other than mild shortness of breath after making the trek up and down the stairs dozens of times a day. Oh, and I can't forget the interrupted sleep to make the multiple bathroom visits. If there were only a way to bipass that in the wee hours of the morn'. We have very little to do before her arrival - hang the mobile, install the carseat and pack the hospital bag. We are all anxious, excited, filled with anticipation of what she will look like and how her siblings will receive her, and a tiny bit nervous about becoming a family of five. I guess God trusts that we have enough energy for another little one. My hope is this wee one will be the calm amongst the storm. I say that with much love!! We welcome any/all blog followers to send up prayers on our behalf for a safe and healthy delivery. We can't wait for you all to meet her!

Visiting Santa

The Christmas season wouldn't be the same without making the short drive to the local Bass Pro Shop to visit Mr. Clauss himself. This year was different from lasts as Dawson was enthralled with the idea of the big man whereas last year ... well, not so much!


Gabi took it upon herself to grab Santa's undivided attention after her picture was taken to verbalize her Christmas wish list. It was short and sweet this year - a purple unicorn pillow pet (who is the behind the scenes person who created this ridiculous $20 item that is being sold at even the most obscure places (Petsmart among them) who is making a mint?) and her own ice cream maker. A big thank-you to the increased advertisements this time of year. Santa fell short on fulfilling her request as he did NOT deliver on the ice cream maker.


Little man didn't have any special requests this year. He would have been happy with a big bag of sugar! We learned in quick order that receiving clothing as a gift does not please the child. He quickly became a little dude with a big tude!

Our only minor disappointments this year with our visit to Bass Pro was Mrs. Clauss was not present and this old green pickup truck wasn't decked out in greenery and lights like it was this past year. It still makes for a cute picture of my two munchkins though.

Kindergarten Class Holiday Party

Friday December 17th Gabrielle's Kindergarten class celebrated the Holiday's in full fashion. The morning started with an hour long sing along by classes K - 5 grade then each class was dismissed to their classrooms for the festivities.

Gabi specifically requested to wear this dress to her party. It is casual, but pretty darn cute on if I am allowed to say so. The kids and I all had our hair cut the evening before and Ms. Jillian put Gabrielle's hair into two french braids so it would be "curly" Friday morning upon taking the braids out. Ms. G loved how it looked and so I took the opportunity to snap a quick picture before she ate her breakfast and headed off to school.

The homeroom mom in charge of planning the parties really did a bang up job in coming up with some "fresh" crafts and games for the kids to do. Each child was provided a special bag to gather magic reindeer food in and sprinkle on the lawn on Christmas Eve. The label read:
"Sprinkle on the lawn at night
the moon will make it sparkle bright
as Santa's reindeer fly and roam
this will guide them to your home."

The reindeer food consisted of oatmeal, red and green rice, pine cones & the magic ingredient was embossing glitter. The kids LOVED it!
It has been a privelege for Gabrielle to be a part of Mrs. S's class. She is one amazing, tenderhearted, CHRIST LOVING teacher and makes it very apparent that each child is not only special in their own unique ways, but also very special to HER.

Annual Sugar Cookies

Saturday December 11th Gabrielle and I spent the morning up at Mema's house to partake in our annual Christmas sugar cookie decorating party. Mema makes up the dough the evening before and allows it to refrigerate overnight. She rolls out the dough (don't ask me why, but I am a little intimidated by that step) and we all participate in the cutting, baking, frosting and decorating. Gabi's favorite part is taking breaks to indulge in the sweet goodness - can you blame her?

The 1st batch of 2010 being carefully cut and placed on the baking sheet

Our toothless girl in her element

{Experimenting with the Shake It photo app on my IPhone}

I kind of like the retro finish & color to these photos.
We always end up with a ton of cookies, but it sure doesn't take long before they have all disappeared!
They didn't even make it onto Santa's plate this year :P
This is a tradition that we hope to include Dawson in next year. He is in that too busy to focus and stay on task stage of life and we really wanted to enjoy ourselves rather than try to keep up with his mess making.

Meadow Lane 2010 Holiday Shop

Saturday morning December 4th Meadow Lane Elementary School hosted their 1st annual Holiday Shop. A morning of yummy pancakes, sausage & juice followed by singing, a visit from Santa and shopping! Gabrielle loved having the privilege of earning money to shop in the Holiday Mart. Each child was provided an envelope with areas dedicated to particular family members and expense allowance for each member. For example we could help her budget $5 to be spent on Dawson, $5 on Mommy, etc. Daddy was her shopper elf and helped her in her selections. I giggled because she came home with not one, but two gifts she had selected and purchased for herself. She was very eager for each of us to open our gifts immediately ... no placing them under the tree and awaiting Christmas day :)
Even though it was a mad rush for time (we had another event scheduled one hour after the start of the Holiday Shop) we really did enjoy our time together as a family. Mema and Papa as well as GG from Springfield were able to be a part of this fun morning.

Toothless Grin

Gabi had been sporting the snaggletooth look for waaaaayyyyy too long when Daddy decided it was time to take action. This past Tuesday night we used a little bribery and a little hand holding and Daddy gave one little twist and pull and tooth number one was out. We waited a short period and told a little white lie {gasp} that Daddy had talked to the tooth fairy via e-mail and that if Gabrielle was to lose BOTH front teeth on the same day the tooth fairy said she was sure to receive something extra special. Gabrielle's stubbornness won out and the 2nd tooth remained hanging by a thread - looking completely ridiculous I might add. See picture below ...

Wednesday Travis got home from work and shortly after eating supper he told Gabrielle she didn't have an option the other tooth WAS coming out. So twist and pull #2 and out it came. Gabi ran into the bathroom and immediately busted out laughing. The child stops and looks in the mirror every chance she gets. Could be because she is constantly hearing how cute she is without her two front teeth :)

Now we can say boldly, "All she wants for Christmas is her two front teeth!"

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

Last Saturday Gabrielle and I were invited by one of her classmate friends and her mom to join them for a production put on by Theatre for Young America. We took the girls for lunch at Fritz then walked across the walkway to Union Station City Stage to see Junie B. (Jones) in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells. It was a fun little play with a great message. The production runs November 23rd - December 30th and tickets are $8. Go to http://www.tya.org/ for more information. I wanted to share a handful of pictures I snapped prior to the play.

Still a little poser :P
Side note - I am on a mad hunt to find the baby in waiting a matching PB jumbo stocking this year. Dawson is shown below in front of his. They are so well worth the purchase and if you are like me you can fill that sucker up pretty darn quick!

I love this picture as it is the last one I captured before her losing her baby teeth.

My current favorite although I converted to b&w because I took it on indoor setting and it was a little fuzzy.

And of course little man couldn't miss out on getting his pic' taken. He is in that stage where he cheeses every time you say smile to take his pic. Such a ham!