Torrential Uploading: Part Two

Our Bedford leg of the Christmas vacation included brunch at my aunt and uncle's house. They have three little dogs, all of which were delighted to see a human small enough to tackle. (They are actually very good dogs. Their excitement made for a skittish Josephine, but she warmed up eventually.) We found it all pretty amusing.
My aunt and uncle gave Josephine butterfly wings for Christmas! She took to them quite well and still enjoys wearing them.
My dad rough-housing with an elderly poodle:



Haigler holidays include portraits. It's simply a fact. This Christmas was no different. We went to mass on Christmas Eve and came home for pictures...

My miserably obliging place holder as I set up for the full family portrait... He just LOVES this stuff. He's really giving Jason a run for his money when it comes to grumping about family pictures.

The plaintive expression of an overly photographed child who just wants some food to land on her tray:
Christmas morning!!


Darla and Janell having a little Christmas carol dance...


I don't normally make a fuss over any one gift (unless it involves hedgehogs) because we're truly grateful for all of them-- but really, folks. My mom MADE this book. It's like a velcro version of paper dolls. We all know Josephine LOVES velcro. She's also fascinated with the dolls, and she likes to name the clothing pieces. She calls this toy "girls" because she thinks all three dolls are girls. (Hard to explain to a young lady with very little hair that, according to all toddler-age visuals, "girls have long hair and boys have short hair". In fact, on her placemat there's a picture of Jack and Jill. One recent morning she pointed to Jill and said "girl" and Jack and said "Eeen", which is how she says Josephine. I wasn't sure I'd heard her right, but I clarified, she repeated herself, and well... it's just a little sad.)

The boy doll has his pajamas and a full change of clothes (notice that she even stitched shoelaces onto the shoes and waves into the hair!), and the girls have the whole back page of shoes and dresses and skirts and pajama options. I'm blown away by the amount of detail and time that went into this. It's adorable, and I love watching Josephine cross-dress them to no end (recently the boy was wearing BOTH a skirt and a dress). She plays with it REALLY well and attentively-- a mother's dream.

So, I give major props to my mom for this gift, and a huge THANK YOU to all our family members for their generosity. We had a great time visiting and Josephine is missing y'all a LOT. We're at the point of her saying "car" when I mention y'all.