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.