Our Sled Hill

Ed's having a blast now that he has jj to play in the show with him. She's hysterical waddling around in a snowsuit a size too big, hands un-usable in their mitten-ed state... our front yard is the perfect sized hill for the two to sled down together. We found a great sled, perfectly sized for Dad and Josie to ride on together and perfect for pulling around the yard. I think she'd stay outside all day, rosey nose and all... but it's a lot of work for dad pulling her up that hill over and over. Maybe it's mom's turn to go out and join the fun? ;)

Dream House 2009

A play house and doll house all in one, a (my) dream come true! We've had so much fun playing with all the new toys the last few days, we all sleep well come bed time! I've managed to contain some of the chaos by pulling out a few toy varieties at a time... and somehow it's still a toy tornado by the end of the day. We're loving our last week of vacation, our days filled with playing, movies, sitting by the fire, sledding, baking and going out to lunch. We're all going to be in for an adjustment come next week when we have to be up and at 'em much earlier than 10am ;)

Too many toys, too little time!

Too many toys and too much fun to even begin to account for! Today is the absolute perfect snowy day to stay home and taken inventory of all the new toys Santa and loved ones brought to our house. Josie is in toy overload to say the least... she even slept in this morning and is now down for the count in her afternoon nap. Of course she still doesn't understand the reason for the season, but she sure is happy with all of her new toys. This morning she's been a sweet little girl sitting at her new table and chair set from Mimi and Pops and playing so nicely with her new farm little people :)

15 months old

Today Josie is 15 months old. And today she's mastered "uhh ohh!" Still doesn't say mom, mama, or any version of the word, but that's ok. This stage has really been the easiest, and most enjoyable for watching her grow and figure things out. In the last month she's figured out how to climb in AND OUT (like a wet noodle) of the bath tub. Books are most definitely her thing right now, can't get enough of them... pulls all of them off the shelf, brings me them one by one, lets me read a few pages before going to grab another one to flip through. We know Sanata is bringing lots of toys, but as far as other loved items around here - this Little Tikes play garden is pretty darn great. It was a hand-me-down that has been very much loved by lots of kids, including Josie! The entertainment is hours on end, and best part - it was free and pre-loved.



This face here is her "uhh oh" as she watched her mail fall out of her mail box.



Other random stuff... napping still twice a day, but I can see that going down to one here pretty soon. Sort of a picky eater, might love one thing one day and turn her nose up at it the next. We're big fans of go-gurt, greenbeans, and goldfish any day of the week though. She's picking up a lot of things we tell her to do, like "go get the mail" and "take a bite" (at which time she'll take a pretend bite of pretend food). We haven't heard the word "no" yet, but I can only imagine it's right around the corner as it seems she's testing what she can and can't get away with these days. Pulling Ernie's tail... big NO! ;)

First Snow 09

It was such a nice surprise to wake up to a bright snow covered morning. I love seeing the trees coated in fresh snow! Ed's been anxious to get jj in her snowsuit and boots... she was barely done with breakfast before he had her all suited up. I was dressed to go exercise (capris and a tank top) but threw on my jacket and boots, grabbed the camera and out we went. Josie loved the snow! Loved eating it, loved walking in it, riding in the sled... the whole schabang! We're on the hunt for a fancier sled, but our little saucer will do for now. We have an excellent sledding hill right in our own front yard... lucky us!

A Christmas Miracle!

Our 2009 Christmas family photo ;)

It was only 17 degrees, but we braved the elements and snapped this (thanks to my new love, wireless remote shutter thingy) in only a few minutes.

Random December Day

I suppose it's time for a little update from this neck of the woods. Finally we have a lazy day at home and thought it about time to grab the camera and take some photos even if it's a dreary day and the lighting here is terrible. But on a day like today we're staying cozy with the fire going all day, football on tv, JJ running around, "reading" her books, taunting the cats, and being just sweet as pie.





Trying to think of what's new and exciting around here, but we've been busy getting ready for Santa to arrive. After next week Ed and I are both off work until the new year and can't wait have days on end of nothing to do and no where to be. blah, boring and not much else of note :) Later!

Back to Work

Tomorrow we're all back to our regularly scheduled program of work and no play... we had such a great week, some days more productive than others... but that's how vacation is supposed to be, right?

The timing was perfect, we had no other plans so we got in the car and drove into Chicago on Monday. I knew I had to keep the day as compact as possible between keeping Ed and Josie happy, so the plan was to just spend the day at Macy's on State Street. If you've never been, let me tell you... it's an all day adventure! Little did we know, Santa had already arrived and we thought while there was no line and the store wasn't too busy, let's take advantage of the opportunity!


I was so thrilled with this Santa's helper, he had an authentic beard, was sweet as could be, Josie was happy, everything was setup for the perfect photo, right? I was so convinced the photo was going to be perfect, I didn't even as the photographer which one she chose! Imagine my disappointment when I got the photo and it was so underexposed and muddy, Santa wasn't looking, and Josie was crawling away. HOW the photographer used such poor judgement, I don't know. On a whim I decided to snap a few from my camera (but figured I wouldn't really need it)... and this is what *I* got (way better than the print I paid for), using flash off my camera, kneeling on the ground. Oh well, lesson learned, always ask to proof before printing!


I did have to work ONE day last week, but that's ok b/c it was a great opportunity for Dad to stay home alone with J and have a fun day to themselves. I loved coming home at the end of the day to find this is the outfit Dad picked out for the day ;) and somehow the green bow matched! They had built a fort among the living room furniture with blankets and pillows... they had a great day!


The best day of all, Thanksgiving. Mimi and Pop's house was full of people and amazing food! Josie and Nate played all day and were actually a pretty good play duo! Josie loved Mimi's homemade stuffing and even at some Turkey too.


Ed insisted on putting up the last Christmas tree up stairs near Josie's room, it's filled with playful kid ornaments. J had fun helping arrange things, for a little while at least. We feel really lucky, with all the trees and decorations in our house, Josie looks but doesn't really touch! She's such a good girl :)

On Vacation

Today starts our week of vacation! I think we're all going to enjoy sleeping in, being lazy and eating lots of great food this week. We've also brought up all the Christmas decorations, so we'll likely be all decorated for Christmas before the end of the week too! On our to do list, we hope to drive into Chicago and take a walk around the Macy's Christmas windows, have lunch and enjoy the city for a day. Ed's working on cabinetry so I guess that leaves me to tackle the totes of Christmas decorations. Thanksgiving dinner is not at my house this year, so it will be a nice break... but oh so sad not to have the yummy leftovers (which I don't need anyhow ;)).

Last Friday Josie turned 14 months old. I'm so fascinated by how quickly she's picking things up, or I should say, comprehending things. She mimics our actions and babbles in word strings that sound almost audible. Her 14th month was largely defined by the sickness that hit our house, and her the hardest. It seemed to last forever.... and by the end of it she'd ended up with her first ear infection and a first round of antibiotics. Luckily that took care of it and she's back to her happy self, which makes us ever so appreciative of our good health. Mimi did a good job of introducing the spoon and Josie is having great success getting food on the spoon and then into her mouth. Ahhh... so proud :)

Miss Pouty

Tried to sit down today and take a photo for the Christmas card, but things didn't go so well. UGH. Just little miss pouty lips. It turns out, we need Dad here to do a song and dance so mom can just take the photo. Exhausting. So we made cookies and brought up a Christmas tree (or two, maybe 3) from the basement instead. Found the Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses at the grocery store and couldn't resist. I think this will be my cookie of choice for my cookie exchange this weekend...


Excited for Christmas this year is an understatement. The big tree is still in the basement, waiting until after Thanksgiving at least for that one. And in the mean time, I hope J gets used to these smaller trees and then ignores completely the big tree. Yet to be determined how that's all going to work out. I saw our Elf on a Shelf waiting for us... maybe we'll have a little fun with him this year.

It's been a busy couple weeks, and by the end of this week J will be 14 months old. The cuteness just doesn't end, she's saying "YES!" and stringing along phrases that we can recognize, but obviously the annunciation isn't there just yet. We can hear "Hi Kitties" and "It's Saturday!!" (in celebration of pancake Saturdays ;)). We're so thankful to be over the sickness that was going around our house, and many hopes that we paid our dues for a while, if not the entire winter!

2nd Halloween

Of the few houses on our street with kids, we staged an early trick or treat session before we all headed out to parties for the evening so that we could all trade candy and see everyone in their costumes! Aren't we all so cute?


Even though this wasn't Josie's first Halloween, it sure felt like we were really getting to celebrate it for the first time with her. A little more social than at 6 weeks old last year, I'd say. It was a riot dressing her up in her costume, I don't think I could have picked a cuter costume to show off that chubby little face. It turned out to be a pretty cool day, so the heavy tights, booties, fleece hat and puffy bodysuit really worked out well.



We ended up trick or treating at only a few houses before calling it quits, but it was still worth the photos and fun! Next year will really be a blast.

Lots o Leaves

I had to run out this evening to do a family photo shoot... and I told Ed that we'd gone all day without the tv and thought it a good idea to keep it that way. This was a great way to be welcomed back home, Ed is so good about finding something fun to do! With just a few minutes left of good daylight I snapped these and am so glad I took the time to do so (oh how I love you 5d and ISO1000!!!) :) She was a happy girl playing in the leaves!

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a busy couple days, but we're really looking forward to getting that costume on and parading around town lookin' all cute!

I thought it would be cute...

to put a few Cheerios out on the chair in a line so she could pick them up as she walked by. Little did I remember to put the lid back on the Cheerio continaer and put it away before going to brush my teeth. She's crafty, was quiet as a fox during the incident.